20 Best Indian Vegetable Recipes

These hearty and delicious Indian vegetable recipes are proof you don’t need meat to make a meal filling.

They’re bright, fresh, and totally irresistible.

Some of the best vegetarian food can be found on the Indian subcontinent.

They’ve pretty much mastered turning healthy veggies into soul-soothing comfort food. 

Indian cuisine is known for its bold dishes, loaded with spices and color. And these Indian vegetable recipes are no exception.

So whether you’re on the hunt for meatless Monday meals or just feel like a healthy change, I know you’ll find more than one recipe here to love.

20 Easy Indian Vegetable Recipes & Menu Ideas

At first glance, palak paneer bhurji looks like a plate of scrambled eggs and veggies.

Which honestly sounds pretty good to me. But this dish is better!

Because it’s not made with eggs at all. In fact, the eggy-looking stuff is actually paneer, a type of Indian cheese.

A whole plate of cheese and veggies?! Sign me up! 

Palak panner bhurji features crumbly paneer sautéed with onions, garlic, chilis, tomatoes, and spinach.

It’s also very well spiced with cumin, ginger, chili, turmeric, and garam masala. Yum!

I’m going to go out on a limb and liken this recipe to grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Of course, there are a few differences. For example, there’s no actual sandwich element.

The “grilled cheese” in question is actually a vegetarian kofta. And the soup is more of a thick, flavorful, red gravy.

But both invoke feelings of comfort. And both are insanely delicious. 

Typically, kofta are a type of meatball. But this recipe features a delicious veggie kofta made with paneer, nuts, potatoes, and flour.

They’re lightly fried and super filling.

The gravy is made with cashews, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and ginger simmered in water. Plus seasonings, of course.

It’s then pureed into a thick, tasty gravy. 

If comfort food is what you’re looking for, you’ll find it in gobi masala.

It’s a rich, creamy cauliflower and yogurt dish that’s warm, boldly flavored, and utterly scrumptious. 

The cauliflower goes through a double cooking process. That brings out a ton of flavor and makes the veg super tender.

First, it’s sautéed and then braised in a tomato sauce. 

The sauce is similar to the gravy from the previous recipe. Its main ingredients are tomatoes, cashews, and plenty of alliums and seasonings.

Serve with naan or basmati rice. 

You’ll love this thick, saucy, and creamy matar paneer if you enjoy hearty stews in the winter.

It features a traditional tomato gravy, chunks of paneer cheese, and fresh peas. 

The resulting dish is healthy and textural yet creamy and completely soul-soothing.  

This cozy recipe from Hyderabad is no mere eggplant dish. It’s no mere curry, either. This dish is special.

And it’s delectable.

I’m not even a huge eggplant fan, so that’s saying something! 

Starring baby eggplants stuffed with a sweet and savory peanut coconut paste, it’s super unique and nutty. 

Add a spicy curry gravy, and the flavors are like fireworks in your mouth.

This dish can be split into two main components: this misal and the pav.

Misal is a tasty, vegan curry made from bean sprouts, potatoes, and traditional spices.

Meanwhile, pav are traditional Indian bread buns that’re wonderfully soft and pillowy.

Serve the pair together, and you’re all set.

Upgrade your roasted veggie game with this vegetable sabji recipe.

Here, the veggies aren’t roasted, the spices are too. And the veggies are sautéed in those spices until your kitchen smells fantastic. 

It’s quick, easy, and super yummy.

Serve it as a side dish to chicken, fish, pork, or tofu, and it might just steal the show. 

Rajma is to India as chili is to the southwest United States.

This vegetarian kidney bean curry is bursting with deliciousness. And it looks a heck of a lot like chili. 

You can eat it as a stew or serve it with rice. Either way, your taste buds will NOT be disappointed.

You’re gonna want to swipe right on this delicious bharwan tinda.

From the tinda squash stuffed with spices to the blend of curry and tomatoes, it’s hard to resist. 

If you can’t find tinda squash, you can replace it with summer squash or zucchini.  

Slow and steady wins the flavor race with this dal tadka.

Although I promise it’s not that slow – it only takes an hour. But in that hour, you’ll make a super delicious lentil curry. 

It features seasoned lentils topped with spiced, tempered ghee. That alone adds so much flavor and goodness to the dish. 

While it’s tempting to eat this by itself (and you certainly can), it’s extra delicious over basmati rice.   

Beans poriyal is a super flavorful side dish you can serve with pretty much anything.

I think it would be delicious with butter chicken or tikka masala. But you can even serve it with one of the veggie recipes on this list.

And it’s effortless. 

This dish highlights the deliciousness of green beans, stir-frying them in bold Indian seasonings, mustard, and curry. 

But my favorite part is the addition of toasted coconut. It brings a light sweetness that makes these beans kind of addictive.  

Remember the pav from recipe six? Well, it’s making a comeback in this delicious street food favorite. 

Bhaji is a curry made with tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, peas, and a ton of spices. It’s soft and delicious.

And it’s perfect for dipping. That’s where the pav comes in. 

You can’t go wrong with a good vegetable stir fry. It’s simple, healthy, and in this case, super flavorful. 

Gobi matar calls for cauliflower florets and peas sautéed with onions, ginger, and plenty of spices.

Top with fresh cilantro, and enjoy!

Oh, and this dish is gluten-free and vegan, so it’s ideal for everyone at the table. 

This simple and delicious dal is extremely nutritious!

You can’t go wrong with ingredients like black lentils, kidney beans, tomatoes, garlic, and onions. 

So if you want a protein-filled meal without the meat, this is it! 

It’s also surprisingly indulgent. Cream and butter add a level of lusciousness that makes this one of my favorite dishes.

Of course, it’s also bursting with flavorful spices. 

Are you ready to meet your new favorite potato side dish? This fantastically flavorful and simple dish is a dream. 

It features tender potatoes tossed in sautéed fenugreek leaves and green chilis.

You’ll also get a savory, peppery bite from mustard oil and hing (aka ‘asafoetida’ – dried sap from the roots of Ferula plants).

If you can’t find hing, add some onion and garlic powder instead.

Think back to the very first recipe on this list – the cheesy spinach dish. Well, this one is very similar, yet somehow totally different.

But they both star paneer cheese and spinach. 

In the first recipe, the paneer is scrambled, and you’ll find bits of spinach throughout.

But here, golden chunks of paneer sit in a creamy spinach sauce seasoned with traditional Indian spices. 

I recommend making a lot because palak paneer makes for amazing leftovers.

This recipe might be simple, but its flavors are not.

Quite the contrary! They’re deliciously complex and totally tantalizing.

And it only takes 30 minutes to make. So, it’s a perfect meal for after a busy day.

It also makes a wonderfully light yet filling lunch. 

This recipe features fried slices of bottle gourd (calabash) served in a yummy yogurt curry.

If you can’t find calabash, you can substitute acorn or butternut squash. 

This creamy and comforting dish is as delicious as it is wholesome.

Not only is it bursting with flavor, but it’s chock-full of plant-based protein, thanks to all those chickpeas. 

Chana is the Hindi name for chickpeas, which are definitely the star of the show.

But of course, we can’t overlook the spices! And this masala is flavored with ALL of them.

It has cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, chili powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander, and more! 

It’s also completely vegan. 

For many people in the States, fried okra is nothing new. But I bet you’ve never had it like this!

Unless you frequently enjoy Indian food, that is. 

Kurkuri Bhindi is the perfect side dish or salty snack. It’s incredibly flavorful, and it has a fabulous crunch.

The name literally means ‘crispy okra’ in Hindi. 

The okra is first coated in a sweet and savory seasoning blend. And then, it’s covered in gram flour (chickpea flour).

Leave it to sit for 30 minutes, then fry these yummy little guys until golden Delish!

There’s no better way to combat cold days than with warm, hearty food. And this vegetable korma is a soldier of a dish.

It’s thick, creamy, and loaded with veggies. Dippable and pourable, you can enjoy this in so many ways!

Filled with potatoes, peas, carrots, tomatoes, and green beans and served in a flavorful sauce, it’s insanely good.

The sauce is made with coconut milk, yogurt, cashews, onions, garlic, jalapeños, and ginger. Plus, an entire cupboard’s worth of deliciously bold spices. 

Doesn’t that sound good?

Serve with naan and basmati rice.