Chana Saag Curry – Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Sometimes, when I’m suffering from a creativity block, all I need to do is take a stroll through the freezer aisle. Yesterday, as I was perusing the freezer goods, I saw a frozen dinner called Chana Saag. I didn’t look too closely, I just saw chickpeas and spinach and knew that’s exactly what I wanted to eat. This dish is cozy, budget-friendly, and naturally vegetarian.

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If you’re looking to spice up your weekly meal rotation with something hearty, nourishing, and packed with flavor, this Chana Saag is the way to go. I adapted my Indian Style Creamed Spinach recipe by adding a can of chickpeas to make it a more filling meal, and this Chana Saag was born. And whoa, is it good!! This recipe can be made either hot or mild depending on what type of curry powder you use, but either way the fragrant spices will be heady and flavorful. The coconut milk adds just the right amount of natural sweetness and creamy flavor to balance the warm spices. It comes together easily with pantry staples—perfect for a satisfying dinner or meal prep for the week!

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Chana Saag Curry

4.52 from 92 votes

Chana saag is a creamy chickpea and spinach curry that comes together quickly, is full of warm spices, filling, and vegan! Perfect for meal prep!

Author: Beth Moncel

Servings 6

Prep 10 minutes mins

Cook 30 minutes mins

Total 40 minutes mins

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cups long grain white rice ($0.56)
• 1 yellow onion ($0.78)
• 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
• 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.06)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.20)
• 1 Tbsp curry powder hot or mild ($0.21)
• 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.04)
• 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
• 1 tomato ($1.27)
• 1 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($1.68)
• 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($0.86)
• 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
• 1 13oz. can coconut milk* ($1.56)

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Instructions 

• Begin the rice first. Add the rice and 3 cups water to a sauce pot. Cover with a lid, place the pot over high heat, and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off, and let the rice rest for 10 minutes, undisturbed, with the lid in place. Fluff with a fork just before serving.
• While the rice is cooking, begin the curry. Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large skillet with the olive oil and sauté over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. While these are cooking, dice the tomato.
• Add the curry powder and cumin to the skillet and continue to stir and cook for one minute more. Add the diced tomato and salt. Continue to cook for about five minutes more, or until the tomato has broken down.
• Drain the chickpeas in a colander and give them a quick rinse. Add the rinsed chickpeas, frozen spinach, and a half cup of water to the skillet. Stir everything together and then bring it up to a simmer over medium heat. Let the mixture simmer for five minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
• After five minutes, turn the heat down to medium-low and add the coconut milk. Depending on how thick you want the sauce, you can either just heat through or let it simmer until thickened. Leave your chana saag chunky ,or, if preferred, use an immersion blender to purée some of the mixture. Once it’s heated through, adjust the salt to your liking.
• Serve the creamy chickpeas and spinach over a bowl of warm rice.

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Notes

*You can substitute a 12oz. can of evaporated milk in place of the coconut milk. It tastes great both ways!

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 360.03kcalCarbohydrates: 61.18gProtein: 11.2gFat: 8.57gSodium: 660.27mgFiber: 8g

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How to Make Chana Saag Curry Step-By-Step Photos

Cook the rice: Begin the rice first. Add 1.5 cups rice and 3 cups water to a sauce pot. Cover with a lid, place the pot over high heat, and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off, and let the rice rest for 10 minutes, undisturbed, with the lid in place. Fluff with a fork just before serving.

Sauté the aromatics: First dice one yellow onion, mince 2 cloves of garlic, and grate about one Tbsp ginger. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger over medium heat for a few minutes, or until the onions are soft.

Add 1 Tbsp curry powder and 1 tsp cumin to the skillet and sauté for a minute more. The spices will stick to the bottom of the skillet, but it’s okay because the juice from the tomatoes in the next step will dissolve it off. Just make sure that the heat is not up so high that they burn.

While the onions are sautéing, dice one tomato. Add the tomato to the skillet with 3/4 tsp salt and sauté for about five minutes more, or until the tomatoes break down a bit. 

After five minutes it looks something like this. It will smell pretty amazing at this point!

Add spinach: Add 1 lb. frozen spinach (no need to thaw), one 15oz. can chickpeas (drained), and ½ cup water. Stir everything together and then bring it up to a simmer over medium heat. Let the mixture simmer for five minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Add coconut milk: After simmering for five minutes, turn the heat down to medium-low and add a 13oz. can of coconut milk. Depending on how thick you want the sauce, you can either just heat through or let it simmer until thickened. Leave your chana saag chunky, or, if preferred, use an immersion blender to purée some of the mixture. Once it’s heated through, adjust the salt to your liking.

Whatever texture you choose, it’s freaking delicious.

Serve over rice or with a piece of naan for dipping!

How to Serve

I suggest serving this over rice or with some homemade naan to sop up the sauce. I served mine with some rice and while I usually go for jasmine rice, the Chana Saag was so flavorful that plain white rice did the job nicely. You can also try my coconut rice!

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