Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Chicken Coconut Curry

Thai Chicken Cauliflower Curry — An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than a restaurant!! The Thai-inspired coconut milk broth makes this healthy comfort food taste AMAZING!!

Easy Cauliflower Thai Curry Recipe

This chicken and cauliflower chickpea curry is ready faster than you can call for takeout and tastes just as good — or better — than you’d find in a Thai restaurant. Yes, I said it.

It’s hearty yet healthy comfort food that’s layered with Thai-inspired flavors and is naturally gluten-free.

I could drink the coconut milk broth or prepare it as a soup — it’s that good and it keeps the chicken so juicy and moist.

While there’s natural sweetness from the sweet Vidalia onions, carrots, and the coconut milk, the lime juice add the perfect acidic notes to balance the flavors.

I love all the textures in every bite from the tender (but not mushy in the least) cauliflower and carrots, the hearty chickpeas, and the juicy chicken, along with wilted spinach and cilantro.

What’s in the Chicken Cauliflower Curry? 

For this healthier cauliflower curry recipe, you’ll need: 

• Coconut oil
• Sweet Vidalia onion
• Chicken breasts
• Ground ginger and coriander
• Coconut milk
• Chickpeas
• Cauliflower florets
• Carrots
• Thai red curry paste
• Fresh spinach
• Lime juice
• Fresh cilantro
• Sugar (optional) 

How to Make Chicken Cauliflower Curry

I am a huge Thai curry fan and was craving something with Thai red curry paste, coconut milk, and plenty of veggies. This easy, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes was absolutely perfect.

There’s cauliflower, chickpeas and chicken along with sweet Vidalia onions, carrots, and spinach. Everything simmers in creamy coconut milk that’s spiced with garlic, ginger, coriander, and Thai red curry paste before adding lime lime juice, spinach, and cilantro.

The fresh cilantro and the lime juice really add a pop of tangy freshness and balance the warming flavors of the ginger, coriander, and red curry paste.

If you have extra vegetables you want to incorporate such as bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini, or edamame, go for it. I would add them when you add the coconut milk.

Can I Use Lite Coconut Milk? 

I used full fat coconut milk but have used lite in previous curry recipes and it may not be quite as rich, but it’s still great.

Can the Chicken Be Omitted? 

Of course! If you’d like to keep this a vegetarian cauliflower chickpea curry recipe, simply omit it. If desired, add an extra can of chickpeas to compensate and bulk up the curry. 

Tips for Making Cauliflower Coconut Curry

There is heat from the ginger and the Thai red curry paste and for this curry I used about half of the (small) jar, about 1/3 cup. I realize this may be too much for some people so start with 1 to 2 tablespoons, and work up from there.

I love this Thai red curry paste for its smooth and rich flavor profile and don’t find the paste to be overly spicy, but as a caveat, I adore spicy food. If you don’t, scale back the amount of curry paste you use.

Feel free to serve it over or alongside rice. Basmati or jasmine rice are great with it.

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4.54 from 43 votes

Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Chicken Coconut Curry

By Averie Sunshine

Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than a restaurant!! The Thai-inspired coconut milk broth makes this healthy comfort food taste AMAZING!!

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

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Equipment

• Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste - 4 oz
• Kuhn Rikon 2315 Epicurean Garlic Press, 100, Silver

Ingredients  

• ▢ 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut oil, olive oil may be substituted
• ▢ 1 medium/large sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small
• ▢ 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• ▢ 2 to 3 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• ▢ one 14-ounce can coconut milk, I used full-fat for a richer/thicker result but lite may be substituted
• ▢ one 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used no-salt added)
• ▢ 4 to 5 cups cauliflower florets, about 1 small/medium head of cauliflower
• ▢ 1 to 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
• ▢ 1 to 4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, or to taste (I used about half of the jar for this recipe, approximately 1/3 cup but adore spicy bold flavors)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ▢ about 3 to 4 cups fresh spinach leaves
• ▢ 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh cilantro or to taste, finely chopped for garnishing (basil may be substituted)
• ▢ 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated or brown sugar, optional and to taste
• ▢ rice, quinoa, or naan, optional for serving

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Instructions 

• To a large skillet, add the oil, onion, chicken, and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion begins to soften and the chicken is cooked through about 5 minutes; stir and flip intermittently to ensure even cooking.
• Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir frequently.
• Add the coconut milk, chickpeas, cauliflower, carrots, Thai curry paste, salt, pepper, stir to combine, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low, cover the skillet, and allow the mixture to steam, or until cauliflower is as tender as desired. For me, 5 minutes is sufficient.
• Add the spinach, lime juice, cilantro, and stir to combine. Cook until the spinach has wilted and is tender, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Taste and optionally add the sugar as well as possibly additional curry paste, salt, pepper, etc. to taste. Serve immediately. Curry will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week.
• Adapted from Thai Chicken Coconut Curry

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 777kcal, Carbohydrates: 82g, Protein: 53g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 20g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 64mg, Sodium: 1452mg, Fiber: 26g, Sugar: 20g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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