Instant Pot Butternut Squash Curry With Spinach

I am totally loving all the squash and pumpkins in the stores during this time of year. I realized that I have so many fall recipes now, so I have created a collection of pumpkin and squash recipes. This butternut squash curry is so delicious. It has a good balance of sweet squash and a spicy curry base. I like to make this curry like any other Indian curry, with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and lots of aromatic spices. The addition of creamy coconut milk perfects the combination. I also added 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.

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 1/2 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.

This curry comes together so quickly and you won’t believe how delicious it is. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro leaves.

Tips

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

Common Questions

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 1/3 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 also pre-cook chickpeas and add them to this curry before pressure cooking. 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!