Autumn Roasted Pumpkin Curry
This healthy and delicious Roasted Pumpkin Curry makes the perfect plant-based autumn dinner. It's loaded with spiced roasted pumpkin, dotted with sweet apples, and topped with pecans. Meatless Monday never looked so good!
Put your hand up if you're in love with all things pumpkin!
As much as I'm a summer girl at heart, fall is my favorite eating season. Between the brussels sprouts, apples, cauliflower, kale, and every squash there ever has been I literally never want to leave the kitchen/ dining table.
This pumpkin curry is a mashup of some of my favorite autumn flavors and my newest favorite curry recipe.
Why you'll go crazy for this roasted pumpkin curry:
- All the pumpkin. Both blended into the sauce and roasted and stirred through the sauce. No such thing as too much pumpkin!
- Sweet sweet apples.
- Toasted pecans which sounds a little strange but are my favorite part of this curry. Please don't skip them!
- Maple syrup. I know I know, it's so not traditional! But the flavor adds the perfect touch of fall sweetness.
- Creamy coconut milk because coconut curries are the best.
- It's a super easy pumpkin curry recipe that everyone will love!
What you'll need to make this pumpkin curry recipe:
- Your fav type of winter squash.
- Onions, garlic and ginger. ā The base of every good curry!
- A can of pumpkin ā WAY easier than roasting and pureeing your own!
- A few staple Indian spices like curry powder, garam masala, coriander, and turmeric.
- Three of my favorite autumn ingredients: apples, maple syrup, and pecans.
- And of course a can of coconut milk.
These few tasty ingredients cook together to make the most delicious pumpkin curry recipe that just so happens to be a vegan pumpkin curry AND a paleo pumpkin curry.
Winning all around!
What's the best type of pumpkin to use?
You'll want to steer clear of the carving pumpkins. Those giants are grown to be Halloween jack o lanterns and are lacking in the flavor department. If you're opting for a true pumpkin, pick up a small, cindarella pumpkin.
A good choice for winter squash is a butternut squash as they're widely available. You can usually find them peeled and cubed, which can save yourself some time in the kitchen.
Acorn squash and kabocha squash (what's in the picture) are two of my favs. Both have edible skin and don't need to be peeled, which is a big reason why I like them. Peeling squash is not fun at all!
Once you've got your favorite pumpkin in hand and have chopped it up into bite-sized pieces, you're going to toss it with some cinnamon and cayenne and roast it until it is soft and creamy.
Roasted veggies are the best!
Now toss them into the curry and you're ready for dinner.
Then stand back and admire that silk smooth sauce you just made. Seriously, just look how creamy it is! You deserve a pat on the back, my friend.
Now scoop some of that delicious pumpkin curry you just made into a bowl and sprinkle some pecans over the top before you dig in.
Enjoy!
And btw, if you love pumpkin as much as I do, make sure to check some of my favorite pumpkin recipes:
Favorite savory pumpkin recipes:
- Makeover Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Casserole
- Roasted Pumpkin Spinach Salad with Maple Pumpkin Dressing
- Sage Pumpkin Pasta Bake with Kale and Buttered Pecans
- Curried Pumpkin Soup with Ginger Maple Onions (served in mini pumpkins ā so cute!)
- Chipotle Bourbon Pumpkin Chili
- Creamy Pumpkin Hummus
Favorite sweet pumpkin recipes:
- The Best Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- Apple Pumpkin Oatmeal with Maple Pecan Crumble
- Healthy Pumpkin Coconut Latte
- Sweet Harvest Pumpkin Brownies
- Chocolate Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Vegetarian Curry Recipes:
- Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry
- Black Chana Masala (Black Chickpea Curry)
- Coconut Acorn Squash Curry
- Coconut Black Lentil Curry (Vegan Dal Makheni)
- Chickpea Tofu and Eggplant Curry
- Creamy Coconut Vegetarian Korma
- Easy Palak Paneer
Roasted Pumpkin Curry Recipe
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
The Roasted Pumpkin
- 1 lb. squash, butternut, kabocha, acorn, or cinderella are all great varieties to use in this recipe
- 1 teaspoon oil
- Ā¼ teaspoon each: cinnamon and cayenne
Coconut Pumpkin Curry
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 apples, divided
- 15 ounce can pumpkin
- 15 ounce can coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup, omit for Whole30
- Juice from 1 lime
- Sea salt, to taste
- Ā½ cup toasted pecans
The Spices
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- Ā½ teaspoon turmeric
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the squash into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces and put them on the baking sheet. Toss with the oil, cinnamon, and cayenne. Roast for 20 minutes in the oven, or until the squash is soft.1 lb. squash, 1 teaspoon oil, Ā¼ teaspoon each: cinnamon and cayenne
- While the squash is roasting, heat the coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and let it cook until it is nicely browned. While the onion is cooking, add all the spices to a small bowl.2 teaspoons coconut oil, 1 medium onion, 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon coriander, Ā½ teaspoon turmeric
- Add the ginger and garlic to the onions and cook for 1 minute. Add the spices to the pot and stir for 1 minute.2 tablespoons chopped ginger, 4 cloves garlic
- Add 1 apple (cored and coarsely chopped), the pumpkin, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Cover the pot (the curry will splatter) and cook for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer the curry to your blender and blend until smooth. Return the curry to the pot.15 ounce can pumpkin
- Add the coconut milk, maple syrup (if using), and lime juice to the pot and stir well. Season to taste with sea salt. Stir in the remaining 2 apples (cored and diced) and the roasted squash and keep the curry on the heat for a couple minutes to soften the apples. Serve with toasted pecans on top15 ounce can coconut milk, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, Juice from 1 lime, Sea salt
Notes
Pair with steamed basmati rice or cauliflower rice
Hiya, the 1lb squash bullet point, is that roughly 1lb squash whole or 1lb squash flesh (not including seeds)? And the apples, here in the UK you get Ā a packet of 4 large roughly 6oz converted and a 6 pack of smaller apples, half the size. Which size apples do you typically use? And lastly are they the sweet variety such as Pink Lady or sour Granny Smith type. Sorry for all the questions but I don’t do bitter as the comments suggest and I’m sure you’re recipe wasn’t bitter :). TIA
I weigh the squash before I cut it. And I normally buy sweeter apples (like Pink Lady – they’re the best!) so if you can find those, they’ll work great. I would opt for a medium to large-sized apple. š
This one wasn’t as good as I had hoped — like another reviewer, mine also came out sort of bitter and we did indeed use the maple syrup. I also think there was too much sauce (so it was more like a pumpkin soup with pumpkin pieces in it) and there was not enough pumpkin (maybe double the amount next time — the ratio was off); it tasted like something was missing flavor-wise in the sauce but we could not put our finger on what it was. It wasn’t bad at all but I’d make a few adjustments next time!
I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t a hit.
This was a lovely, simple, quick recipe. I omitted the maple syrup since I didnāt have any on hand. The only thing is it came out a tad bitter. Not sure what went wrong there. Could have been an off sweet potato or perhaps it wasnāt balanced enough from using light coconut milk, or perhaps it needed the sweetness of the maple syrup. Overall a good recipe, served with coconut oiled rice and it was a hit.
I suspect it was probably because of omitting the maple syrup. Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Fabulous recipe. Just wondered whether or not you peeled the apples.
I don’t peel the apples. š
Hello,
Thank you so much for your recipes! I have been subscribed for a while now, but I never had the chance to comment on your recipes. This one was absolutely delicious, although I made it a little too runny! I made it with a butternut squash and it was amazing!
Awwww thank you so much for the comment!!!