cover of the ambitious kitchen cookbook
The Ambitious Kitchen Cookbook
A New York Times Bestseller

Vegetarian Tofu Cashew Coconut Curry

Creamy, flavorful vegetarian tofu curry with tender sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and bell pepper. Beautiful veggies and tofu are simmered in a fragrant coconut curry sauce filled with garlic, turmeric, and ginger for a delicious vegan curry dish you’ll love!

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
45 mins

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  • says:

    I’d like to try this recipe, but I have a rather silly question: HOW are the cashews supposed to be ground up, and to what texture? Just putting them raw into a blender chops them into crumbs, or adding milk or cream might make it something more like a cream if you have a good enough blender, What texture are we looking for? Thanks!

    • replied:

      You can grind them in a food processor or coffee grinder, or simply sub cashew butter!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This recipe has been one of our go tos for years now. It’s delicious. My food processor is broken though and the cashews didn’t ground up finely enough in my blender the last time I made it, so it was kind of gritty. I was wondering if I can sub cashew butter? If so how much?

    • replied:

      So glad you love this one! Cashew butter would be great for creaminess, but the recipe will still be delicious without the cashews 🙂

  • says:

    This recipe is so delicious! I made it exactly as is…not sure how much the cashews really added to it…made it a little grittier texture, which I didn’t mind but I feel like folks who are weird about texture may not like that as much and I really don’t think they were necessary, so I probably will leave out next time. I also included the mushrooms…yum! I actually think this same recipe would be GREAT as a soup too…any thoughts on how I might be able to made some adjustments to serve as a soup?

    • replied:

      Glad you enjoyed! Hmm I haven’t tested it as a soup but you’ll want to increase both the broth and spices to get that texture. Let me know if you give it a try!

  • says:

    5 stars
    I love this curry! Could you please give an estimate of how much each serving weighs? Keep up the great work. Thank you very much!

    • replied:

      So happy to hear that! I don’t typically weigh the servings out after cooking so I can’t be sure. I’d recommend diving it into servings and using a kitchen scale if you have one!

  • says:

    Don’t such a good site since can’t print ingredients and instructions

    • replied:

      Hi! When you’re on the recipe card, click “Print Recipe.”

  • says:

    5 stars
    PS – I should’ve added that I don’t use any oils, and I made this by water sautéing the vegetables and it turned out great. 😋

  • says:

    5 stars
    This is the MOST delicious curry recipe. I absolutely love it. I have made it twice not, and it will be a regular in my household. I cannot tell you how much I love it. It is a must try. The spices are just perfect and the tofu and cashews…I like it with steamed kale also. What a wonderful recipe. Thank you so much!

  • says:

    Loved this curry. So so delicious. I will definitely be making this many times over. The whole family loved it. What a great recipe. Thank you!

  • says:

    Could I substitute cashew butter for ground cashews? Would you suggest a 1 to 1 substitution? 1/4 cup cashew butter in place of 1/4 cup ground toasted cashews?

    • replied:

      I have not tested this recipe with cashew butter, but I am sure it could work and still be delicious. It might change the texture a bit. If you give this a try, let me know how it works out for you.

  • says:

    5 stars
    Excellent!!! So easy. I substituted broccoli for cauliflower and added onions and frozen peas and pineapple chunks. Wowza!

  • says:

    5 stars
    I made this for dinner last night and it turned out perfect. I added a little more heat to it, and it was so tasty!

    • replied:

      So glad you enjoyed it, Audrey!!

  • says:

    This was so delicious! You outdid yourself again! I used cashew butter instead of the nuts, and I subbed garam marsala instead of the cinnamon. Yum!

    • replied:

      Aw thanks so much! SO thrilled to hear you loved it. Garam masala’s a great sub, too!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This is honestly the most delicious, crowd pleasing meal in my repertoire of vegetarian recipes! Super hearty, wholesome and most importantly EASY to make. I substituted tofu for chickpeas instead as it was perfect. Love going through and trying out your recipes…each one comes out a total success. Thank you!!

    • replied:

      So thrilled to hear that everyone loves this one, Lani. Yay!! Chickpeas are an excellent sub 🙂 Hope you can try more of my vegetarian recipes soon!

  • says:

    When you say tomato sauce what do you mean? Do you mean passata?

    • replied:

      Canned tomato sauce! Like this 🙂

  • says:

    5 stars
    This was so delicious, my husband (who grew up eating Indian food, and also isn’t easy to wow) looked me straight in the eye and said “PLEASE make this again.” I don’t like using coconut milk, so I used about 1/3 cup soy yogurt and 15 oz soy milk to replace it. And my cashews were raw instead of roasted. But otherwise followed to the letter and it was amazing. This is going in the rotation!

    • replied:

      Ahh best review ever! Thank you! Happy it came out amazing 🙂

  • says:

    Also reduce the spices atleast by half. Will still taste good. And less oil. Toasted spices very little has to be added.

  • says:

    You have to toast the curry powder or most spices before adding. You can do it dry or in little oil. Takes less than 1 min.

    • replied:

      This is done in any small pan.

    • replied:

      Thanks for sharing, that’s a great idea!

  • says:

    5 stars
    We are trying to eat more plan based meals and this was a great tasty dish! Thanks Monique as the fam jam enjoyed it (even my more pickier veggie eater!) 😂

    • replied:

      Aw yay! I’m so glad!

  • says:

    Disgusting. Just tastes of coconut milk

    • replied:

      Sorry you didn’t love it! I find it really flavorful with all the spices. Do you not like coconut milk?

  • says:

    5 stars
    So much flavour we did this Christmas Eve and all family members loved even though only 1 out of four of us was vegetarian it was a hit! Thanks we will make every week for sure yum!

  • says:

    5 stars
    Delicious recipe. But 15 minutes prep is a gross underestimation.

    • replied:

      Thanks for the feedback, we can update that!

  • says:

    5 stars
    Absolutely phenomenal. Wouldn’t change a thing. Make this right away!!

    • replied:

      Aw thank you!! I’m so happy you loved it, Laura 🙂

  • says:

    5 stars
    So flavorful and a great way to have a meatless dinner! Added some chickpeas and replaced cauliflower with broccoli!

  • says:

    5 stars
    I came home from work exhausted and not wanting to make dinner, I checked the fridge and typed “tofu and sweet potato” into Google and came up with your recipe. I didn’t have cauliflower and made a few improvisations (sunflower seeds instead of cashews, for example) and made the best dinner! Thanks for the morale boost. Putting dinner on the table after almost 40 years of cooking for my family is sometimes a real chore. This was really good. And only one pot to wash!

    • replied:

      Aw I’m so happy you found this one, Dale! Glad to hear you loved it 🙂 Lots more one pan meals here if you want to browse!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This was an excellent Tofu Curry. The ground Cashews really made a creamy tasty sauce. The only thing different I did was to use Garam Masala to replace the spices as I was out of Curry powder. I certainly will be making this again. Thanks.

    • replied:

      Yay! So happy to hear you loved them! Great idea to use garam masala in here 🙂

  • says:

    5 stars
    Just made the vegetarian tofu coconut peanut curry !!! Absolutely amazing !!!! 🙏 I love love love your food !

    • replied:

      Yay! I’m so glad that you loved it, Pauline! 🙂

  • says:

    5 stars
    This was great! I took another poster’s suggestion and added 1/4 cup of dried, chopped apricots. I also marinated the tofu for while in in oil, curry powder, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder. Delicious! Will definitely make again.

    • replied:

      Sounds amazing! SO happy you loved it, Natalie 🙂

  • says:

    4 stars
    Tastes good, but cook times are way way off. I had to cook this for 2 full hours over medium heat to get the sweet potatoes fork tender. I anticipated this problem so I diced them smaller than I usually would, but it still took that long. Also needs salt, and throw in a fistful of raisins.

    • replied:

      Hi, Jacob! That’s so strange, I haven’t heard of that issue before! Was the curry simmering and did the carrots cook well? Whenever I make soups and curries the sweet potatoes generally take no more than 30 minutes max. Always feel free to add salt to taste, too, and raisins sound great!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This was delicious! I was opening the lake house for the season and had a limited set of ingredients handy, but luckily fell upon this recipe that I had most everything needed to make. I didn’t have ginger so I added a little tandoori spice blend and some cayenne. I also didn’t have cashews, so I used sliced, toasted almonds and they added a great crunch to the dish. I had half a can of full fat coconut milk and chicken better-than-bouillon instead of vegetarian broth. I’m never disappointed in your flavor profiles. So much depth. Thanks for another great recipe ❤️

    • replied:

      Amazing! This one’s perfect for customizing. So glad you enjoyed!

  • says:

    3 stars
    This is one of the first AK recipes to not do it for me. I found this to be pretty bland. Next time I would add a lot more curry powder and either some soy sauce/tamari or way more salt.

    • replied:

      Sorry to hear that! If your broth was unsalted I would recommend adding some more to taste. Soy sauce would be great, too!

  • says:

    5 stars
    I loved it! It was so easy to make, though I had a little kitchen incident occur… I ended cutting my finger with one of my new professional knives and slicing it pretty much all way down to the bone so that wasn’t good but I’m a nurse so thankfully I was able to get myself all fixed up… the recipe is wonderful though and I’m pretty sure you can play around with different vegetables as well.

    • replied:

      Oh no!! So sorry that happened – hope it’s healing up okay! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, too, despite the injury!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This took me about 30 minutes prep time but it is so worth it. Delicious!!!

    • replied:

      So glad you enjoyed!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This recipe is super easy to follow, you can’t really go wrong and it tastes delicious. Love it!!!

    • replied:

      Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!

  • says:

    5 stars
    Great!

    • replied:

      Perfect dinner!

  • says:

    Have you used beef instead of tofu?

    • replied:

      I haven’t tried it!

  • says:

    5 stars
    Excellent!

    • replied:

      Glad you liked it!

  • says:

    5 stars
    This recipe is a keeper! My husband is now on a mostly plant-based lifestyle for health reasons, and he loves this recipe. Thanks for making my life a bit easier! 😊

    • replied:

      …And I forgot to mention that I bake the tofu before adding it to the stew on STEP 4 (for crispy tofu bites).

      • replied:

        Love it! So glad you both enjoyed!

  • says:

    5 stars
    There is clearly a reason this is such a highly rated recipe – so simple yet so delicious!

    I hadn’t seen a curry recipe call for ground cashews before… I think thats part of what makes this one special, so don’t leave them out if you’re making this!

    Thanks Monique!

    • replied:

      Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!

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