Spaghetti Squash Curry with Roasted Chickpeas
Have you ever eaten an amazing meal at a restaurant, and lived the rest of your days haunted by the deliciousness of that meal until you finally figured out how to duplicate it at home? This spaghetti squash curry with roasted chickpeas has been my meal haunting for a few years, ever since I my first visit to Cleveland’s renowned Greenhouse Tavern. It was the only vegan entree on the entire menu, but at the time I was a pretty picky eater and curry definitely intimidated me. Luckily, I ordered it anyway, and it quickly became a favorite restaurant memory.
Unfortunately, the Greenhouse Tavern’s sustainable menu is always changing due to local produce availability, and I’ve never seen spaghetti squash curry with roasted chickpeas on it again, so I was forced to do a little experimenting in my own kitchen. I think I finally got it right! If you’re as excited about comfort food season as I am, you must try this recipe! It’s not too spicy, but it’s definitely delicious and so flavorful. Oh, and as a bonus? It’s also vegan and gluten-free!


- 1 spaghetti squash
- 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
- 2 T olive oil, halved
- 2 T mild curry powder
- 1 T chili powder
- 2 t sugar
- 1 1/2 t cumin
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t garlic powder
- 1/2 t turmeric
- 1 can of unsalted chickpeas
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/4 t cracked black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400˚
- Cut the spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds (which make a great snack when seasoned and roasted!), place on a cooking sheet cut sides up, and brush with one tablespoon of olive oil. Roast at 400˚ for 50 minutes. While the squash is roasting, combine the rest of the curried squash ingredients to make the sauce. Then prepare the chickpeas for roasting (directions below). When the squash is removed from the oven, allow it to cool while you roast the chickpeas. When the squash is cool enough to handle, shred the flesh with a fork and place into a medium size bowl. Add the sauce, and stir to combine. Scoop the curried spaghetti squash onto 4 plates, top with sliced green onions and a quarter of the roasted chickpeas and serve hot.
- Combine the drained chickpeas with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, the salt, and the pepper. Spread in one layer on a cooking sheet covered in parchment paper. Roast at 450˚ for about ten minutes, or until golden and slightly crispy.

This looks and sounds delicious, but we don’t get spaghetti squash in South Africa. It looks so cool.
You can very easily grow spaghetti squash.
I’ll definitely have to try this out. It looks so tasty!
These images will haunt me until I cook this for myself!
This is exactly the kind of food I like to eat in the fall/winter. Thanks for sharing!
This combines all of my favorite foods- curry, chickpeas, SPAGHETTI SQUASH?! Ever since I had spaghetti squash for the first time I fell in love and swore I’d never eat noodles again haha… So cool how it just pulls apart like that- I’m amazed every time! Anyway, your pics are gorgeous and I’ll def be making this as soon as it cools off a bit more in Tennessee :)
Looks delish! I have pinned it to try soon!!! Thanks
The boyfriend and I are making this tonight! We’ll have to e-mail you some of the *ahem* choicer photographs from the experiment!
I just made this for lunch – it was so yummy! And so easy!
I see scallions in photo but not listed in ingredients . Will make today.
Thanks for pointing that out! They’re not necessary, but definitely are a nice touch. :)
I just found this Mandi. Is it possible to edit he cook time as it shows 65hours or 3 days on receipe instead of 65 minutes
Made this earlier tonight, it was fantastic!
I’m so glad you liked it! I always get nervous sharing a made-up recipe that it won’t turn out the same or as tasty for other people who try it. :)
I made this following the directions (almost) to the letter and it was AWESOME. The one change I made was to roast the chickpeas a few minutes extra because they didn’t look browned. This was a mistake as some of them came out crunchy. Follow this recipe exactly and you won’t regret it!
I made this for me and my fiancé tonight. It was good, I found it had too much spice though and turned out a bit bitter. Would be better with less spice. Also with the roasted chick peas I added garlic cloves and roasted them with the chickpeas, it was delicious this way and highly recommended if you like garlic. :)
I just made this and it was absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Made as main course tonight, and we give it all thumbs up! Instead of sugar, I substituted a can of drained, sliced pineapple (with wedges cut from 1/2 inch wedge to 1/4 inch), which I tossed and roasted with the chickpeas (and doubled the chickpea oil/salt/pepper). Glad to know about keeping to 10 mins. on the chickpeas; they hadn’t browned, and I’d have given them more time, glad I didn’t! Makes a fantastic ‘comfort food’ meal.
Made this tonight, the flavor profile was a bit strong/bitter for me. I even added coconut milk which helped some. I think next time I would cut down the chili powder, discard the turmeric, and add fresh garlic. Loved the chickpeas on top. I could see thos dish being a winner with some slight adjustments.
We enjoyed this dish. Since others mentioned it was a bit strong/bitter — I reduced the spices (2 t. chili powder, 4-5 t. curry powder, 1/4 t. turmeric); this was to our liking. I used agave instead of sugar. My squash was 3.3 lbs., and we had sauce left over. Next time I will bake 5-6 lb. squash for the amount of sauce. I roasted 2 cans of chick peas in grapeseed oil at 400F with the squash for the last 20 min. When I increase the squash, I will probably roast 3 cans of chick peas. They are great just as a snack!
This recipe hit all the marks for me: healthy, delicious, inexpensive, and relatively easy. The squash was still somewhat crunchy after 1 hr, but it’s a great texture. The sauce is super tasty and not overpowered by the curry (which is typically not my fav spice). Don’t take a shortcut on the roasted garbanzos–they are a perfect addition to this dish. “Serves 4” only as a side dish. Two of us ate this as the main course and there was barely a 1/2 serving leftover.
Great recipe! I doubled it for my house of six hungry 20-somethings and it was perfect. When I roasted the chickpeas, I added 3 carrots cut into medallions. I also opted to combine the squash and sauce in a baking dish, top with the chickpeas, and return it to the oven on warm for 15 minutes to let everything warm through and mingle. I’ll be making this again soon! Thanks!
65 Hours? :-)
I don’t have THAT much time……
It looks yummy- will have to ry….
This was absolutely delicious! I left out the turmeric and used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce, which made it a little runny but otherwise fabulous. The serving size was just about right. A keeper!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
please add green onions to your ingredients list. I didn’t see them on there and didn’t buy. Would of loved to have it.
Great simple recipe. I would decrease the amount of chili power but otherwise, so tasty, filling and healthy!
I felt the squash was pretty dry at about 55 hours of cooking
Try cooking it cut-side down and it won’t be dry, but beware of overcooking cut-side down or it will get mushy and not have any al dente texture left. :)
SÃ¥ mye flott du lager :-)Du har meldt deg pÃ¥ adsentvkalenderen hos Janne,sant?Jeg trenger adressen din,for nÃ¥ er det tid for oss til Ã¥ sende avgÃ¥rde…Ha en flott kveld!-Helle-
I’m sorry but I can’t tell if this is in teaspoons or tablespoons
You can tell tablespoons versus teaspoons in a recipe based on if it is an uppercase or lowercase t. So, T stands for tablespoon while t stands for teaspoon. :) -Mandi
. I think about my own children as they were growing up and now I think of my precious granchildren and I would exit now as well and enjoy the moments!You are an amazing woman Betsy!
This sounds great and I’m excited to try it.
But I’m not very tech savvy and I can’t figure out how to find the actual recipe. All I can see is the pictures and comments.