This week I made you scrumptious vegan Sweet Potato Curry Bowls! I got all fancy and made yellow curry paste from scratch (more on that later) but whether you make curry paste yourself or pick up your favorite brand from the store, this Sweet Potato Curry recipe will be sure to please.
When Kieran and I go out to eat, we usually get Mexican, sushi, pizza, burgers, or Thai food. Delicious Thai restaurants are plentiful in my town but I wanted a killer curry recipe stocked in my own recipe Rolodex, AKA my food blog. Not only are Sweet Potato Curry Bowls comforting and satisfying to eat, the sweet and savory smells floating from your kitchen, up your nose holes, will be heavenly!
One sniff and you’ll think, hot damn, I’m about to mouth plow into a bowl of this sweet and savory curry goodness.
Now, you might be saying your yourself, Christina, Easter is this weekend, why didn’t you post an Easter recipe?
I’ll tell you, dear reader, it’s because I royally fucked up my Easter recipe, that’s why! I wanted to share a baked carrot cake donut post but it didn’t work out. Months ago I purchased a nifty donut pan but I still haven’t perfected a donut recipe worthy of your mouths. The carrot cake donuts weren’t horrible, Kieran and I still ate them, but they missed the robust carrot cake flavor I was trying to create.
Plus, my recipe didn’t make enough batter to fill all 9 donut cavities, it was 2 donuts short! YES, I ate some of the batter per usual, but I didn’t scarf down 2 donuts worth of batter! If I’m going to provide you with a baked donut recipe, I want to ensure you have enough batter to get the job done. Additionally, the gloppy glaze I made for the donuts didn’t impress either. I dumped it down the kitchen sink where it belonged.
So, instead of presenting you with a cute Easter donut recipe, I give you this badass curry recipe instead.
I loved how the Sweet Potato Curry Bowl recipe turned out. The balance between spicy, savory, and sweet is perfection. The curry paste for this recipe can be store bought or made from scratch. I used Pinch of Yum’s Homemade Yellow Curry Paste recipe and it was DEVINE.
Homemade curry paste takes over an hour to prepare but the recipe is straightforward and uncomplicated. You literally roast garlic, shallot, and ginger in the oven, then whirl the ingredients (along with some chili’s and spices) around in your food processor and you’re done. The curry paste will last for a week in the fridge but it freezes well too. In addition to curry, I would plop a spoonful of yellow curry paste over chicken I baked in the oven or in a soup to give the broth extra oomph. The paste is adaptable so you can make it as mild or spicy as you like. If you’re not feeling homemade yellow curry paste then splurge on your favorite store bought version OR if you have a ton of leftover curry sauce from restaurant take-out, try using that!
Whether you use store-bought or homemade curry paste, the Sweet Potato Curry bowls are a cinch to make. The only effort is the prep work that constitutes of chopping some veggies and the sweet potatoes. Besides that the remaining instructions are practically effortless, just dump, stir, cook until potatoes are tender, then enjoy. Wham bam put this curry up in your mouth thank you, ma’am. Better yet, easy peasy curry-nesey! ZING!
Oh before I forget, you’ve probably noticed Kieran and I haven’t made a recipe video in a while. No, we haven’t forgotten about making recipe video’s, but we haven’t found an organized method to streamline our process. Food photography for a blog is time-consuming; shooting, editing, and doing the voiceovers for food recipes are even more so. Kieran and I want to resume making recipe videos after we give serious thought on how to perfect our process.
Fingers crossed we’ll have video’s to accompany my blog posts in the near future. Until then I hope you’re enjoying my food photography and recipes!
Thanks for stopping by,
Christina
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (you can use your favorite oil)
- 1 carrot, chopped
- ½ a sweet onion, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small bite-size pieces.
- 4 tablespoons curry paste (your favorite store brand or homemade)
- 1 14-ounce can coconut milk (regular tastes better over lite)
- A couple big handfuls of fresh baby spinach
- Soy sauce to taste
- Sriracha hot sauce to taste
- Chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro for garnish
- Served with cooked rice
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onion and carrot, with a pinch of salt and pepper, and sweat until the vegetables soften, approx 5-7 minutes. With your spatula, push the onion and carrots to the outside of the skillet to form an open circle in the middle of your pan. Dump your garlic and shallots into the open circle you just created. Give them a little stir within the circle until the garlic becomes fragrant, approx 30 seconds. Now stir everything together so the garlic and shallots are well combined with the other ingredients.
- Now add the sweet potatoes to the skillet along with the 4 tablespoons of yellow curry paste. Stir all the ingredients around until everything is combined and well coated with the curry paste. Cook the ingredients in the skillet for a few minutes, then stir in the coconut milk.
- Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer the potatoes until they are cooked, approx 15-20 minutes. During this time, the coconut milk will thicken up, if it gets too thick and "sticky" before the potatoes are fully cooked, add splashes of water when needed.
- When the potatoes are at the tenderness to your liking, stir in the spinach, and continue to stir until the spinach welts, which will take a couple of minutes.
- Now taste, add additional salt, soy sauce, or pepper if necessary.
- Spoon the sweet potato curry into bowls over rice. Top with fresh cilantro and chopped nuts if you like those types of toppings. Serve with Sriracha hot sauce and enjoy!
The sweet potato I used was crazy huge, so I only had to use one. If your store's sweet potatoes are small, use 2 or 3.
I LOVE curry so 4 tablespoons of curry paste tasted great for me. If you think 4 tablespoons is too much, start with a smaller amount and add more if necessary.
Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum
Calorie Breakdown…
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil…. 120 (depending on brand)
1 carrot…..20
1/2 a sweet onion…. 47
2-3 garlic cloves…. 12 (for 3)
1 shallot… 7
1-2 sweet potatoes… 162 (for one large sweet potato)
4 tablespoons curry paste…. depends on if you do store-bought or homemade and how much you use. I found on Google 70 calories per TB seems to be the norm…240
1 14-ounce can coconut milk…. 913
A couple big handfuls of fresh baby spinach…. 7 calories per cup
Calories depend on the size of your sweet potatoes, the brand of curry paste you use, and the brand of coconut milk you use.
Total calories…. 1568
1/2 portion… 784
1/4 portion… 392
Calories not accounted for…
Soy sauce to taste
Siracha hot sauce to taste
Chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro for garnish
Served with cooked rice
*Note, I am not a nutritionist, nor am I pretending to be. I found the calorie counts by reading the nutrition labels on the food I purchased, searching Google, and using my Lose It! app on my phone.using my Lose It! app on my phone.
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How would this translate to a non-vegan dish like pork or chicken?
I’ve never made it with chicken or pork, so I can’t say 100%, but I’m guessing chicken would rock.
If I were making this with chicken, I would cube raw chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper), and cook it in the skillet first.
Once the chicken was finished cooking, I would transfer it to a plate and set aside, then proceed with the recipe as normal.
Then, right before you add the spinach, add the chicken back into the skillet with everything else, so it has the chance to warm through.
Let me know if that was helpful!
Is the grapeseed oil a deal breaker? Don’t typically stock that one in my pantry…
Hey Erin!
No, you don’t have to use grapeseed oil, olive oil works great in the recipe too!