Summer Vegetable Curry
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Published Aug 05, 2019, Updated May 24, 2024
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This summer vegetable curry is loaded with seasonal veggies and super easy to whip up for a vegetarian weeknight meal. Perfect for Meatless Monday!
I made this simple summer vegetable curry recipe the night we got back from our Grand Cayman babymoon trip. I shared a sneak peek on Instagram and so many of you were asking for the recipe! Ask and you shall receive.
Vegetable Curry with Curry Powder
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I am a huge curry fan. I’m always making different curry variations and customizing the ingredients depending on what is in season.
Since I already have a shrimp curry recipe that uses red curry paste, I thought I would switch things up for this recipe. We’re using traditional yellow curry powder and keeping the recipe vegetarian/vegan.
Of course, you can absolutely add in a protein of your choice if you want to add more protein to this curry. It would be delicious with chickpeas or even chicken or shrimp. Feel free to swap out veggies for what you have on hand or what is in season as well – curries are the perfect meal for cleaning out your fridge because you can pretty much add any veggies into the pan.
Curry in a Hurry
Curries are awesome for weeknight meals because they cook up quickly, but still have a ton of flavor, almost like they’ve been simmering all day. This particular curry only takes about 10 minutes of prep and about 15 minutes of cooking time so you can easily have a healthy dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. Woo-hoo!
What is the Difference in Curry Colors?
If you’ve been shopping for curry recently, you know there are a variety of color options! Green, red and yellow curries are all available. So what’s the difference? I’m certainly not a curry guru, but here’s what I do know:
- Yellow Curry – The main spice in yellow curry is turmeric! It is the mildest of the curries because there is less chili and more turmeric. Yellow curry is usually found on the spice aisle at the grocery store and often just called curry powder. You can certainly find yellow curry paste or make your own, but I tend to think of ground curry powder when I think of yellow curry.
- Red Curry – Although you might have expected red curry to be the spiciest, it usually sits right between yellow and green when it comes to heat! Red chilis give this curry its color but the heat is toned down thanks to the coconut milk. Red curry is usually found in paste form with other Thai items in the grocery store.
- Green Curry – Green chilis pack the heat in this dish! Green curry is typically the spiciest curry but don’t let that scare you if you can handle heat because, in my opinion, it’s not that spicy unless you’re also adding fresh chilis. Green curry can be found in paste form with other Thai items, similar to red curry.
Want to learn more about all the different curries and where they originated? Check out this article.
Ingredients in Summer Vegetable Curry
- flavor boosters: ginger, garlic, curry powder
- coconut milk and vegetable broth
- summer veggies: onion, bell pepper, eggplant, mushrooms, and zucchini
- additional flavors: lime and fresh cilantro
- rice (white jasmine rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice)
How to Make Summer Vegetable Curry
To start, you’ll cook up the powerhouse veggies and spices of the dish. Just add your onion, ginger, and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat. You’ll cook these up, stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes, and then add in the curry powder and cook for another minute.
At this point, add in the broth, coconut milk, and veggies. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. You’ll continue cooking this mixture until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in lime zest and lime juice just before serving.
To serve, add rice to your serving plate and top with the curried vegetable mixture. You can use jasmine rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice – all are delicious in their own way! Top with fresh basil or cilantro – and enjoy!
More Vegetarian Recipes to Try
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Summer Vegetable Curry
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive or avocado oil
- 1 red onion, chopped into large chunks
- 1 Tablespoon peeled and finely chopped ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow curry powder
- 1 1/2 cups full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth, or bone broth*
- 3 cups chopped eggplant, about 1/2 of a medium eggplant
- 1 medium zucchini or summer squash, cut into 1/4-inch chunks or slices
- 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, quartered
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, seeded and chopped into chunks
- 1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch, optional*
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, or cilantro
- 2-3 cups rice, white jasmine rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice
- Sriracha for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic; cook, stirring, 3-4 minutes or until fragrant and soft. Stir in the curry powder and cook 1 additional minute.
- Whisk together the vegetable broth and arrowroot powder, if using. Add vegetable broth mixture, coconut milk, vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms and bell pepper) into the skillet, salt and pepper; stir to combine. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the lime zest and lime juice just before serving. Taste and add more salt, if necessary.
- Spoon rice onto serving plates and top with vegetable curry. Garnish each bowl with fresh basil or cilantro and serve with sriracha, to taste.
Notes
- If you’re not worried about this dish being vegetarian, you can use bone broth for more nutrition.
- I like adding arrowroot powder to this curry to help thicken the sauce, but it’s not necessary. If you omit it, the broth won’t thicken as much but it will still be delicious!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey Brittany,
This looks great- any way to incorporate protein into it? Would chickpeas be good, or what do you recommend?
Thanks!
Hey Tracy – any type of protein would work! Chickpeas, chicken, tofu – anything would be delicious!
Delicious! Simple enough, yet full of flavor. Would recommend.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Erin. 🙂
Sooooo yummy! I love curry and I haven’t made it in so long, when I saw your post about this recipe on Instagram I was inspired! Such a great, easy recipe that is delicious! The lime zest and juice really takes it up a notch. I added chicken to it and used some extra veggies I had on hand and it was exactly what I was craving! The sauce consistency was also perfect. I don’t know why I haven’t used cornstarch in my curries before 😂 Thank you!!
Curry is one of our favorite meals! I can’t wait to give this a try soon!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com