Coconut curry garbanzo beans is a flavorful healthy recipe. This chickpea dish is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and tastes amazing served over rice!
This flavorful dish is packed with fiber and lean protein. It’s also vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free*, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Another selling point, it’s cheap. That’s one of the benefits of vegetarian cooking. The protein source in this dish is 2 cans of garbanzo beans. I can usually find a can of organic beans for around $1. Compare to that to the cost of a pound of chicken or beef and there is a big savings.
To make this dish, heat some coconut oil in a large skillet. You could really use any oil you like. I was just keeping with the coconut theme.
Stir in some chopped onion and sweet pepper and cook until tender.
Stir in some ground coriander, sugar, salt, red curry paste, tomato paste, grated ginger, and minced garlic. Let that cook for about 2 minutes.  Then, stir in some coconut milk and canned garbanzo beans that have been drained and rinsed.
You could use light coconut milk. That would cut back on some of the fat in this dish. But, regular coconut milk is what I had in the pantry and it ended up being delicious. Please feel free to use light coconut milk. It shouldn’t make much of a difference in flavor.
At this point, check for seasoning. I added ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper to give it a little heat.
Let the curry simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes. As it simmers, the liquids will reduce and the sauce will thicken.
I got my curry going first. Then, started a pot of rice. Once the rice was cooked, the curry was done.
To serve this dish, pour the warm curry over cooked rice.  Enjoy!
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Coconut Curry Garbanzo Beans Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil, or your favorite cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium sweet bell pepper, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 tsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup red curry paste
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. grated ginger root
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz.) can coconut milk
- Optional: cayenne pepper to taste – I used ¼ tsp.
- Cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the coriander, sugar, salt, red curry paste, tomato paste, ginger, and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the garbanzo beans, coconut milk, and optional cayenne pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Serve over cooked rice.
Notes
Nutrition
*NOTE:Â If you are on a gluten-free diet, be sure to check the labels on the tomato paste and red curry paste to ensure they don’t contain added gluten/wheat.
Wonderful flavors! Didn’t have red curry paste so used green curry paste 1/2 of the amount. Didn’t have tomato paste so used chopped fresh tomatoes. Will definitely make it again! Thanks for this great curry garbanzo recipe.
Absolutely exquisite! This turned out better than I imagined. I only made one slight substitution (I used brown sugar instead of white). Thumbs and (big toes) up!
Yum. Would love to get more vegan dishes from you.
Served this tonight even though I didn’t have all the ingredients. Only one can of beans, so added a yellow and orange pepper; no curry paste so substituted with red chili paste and added curry powder; no rice so served over mashed cauliflower. Regardless, was delicious! Will add more curry powder to the leftovers! Thanks
great flavor very easy to make. did it once as says and second time did not have bell peppers so did without and was still amazing. My kids loved it better without the bell peppers. Served with coconuts rice was even better together.
I used substitutes for the curry paste and tomato paste (really??? out of tomato paste???), and halved the recipe except for the coconut milk. Just let it reduce a little longer. Delish!
I tried this recipe today and it is AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!
I used the dry and well as some fresh coriander, didn’t have a bell pepper today so I used tomatoes instead, also only had a little bit of coconut milk left so I added an extra teaspoon of coconut oil towards the end after all was cooked and mixed. And I used regular curry powder with a bit of paprika for color, also, I added shredded coconut to the rice just before it was finished and my goodness any substitutes you make with this dish and it still comes out wonderful! Thank so much for the recipe! I truly love it! Will make again and again! P.s hot sauce on top was great too! Happy cooking!
I’ve made this dish probably 10x now and love it. Everyone I feedback it to loves it as well. After doing an allergen / irritant test with my naturopath, I started looking for healthy, gluten free recipes that hit all the check marks. Thanks so much for sharing this. I’ve shared it with everyone now too. Just a note, I usually end up using the same amount of salt as sugar, I find it needs a bit more salt for us, otherwise I follow it perfectly!
I just made this tonight. I topped a bed of fresh spinach with black rice and added the coconut curry garbanzo beans on top. The heat from the rice and beans gently steamed the spinach leaves and it was fantastic! And beautiful colors! I had two servings! Black rice has a wonderful nutrient dense profile that I did not feel guilty eating an additional serving. Next time I will omit the extra salt as my curry paste was salty enough not to need any additional salt. Thanks for the recipe!
This was a very tasty dish, and easy to make! My whole family loved it, however, I reduced the amount of red curry paste significantly…otherwise it would have been way too hot for us. I also used green and yellow peppers and liked the flavor and colors.
I just happened upon this recipe as i was looking for something new. LOVED it. I’m making it tonight for a second time. Very easy to prepare and a great fill in to stretch a night of leftovers. I substituted cumin for ht coriander as I did not have this spice on hand.
Hello Amanda, this curry was so fast and simple to make, I will be making it again for sure. There’s nothing to it, just whip it up with some cans we always have at home, and enjoy a light, deeply satisfying meal. This was a breath of fresh air after all our Labor Day meatfest–my belly was deserving of a non-belly bomb and delicious as a side with rice to a flavorful fish dish. Best part is ultra fast prep and no mess, except for one cutting board and knife. I would also remind others of dishes like this when they think they can’t cook or don’t have time.
Oh PS… I think I should have mentioned that my beans weren’t very tender out of the can, so I should have added 1/2 cup of water and simmered for about 10 or 15 additional minutes for a creamier texture.
I made it and all my family likes it. I will reduce the amount of curry and no Cayenne pepper for the kids. This dish is a make it again and again.
Great recipe! I made this last night for my boyfriend and sister! The flavors were all there. The only thing I didn’t add was Cayenne pepper being that it already had a kick. We loved it so much! Very flavorful! Definitely a recipe for the books!
This looks simply delicious! I see this is an old party but “better late than never” and I’m glad I found you! I will definitely be making this for my family. I will follow you for more good eats! Tfs 😘
This is a wonderful recipe. I’ve made it a few times!
I think perhaps the 1/4 cup red curry paste is an error? I used more like 1/4 teaspoon.
Hi Judy! If you’ve found that you like only using 1/4 tsp. then stick with that. 🙂 The 1/4 cup is correct. However, I’m sure all brands are a little different. The type of red curry paste I use is a mixture of many things, like lemongrass, ginger, and other spices. So, it’s not that powerful. It could be that your curry paste is more intense. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Easy to make and the combination of flavours were delicious. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Thanks Tracey! I’m so glad you liked it!
This looks amazing! I will be making this this week! I think I just pinned every pescatarian thing on your whole blog so I don’t forget about them. I love your recipes!
Oh man, that looks good! I will definitely be trying this! Maybe with sweet potato instead of rice, though.
Oh my goodness! I bet this would be fantastic with sweet potato! I never would have thought to do that.
Hope you like it!
Four years after your comment I made this to serve over sweet potato and it is DELICIOUS. Thanks for sharing such an easy to make and great recipe