Vegan Butternut Squash and Chickpea Tagine
This warmly spiced vegan tagine is bursting with flavour! It’s wholesome, delicious and easy to make. It uses a combination of traditional and non-traditional spices – cumin, ginger, harissa and cardamom, to name a few. It likely won’t taste like tagines you’ve tried before, but I have no doubt you’ll love it!
Please don’t be put off by the long ingredients list – many are pantry/fridge staples and those that aren’t will be a great addition. Thankfully, this recipe is versatile and can be changed up depending on what you have on hand. You can replace the butternut squash with sweet potato, pumpkin and/or carrot, the chickpeas by tinned beans or lentils, and the prunes by apricots, figs or dates (though I’d half the amount if using the latter). Serve with rice, couscous or some crusty bread.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced into 3-cm chunks
- olive oil
For the dry spices:
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp chilli flakes, optional
- 1 pinch of saffron threads
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp rose harissa paste
- 2 x 400 g tin finely chopped or crushed plum tomatoes
- 500 ml good-quality vegetable stock
- 1 x 400 g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 150 g drained tinned prunes
- 1 handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 230℃ / fan 210℃. Place the diced butternut squash in a large roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil, season generously with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and toss to coat.
- Roast for 30 minutes, or until almost cooked through and beginning to caramelise on the outside. Roasting the butternut squash separately lets you control its doneness and adds depth of flavour to the final dish.
- Meanwhile, place the spices in a small bowl and set aside. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the onion and season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, around 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, then add the rose harissa paste and spices and cook for a further 30 seconds. The short cooking time will ensure that you don’t burn the spices, which would make them, and thus the whole dish, bitter.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock, chickpeas and prunes. Season generously with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the roasted butternut squash and stir to combine. Simmer on low for a further 10 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the fresh coriander. Adjust the salt level, to your liking, then serve with your favourite side and enjoy!