TURNIPSEED TRAVEL
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Partner With Us
  • New Visitors
  • Social Media

Travel-Friendly Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew (Perfect For Cottages and Campgrounds)

6/2/2022

 

This easy-to-make chickpea and sweet potato stew is perfect for travel, whether you're making dinner at the cottage or campground, contributing to a hostel potluck, or just need a quick meal at home after a long road trip.

Note: This blog post contains affiliate ads and links and we may be paid a small commission if you made a purchase.

Colourful bowl of chickpea and sweet potato stew with a slice of bread on the side.
How pretty is this chickpea and sweet potato stew? And it tastes as good as it looks!
This delicious, easy-to-make flexible chickpea and sweet potato stew is the perfect travel meal. It comes together in about 20 minutes and it freezes beautifully. All of the ingredients are very frugal and available just about anywhere in the world. You don't need any special equipment at all and you can make it in the most humble of kitchens. Oh, and did I mention that it's delicious!? This is wholesome, hearty, stick-to-ya kind of food that will have you reaching for another bowl.

I have to confess that, while this is the ideal dish to make in an RV or at campground or in a rental home or cottage or hostel kitchen, I consider it an old reliable standby for when I'm actually home. If you're about to go away for a few weeks and you're staring at a sparse fridge and considering takeout, this stew will save you. The same can be said for when you return. The fresh ingredients (primarily a sweet potato and an onion) can live in a crisper forever and everything else hangs out in your pantry indefinitely.

Once upon a time, I left for aweek in Bulgaria and Ryan departed a few days after me to head to the US. I had 48 hours at home before I had to hit the road again and meet up with him in New York and then HE returned home and I followed a week after him after spending time near Niagara. Suffice to say that we weren't exactly doing a lot of grocery shopping with all this coming and going and we were getting kind sick of take out food. Chickpea and potato stew to the rescue!
A purple and blue bowl filled with chick pea and sweet potato stew with a spoon in it and a slice of bread on the side.
This recipe is a bit of a hybrid between a curried sweet potato stew that I clipped from Chatelaine magazine years ago and a chickpea basil stew that I enjoyed as a teen and throughout university. As such, it's really a choose-your-own-ending kind of dish. I think it's best with curry powder (and I in fact use a combo of two different curry powder blends that I picked up at a cute spice shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire). However, that might not be to your taste or what's available where you are. An easy alternative is to swap the curry powder for dried basil (or even dried Italian seasoning). If you do, consider swapping the ginger for paprika - or not at all and see what you think.
Slices of onion on a cutting board
In the spirit of 'waste not, want not" that is often employed at the cottage or in a hostel kitchen, feel free to add in all kinds of leftovers to this dish. Got some leftover shredded chicken? Toss it in! Have a surplus of carrots but no sweet potato? Not a problem. Have some wilted fresh tomatoes or bell pepper to deal with? Throw it in the pot. You can serve this dish on its own, with naan bread, with rice, couscous, or quinoa. In its original version, this recipe is naturally vegan and gluten free.
A metal pot with onion, olive oil, and spices, with kitchen jars on the side.
Equipment and preparation:

You'll need a cutting board, a knife, and a veggie peeler to prepare the raw vegetables. You'll need a medium-to-large pot, like the kind you'd use to cook pasta. Finally, you'll need a spatula for stirring the ingredients as they cook and keep them from sticking to the bottom and sides of the pot and a ladle for serving the finished results. 
A large sweet potato sits partially peeled on a cutting board
Ingredients:
​
  • One tablespoon or so of olive oil or vegetable oil.

  • One small onion or about 1/4-1/3 of a cup chopped, for those of us who only seem to find giant onions at the market.
 
  • Two tablespoons of curry powder. If you're going for a different flavour profile, use dried basil as an alternative.
 
  • One teaspoon of fresh ginger or a smidge of dried ginger.
 
  • One teaspoon of salt.
 
  • Four cloves of garlic.
 
  • One medium sweet potato or about 2 cups chopped. 
 
  • One large can of diced tomatoes (about 750 ml). Do not drain!
​
  • One can of chickpeas (about 540 ml). Definitely drain. And rinse. And drain again.
onions and spices are stored in a large stockpot
Tomatoes and sweet potatoes are added to the stockpot and stirred with a green spatula
Close up view of canned chickpeas sitting on top of the stew
Overhead shot of the blue and purple bowl filled with chickpea and sweet potato stew, with bread on the side
Instructions:

Put the oil in the cooking pot and turn the burner on to medium.

Add in the chopped onion, the curry powder, the ginger, and the salt. Give it a good stir and let it cook for a few minutes.

While it's cooking, peel and finely chop the garlic and peel and chop the sweet potato. Pause in the middle of your chopping to give the pot a good stir! Then add in the garlic and sweet potato and stir again. Pro tip: Never trust a recipe that says to add the onion and garlic at the same time. Disaster! The garlic will always burn.

Add in the canned tomatoes with their juices, followed by the drained and rinsed chick peas. Give things a final stir, turn the heat down so it's medium-low, and let things simmer for about 12-15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft enough so you can easily stab them with a fork. 

Final steps: Eat with the sides of your choice, down some red wine, cackle with glee as you reflect on what a savvy and sophisticated chef you are. Bon appetite! 

Enjoy these travel friendly recipes!

Black Forest Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Loaded Baked Potato Chip Dip For One

Travel-Friendly Avocado Mango Salad


Comments are closed.
    Recent Posts
    Posts by Location
    Turnipseed Travel Category Canada
    Turnipseed Travel Category USA
    Turnipseed Travel Category Europe
    Turnipseed Travel Category Africa
    Turnipseed Travel Category Australia
    Turnipseed Travel Category Asia

    Post Categories

    All
    $200 Challenge
    200m Challenge
    Accommodation
    Africa
    Amsterdam
    Anti Adventurist
    Asia
    Australia
    Belgium
    Business Travel
    Camping
    Canada
    Central Counties
    Cozy Travel
    Destinations
    Europe
    Experiences & Activities
    Female Travel
    Food And Drink
    Gear And Packing
    Golf
    Greece
    Guest Posts & Interviews
    Health
    Inspiration
    Making Travel Memories
    Montreal
    Most Popular Posts
    National Parks
    Norfolk County
    Ontario
    Ottawa
    Paris
    Partners
    Pet Travel
    Photo Essay
    Preparation
    Press Trip Portfolio
    Reviews Accommodation
    Reviews Gear Packing
    Round The World
    Saving
    Toronto
    Transportation
    Travel Cooking
    Travel Memories Series
    UK & Ireland
    United States

    Posts by Date

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

Disclaimers, Privacy, and Cookie Policy

Top 100 Travel Influencer
As named by the Obama White House in 2014.​
White House Study Abroad Logo 2014
Turnipseed Travel Logo 2019
DMCA.com Protection Status
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Partner With Us
  • New Visitors
  • Social Media