#WildernestMealPrep: Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry

Because I skipped a meal the other week, the blog is getting an extra recipe this week - Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry.

Sweet potatoes are a staple diet for these babies - it was one of the first foods they had and continue to LOVE to this day. If all else fails, I always have some sweet potatoes on hand as a backup; even better is that they’re healthy! I’m always on the lookout for any meals that include these, so was excited to give this a try with my own little take on it.

Looking back, I honestly think I could have done this whole thing in the crockpot (or two). That was my goal initially, but because I had never cooked chickpeas before and wasn’t sure how this would all cook together, I took the cautious route and followed the recipes I was referencing.

I did, however, decide to cook the chicken and chickpeas together in the crockpot. I’m no stranger to cooking chicken in it, but assumed I could further cook the chickpeas on the stovetop, with the rest of the ingredients, if I didn’t feel like they were done after the chicken was finished.

Using 2lbs of chicken thighs and an entire 2lb bag of chickpeas, I added 4 cups of water and 1 cup of low-sodium vegetable broth and cooked on high for 4ish hours. In the future, I’ll be using half a bag of chickpeas instead of the whole thing - it was WAY too much (even for 7 days worth of meals).

After the babies went to bed and the chicken was finishing up, I prepped the sweet potatoes by cutting them into small cubes. At some point, I decided the cubes were still too big, but was way too lazy to cut them all by hand again and threw them into the food processor instead. A few pulses made them slightly smaller, but not complete mush either, as I wanted the babies to be able to pick them up.

I set the sweet potatoes aside in a bowl and started on the remaining ingredients. I had a bag of frozen chopped onion, so measured that out and poured into the large saucepan I’d be cooking everything in. Next was the garlic, which I recently got smart about by buying the pre-minced kind in a jar (huge time saver), so in went a spoonful of that. Lastly, the carrots were tossed in the food processor for chopping before being added to the pan.

I added 2tbsp of olive oil to the mix and started simmering these ingredients on medium heat. After about 2 minutes, I added in my spices - paprika, cumin powder, cinnamon, and ground ginger. One of the recipes I was following called for a “curry powder,” so if you have that, that would certainly work as well! I unfortunately had never even heard of such a thing, so googled how to make it myself and picked from the spices I did have on hand (ginger and cinnamon), which turned out to be a great choice (the cinnamon especially).

I let the spices, onion, carrots, and garlic simmer for another minute or so before adding the sweet potato. I gave everything a good mix, turned the heat down a little, and then went to work on shredding my chicken that had been waiting in the crockpot. Be sure to check on the saucepan, and add a little bit of water or veggie broth to it if things start to stick.

After giving the chickpeas and chicken in the crockpot a good mix, I started adding them to the saucepan little by little until it was almost full (I had 1 Tupperware container remaining that I put in the freezer). After that, I tossed in a can of chopped tomatoes along with 3 cups of water and 1 cup of veggie broth and stirred well.

I put the stovetop back up to medium heat and let everything cook and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing was sticking. By the end, most of the liquid had been absorbed into the curry, leaving me with a thick sauce-like mixture. I cooked up 3 cups of white rice on the stove to serve with the curry and got to work on portioning everything out.

By the end, I had another 2 Tupperware container’s worth of leftovers that we put in the fridge and ate throughout the week.

Each baby gets 1/4-1/2 cup of food per meal, which when combined x3, usually fills up one of my smaller Tupperware containers. When I portioned out 7 of those, I had another 2, larger Tupperware container’s worth of leftovers that we put in the fridge and ate throughout the week. There was no freezing necessary for any of these, as they stayed good in the fridge for the week (I would not keep them longer than a week, however, and they should freeze fine).

This was the messiest meal so far - usually anything with rice is. It was a pain to clean up and the sauce made for stains on the highchairs that had to be scrubbed good to get out. This meal also required the cumbersome task of squishing all the chickpeas before serving them to the babies - chickpeas are a high choke hazard since they are the size of their trachea. You can cut them in half, quarters, or squish to ensure they’re safe to eat, so I did this every night before warming up the meal.

Aside from the meal being not-so mom friendly, the babies certainly were fans!

sweet potato & chickpea curry

SERVES
Family of 6+ probably

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs of Chicken Thighs

• 1 lb of Chickpeas (I used an entire 2lb bag and it was way too much)

• 3 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed

• 1 cup Carrots

• 1 cup Onion, chopped

• 1 tbsp Garlic, minced

• 1 can Diced Tomatoes

• 1 tsp Paprika

• 1 tsp Cumin Powder

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil

• 2 cups Vegetable Broth, low-sodium (1 for crockpot, 1 for saucepan)

• 7 cups water (4 for crockpot, 3 for saucepan)

• Optional: white rice to serve with the curry

METHOD
Start a few hours early to cook the chicken and chickpeas in the slow cooker. Dump 2lbs of chicken thighs, 1lb of chickpeas, 4 cups of water, and 1 cup of low-sodium vegetable broth to the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6 hours.

Peel and dice the sweet potatoes in baby-safe chunks, then set aside in a mixing bowl.

Chop your onion, garlic, and carrots and dump all into a LARGE saucepan with the olive oil and cook on medium for 2-3 minutes.

Add your Paprika, Cumin, Cinnamon, and Ginger and stir everything together for another minute, then add your sweet potato. Turn the heat down a little and let simmer while you shred your chicken, stirring occasionally. Add a little water or veggie broth if it starts to stick to the pan.

Shred your chicken and start adding the chicken/chickpeas to the saucepan little by little, mixing everything together with each new addition. Add your can of diced tomatoes, 3 cups of water, and 1 cup of veggie broth and stir together well.

Bring your stove back up to a medium heat and let cook/simmer for 30 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed and your sauce is thick/sticking to the chickpeas and chicken.

If desired, cook a side of white rice to put the curry on top of or with.