Leftover Vegetable Curry

When it comes to avoiding food waste, this leftover vegetable curry is one of my favourite recipes. Easy, quick, and delicious, you can throw all of your veggies and potatoes in to cut waste and save money. 

Disclaimer: While I aim to be as accurate as possible, any advice in this post, including but not limited to, cooking times, quantities, nutritional information and storage and freezing guidance is based on my own experience. Please use your own skills, knowledge and judgement, and get up to date food safety information. 

I always make too many vegetables for Sunday lunch. 

I absolutely love roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and other vegetables like cauliflower. If we’ve just got a few veggies left, we just warm them up in the oven the next day to eat as a side dish with whatever we’re having for lunch or dinner. 

Sometimes, we make bubble and squeak with our leftover vegetables. But another fantastic option, especially if you’ve got lots leftover, then this leftover roast vegetable curry recipe is the perfect way to reduce waste. 

It’s fairly mild and creamy with added coconut milk to make it perfect for kids. 

This leftover vegetable curry recipe is also super simple, making it perfect for a Monday night dinner. 

leftover vegetable curry in cast iron dish.

Curry is the Best Way to Use Up Leftovers

Whether you’ve got leftover potatoes, meat or veg, curry is often the perfect solution because:

  • By serving with rice and naan, you can still make a leftovers curry with lots of sauce even if you don’t have much meat or veg.
  • If your meat is a little dry, simmering in a curry sauce is a brilliant way to make sure it’s tender by the time you serve it.
  • An easy curry sauce recipe is super-fast. 
  • This curry recipe with leftover vegetables is mild and family-friendly, but you could add more spice if you wanted to.
  • You can add pretty much anything that you’ve got leftover to a curry. 
leftover roasted vegetable curry in a cast iron dish. Chunks of carrots, potatoes, parsnips and cauliflower visible in curry sauce. Served portion, naan bread, bowl of rice and poppadoms also visible on table.

Ingredients for Leftover Vegetable Curry

I use this easy curry sauce recipe with lots of different ingredients, leftover roast veg included. I use:

Leftover Vegetables and Potatoes – I typically use carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and maybe cauliflower or broccoli. Sometimes I’ll add a little swede. Butternut squash would be good too. 

Ghee – You can use butter, or cooking oil like olive oil instead. If you want to make a healthier vegetable curry, cooking spray is fine too.

Onion

Garlic

Ginger Puree

Red Chilli Puree – I love to cheat and use purees. It’s easier, and they are handy to keep in the fridge. You can swap to a finely diced red chilli and 1 inch of grated root ginger if you prefer. 

Tinned Tomatoes

Coconut Milk

Water

Tomato Puree

Curry Powder – If you don’t have curry powder, you can use Garam Masala instead. 

Turmeric

Paprika

served portion of vegetable curry and rice in white bowl. Cast iron cooking dish in the background.

Are There Any Leftover Vegetables That You Can’t Use in a Curry?

Ideally, you want fairly firm veg. 

If you’ve got something like broccoli or sprouts that have been well cooked, and are very soft, they might completely fall apart even if you add them right before serving. 

I probably wouldn’t add anything leafy like cabbage either, the texture might just be a bit funny. 

What Veggies are Best in A Leftover Vegetable Curry?

I love roasted vegetables in curry. 

Roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips are great in curry. Just chop them into smaller chunks while they are cold, and only add them at the end, to warm them up without them softening too much. 

Swede is great too, and curried cauliflower is lovely as long as it’s not too mushy. 

If you don’t have much veg and want to add something like cauliflower, just chop it up, and add to the simmering sauce about 10-15 minutes before serving to give it time to cook. 

served portion of vegetable curry and rice in white bowl. Cast iron cooking dish in the background.

Can You Add Meat to Leftover Roasted Vegetable Curry?

Yes! 

This is actually the same sauce I use for my leftover roast pork curry

If you’ve got meat left over, you can absolutely add it to this curry, either alone, or with veggies. 

Just make sure you add the meat earlier and simmer for at least 20 minutes, making sure it’s piping hot before serving. 

How to Make Leftover Veg Curry

This recipe is so very simple! 

Chop your vegetables and potatoes into bite-size bits. Fry onions and garlic, add ingredients for the sauce, simmer to thicken slightly, and then add the veggies for 5-10 mins before serving, giving them time to warm up, without softening them too much. 

Serve with rice, naan bread, dipspoppadom’s and any other sides and extras that you like for a delicious and filling family dinner. 

potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, parsnips and swede in curry sauce.

Is This Leftover Roasted Vegetable Curry Healthy?

Well, it’s got coconut milk in, so there’s fat. But there are also tons of veggies and so lots of nutrition. It’s a fairly healthy meal, depending on what you serve it with. 

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leftover roasted vegetable curry in a cast iron dish. Chunks of carrots, potatoes, parsnips and cauliflower visible in curry sauce. Served portion, naan bread, bowl of rice and poppadoms also visible on table.

Leftover Vegetable Curry


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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Donna
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Servings 1x

Description

When it comes to avoiding food waste, this leftover vegetable curry is one of my favourite recipes. Easy, quick, and delicious, you can throw all of your veggies and potatoes in to cut waste and save money. 


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 Tablespoon Ghee (Switch to butter or cooking oil if you prefer)
  • 1 Red Onion (Finely diced)
  • 3 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)
  • 1 Teaspoon Ginger Puree (Or 1-inch grated root ginger)
  • 1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Puree (Or 1 finely diced fresh red chilli)
  • 400g Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
  • 400ml Coconut Milk
  • 200ml Water
  • 1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree
  • 2 Tablespoons Curry Powder (I use mild)
  • 1 Tablespoon Paprika
  • 1 Teaspoon Turmeric
  • 600g Leftover Vegetables and Potatoes (A combination of roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and things like cauliflower and swede. Chopped into 1-2cm chunks)

Instructions

  1. Melt the ghee in a large flameproof dish or frying pan over medium heat on the hob.
  2. Add the onions and fry for 3-5 minutes, stirring often.
  3. Add the garlic and continue to fry, stirring often for 2 minutes.
  4. Stir in the ginger and chilli.
  5. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk.
  6. Fill one empty can halfway with water and add to the pan.
  7. Add the tomato puree, curry powder, turmeric and paprika.
  8. Stir well and bring to a boil.
  9. Reduce to a simmer.
  10. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring often.
  11. Add the chunks of leftover vegetables and potatoes, stir and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes until hot.
  12. Serve with rice and/or bread, straight from the pan.

Notes

  • If your veg has been roasted in salt and pepper, you might not need to add any more. Taste before serving and add more if required.
  • Nutritional information is an estimate and will depend on what combination of vegetables you use.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Additional Time: 0 hours
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Made with Leftovers
  • Cuisine: Indian, British

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Serving
  • Calories: 567kcal
  • Sugar: 10g
  • Sodium: 599mg
  • Fat: 40g
  • Saturated Fat: 25g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 11g
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 40g
  • Fiber: 11g
  • Protein: 18g
  • Cholesterol: 41mg

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Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information. 

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Author
Donna Dundas
Donna Dundas is an experienced family food blogger who has been creating easy and wholesome recipes for over 7 years. Her blog is a must-read for anyone looking for filling and delicious recipe ideas, that reduce waste and minimise stress.

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