Satay Sweet Potato Curry

Satay Sweet Potato Curry is easy to make, delicious and full of hearty vegetables! Featuring the ever-popular peanut butter (choose crunchy for an extra bite) and based on Indonesian flavours, this one will please the whole family!

Jump to:

• 🌟 Why this recipe works
• 🍽 Equipment and Products Used
• 📋 Ingredient Notes
• 🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
• 👩‍🍳 Expert Tips
• 💭 FAQs
• 🍛 What to serve with it:
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🌟 Why this recipe works

• Really quick – we love a recipe that’s ready in under 30 minutes and this one really delivers. Get the spices ready in advance and baking the sweet potato first really helps speed things up. 
• Tried and tested – we’ve tested this many times with our family. It has been a hit every time! We made tweaks until it was perfect.
• Bake the sweet potato first – in order to speed up the cooking process. It also allows the edges of the potato to crisp slightly, which adds a different texture to the curry. We haven’t cooked the sweet potato in the sauce on the hob in this recipe. It will probably work, but you may need more sauce for it to cook thoroughly.
• Similar to our Tofu Satay Curry – our Tofu Satay Curry is a winner. This one is a new take on that, with different veggies that are perfect for autumn.
• Indonesian flavours – satay comes from Indonesia, and if you’ve been following our blog for any time at all, you’ll know all about our love of Bali and that we lived and cooked there for 5 months this year. This recipe is a salute to Bali.

🍽 Equipment and Products Used

As usual, this recipe doesn’t need fancy equipment. Cooking it in a wok helps to spread the heat evenly and speeds up the cooking process. If you don’t have one, a large saucepan will work well too. A potato peeler wouldn’t go amiss either.

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Peanut butter – use good quality peanut butter, not one that has added palm oil, sugar or flavourings. Just pure peanuts and a dash of salt is acceptable (call us peanut butter snobs, I dare ya!). We like Whole Earth or 'Smunchy' peanut butter by Proper Nutty. 
• Sweet potato – the clue is in the name, however butternut squash, pumpkin or white potato work well too!
• Chickpeas – chickpeas, sweet potato and spinach are a great, hearty combination. We add the chickpeas to increase the protein content of the vegan satay curry, but there are other options too. You could opt to switch the chickpeas for butter beans, cannellini beans or lupin beans. It’s also important to mention the simmering time here – (assuming the chickpeas are already cooked, or from a tin) they need to simmer for at least 15 minutes in the sauce to make sure they soften. Otherwise, they may be a little on the crunchy side, which I don’t think is very enjoyable.
• Curry powder – we tend to use mild curry powder, so we recommend using a similar one. Steer away from a spicy curry powder, unless you want the satay sweet potato curry to be really spicy! 
• Turmeric powder – mostly used for colour, so don’t skip this!
• Sugar – satay always has a slight sweetness to it. If you would rather make the curry without added sugar, that’s cool. Just make sure to taste it before serving. We tend to use brown sugar or coconut sugar, rather than white sugar.

You can find the exact measurements and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

These instructions are an overview of how to make this dish. For full instructions, ingredients and notes, head to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Preheat the oven to 190c / gas mark 5. Then bake sweet potatoes for 20 minutes on a baking tray. Spray with oil spray or lightly brush with oil - optionally.

2. In a wok or large sauté pan, fry the onions until soft, for about 5 minutes.

3. Add in the garlic, fresh chilli and ginger. Cook for another 1 minute.

4. Sprinkle in the spices and stir well for 1 minute.

5. Pour in the coconut milk, then bring up to a simmer.

6. Add the peanut butter and stir gently. Allow the satay curry to continue to simmer, in order for the peanut butter to melt into the sauce. Pop in the soy sauce, stir through.

7. Next, it’s time for the chickpeas. Chuck them in, stir and then simmer for 15 minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice, and optionally add 1 teaspoon sugar - this will balance out the chilli and add sweetness but it is great without the sugar too.

8. Stir in the cooked sweet potatoes.

9. Wilt in the baby spinach and stir through. This should take around one minute. Remove from the heat straight away, so the spinach doesn’t overcook.

10. Serve immediately with rice roti or both!

👩‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Light coconut milk – we almost always use light coconut milk when we’re cooking curries. We find that it’s just as creamy and also helps to keep the saturated fat lower. We’re not dieticians but we do have a keen interest in nutrition.
• No sweet potatoes? No problem! Use pumpkin, butternut squash or white potatoes.
• Leafy greens – this satay sweet potato curry works well with any leafy green, not just spinach. I love the combo of sweet potato, spinach and chickpeas but the spinach can easily be replaced with kale, cavolo nero or seasonal greens.
• Make it soy-free – you can use 1 teaspoon of salt instead of the soy sauce. Make it gluten-free by using tamari in place of the soy sauce.
• Fridge instructions – this curry will keep in the fridge for 3 days. Remember that the chilli can develop the longer it stays in the fridge!
• Freezing instructions – this curry will keep in the freezer for up to three months. 

💭 FAQs

🍛 What to serve with it:

• Nasi Uduk
• Vegan Roti
• Spicy Sambal

More Recipes To Try

Head to our Vegan Indonesian Section to try more Indonesian inspired reipes!

Did you make this recipe? Leave a review and a rating below, or tag us in your photos on Instagram! Alternatively, bookmark it in your browser or save to Pinterest for later.

If you love our content, please consider supporting it by buying us a coffee.

📖 Recipe