I snagged a few really big butternut squashes on sale the other day, chopped them up, and stashed most of them in my freezer for later. One of the first things I made with my butternut squash haul was this delicious and super easy butternut squash curry! It’s warm, cozy, filling, and most of all, budget-friendly!
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What’s in Butternut Squash Curry
This simple curry starts with a trio of aromatics, including onion, garlic, and ginger. We layer in some curry powder and cumin, and finally build the sauce with some diced tomatoes and water. The butternut squash is then simmered into the flavorful sauce until tender and then creamy coconut milk is added to give the curry body. The curry is then finished off with some fresh spinach for color and texture. So easy, so pretty, and SO delicious!
How to Serve Butternut Squash Curry
The creamy curry sauce is the star of the show in this dish, so you definitely want to serve this curry with some type of bread or rice to make sure all of those delicious flavors get soaked up and enjoyed. You could serve the curry in a bowl with some naan bread for dipping, or spoon it over a bed of rice like we have it pictured here.
How to Store Leftovers
Divide the curry into single portions after cooking, then chill in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. This curry can be frozen, although you may want to give it a good stir after thawing and reheating. You can thaw the curry in the refrigerator overnight, or microwave straight from the freezer on the defrost setting, stirring occasionally, until reheated.
What Else Can I Add?
Curries are great because they’re so flexible. You can toss in just about anything you might have on hand. If you don’t have butternut squash, you can substitute the same amount of sweet potatoes. If you want to bulk up this curry, you can add in a mix of frozen vegetables (broccoli, peas, carrots, cauliflower), or even a drained can of chickpeas.
Butternut Squash Curry
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 lbs. butternut squash (about 4 cups diced) ($1.78)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.30)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp curry powder ($0.30)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes ($1.09)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 1 13.5oz can full-fat coconut milk ($2.29)
- 2 oz. fresh spinach ($0.50)
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
Instructions
- Peel and dice the butternut squash into ½-inch pieces. Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger.
- Heat a large skillet over medium. Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, and ginger, and sauté for a few minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the curry powder and cumin and sauté for one minute more.
- Add the diced tomatoes and water to the skillet. Stir to combine and dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the diced butternut squash and stir to combine. Place a lid on the skillet and let the squash simmer in the sauce for about 10 minutes, or just until fork-tender.
- Add the coconut milk to the skillet, stir to combine, and heat through.
- Once the sauce is hot again, add the fresh spinach. Stir to combine and allow the spinach to wilt in the hot sauce. Season the curry to taste with salt, then enjoy!
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Nutrition
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How to Make Butternut squash curry – Step by Step Photos
Prepare the aromatics. Dice one yellow onion, mince two cloves of garlic, and grate about 1 Tbsp of fresh ginger.
Heat a large skillet over medium, then add 2 Tbsp olive oil along with the onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauté over medium for a few minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add 1 Tbsp curry powder and 1 tsp ground cumin, and continue to sauté for about one minute more.
Add one 15oz. can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes and ½ cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine and dissolve the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet.
Add the diced butternut squash and stir to combine. Place a lid on the skillet and let the squash simmer in the sauce for about 10 minutes, or just until fork-tender. Don’t overcook the squash or it will begin to break down into a mash as you finish the dish.
Once the squash is tender, add one 13.5 oz. can of full-fat coconut milk. Stir to combine and allow the sauce to heat through.
Once the sauce is hot again, add about 2 oz. fresh spinach (two big handfuls) and stir to combine. Allow the spinach to wilt in the hot sauce.
Season the curry with salt, starting with ¼ tsp and adding more to your liking. I used ½ tsp total. Keep in mind that salt doesn’t just make things taste salty, it actually helps other flavors pop and allows your tongue to detect and distinguish flavors.
Serve the curry with bread for dipping or over a bed of rice and enjoy!
Needs something. Pretty bland.
I absolutely loved this recipe! Unfortunately, I was the only one who did. And it’s not worth all the prep and cooking, no matter how delicious it is, just for me. But do give it a go!
I made this as directed and it was kind of bland – and I’m not typically a spicy food person, I’m a random white girl from Ohio lol. So I added more curry powder and cumin, and it was decent but texturally lacking. So the next day, I blended it into a soup with my immersion blender, adding more water as needed (though coconut milk would also have worked; I was just out of it). With a base of sticky rice and a garnish of fresh cilantro, it was pretty great! Filling and nutritious.
Incredibly bland. If you’re making this dish, I would recommend that you double or even triple the spices listed here, and then also add some garam masala, turmeric, and red chili flakes.
Would frozen butternut squash work? If so, how would I use it in the recipe? Love many of your recipes and would like to try this one! Thanks!
Yes, that will definitely work. The only difference is that it will probably take less time to cook until tender, so just keep an eye on it. :)
the curry recipes on here are always under seasoned, i tripled the spices and added more of my own and a curry roux cube
I went for this recipe because of the quick cooktime and found it to actually be pretty accurate (I’m not the fastest chopper so it took me a little bit longer but not too much). However, the flavors were too mild for me. I think next time I will double the amount of garlic and ginger and maybe throw in a chile pepper or two to add a bit more heat. Not a bad starting place though and I appreciate that you can get it on the table in 45 minutes.
It was pretty good. I made it for my partner and I with brown rice, and baked chicken using the same spices. It’s just that, in our opinion, it was missing a lot of flavor. I think that next time I make this, I will add more of the spices mentioned, plus smoked paprika, Cayenne, diced chilies, and a bit of coconut sugar to balance the spice out. I’ll also probably add a bit more ginger. Overall I think this was a decent base though, and to be clear, a lot of this boils down to personal opinion. :)
Great recipe! Used a big bag of frozen butternut squash which needed much less cooking, and probably could have done without the 1/2 cup of water – it was a bit soupy so I simmered it for a while to thicken the sauce. I agree with the comments that it could use more protein – I had some paneer cheese which I added along with the coconut milk.
I’ve never made a recipe like this and it was incredible. I will be making this often. I love when I find a healthy meal that’s also delicious. It feels nourishing and that much more satisfying.
Question though. Does anyone know if low fat coconut milk take away too much from the thickness and flavor?
I think it’s going to come down to personal preference. It will definitely be thinner because there is less fat, but you may find that you still enjoy it. :)
I’ve made several of your recipes and they don’t disappoint.
Top notch recipe! Easy to find ingredients, very delicious. I’ll definitely be making this again.
I always have about 25 butternut squash each year from the garden, so we eat it (and love it) in a variety of ways. This recipe is at the top of the list! It’s great if you stick to the recipe and it’s flexible for varying the spices and additions. It also freezes up well for lunches. 6 stars!
Perfect comfort food. Whenever I have a veg that has to be used (in this case, butternut) I look right to BB. So good! Thank you!
I don’t want to be the person that changes all the things, BUT I did
-double the spinache becasue it seems too little, a
-added 2 cups of fresh mushroom becasue they are my fav,
-added 1 chicken breast because im weaning myself off meat and I I’m not quite there yet
-added a good bit of salt and pepper becasue the flavor wasn’t there. Maybe I used not salt added tomatoes…
but this is GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD!!!!!
I have some butternut squash puree from last year’s garden I’d like to use. Any idea if the texture difference would make this curry unpalatable? Maybe add chicken?
Hi, Suzanna! I think it will be great! Butternut Squash also makes an excellent soup, which is what the final result of your will be more like. You may also want to simmer with the lid off the pot instead of covering it (since you don’t need to steam the squash to cook it and it may need to reduce slightly with more liquid content). ~Marion :)
What would you suggest I use instead of coconut milk?
Hi, Laura! You could use an equal amount of half and half, heavy cream, or unsweetened (full-fat, non-greek) yogurt thinned with milk. Just so you know, changing out the coconut milk will noticeably change the final flavor and appearance of the dish, and since we haven’t tested it with other products I can’t guarantee equally successful results — but I bet it will still be great! ~Marion:)
Loved this recipe as is twice – easy and delicious.
This was really good! My husband just had a heart attack and with brown rice and less salt it’s a great option for him.
Sorry to hear that, K! Glad you are finding some good options for him here. ~ Marion :)
I did a lot of adjustments because of what I had on hand:
6 cloves garlic
no onion
added can of chickpeas
added cayenne
added lots of curry powder and cumin
added more water
It is a little soupy but it is delicious and I think with some rice it’ll be amazing. Thank you!
Love this recipe!! I made this for my family and just added a decent amount of cayenne to up the heat level (love a spicy curry), subbed in kale instead of spinach (just add the kale a few minutes before you’d add the spinach to let it wilt) and added in some sautéed tofu for protein. This curry is perfect for winter days. It was a huge hit with my family.
I love budget bytes but this was a fail. I followed the recipe exactly and what came out tasted nothing like curry and basically only like coconut milk. The flavor profile was not balanced at all the end result was the farthest thing from a curry.
Hi, Jasmine! Sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe as much as some others you’ve tried. When making recipes for our community, especially ones that contain spices, we try to be a little bit conservative with how much we include so that it’s an accessible to as many people as possible. (Secret: When cooking for ourselves, we might add a tad more!) If you decided to give it another shot, I would recommend increase the spices a little bit or even add a 1/4-1/2 tsp of a dried chili powder (like cayenne) when you add the rest of the spices. Best, Marion:)
Aaaaamazing! I took leftovers of this camping and it was one of the best camping dinners of all time.
Delicious! Mine squash required a little more liquid to cook and definitely took longer than 10 minutes but those were easy adjustments. Flavor was perfect and it was eating this was so warming and nutritious.
Yum. Just yum.
We really loved this simple curry! Like you, I picked up a batch of butternut squashes a few weeks ago–couldn’t believe how cheap. Although I know that western and southern India have lots of dishes using coconut in various forms, the coconut milk really said Thai to me, so I used 1 T of Thai curry paste instead of the curry powder & cumin. I have red, green and yellow curry paste in my pantry, but used the milder red, or Panang–which was already open and in the fridge–for this recipe. I cut the onions in large dice–about 3/4″ then diced half a large red bell pepper and small poblano, also in 3/4″ pieces. At the end I added more spinach, just because I love it–and had it on hand. This vegan entree was a spectacularly colorful and delicious lunch! Thank you for something that is going to show up often on our table, both my variation and your original–and who knows what other versions might pop up! Did I say how much I love the fact that your recipes are often really great starting points for experimentation?
Just made this and loved it! I have 4 butternut squashes I need to use up and wanted to do something other than roast them. This was the perfect recipe and my kids and husband loved it too!