When I finished cooking these Curried Chickpeas with Spinach I took a look at my notepad to make sure I had written down all the ingredients. I looked it over a good three or four times thinking that I had surely forgotten something. The list was just too short. How did I just make so much yum with so few ingredients?!
That’s how food should be. Uncomplicated, fast, and super tasty. I couldn’t stop sneaking spoonfuls of this dish as I photographed it—it was just that flavorful. The simple tomato sauce is kicked up a few notches with curry powder (hot or mild, your choice) and would probably be good poured over just about any vegetables. I like this combo of spinach and chickpeas because it’s filling, very nutritious, and just down right pretty.
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Use Fresh or Frozen Spinach
I used fresh spinach because I bought a HUGE 2.5 lb. bag of fresh spinach the other day and now I’m committed to using it all before it goes bad, but you can sub frozen spinach to fit your budget. Just add 8 oz. of frozen spinach to the skillet in place of the fresh and sauté until thawed and warmed through, then proceed with the recipe as usual. I also used a very large can of chickpeas, but if that’s not available in your area, just use two regular 15-oz. sized cans. Not a fan of chickpeas? Lentils would also be great here!
How to Serve Curried Chickpeas with Spinach
I served my curried chickpeas with spinach over rice, but it would also be awesome with some naan to soak up the sauce instead. NOM.
What Kind of Curry Powder Do You Use?
You can use either hot or mild curry powder, depending on how spicy you’d like your curried chickpeas to be. I’ve enjoyed both 365 brand curry powder and Sharwood’s curry powder. You can also try making your own curry powder using this recipe for Easy Homemade Curry Powder from Spiceitupp.com.
Curried Chickpeas with Spinach
Servings 4 1 cup eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.47)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.16)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder ($0.45)
- 8 oz. spinach (fresh or frozen) ($1.49)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce ($0.59)
- 2 15oz. cans chickpeas ($1.10)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger on a small holed cheese grater. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger in a large skillet with the olive oil over medium heat until the onions have softened (3-5 minutes).
- Add the curry powder and continue to sauté with the onion mixture for one minute more. Add about 1/4 cup of water to the skillet along with the fresh spinach and continue to sauté until the spinach has wilted. The water will help steam and wilt the spinach (no water needed if using frozen spinach).
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Add them to the skillet along with the tomato sauce. Stir well to distribute the spices in the sauce and heat through (5 minutes). Serve over rice or with bread.
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Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Curried Chickpeas with Spinach – Step by Step Photos
Start by dicing one onion and mincing two cloves of garlic. I used a small cheese grater to grate one inch of fresh ginger (or you can mince it). I usually use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the ginger before grating it. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger in a large skillet with olive oil until they are soft (about 5 minutes).
Add 1.5 Tbsp of curry powder and continue to sauté the mixture. You can use either hot or mild curry powder. Continuing to sauté after adding the spices will toast them just slightly and increase their flavor.
Next, add a little water to the skillet (about 1/4 cup) and 8 oz. of fresh spinach. It will likely fill up the skillet, so stir carefully until it wilts down. Most fresh spinach is sold in either an 8 or 16 oz. bag, so use the label to help you estimate 8 oz. The water will help steam and wilt the spinach. If you’re using frozen spinach, you don’t need to add any water, just warm it through in the skillet.
Drain and rinse a large 29 oz. can (or 2 15oz. cans) of chickpeas then add them to the skillet along with a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce. If you don’t have tomato sauce in your area, strained tomatoes or tomato purée is a good substitute (although you may need to add a little salt at the end).
Then just stir it all together well and let it warm through. How easy is that? I say “Pshhhhftfttfft.” to all boxed skillet meals.
How long does it stay fresh in the fridge? I am using it for meal prep.
We recommend no longer than 3-5 days.
This definitely needs a bit more seasoning beyond just the curry powder. I salvaged it with an additional:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste
definitely improved it, thank you!
While this was definitely easy, which I loved, this tasted pretty mediocre imo. So far I have tried two of the recipes – this one and the Migas, and have been underwhelmed by both. I think perhaps the ingredients list is just too simple for me.
Taste your food as you cook
Hey. How many calories is this dinner consisted of. I’m tryna start eating healthy and can’t seem to find the calories of this dish.
So easy to make, so cheap, so healthy, and SO delicious!!
I just microwaved the frozen spinach and blotted a little with a clean dish towel, rather than doing sauteé-ing. Worked fine : )
Can I omit the garlic? I am preggo and garlic and me are not friends at the moment :'(
It will definitely change the flavor, but whether or not it will be palatable to you without the garlic I unfortunately can not predict. :(
I’m gonna have to agree with adalgisabell on this one. The recipe was going well until the tomato sauce. Could you specify if you meant crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, or a can of whole tomatoes? Tomato sauce is quite vague. Your sauce seemed to have more water in it in the half and half photo (which is what I was aiming for) but mine came out really thick and tomato-y.
Thank you :)
It’s not crushed, diced, or whole tomatoes, it’s actually a product called “tomato sauce.” :) It’s basically just puréed cooked tomatoes with salt and sometimes a little garlic or onion (barely detectible flavor). Here is an example of a generic can of tomato sauce, but every major brand that makes canned tomato products makes tomato sauce as well. You’ll find it in the same department as other canned tomato products. That being said, this product onlt seems to only be available in the U.S., so if you’re in another country the most similar product will probably be passata. I hope that helps!
The tomato sauce is Passata, cooked and strained tomatoes in a convenient package or bottle ..
tomato sauce is also commonly found in Canada.
Just came upon your recipe and loved the layout and presentation of info! Especially impressed that you added cost per ingredient and total cost for recipe! I’m hooked and will be trying this recipe for sure. But I’ll admit in advance I’m gonna add more seasoning. 😉
Thanks Danielle!
Love this – so healthy.. Thank you.
Added mushroom and dried sage to mine and it was incredible :)
How long can this be kept in the freezer?
I usually try to use up my frozen meals within three months of freezing. There’s no exact cut off time, frozen food just slowly degrades in quality over time.
Totally love it! It freezes wonderfully and has inexpensive ingredients, so that’s a plus. I love the flavor too! Thank you!
I’m not sure what I did wrong here, but mine had a weird bitter after taste. All the ingredients were fresh but I have never used this brand of curry powder before. Any ideas where I went wrong?
Hmm, have you tried tasting the curry powder itself to see if that has a bitter flavor? The only other thing I can think of is that maybe your oil has gone rancid? Sometimes when oil has turned rancid it will have a bitter flavor.
You may have overcooked the garlic. Overcooked garlic is bitter.
It was all great until the deluge of tomato sauce overwhelmed everything. If I were to make this again, I would skip the tomato sauce, perhaps putting in a couple of chopped tomatoes instead.
This is my weekly staple. I did tweak a tad bit and more curry but it’s an awesome dish. It reminds me of a tapas I ate when I lived in Spain.
It’s fine, but the spices definitely need tweaking. The tomato sauce overpowers everything.