Easy Zucchini Curry
It’s time to change up your summer squash routine! Check out this easy zucchini curry recipe with coconut milk and Indian spices.
Treat your taste buds to this delicious Zucchini Curry! Creamy, savory, and spicy, this recipe is full of vegetables, mixed with coconut milk, and filled with Indian spices for the perfect curry. If you’re looking for a healthy dish that’s easy to make and full of flavor, you’ve found the perfect recipe.
This recipe is the perfect way to use any leftover zucchini from the summer while spicing up your meals. This courgette curry is also vegan, gluten-free and full of fiber and vitamins. Using only a few staple ingredients and 30 minutes of cook time, you’ll love to serve this dish for weeknight dinners paired with quinoa, naan, or rice!
💚 Why You Will Love This Recipe
Full of nutrients – Zucchini is a low-calorie vegetable that’s full of fiber. This dish altogether is full of vitamins and antioxidants.
Perfect weeknight meal – Mostly using pantry staples, this recipe only has a few simple steps and less than 30 minutes of cook time!
Perfect for meal planning – This healthy dish is easy to prepare ahead and store for later.
Full of flavor – The spicy, savory, and creamy flavors all blend together for the perfect zucchini curry.
🗒️ Ingredient Notes
Garlic: For sautéing, minced garlic adds aroma, texture, and overall flavor to your curry.
Red onion: Also for sautéing, chopped onions add aroma, texture, and overall flavor to your curry and blend well with all the other flavors.
Cumin seeds: This spice is rich, earthy, warm, and adds depth to any dish.
Coriander: A fresh-tasting spice that has a mildly sweet, lemony flavor.
Curry powder: Curry powder adds a unique aromatic flavor due to the combination of both savory and sweet spices—bitter and sweet at the same time, almost citrusy.
Zucchini squash: Use any type of zucchini or courgettes, just make sure they are soft and ripe. Zucchini has a mild flavor and a soft center when cooked. You can either use peeled or unpeeled zucchini squash, depending on your preference.
Coconut milk: Coconut milk is mildly sweet, floral, and has the nutty flavor of coconut. I like to use full-fat since the low-fat version has more water and can affect the texture of your curry. This adds a creamy factor!
Lemon juice: Adds a sour flavor that blends well with all the other flavors. Every good recipe needs a bit of acid!
Red chile: Adds a little heat to the curry! I like to use red jalapeno or Fresno pepper, but it is optional, you can omit it if you do not want it spicy.
Cilantro: Garnish with cilantro for a fresh, citrusy taste. Omit if you do not like cilantro or replace with another fresh herb of choice.
Sugar: To add a bit of sweetness and deepen the flavor of this savory dish. I like to use coconut sugar, but any sweetener will do! You can also omit if need be.
Salt: Of course, salt adds flavor and makes sure that your curry tastes delicious. Adjust accordingly for your taste buds!
🔪 How to Make Zucchini Curry
- In a large saucepan or pot over medium heat, sauté the oil, garlic, onion, and chile.
- Add the curry powder, sugar, cumin, and coriander and cook for 1 minute longer while stirring.
- Add the zucchini and cook for another minute.
- Add the coconut milk and water and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and salt.
- Optionally garnish with fresh cilantro before serving over rice, quinoa, or alongside naan. Enjoy!
🍽️ How to Serve
You can serve curry any time of the day—breakfast (leftover from dinner), lunch, or dinner! You can even serve it as a main course for parties and other gatherings.
The best thing about curry is that there are so many ways to serve it! Here are some perfect pairings for your curry:
🥡 Storage
You can store this Easy Zucchini Curry in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. If you want to store it for longer, make sure to place it in a sealed container, make sure it has cooled down, and then you can store it in the freezer for up to three months.
Zucchini curry is perfect for meal planning. You can whip up a big batch, and then store some of it in the freezer for later!
💭 Top Tip
To make a good curry, you must cook it quickly. Fry the vegetables and spices in oil, and then let the curry powder gently simmer until the vegetables are cooked. To know your curry is done, the zucchini should be just fork-tender.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Zucchini goes well in a lot of dishes. It goes well with a lot of pasta recipes, as a side dish with roasted vegetables, roasted or grilled as a snack, as noodles or what they call zoodles, as a casserole dish, and so much more. Zucchini is such a versatile dish and you can get as creative as you can!
Yes, you can freeze zucchini curry. Store it in a Ziploc bag or any sealed freezer-safe container, and place it in the freezer for up to three months. Even better if you can vacuum seal it before you store, to avoid any contamination.
You can either peel the zucchini or leave it unpeeled. Many people like to leave it unpeeled because the skin of the zucchini is full of nutrients. It has beta-carotene, vitamin C, fiber, and vitamin B6.
The skin is completely edible, and it’s a lot healthier if you leave it unpeeled. But it might take a little longer to soften the zucchini.
🥒 You Might Also Like These Zucchini Recipes
Gluten Free Vegan Zucchini Fritters
Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Zucchini Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or other oil of choice
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red onion chopped
- 1 fresh red chile minced (fresno or red jalapeno work well) (optional)
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar of choice
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 zucchinis chopped into quarters
- 1 13.5-ounce can full fat coconut milk
- 1 13.5-ounce can water you fill the coconut milk can with water
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- cilantro chopped to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or pot over medium heat, add the oil, garlic, onion and chile. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the curry powder, sugar, cumin and coriander and cook for 1 minute longer while stirring.
- Add the zucchini and cook for 1 minute longer.
- Add the coconut milk and water and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and salt.
- Optionally garnish with fresh cilantro before serving over rice, quinoa or alongside naan. Enjoy!
Great way to use up leftover zucchini! Thanks for such an awesome recipe.
Curry is a huge love of mine and I loved being able to use up the extra zucchini in my garden for this one!
The flavors in this were spot on! So good, and I love that the recipe is using up all that zucchini from my garden!
I’d never had zucchini in curry before. I’ll definitely be adding it more often. This curry was scrumptious. We served it with white rice and a green salad for a wonderful meal.
We have such a glut of zucchini’s from the garden at the moment so I have been searching for recipes to use them up.
This curry popped up on Pinterest and I thought I’d give it a go. Man was it delicious!
I used a mild curry powder so the kids would eat it. It got mixed reviews from them, 3 loved it 2 ate it but said it wasn’t their favorite. But hubby and I loved it and majority rules in our house!! So it will be on the menu again for sure!
Thank you for a yummy recipe 😃
Excellent way to use my leftover zucchini and white rice! So glad to find a 30 minute vegan and gluten-free recipe, especially one as flavorful as curry!
This curry is fabulous! I will surely make it more often; it made the perfect weeknight dinner!
Such a great idea for zucchini!! A new addition to our favorites! Thanks for the recipe!
I love new creative ways to use up zucchini right now! Can’t wait to try for dinner this week!
My garden is bursting with zucchini right now, so I can’t wait to try out this delicious looking curry!