Black bean, butternut squash & coconut curry
A tasty and eay to vegetarian curry – great for feeding a crowd

15 mins

45 mins

338 kcals

serves 6

BLACK BEAN, BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND COCONUT CURRY
Curry is a fantastic meal to make if you are feeding a big group- you can prepare it in advance (in fact it often tastes even nicer if it’s had a bit of time to ‘brew’ and is reheated), it’s easy to scale up to feed the right number of people, and it freezes really well if you have lots of leftovers. It’s also a great way to get in portions of healthy vegetables and pulses without even trying!
I came up with this curry for a girls night in with a big group of friends- I needed to feed 16 people, so I made 3 big curries (this one, butter chicken and chickpea masala) and rice.
This vegetarian butternut squash and black bean curry ticks all the boxes, it’s cheap to make, full of goodness, super tasty and filling! You can even make this one in a real hurry just by using frozen, pre-chopped butternut squash. I usually use black beans in Mexican food, but they worked really nicely in this curry, and again nice and easy as you can just use tinned black beans.
Lots of people following Slimming World avoid coconut milk completely, as it is high in syns. I think that is such a shame, as it adds so much to many dishes, and in a curry like this, it adds amazing flavour. If you are making a big batch then split into portions it’s really only a couple of syns per person. I always use light coconut milk as it still gives the amazing flavour but has a lot less syns. It does really vary between brands, so you need to chack the brand that you are using, but I usually use a ball-park figure of around 15 syns per 400ml can.
HOT TO MAKE THIS RECIPE EVEN EASIER!
I’m all for the easy life when it comes to cooking, and if you want to whip this up in no time at all, then you can easily use frozen pre-chopped onion and butternut squash and lazy ginger, garlic and chilli. It saves all of the chopping and prep time!
CAN I ADD MEAT?
Yes of course! This curry is perfect for using up leftover roast chicken, just throw it in 10 minutes before the end of cooking to ensure it heats through.
WANT MORE RECIPES LIKE THIS ONE?
If you’re looking for more curry inspiration, or are cooking up a curry buffet, why not have a look at these recipes:
SWEET POTATO AND COCONUT CURRY

HOMEMADE MANGO CHUTNEY

WARMING CAULIFLOWER AND LENTIL DAL


Black-bean, butternut squash & coconut curry
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A tasty and easy to make vegetarian curry- great for feeding a crowd!
Syns: around 2 per portion (coconut milk)
Ingredients
- For the spice blend: 1 tbsp garam masala, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp dried chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 onions (finely chopped)
- 3 (large) cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 green chilli (diced finely)
- 5 cm long piece of ginger (peeled and finely chopped)
- 500 g (approx.) butternut squash, diced
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 3 tins (400g each) black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin (400ml) reduced fat coconut milk
- 2 large handfuls baby spinach (washed)
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- Fresh coriander & lime to serve
- Low calorie cooking spray/spray oil
Instructions
- Prepare the spice mix so it’s ready to go
- In a large, deep pan, start to fry the onion in low calorie cooking spray or a little spray oil and gently sauté it for 10 minutes
- Add the garlic, ginger and green chilli and gently fry for another 2 minutes
- Add in the spices, stir, and fry gently for another minute, then add in the butternut squash and mix in thoroughly
- Pour in the vegetable stock, and mix into the other ingredients
- Add the black beans, coconut milk and chopped tomatoes. Stir through, and then simmer gently for 30 minutes
- Add in the baby spinach and the lemon juice, stir through until the spinach has wilted
- Serve with fresh, chopped coriander
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes