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This Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry with Spinach is SO easy and delicious. Hardly any prep needed and come home to a delicious, vegetarian family meal. It’s also affordable and freezes brilliantly.
This Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry is my most favourite kind of slow cooker recipe, throw everything in and go. No browning, hardly any chopping – what a dream.
This is also a perfect meal for when you need something straight out of the store cupboard.
I’ve tested this carefully to get a nice balance of family friendly spice and sweetness. I also wanted to use curry powder for this recipe rather than paste to make sure it was super budget-friendly.
I found the addition of sweet smoked paprika (such a great spice!) gives this an instant depth of flavour, which can sometimes be tricky to achieve in the slow cooker without pre-frying anything.
Hope you love it!
Why you’ll love this Chickpea Slow Cooker Curry recipe
⭐️ Simple, affordable ingredients
⭐️ A delight for vegan diners or meat-free days
⭐️ Unbelievably easy and delicious
What is Chana Saag?
Chana Saag is a traditional Indian dish made up of chickpeas and spinach in a tomato-based sauce with rich and aromatic spices. It gets a creaminess from the coconut milk and lends itself perfect to this slightly shortcut-style slow cooker version.
If you’d rather try your hand at an authentic Chana Saag, you could have a go at Spice Craving’s recipe here.
This Chickpea Slow Cooker Curry is ideal for a quick midweek win, when we have lots in the cupboard and nothing defrosted or planned. It’s also a great batch cook option so you can simply heat it up and go.
More vegetarian curries…
Slow Cooker
Red Lentil Dahl {Slow Cooker Fakeaways}
Vegetarian
Halloumi Curry {30 Minute Meal}
Slow Cooker
Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry {SO Easy!}
Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry Ingredients
- Chickpeas – Tinned, drained and rinsed
- Garlic – You can use fresh or jar/paste/frozen
- Onion – Again, frozen is fine if you’re short on time but fresh is OK too
- Mild curry powder – Be aware of the temperature here! Obviously a less mild curry powder will give this a stronger spice level!
- Sweet smoked paprika
- Mild chilli flakes – These vary greatly in heat, start with a tiny pinch and add more if your flakes aren’t hot enough.
- Tomato purée
- Coconut milk – I use reduced fat but you don’t have to
- Sea salt
- Spinach – I used fresh baby spinach but you can use frozen if you want to
- Mango chutney – Be careful to check the ingredients if you’re vegan
- Garam masala
How to make Chickpea Curry in the Slow Cooker
1. Add the slow cook ingredients into the pan and cook as per the recipe below..
2. Add the remaining ingredients just before serving, stirring well first.
leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully in the microwave or on the hob before serving.
In the freezer This recipe freezes well. Just wait until it’s totally cold and then put into a freezer proof container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating.
This may need a splash of water when you’re reheating it to loosen up the sauce.
Top tips
If using frozen spinach
This is a fantastic shortcut ingredient to have in as there’s no risk of it going soggy before you’ve had a chance to use it. If you go for frozen spinach for this recipe, just pop it in to the slow cooker at the start of the process with the other ingredients instead of waiting to the end.
Rinse chickpeas
Give the chickpeas a good rinse under cold water before you put them into the slow cooker to remove the salty water they’re stored in.
FAQs
I would go for rice, poppadoms, naans, raita, or my Easy Flatbreads.
Or if you’d like to pair it with a meat curry dish, probably my Easy Lamb Keema.
The Morphy Richards Sear & Stew Slow Cooker is my all-time favourite because you can use it for initial browning on the hob and it’s really light.
For induction hobs, I recommend the Lakeland Digital 6.5l Slow Cooker instead.
I sure can! My faves are Slow Cooker Beef Curry, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry and Slow Cooker Lamb Curry.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry {Chana Saag}
Ingredients
For the slow cook:
- 800 g Chickpeas (2x 400g tins), Drained and rinsed
- 3 Cloves garlic, Peeled and crushed
- 1 Onion, Peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp Mild curry powder
- 1 tsp Sweet smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp Mild chilli flakes
- 3 tbsp Tomato purée
- 400 g Coconut milk (1x tin), Reduced fat
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
To finish:
- 240 g Baby spinach, Shredded
- 50 g Mango chutney
- 1 tsp Garam masala
Instructions
- Add the slow cooker ingredients to the pan and cook on HIGH for 3 hours.
- Add remaining ingredients just before serving (the heat will wilt the spinach).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I put chicken thighs in this
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