For many there is still a lot of mystery behind what vegans eat. I have been offered fish more than once yet asked, “can vegans eat peanut butter?” just as many times. There actually isn’t much secret behind what we eat, and preparing food is really quite easy – you just leave out the animals.
I’m using Vegan MoFo to take an A-Z trip through my pantry to bring you 26 easy recipes to show you that anyone can cook vegan. Eating vegan, well, it’s as easy as ABC.
There was no doubt in my mind that, despite the many amazing options, “P” was going to have to stand for pumpkin. I mean, is there any greater food? The best thing about pumpkin is that goes with just about everything. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, snack time, dessert. You can even drink pumpkin. And in all of it’s variations, it it somehow perfectly complimentary to every other flavor. But I also love pumpkin because it represents the most magical time of year: fall.
I’m starting to get a little sad about the 80 and 90 degree days we are still having. And where is the rain? Aren’t we supposed to be sipping chai lattes and knitting leg warmers in our cozy sweaters? If it’s still like this in another week or so, I’m going to just start pretending – even if that means sweating through my layers while sipping on hot soup. Or thai curry.
(That kind of already happened)
This vegan Pumpkin Peanut Curry brings together my love of fall and my love of thai food in one big bowl of goodness. Creamy, sweet, and spicy, this is just about as good as it gets.
Even in 90 degree weather.
Are you a pumpkin lover, too? Make sure to check out my tribute to pumpkins here.
- 8-10 oz extra firm tofu, cubed
- 4 cups fresh pumpkin, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- ½ cup water
- 2-3 tbsp red curry paste
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- ¼ cup thai basil, chopped
- salt, to taste
- ½ cup peanuts
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add tofu and pan-fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring often. Once lightly browned on all sides, remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.
- In another large saucepan stir together coconut milk, water, maple syrup, and curry paste. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to a light simmer. Add the pumpkin and cover. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and tofu and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
- Transfer ¼ cup of the coconut milk/curry mixture to a small bowl and add two tablespoons of peanut butter. Whisk together than add back to the sauce pan, stirring to incorporate. Add salt.
- Remove from heat. Stir in thai basil.
- Top with extra basil and peanuts and serve over rice.
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This sounds so good! I love the flavors you’ve combined here. Pinned! 🙂
to me, the most perfect food is peanuts, which also starts with a p and is in this dish! there is nothing i love more than a big bowl of thai curry topped with peanuts. this recipe is calling my name. and i especially love these photos!
This peanut pumpkin curry look amazing 🙂 I love adding pumpkin into savory eats! I’ve made pumpkin curry before and can’t wait to try your delicious recipe (with peanuts – delicious!).
I just got back to London from a holiday in Greece, where it was definitely summer…and found that back home in London it’s definitely fall! I was a bit sad until I started thinking about autumnal recipes and saw this pumpkin curry recipe! Now I have something to look forward to for the fall. 🙂
Hi! Quick question, how can I replace coconut milk in a curry such as this one? I despite its taste.
Thank you!
You could replace it with about 3/4 the amount of soy milk. This will give it some creaminess but because it has less fat and is more watery, you don’t want to put the full amount in.
I have a ton of fresh butternut squash. Do you think it would be an OK substitute for fresh pumpkin?
Yeah, it would work just fine. Half the time I make this recipe with butternut squash myself because fresh pumpkin can be hard to find.
This was devine! My subs: chickpeas vs tofu (didn’t have time to press and fry it), gf tamari vs salt, cashews and cashew butter vs peanut (school is peanut free and I always send leftovers for lunch). This is my new favorite fall/winter entree–IT’S AMAZING!!!
Great! Thanks for sharing your subs. I think I’ll try it with chickpeas next time.
Just made this – so comforting and satisfying! Currently living in Thailand and it’s nice to make the most of the produce (most of which is my favourite food) here. Your blog is great and fills me with ideas! Thank you!