Creamy Vegan Honeynut Squash Curry with Cauliflower, Roasted Red Peppers, & Spinach
This ultra creamy honeynut squash curry is the perfect warming dish to cozy up with on a cold night! Loaded with delicious aromatic flavors, it also packs in tons of veggies and greens for a super nourishing and comforting meal!
Seeing all the different squash varieties (delicata, kabocha, butternut, honeynut, red kuri, etc.) pop back up every fall sets me off daydreaming of alllllll the different ways in which I can devour them. 😍 Curries are one of my all-time favorite foods - they’re comforting, versatile, and insanely flavorful! With temps rapidly dropping and the abundance of fall squashes rapidly increasing, I was inspired to create a curry with one of my favorite squash varieties, the honeynut. While this curry certainly isn’t authentic, it is super flavorful, warming, delicious, and loaded full of veggies. An ultra comforting and nourishing meal for a cool night!
Why You’ll Love this Curry
Max flavors. First and foremost, it’s insanely delicious. A combination of aromatics, dried spices, and roasted vegetables fuse together to give the curry deep and complex flavors! So flavorful, it’s the type of dish I would serve to any skeptics of vegan foods to show them how delicious plant-based eating can be!
Fall vibes. Seasonal honeynut (or butternut) squashes inject delicious (and cozy!) fall flavors here. Because aren’t seasonal flavors like squashes, apples, Brussels sprouts, etc. one of the best parts of fall?
Comforting and healthy. Although it tastes like an indulgent comfort food, it’s not bad for you! Quite the opposite - it’s loaded with whole vegetables and greens and it uses light coconut milk to minimize the amount of saturated fat (roasted squash provides extra creaminess to keep it tasting super rich)! Comfort food that leaves you feeling 💯 = bliss.
Plant-packed. There are 10 (!!) different plants in this curry before counting the dried spices and anything you’d serve the curry with (like cilantro, rice, or peanuts/cashews), which helps you meet/exceed the recommended goal of eating 30-40+ different plant foods in a week to support a healthy gut microbiome!
Insanely nourishing. This curry is loaded with lots of different nutrients and vitamins from the 10+ different plants to fuel your body and mind!
Makes great leftovers. Like many soups and stews, this curry tastes just as good the next day and makes for an amazing leftover meal that’ll nourish you with all the veggies and greens when you’re not feeling up for cooking.
Simple ingredients. The ingredient list may seem loooong BUT don’t let it scare you off! All of the spices are what give this curry its amazing flavors, while the rest are aromatics, vegetables, spinach, coconut milk, coconut sugar, some oil for cooking, and lime juice. That’s it!
Ingredient Overview
Aromatics. Red onions, garlic, serrano peppers, and fresh ginger are sautéed to create the delicious aromatic base of the curry!
Spices. A mix of whole and ground spices creates deep flavor notes (sweetness, earthiness, spiciness, nutiness), including whole black mustard and cumin seeds, curry powder, turmeric, coriander, along with garam masala and cinnamon for some sweetness and warmth to complement the squash.
Honeynut squashes. Roasted honeynut squash purée infuses fall flavors into the curry, adds sweetness, and helps give it an ultra creamy texture.
Light coconut milk. Combined with the roasted squash to make an ultra creamy sauce! Since the squash purée is so rich, the lighter variety of coconut milk works just fine here (and helps keep the saturated fat content down!).
Coconut palm sugar. A tiny bit goes a long way to sweeten the curry to perfection!
Cauliflower. Cooked until perfectly tender (you can bite into it and it won’t be mushy!), the cauliflower absorbs all the flavors of the creamy sauce.
Red bell peppers. Roasting the bell peppers before adding them into the curry helps deepen their flavors and accentuate their sweetness! They pair perfectly with the squash and warming fall spices.
Spinach. Stirring a couple big handfuls of spinach in at the end of the cooking process is one of the easiest ways to sneak some greens into your diet! Plus the spinach goes so well with the sweet squash sauce and peppers.
Lime juice. To add some acidity and brighten the curry before serving!
Honeynut Squash Substitutions
Honeynut squashes are a crossbreed of butternut and buttercup squashes. They’re similar to butternut squashes but smaller in size (aka cuter) and sweeter!
Can’t find honeynut squashes by you? (You’re not alone - although they’ve gained popularity in the last few years, they’re not available everywhere right now.) Don’t fret, you can still make this curry - just use a butternut squash instead and add a bit more coconut sugar to account for the difference in sweetness (see the notes below the recipe for detailed instructions).
Creamy Honeynut Squash Curry with Cauliflower, Roasted Red Peppers, & Spinach
Vegan, refined sugar-free, gluten-free
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
3 pounds of honeynut squashes (about 4 medium) (or substitute one 3-lb. butternut squash - see notes below for instructions)*
1 tablespoon neutral oil (like avocado, grapeseed, etc.) plus more for roasting, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper for roasting and cooking, to taste
2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 13.5-ounce (400 ml) can “lite” coconut milk
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 large red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh ginger, from ~2.5-inch piece ginger root (peeled)
1-2 serrano peppers, diced (use less and seeded for less heat, use more with seeds for more heat)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 small to medium cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar**
5-6 ounces spinach (about 2 large handfuls), any super woodsy ends trimmed (or substitute baby spinach)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
For serving: cooked rice or other grain (I like a whole grain rice like brown Basmati), fresh cilantro, and (optional) roasted peanuts or cashews
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Using a sharp knife, cut the honeynut squashes lengthwise in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds (save the seeds for another use or discard). Brush a bit of oil onto the flesh and sprinkle on some salt and freshly ground black pepper.
In a medium bowl, toss the sliced bell peppers with a bit of oil to lightly coat. Set aside.
Place the prepared squash halves flesh-side down onto the baking sheet and roast until tender, about 25 minutes. About halfway through (with ~12 minutes to go), add the sliced peppers to the baking sheet to roast until soft. Once done, remove from oven and set aside briefly until the squash is cool enough to handle.
You can test the done-ness of the squash by piercing the flesh with a fork. You should be able to pierce right through it with almost no resistance once it’s done.
Scoop out the cooked squash flesh into a blender and add about ⅓ to ½ can of light coconut milk and blend until smooth, using a tamper to help it blend if needed. Set aside.
While the roasted squash and peppers are cooling, start cooking the curry. Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add the cumin seeds and black mustard seeds and toast until they begin to pop, about 30-45 seconds.
Add the onion and a generous sprinkle of Kosher salt and ground pepper and stir. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic, fresh ginger, serrano pepper, and spices (curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, and cinnamon), stir to coat, and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the cauliflower, stir to coat with the aromatics, and cook for another minute.
Add the pureed squash, remaining coconut milk, and coconut sugar and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked but still fork tender, stirring occasionally to prevent any sticking. With about 3 minutes left, add the roasted bell pepper slices and stir to incorporate.
Add the spinach and stir through until wilted.
Turn off the heat, add the lime juice, and stir to incorporate.
Serve the curry with grain/rice of choice, freshly chopped cilantro, and/or (optional) sliced red onions and roasted peanuts or cashews.
*If you can’t find honeynut squashes, substitute them with a 3-lb. butternut squash! Follow the same instructions but roast the squash longer until the flesh is tender, about 45-50 minutes (since it’s bigger, it takes longer to roast), while still adding the bell peppers with about 12 minutes to go. (Or if you’re unsure when your squash will be done, roast the bell peppers separately for 12 minutes.)
**If using a butternut squash, add 1 tablespoon (instead of 1 teaspoon) of coconut palm sugar in step #10 to account for the difference in sweetness of the squashes.
I’d love to hear how you liked this curry - leave a comment below if you make it! And as always, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@teostinykitchen) so I can also see!