Dollop
Slow cooker Thai butternut squash curry
Sweet butternut squash and chickpeas simmered all day in coconut red curry, finished with spinach and lime and spooned over jasmine rice.
- 370 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.49 a serving
- 670 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 package cubed butternut squash
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 lime
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- 6 sprigs fresh basil, leaves torn (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- 2¼ cups water
Each serving has about 670 calories, 16 g protein, 105 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $3.49 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No cubed butternut squash? Butternut squash works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No coconut milk? Light coconut milk works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the squash, onion, garlic, ginger, curry paste, coconut milk, broth, chickpeas, brown sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in the slow cooker. Stir until the curry paste dissolves.
Cover and cook on Low for 5 to 6 hours (or High for 3 hours), until the squash is very tender.
Timer: 330 min
About 20 minutes before eating, the rice and bring it with the water and ¼ teaspoon salt in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn to low and cook 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Stir the spinach into the curry until and squeeze in the lime. Mash a few pieces of squash against the side to the sauce.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Serve over the rice with torn basil on top.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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