15 Genius Things To Do With Leftover Curry

Get creative with your leftover curry and try out something new! Check out these 15 creative and delicious recipes for leftover curry! From gyros to quesadillas to tacos, experiment with different flavors and enjoy a unique culinary experience!

Curry is a dish that is loved around the world but the ingredients and recipes change depending on the culture and region. 

Experimenting and trying out new ways of using curry keeps the meals interesting and on top of that it provides the opportunity to create something distinctively unique out of familiar flavors.

And the possibilities for innovating curry are endless! From simply reheating it to making a completely different dish out of it. You can make a quick simple meal of rice and curry or something a bit more elaborate like a vegan meat curry.

My family and I too love curry just as much as the next person, but since I love cooking and I have two young kids, I get creative with it.

When I make curry, I always use my own homemade curry powder mix. This is very easy to throw together and stores well too. Plus this is free from harmful preservatives, sugar, and salt. One of my favorite curries is my creamy chickpea and lentil curry.

I have compiled a list of the things that I make with leftover curry. And by the end of this post you’ll realize that by making just a few adjustments, you’ll have a completely new dish without any extra effort!

So let's find out the genius things to do with leftover curry.

Rice And Curry

This is the ideal meal to make when I am in a hurry. Cooking rice to the right consistency is very easy once you get used to it. In fact, I have a post on how to cook perfectly each time on a stove, oven, instant pot, or microwave, so go check that out. 

While the rice cooks I simply reheat the curry and then serve it with the rice.

Curry With Bread/Naan/Flatbread

Reheat the leftover curry and sprinkle some fresh coriander on top to garnish (this is optional). 

Since we’ll be having the curry with bread, I don’t reduce it, I only just warm it up. 

If I feel like there isn’t enough curry for all of us, I simply add some coconut milk to the curry to increase the quantity. When I add the extra coconut milk, I also adjust the salt and spice levels a bit. Then I bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes before serving. 

I serve the curry with my vegan naans/flatbreads, vegan bread, or dough balls. 

I also often make a few extra naans or dough balls and store that too in the freezer so it's only a matter of reheating that as well.

Savory Curry Noodles

Curry also goes well with noodles, just as it is without any special adornment. 

What I do is, boil plain noodles and serve the curry with it. And I don’t do anything extra as the curry itself has heaps of flavor. 

My husband and kids love this. It's a real change from the cheesy flavors we usually eat.

Vegan Meat Curry From Jackfruit

Saute some onions and garlic in a little bit of olive oil and then stir in the jackfruit. Let the jackfruit cook and color slightly, and then add in the curry. 

This will infuse the jackfruit with all the flavors of the curry without having to put in any extra ingredients again. 

Vegan Meat Curry From TVP

TVP or soya chunks, is the perfect alternative to chicken.

It's so easy to make crispy roasted soya chunks with them. If I have extras of this leftover I store that too so I can use them later in this curry.

Tasteless on its own, TVP however absorbs flavors incredibly well. This is precisely what we need for our curry.

Just like the jackfruit, I add TVP to some sauteed onion and garlic, and let it cook slightly. Then I add in the curry, bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes so that the flavors get absorbed. If I use the roasted TVP chunks it won’t need to cook in the onion mixture for too long since it already has flavors in it.

Once done, you are ready to enjoy the savory TVP curry. 

Vegetable Curry

We all often find odd pieces of vegetables in our fridge that are too good to throw away but also too little that you can’t make anything out of that one veg. This curry is the perfect solution to that.

I would use vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, celery, potatoes, and squash, etc. Sautee a bit of onion and garlic and then add the vegetables into a pan with the curry. Bring this to a boil and then let simmer for about 15 minutes until cooked.

Vegan Meatball Curry

I make vegan meatballs for my kids almost every week. They love them that much! Making these meatballs is only a matter of whizzing the ingredients in a food processor. Get my vegan gluten-free meatball recipe here.

Once I have the meatballs done, I simply reheat the curry and slowly add the meatballs to it. Then give it a few minutes to cook through and absorb the delicious flavors of the curry and I’m done.

Curry Spaghetti

This fusion of Italian and South Asian cuisine gives a truly unique, delicious experience.

Reheat the leftover curry and reduce it to a thick sauce. Then pour the sauce over your pasta and enjoy.

Curry Wraps

Do you have days where you’re just too busy to sit down properly for a meal with utensils in each hand? I know I do. And it's for moments like this that wraps are the ideal solution. They are easy to make and easy to eat.

I love to experiment with wraps, combining different flavors and textures of ingredients. And this curry-flavored wrap is among one of my favorites.

I follow my own vegan crunchwrap recipe, but I replace the mayo with curry. It's a wonderful combination, and I also often swap the ingredients around depending on what I have in my kitchen at that point.

Vegan Curry Quesadilla

I would say this recipe is fitting for when you have only a little amount of curry left but you still don’t want to throw away all the spicy goodness.

The first thing is, depending on the type of curry you are using and your preference you can add more ingredients to the curry such as vegetables like corn, peppers, tomato, spinach etc, or beans or TVP if you prefer a meatier texture. Basically, make the vegetable curry or TVP curry I mentioned before.

Once the curry ingredients are all set, bring it to a boil and then simmer until it thickens. We are looking for a rather dry-like texture but not mushy or too wet. This will take a bit of time depending on how much curry you started with. But this time will also ensure that all the flavors of the curry seep into the vegetables.

And a good tip is to not use too much curry because we don’t want a wet mixture in the end, we only want to infuse the vegetables with the curry’s spices. 

Then heat some oil in a pan, and lay your tortilla in it. Add some grated vegan cheese on half of the tortilla and then top it with the curry vegetable filling you just made. Fold over the other half of the tortilla and press down on it slightly to give it some weight. 

I just wait until both sides of the quesadilla turn golden brown and then remove it from the pan. Then slice and serve.

Curried Tacos

I prefer to make curry tacos when I have my chickpea curry, vegetable curry, or TVP curry leftover.

All I do is simply cook it down so that it's not too runny and then fill the taco shells with it. I use gluten-free taco shells.

If I don’t have taco shells, I make do with my 3 ingredient gluten-free flatbreads which are a breeze to make. If I don’t have any flatbread leftover, I can simply make them while the curry is being cooked.

In case I only have the gravy left over, what I would do is add vegetables to it to make the taco filling. 

Or another thing I do is, simply fill the taco with any filling/vegetables I want or have and pour the curry over as a sauce.

Either way, curry-flavored tacos are a delectable treat.

Curried Vegan Gyro With Vegan Meat

This is basically a simple spin-off of my vegan jackfruit shredded chicken and gyro. 

For the jackfruit chicken, I use my own shredded jackfruit chicken recipe but I omit the BBQ seasoning, maple syrup, and tomato paste. Instead, I’ll add about 4-5 tablespoons of the curry because it already has all the seasonings. The amount of curry you use depends on how much jackfruit you decide to make. This quantity will work for 4 servings. 

I’ll cook the jackfruit until the liquid of the curry has evaporated and all the savory flavors are absorbed. Then it's simply a matter of assembling the gyro.

Pulled Sandwich Or Sliders

To make curry sandwiches, cook down the curry until it has very little liquid left. If you prefer a sandwich with a bit more moisture feel free to leave some more liquid in.

To assemble the sandwich I add a layer each of onion slices, tomatoes, zucchini, and curry in between the bread. I also love to have some homemade oil-free fries on the side with this. 

Curry Dipping Sauce

Making a yummy dipping sauce from the remaining curry is just as easy as it sounds. 

I just serve the curry in a small bowl to dip into. I like to have zucchini fritters, cauliflower buffalo wings, or kale chips with this. 

Curry Pizza Sauce

To relish a pizza with a unique new flavor, try out a veggie curry pizza. The only thing I do is substitute the tomato sauce with curry. 

This is also one of the twists I use with my vegan tortilla pizza. 

❄️ How to store leftovers

This recipe keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.  Defrost it before using it. Reheat it by warming it up gently in a pan.

🥘 More tasty vegan dinners

If you’re looking for some easy, vegan dinners, that are around 400 calories per serving, check out some of my other recipes:

• Quick Red Lentil Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese
• One Pot Smoky Vegan Sausage Casserole
• Creamy Vegan Red Lentil Dahl Recipe

You can see all of my 400-calorie vegan meals here.

Now it’s your turn to make magic with food.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Katherine Kyle

BSc, PGCE, Certified Vegan Nutritionist at Magical Life Of Fruit

I help busy people make tasty, simple, plant-based, gluten free meals that are so filling that they don't need to snack at all.

When I switched to a vegan diet I lost 56 pounds (5 dress sizes) and all areas of my life were dramatically transformed.

Going vegan totally gave me my life back, saved me money, boosted my confidence, increased my energy, and helps me maintain a healthy weight.

Read my story here.

I have helped millions of people to do the same through my two websites,
GreenThickies.com and MagicalLifeOfFruit.com.

Send Katherine a message on Instagram,or email.

Latest posts by Katherine Kyle (see all)

• Gluten-Free Vegan Yorkshire Pudding - August 6, 2023
• Air Fryer Greek Potatoes Recipe (Vegan, Gluten Free) - August 5, 2023
• Vegan Yorkshire Pudding Wrap Recipe (Gluten Free) - August 3, 2023