A Vegan Red Pepper Curry Bowl made with the most delicious spicy curry sauce made with roasted red bell peppers and served over fluffy white rice and roasted broccoli. So incredibly comforting and completely vegan and oil-free.
VEGAN RED PEPPER CURRY BOWL
Anybody in the mood for some smoky roasted bell peppers turned into a delicious homemade and easy spicy curry sauce? Good. Me too. I hope you have your taste buds ready, because this meal is total comfort food to me. Spicy flavors are my jam. I really, really love red bell peppers and broccoli, 2 of my favorite veggies. So, I got the idea to create a curry sauce based off of my love for red bell peppers and the other red bell pepper sauces I make on this blog.
I have a few red bell pepper sauces on the blog and they are incredibly popular with you readers. In fact, one of my very favorite sauces on the blog is my Creamy Red Pepper Sauce with Fresh Basil. That one of course is made completely different and the only real similarity here, is the red bell peppers being roasted. This gives the sauce a wonderfully, rich and smoky flavor. Yeah….
LOTS OF FLAVOR IN THIS CURRY SAUCE
There’s loads of flavor in this Vegan Red Pepper Curry Bowl. We got roasted and charred red bell peppers, as well as roasted broccoli. The red bell peppers are added with cooked garlic, onion, some curry powder, lemon juice and some cashew milk for creaminess and then served over fluffy white rice. Are you salivating yet? I typically use brown rice for 99% of my recipes, BUT a curry red pepper sauce just doesn’t taste quite the same over brown rice, it is just sooo much more delicious and comforting with the white rice. So, guys, it’s worth it to use it once in awhile. WORTH IT.
For this recipe, I’ve made it with both the Now Curry by Penzey’s and also my Homemade Curry Spice Blend. One of my favorite recipes to use my blend in is this Sweet Potato and White Bean Curry Soup, which has been a huge hit with readers. One of my lovely readers, Judy, said, ”how can something this great be so easy to make” and “how did I live without this soup”. So, if you haven’t tried that soup yet, be sure to do it!
The roasted broccoli and rice just soaks up all of the delicious flavors. Bonus that this recipe is totally healthy, made with whole foods and oil-free!
I really hope you all love this Vegan Red Pepper Curry Bowl with Broccoli and Rice! Be sure to rate the recipe after you make it, you know the drill! I’d love to see your pics too, so tag me either on Instagram using my tag #thevegan8 or on Facebook!
Other Vegan Curry Recipes to try:
- Easy Vegan Quick Curry
- Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry
- Thai Green Sweet Potato Curry
- Lazy Red Lentil Curry Soup
- Curry Chickpea Sandwiches
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Easy 1 Pot Creamy Curry Rice Soup
This post was originally posted 4/15/2016 and has been updated with new content and weight measurements.
Vegan Red Pepper Curry Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers (465g)
- 4 cups (325g) broccoli florets (I like to use frozen, makes them more moist)
FOR THE RICE
- 1 cup jasmine white rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
FOR THE VEGGIES
- 5 tablespoons water
- 3/4 cup (87g) finely chopped white or yellow onion
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced (10g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2-2 teaspoons yellow curry spice (I use my homemade blend)
- 1/2 cup (120g) cashew milk (if you are allergic to nuts, then use soy milk or "lite" coconut milk, but choose a creamy one for best results)
- 1 tablespoon (15g) lemon juice (plus more for serving)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (to be added later with the sauce in the blender)
- Optional: Feel free to add chickpeas or tofu if you want an extra boost of protein
NOTE
- Regarding the curry powder, different brands have varying levels of heat, so you may need to increase your curry powder and add a pinch of cayenne for a spicy kick. You can easily adjust it after blending the sauce.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line 2 pans with parchment paper. Add the bell peppers to 1 pan and the broccoli to another. Season the broccoli with salt and pepper. Place ONLY the pan of bell peppers in the oven first and roast for 25 minutes. NOTE: after 15 minutes has passed, you will be adding the broccoli to the oven. Set your timer!
- While the bell peppers are roasting, start the rice. Add the rice, water and salt to a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately cover and turn down to simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until all the water is gone. Mine took exactly 15 minutes. Be careful so it doesn't burn at the bottom, as white rice cooks much faster than brown. Fluff with a fork and leave uncovered.
- While the rice is cooking, add the water (5 Tbsp), onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper (not the curry yet) to a large pan over medium heat. After it begins to simmer, cook about 5 minutes, then add the garlic. Cook a couple more minutes, adding water if needed. Once the water is gone, add the curry powder, cashew milk and turn to low heat. Stir and cook for just a minute to heat the curry through and the milk sauce turns yellow. Remove from the heat. Pour it carefully in a blender, but don't blend yet.
- After 15 minutes has passed with the peppers, add the broccoli to the bottom rack of the oven beneath the peppers. Your broccoli should be done in the last 10 minutes of the peppers finishing up. Depending on the size of florets, yours may take longer. Watch closely so they don't burn since it's a high temp.
- Remove the bell peppers and let them cool a couple of minutes. Then carefully slice the bell peppers and remove the stem and seeds and add them to the blender (that already has the cashew curry cooked mixture in it). Add all of those black charred skins, yes, lots of flavor. Add the lemon juice and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and blend everything until completely smooth. Taste and add more curry (will need more and possibly some cayenne, if you used a mild one) or lemon juice if you want it more tangy. Add more milk if you want it milder and more creamy. Pour a lot over your rice and add the broccoli. I gave my bowl a good squirt of fresh lemon juice right before serving for a bright note. Add any chickpeas or tofu, if desired.
- This makes a lot of sauce, 1 1/2 cups, so you will likely have leftovers. It would go great over a large bed of roasted veggies too.
I came here to ask the same question as Stephanie did on Aug. 7, 2019. Is the garlic added before or after simmering?
Hi, sorry that’s a typo. You add the garlic after simmering the onion and cook a couple minutes more.
Great recipe, but I’m confused about when to add the garlic. You say, “While the rice is cooking, add the water (5 Tbsp), onion, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper (not the curry yet) to a large pan over medium heat. After it begins to simmer, let it cook about 5 minutes, then add the garlic.” Should I add the garlic to the onion/water mixture before it simmers, or after? Does it matter?
Thanks!
Oh my vegan! This was amazing! I ate this or ate broccoli, the sauce, and something else for lunch or dinner almost everyday this week! I didn’t have all the ingredients to make the curry powder, so I used a curry powder that I already had in my cabinet. I can’t wait to make it again with the homemade curry powder.
Yay!! So glad it was a hit Sara, thank you for the review!
Yes, the white rice is perfect for sopping up the sauce. Definitely drown the bowl with this sauce – it’s that good!
This looks amazing! Quick question about the broccoli…and I realize I should know this…but, do you just put the frozen broccoli in the oven as is, or do you thaw it in the microwave and drain it, and THEN bake it? Thanks in advance for your answer! I want to make this tonight if possible.
Hi Laura, I add them straight from the freezer, no need to thaw! I will always note if a step is needed like that 🙂
WOW! Just made this, subbing cauliflower rice for regular rice. So delicious! Thanks!
Yay, so glad you loved this bowl Stephanie! Thank you for the review!
This sauce is THE BOMB! It has sooo much flavor! I served it over riced cauliflower with tofu and the roasted broccoli. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you Brandy, so glad you loved the sauce!
This looks amazing! I was wondering if you had any ideas to substitute the red peppers as I try to stay away from night shades though want to create a curry bowl similar to the one they have at True Foods. I am a beginner chef so just learning ways to substitute items. I love your blog as trying to eat this way and am inspired every time I read your recipes!
Lisa
I read your comment concerning your love for red peppers and then searched for Romesco sauce. I ate this particular dish when visiting son and have since made it many times as has my son. I leave out the olive oil. I am not sure how you feel about using that many almonds. This sauce is so good I wanted to pick up the plate and lick it in the restaurant in LA.
http://botanicamag.com/recipes/our-favorite-romesco/
I literally have a romesco sauce coming this week, LOL! It’s totally oil-free and yes, I use almonds in a ton of my recipes. I love nuts. Mine is similar of course to the classic using almonds, but there is a surprising ingredient in it 🙂
This was SOOOOO good and a major hit with my husband!! Love love love!
Upon a search for breakfast burrito ideas I stumbled onto this which is pretty much exactly what I had last night. I good portion of broccoli with a bit of spice is easily just as filling as a small steak. But you can eat as much broccoli as you want. You can’t really do that with steak.
So true, so glad you found me Joseph!
SO so happy to hear that, it is a favorite of mine!
Hi Christina, your blog post makes me so hungry! This dish is so flavorful, colorful, and seems so easy to make. Definitely a dish I want to try out. Curry has always been one of my favorite spices to add to foods. I put curry in everything. From salads, to mixed veggies, on top of meats, and even on top of some fruit, curry is a part of my everyday diet. One addition to your dish that I love is using cashew milk. I have never heard of cashew milk, but i’m sure it gives a different and interesting flavor. Have you used other types of milk in this dish that could give a different flavor?
Hi Meghan! It actually doesn’t leave any noticeable difference in flavor, it simply just makes the sauce creamy. The only other plant milk I would recommend is canned “lite” coconut milk or soy milk since they are both creamy. Cashew milk is my preferred choice though 🙂 Oh and fyi, my name is Brandi 🙂
This looks like it bursting with so much delicious flavor! Do you think I could sub in some cauliflower rice?
Hi Rachel! I’ve never eaten cauliflower rice, but if you like it, then go for it! 🙂
Bahahahahaha!!! You are awesome. I love it! I can’t believe I haven’t read this until now!! So sorry girl, my life is CRAZY with all this house repair. You know me and my curry. LOLOL! But really though, this is absolutely gorgeous! If you made it for me, I’d totally try it. I think I was born without the curry gene. HA!! But I know there are so many people out there you reach with this one, and I promise that if anyone comes my way for curry, it’s off to you I’ll send them! And isn’t having great spices so awesome? Makes such a difference. Especially with a curry spice, who has the time to create one from scratch! This way you do it is perfect!
No worries, I understand lady!! I know you are just salivating all over the place over this curry, bahahaha!! Thanks so much!! Yes, I need easy recipes with not too many ingredients, for sure!
This curry had so much flavor. It definitely had a spicy heat kick that was a little much for me cause I am sensitive to heat but I still gobbled it up because it was freaking delicious. I love the roasted bell pepper in there. That was the first time ever roasting bell pepper and I don’t know why I haven’t done it before. So easy. I used lite coconut milk and it was perfect. Thank you so much for another fabulous recipe that I will be making again and again. I will just tame the heat down a little in the future 😉 Man I want it again already. *cries hysterically* hahahaha Your recipes really couldn’t be more perfect. 😀
Thank you so much Christina!! I’m so happy you loved this dish so much! And you are right, I made sure to put spicy in the title because it is definitely spicy, LOL! Also, the Now curry is significantly more spicy than a regular yellow curry from the store, so if somebody used the regular, it would be less spicy. Definitely add more lemon juice or milk next time to tone it down for your liking, that will help. Regardless, thank you for your kind words, so happy you loved it.
Would you believe I’ve eaten it 4 days in a row?!! That’s how much I love it, lol!
Hahaha I can totally understand why you would have it four days in a row its incredible. I am thinking that is what I want for dinner tonight hahaha but I don’t know if I have any more coconut milk so it might have to wait till tomorrow 🙁
I LOVE red bell peppers in anything. Omelets, salads, stir-fries, roasted side vegetables, soups, frittatas, and of course CURRY, which is my favorite food of them all! I love that this is also a really spicy curry because I am such a chili-hot fanatic! 😛 Your curry looks so bright and delicious! I want to dig in!
Thank you so much Cassie! Yes, the bell peppers is the main ingredient here as the sauce which is a bit unusual for a curry, but it has such a nice deep flavor!
I’m new to your blog and have found manna! I am always tinkering with recipes, but get bogged down with multi ingredients. Love the efficiency of manageable ingredients. re: Spicy Red Curry Sauce, I can see how peppers roast themselves in their skin without needing oil. Ditto for onions or garlic. But broccoli! Doesn’t it simply dry up and lose flavor??? I’m so missing moist, flavorful roasted veggies .
Hi Sandy! No, that’s actually why I always roast straight frozen broccoli because it keeps them moist and tender and they are delicious! Just salt and pepper and delish!
Oh, Brandi! This is so beautiful and vibrant! The color of that sauce is just incredible. I LOVE curry so much AND broccoli and red pepper and jasmine rice…haha! I obviously need to make this dish asap! A perfect bowl of comfort food but without the guilt – I love it!
Just discovered your web site while trying to find foods to meet a completely processed fat free dietary requirement until surgery. Given I also keep kosher, this has been quite the challenge.
I look forward to trying this soon, though I won’t be going for the heat.
So glad you found me Jeanne! I hope you love this recipe and many others, let me know if you ever have any questions on anything!
Incredibly tasty dinner!
i was wondering what to make for dinner,when I opened my email in box.
Yet another of Vegan8’s recipe to add to my ever enlarging pile!!
I used my home made oat milk in place of the cashew milk.
I think the sauce will be great tomorrow aswell!
thanks for another keeper recipe!
Yay!! So happy you loved this Susan! Thank you so much for making it so quickly! The sauce is even more delicious the next day, yes! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Fabulous photos and a simple but very appealing dinner. A good curry with those veggies is divine!
So sweet, thank you for that compliment on the photos! The curry and veggies is so good, I’m thinking next time of just making a HUGE bowl of just 5 different veggies and drowning it in the sauce, haha!
Oh Brandi! You know how I love food in a bowl, could almost eat this every day. I would love if anyone made this one for me. So beautifully presented! I really like rice and broccoli so this is pretty amazing to me. And that spicy sauce: so good, spicy food is life! 🙂 The first and the last closeups are so vibrant and colorful, beautiful and delicious. I could dive right now into the screen, yum!
I am disappointed that it isn’t a homemade curry sauce. But the photo looks absolutely yummy, the color is vibrant, beautiful presentation.
I’m sorry if that disappoints you Roxanne, but my blog is about simple 8 ingredient recipes. Can’t do a homemade curry sauce with that,nor do I want to buy all of the spices needed to make a homemade one, it’s just not my thing. I’m lazy and like things simple, but yummy, haha! 🙂 This is how I cook and live and don’t like long drawn-out ingredient recipes or too time-consuming, as I’m a Mom with a very busy schedule. Even though this isn’t homemade, I can assure you it is still delicious and full of flavor. However, if you are looking for a homemade curry sauce, the internet is full of them, I would recommend Vegan Richa, she posts lots and lots of homemade curries so I’m sure you could find anything you like on there!
Here is her blog: http://VeganRicha.com
Ohhhhhhh yummm this is a perfect recipe for me. I generally don’t eat broccoli tho. I tried it once for your broccoli cheese soup recipe but I had it without broccoli the other times. Call me weird but yeah I don’t do broccoli. Hahaha but this recipe would still be fabulous without broccoli I am positive of it. Yum I have to make this. I wonder if I can make it tonight. Sounds delicious. And you know how I love rice mixed with sauce. Hahaha I just had rice mixed with your fat free vegan cheese sauce last night. And by the way girl the wait is killing me. Every time I see an email from your blog I am like omg the hamburger buns but nope it hasn’t been the buns yet. Hahaha But then I see the actual recipe you posted and I get excited all over again because your recipes are so amazing and the pics are always eye candy. I will definitely be trying this one soon. 🙂
I have never roasted peppers just steamed them. So when they come out of the oven are they black? If they are black you just throw the black skin in the blender and blend too? And you don’t have to turn the peppers? Just pop them in and you are good to go huh? Anyway I am excited about this recipe I can’t wait to try it.
You are always so sweet, thank you for such kind words Christina!! I’m so happy you love the fat-free cheese sauce, yay!!
Haha, that is sooo funny, I’m a bit obsessed with broccoli, as you’ve probably noticed. It’s one of my favorite veggies and I love adding a green to these types of dishes. But you know what would be really delicious with this instead too, zucchini! Do you like zucchini? Carrots would be good too. It definitely needs some veggie thrown in there….
I will update about the peppers, but if your bottoms are flat enough, you just set them right there on the pan and no need to flip them, but if they are long and need to lay flat, then yes flip them over after about 10 minutes. Yes, wait until they are very charred and getting some black skin, throw every bit of that into the blender (minus the stems and seeds) because it gives the sauce so much flavor! Yum!
Oh yeah I love zucchini and carrots. I will definitely throw veggies in the mix for sure. Thanks for the info about the peppers. Hahaha I was going to just lay them on the side but standing them upright makes more sense now that I think about it. So I will try to look for flat bottom ones 🙂
Honestly, laying them on the side is fine too…they will get really cooked either way…it doesn’t matter how they look because you are blending them up anyways, so don’t worry too much about it. 🙂
The color on this beautiful spicy sauce is incredible! Even though my mouth is all kinds of apprehensive about this one, the look of fluffy white rice next to creamy curry sauce just hits a craving spot in my brain and makes me want to dive in anyways. Just maybe with the ratio of like 10:1 rice to sauce haha 😀 Your ability to make the creamiest low-fat sauces out of mostly just veggies is amazing!
Haha, yes, this is spicy! Thank you so much Natalie! You know, when I wrote down my ideas for this recipe, I originally wrote a potato to be included in the sauce, but after I blended it all up, I preferred the texture without it and honestly, it shouldn’t be too thick, so that it can easily be poured all over the rice and broccoli. Once can always cook it after blending to thicken it up too.
Mmmm, yea, for sure! Any simple rice and curry dish is totally comfort food! It never fails to leave you feeling good and satisfied!
Thank you so much Rebecca!