Instant Pot Butternut Squash Curry with Spinach

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This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Curry is a creamy vegan curry, filled with goodness of squash, coconut milk and spinach. This cozy and comforting curry is perfect for Fall dinners!

Butternut Squash Curry with spinach served over rice. Garnished with cilantro and peanuts

I am totally loving all the squash and pumpkins in the stores during this time of the year. I realized that I have so many pumpkin and squash recipes now, I will do a roundup soon!

This butternut squash curry is so delicious, it has a good balance of sweet squash with a spicy curry base.

I like to make this curry as any other Indian curry, with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and lots of aromatic spices. It all comes together perfectly with the addition of creamy coconut milk.

I also add in some spinach at the end for extra nutrition, color, and taste!

This curry pairs well with rice or quinoa. You can cook the rice separately, or you can make pot-in-pot white rice while cooking this curry.

If you love pumpkin and squash as much as I do, check out 8 easy pumpkin and squash recipes.

Butternut squash coconut curry topped with cilantro and peanuts in a white bowl

How to make Butternut Squash Coconut Curry?

Let's first talk about the ingredients in this curry:

Butternut Squash - I cut the butternut squash myself, but pre-cut squash works great in this recipe. The only thing is you might need to adjust the cooking time by 1-2 minutes if the pieces are much smaller or larger than the suggested size.

If the pieces are 1 inch in size, then increase the cooking time by 1-2 minutes. If they are less than ½ inch, then reduce cooking time by 1-2 minutes.

You can also use pumpkin or kabocha squash in this recipe. They would cook well at the same time.

Coconut Milk: I use full-fat coconut milk.

Spinach: I added spinach at the end, but any green could work.

The method for this recipe is really simple:

Start with heating the instant pot and adding oil to sauté the onions, ginger, and garlic.
Then add in the tomatoes and spices.
Then add the butternut squash pieces and water. Then pressure cook.
After pressure cooking, stir in the coconut milk, lime juice, and spinach.

butternuts squash curry being made in the instant pot - step by step collage

This curry comes together so quickly and you won't believe how delicious it is.

Garnish with peanuts, and cilantro leaves.

Butternut squash spinach curry topped with cilantro and peanuts in a white bowl

Tips

Make sure you adjust the cooking time, based on the size of squash pieces.
It is important to deglaze the pot well before pressure cooking to avoid burn.
You can add other veggies that cook in similar time to this curry.
I highly recommend to not skip the lime juice. It really brings out the flavor of this curry.

Common Questions

How to store this curry?

Let the curry cool down completely. You can store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also portion it in small air tight containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating, then add the garnishes.

What to serve this curry with?

This curry pairs perfectly with rice. You can use white or brown rice. You can serve over quinoa.
The cooking time for this curry is perfect to cook pot-in-pot white rice with the curry. See this dal fry recipe for how to add pot-in-pot rice to the instant pot.

What other veggies can I add to this curry?

You can add hearty veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and bell pepper. You can also add red lentils or canned chickpeas. They would cook well in the same time.

Variations for this Curry

Lentil Butternut Squash Curry: You can also add red lentils to this curry along with the squash. The cooking time will remain the same. I would suggest reducing the squash to about 12oz and adding ⅓ cup of red lentils.

Chickpea Butternut Squash Curry: You can also add a can of chickpeas to this curry. Here is my recipe for how to cook chickpeas in the instant pot. You can pre-cook chickpeas and add them to this curry before pressure cooking as well.

Thai Butternut Squash Red Curry: Add Thai red curry paste and skip the tomatoes to make a Thai version of this butternut squash curry, similar to this instant pot butternut squash soup.

I hope you give this easy Butternut Squash curry a try this Fall. Do comment back with how you enjoyed the curry!

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