This easy vegan curry with chickpeas with baked spaghetti squash noodles is gluten free, packed with fibre with no grains.
I am a huge curry fan. We order Thai curry almost every week because I just love the sweet, spicy and tangy flavour. But for nights I’m craving those flavours when I want to lighten things up, this easy vegan curry with baked spaghetti squash noodles totally does the trick!
Why This Recipe Works
This is a hearty vegan curry that hits the spot. Packed with vegetables and flavour, you’re going to want to add this to your menu regularly! I know the idea of making a Thai curry from scratch is super overwhelming, but this version could not be easier.
If you want to impress your guests, I find that serving this vegan curry inside of a spaghetti squash makes it super eye-catching. Even better, everyone gets their own squash so serving is super easy.
This is a super easy recipe to change up. Since we are using loads of vegetables, once you get the hang of the recipe, you can swap them out for different vegetables! You’ll never get bored of this recipe.
Table of contents
Key Ingredients
Spaghetti squash — Did you know that spaghetti squash is packed with fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants? It might look like an odd ingredient to work with, it’s super easy to cook!
Tofu — We like to use extra firm tofu. We press the tofu (with paper towels around it or a tofu press to absorb excess moisture) so that it can get nice and crispy!
Flavour enhancers — These are ingredient that you’re not going to want to skip out on! You’ll want to make sure you get quality ginger, red curry paste, low sodium tamari, maple syrup, lime, and lite coconut milk.
Veggies — This vegan curry is packed with veggies (and chickpeas!). We like using sweet potato, snap peas, and bell peppers. The more colourful vegetables, the better!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: To bake the spaghetti squash, cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the inner seeds. Place it on a baking sheet lined with tin foil, poke some holes in it and cover with foil. Bake for one hour at 375 F until soft. Alternatively, you can microwaving the spaghetti squash by placing cut side down on a plate covered in plastic wrap for about 10-15 minutes or until soft.
Step 2: Scrape the flesh with a fork to pull it into noodles. Season with salt and pepper and keep the noodles in the squash shell. Set aside.
Step 3: Place paper towel on a baking sheet and place the tofu on the paper towel. Top with more paper towel and a bunch of heavy items and press the moisture out for 15 minutes before cutting into bite sized cubes.
Step 4: To a large pan, I heat half of the olive oil over medium heat, then add the tofu and brown on all sides. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper and then remove and set aside.
Step 5: Add the remaining olive oil and add in the onions, garlic, ginger, and red curry paste. Saute until fragrant. Add in the tamari, maple syrup, lime juice, coconut milk and sweet potatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes until the sweet potatoes are almost completely soft.
Step 6: Add in the snap peas, bell peppers and chickpeas and cook just until soft, about 5 minutes. Toss in the tofu, and toss everything with the sauce. Season everything with salt and pepper, to taste.
Step 7: Serve the vegan curry sauce on top of the spaghetti squash and garnish with sesame seeds, toasted cashews and cilantro.
Expert Tips
To save time, you can press your tofu while your spaghetti squash is in the oven.
Some other vegetables you can use include carrots, broccoli (cut into small pieces), spinach, or whatever you have in your fridge!
If you are having trouble cutting your spaghetti squash in half, I suggest poking a couple of holes in it and then microwaving it for 1-2 minutes. This should soften it up a bit to make it easier to cut into.
If you’re not a fan of chickpeas, you can swap for lentils or another legume of your choice!
If you are making this to serve for a gluten-free friend, keep in mind that while tamari and soy sauce may taste the same, soy sauce contains gluten and cannot be swapped in.
Recipes FAQs
You can use anything you want in place of the spaghetti squash as a base. Rice, quinoa, rice noodles or spaghetti would be amazing for the base of the curry. To keep it lower carb, you can do zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice, as well.
This is a great easy vegan curry as is, but if your family prefers a little meat, you can swap the tofu for chicken, shrimp or a “faux” meat as well.
I have prepped this curry sauce 3 days ahead and it always keeps really well, so if you want to meal prep this easy vegan curry on the weekend and you can reheat it the week later.
You can stuff any squash but keep in mind that you’ll be missing the “noodles” if you swap it. This vegan curry would be really lovely inside a large acorn squash as well.
More Recipes You Might Like
If you’re a fan of curry and would like more curry recipes, try these ones from the blog!
- CHICKEN CURRY WITH CAULIFLOWER AND SWEET POTATOES
- VEGAN YELLOW BEET COCONUT CURRY SOUP
- VEGAN CURRIED SWEET POTATO SOUP WITH APPLES AND CIDER
Have you ever tried to substitute in spaghetti squash noodles for regular noodles? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
Vegan Curry With Baked Spaghetti Squash Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 spaghetti squash halved and seeds removed
- 300 grams extra firm tofu cubed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1/2 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp low sodium tamari
- 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup or to taste
- juice of 1 small lime
- 20 oz lite coconut milk
- 1 sweet potato scrubbed and finely diced
- 1 1/2 cups snap peas
- 2 bell peppers cut into chunks
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To bake the spaghetti squash, cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the inner seeds. Place it on a baking sheet lined with tin foil, poke some holes in it and cover with foil. Bake for one hour at 375 F until soft. Alternatively, you can microwaving the spaghetti squash by placing cut side down on a plate covered in plastic wrap for about 10-15 minutes or until soft. Scrape the flesh with a fork to pull it into noodles. Season with salt and pepper and keep the noodles in the squash shell. Set aside.
- Place paper towel on a baking sheet and place the tofu on the paper towel. Top with more paper towel and a bunch of heavy items and press the moisture out for 15 minutes before cutting into bite sized cubes.
- Then to a large pan, I heat half of the olive oil over medium heat, then add the tofu and brown on all sides. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper and then remove and set aside.
- Add the remaining olive oil and add in the onions, garlic, ginger, and red curry paste. Saute until fragrant. Add in the tamari, maple syrup, lime juice, coconut milk and sweet potatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes until the sweet potatoes are almost completely soft.
- Add in the snap peas, bell peppers and chickpeas and cook just until soft, about 5 minutes. Toss in the tofu, and toss everything with the sauce. Season everything with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve the vegan curry sauce on top of the spaghetti squash and garnish with sesame seeds, toasted cashews and cilantro.
Notes
- To save time, you can press your tofu while your spaghetti squash is in the oven.
- Some other vegetables you can use include carrots, broccoli (cut into small pieces), spinach, or whatever you have in your fridge!
- If you are having trouble cutting your spaghetti squash in half, I suggest poking a couple of holes in it and then microwaving it for 1-2 minutes. This should soften it up a bit to make it easier to cut into.
- If you’re not a fan of chickpeas, you can swap for lentils or another legume of your choice!
- If you are making this to serve for a gluten-free friend, keep in mind that while tamari and soy sauce may taste the same, soy sauce contains gluten and cannot be swapped in.
Nutrition
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
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