Crockpots are beautiful things, aren’t they? My crockpot
Blessed be the person who developed the slow cooker because not only does it make everything taste wonderful and makes your house smell heavenly, it also takes the stress out of getting dinner on the table after a long day. Today’s Crockpot Beef Pumpkin Curry is one of those meals where you can literally dump everything in the slow cooker, set it, and forget it!
While this recipe isn’t exactly a traditional curry due to nightshade-free AIP spices, it IS just as warm, comforting, and delicious as an Indian or Thai curry, thanks to turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and coconut milk. My “pseudo-curry” also features hearty grass-fed ground beef with seasonal pumpkin and butternut squash, making it a perfect hot meal for chilly Fall evenings.
This Crockpot Beef Pumpkin Curry sort of reminds me of a cross between a curry and a chili, since it could be eaten in different ways! Spoon a big helping into a bowl or over a sweet potato like a chili, topped with ripe avocado, or serve it over a bed of cauliflower rice with fresh cilantro or parsley and eat it as a curry, like I have in my photos. You’ll love it whichever way you choose! 🙂
Pull out your crockpot (or if you use it as much as I do, it will always be sitting out on your countertop) and throw in some grass-fed ground beef, or ground meat of choice. You can brown your meat first, if you’d like to eliminate some of the fat that cooks off, but you don’t have to. I skipped that step and was still happy with the result!
After the beef goes in, then add a chopped up onion and butternut squash. I realize that butternut squash can be a pain to peel and cut up, so feel free to take a shortcut like I did and buy already peeled and chopped squash! Trader Joe’s sells it and I’m sure there are other stores that do, too. (You could also substitute sweet potato for the squash if you need to!)
Finally, add in the rest of your curry ingredients – the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, and spices. Now you can set it and forget it! 🙂 I cooked my Crockpot Beef Pumpkin Curry on low for 5-6 hours and it was just perfect. You could probably even get away with 4 hours on low, especially if you brown the meat prior to slow cooking it with everything else.
Voila! A simple, one-pot slow cooker meal that will be waiting for you when you get home from work! One recipe makes a huge batch, so that will allow for plenty of leftovers that you can eat in different ways – whether it’s on rice, over a sweet potato, or all by itself in a big bowl!
To dish up my own plate of Crockpot Beef Pumpkin Curry, I threw together a batch of cauliflower rice. It’s super easy! You can see a visual of how to make cauliflower rice from my Cauliflower Fried Rice Post, but in a nutshell, just chop up a head of cauliflower, toss it in the food processor, and then cook it in a skillet with some coconut oil, garlic, and sea salt for about 10 minutes until it softens.
Once my cauli rice was finished, I spooned my curry over the top, topped it with fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime juice, and dug in to my AIP-friendly entree.
Even though I do miss traditional spicy curry recipes on my AIP diet, this Crockpot Beef Pumpkin Curry is a great substitute! I still got hints of curry inspiration through the aromatic turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon, along with a slight sweetness from the coconut milk, pumpkin, and squash. What a cozy, hearty dish to warm the soul as the weather cools off! I hope you try it this Fall! I know I will be making this again soon after my 2-week GAPS diet comes to an end this weekend! (Happy dance!)
- 2 lbs. grass-fed ground beef
- 2-3 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash (or 1 large squash)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1-15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1-15 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup bone broth (or beef stock)
- 2 tablespoons turmeric
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced raw ginger
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- chopped fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice
- Put ground beef in the bottom of a large crockpot. Break up meat with a spoon.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients except for cilantro and lime juice. Stir to incorporate everything.
- Set crockpot on low heat for 5-6 hours.
- Serve over cauliflower rice, sweet potato, spaghetti squash, or just eat it plain in a bowl!
- Top with fresh cilantro and lime juice.
~Optional first step- brown the meat ahead and drain off the fat before adding it to the crockpot.
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I was just wondering what the calories are per serving?
Hi Dee,
Thanks for your question! I’m honestly not sure, as I personally don’t count calories. But there may be a way to input the ingredients into an online calorie counter and get a rough estimate. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help with that!
No problem! Mine just finished cooking 🥘! It turned out amazing! But I couldn’t find affordable coconut amino so I added an extra can of coconut milk and I added red curry paste. I cooked yellow rice. Amazing!
Awesome, that sounds like a great substitution! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
And the real critic, my mom likes it. 🤪
Yay!! 😁
Could you do this on a stovetop? I wanted to make it for dinner tonight, but I’m at work, so I don’t have 5 hours for low and slow. Maybe 2 hours on high or simmer on the stove?
Hi Kelly,
I’m sure it would work on the stove, too! I haven’t tried it this way, but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t turn out. The main thing is to cook the meat and make sure the veggies are soft and the sauce reduces down a bit. Hope it goes well for you!
Hi, recipe sounds great but fish and seafood are on our grandson’s elimination list. Is there a good substitute for fish sauce? Thanks so much!
Hi Judy,
Not to worry! You can just omit the fish sauce entirely and it will still work out fine! Enjoy!
My daughter is allergic to coconut. Is it a necessary ingredient?
Hi Karla,
The coconut milk adds a bit of creaminess and richness to the dish but it should still work without it. (I haven’t personally left it out, though.) You could maybe even sub unsweetened almond milk or another type of milk in its place. Or just add extra bone broth instead. The coconut aminos adds a bit of flavor but you can leave it out and still have a good result. Hope it works well for you!
How long would you cook this In the Instant Pot? And would adjust any of the ingredients?
Hi Kathleen,
So I haven’t tried this recipe in my Instant Pot and therefore can’t say exactly how long it would take. However, I’ve made a similar recipe (sweet potato ground beef chili) and it took 8-10 minutes on Manual, with quick releasing the pressure. So you could try that?
I would also reduce the liquid by at least half. So try half a can of coconut milk with 1/2 cup of bone broth. (Again, I’m guessing here!). Hope it turns out well for you!
Hi, is the pumpkin purée necessary? I’m looking to make this tomorrow but don’t really want to use a canned veg product. Also not sure if they have it at our local shops anyway.
Hi Nicole,
I haven’t made it without the pumpkin puree since it thickens the sauce a bit, but you could leave it out. You can reduce the other liquids a bit if you want a thicker sauce. You could also steam some sweet potato and mash that to add in place of the canned pumpkin. Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you!!
You’re welcome!
Hi Nicole, our local shops don’t have pumpkin purée but Hokkaido pumpkins are in season here, so I made this tonight with 15 ounces of homemade pumpkin purée (cut the hokkaido in half, remove seeds, cut in cubes, bake for 20-25min until tender, blend with 1cup water) – and it is delicious!! Curious if you tried the recipe without pumpkin purée, or used a substitution?
Glad you enjoyed it, Lindsey! Thanks for sharing your method!
Hello! Do you have a fish sauce recommendation – preferably paleo?
Hi Shawna, I use Red Boat brand fish sauce since it’s gluten free. I get it from Whole Foods. I’m guessing other large grocery stores might carry it, too.
My non-AIP family ate this with me and enjoyed it! I served it with naan (not AIP) for them and white rice (a reintro) for me. Thank you for the warm and comforting recipe–perfect for a rainy Pacific Northwest fail day.
My pleasure, Becky! So happy to hear that you all enjoyed it! 🙂
Is the beef put into the bottom of the crockpot raw?
Yes, you don’t need to cook the beef beforehand. It will cook with everything else. Thanks for asking!
Thank you. Made it cooking the beef beforehand. Only had raw ginger (no powdered), and 1lb of beef. It was still yummy!
Great! Good to know it worked that way, too!
I browned the beef and made this on me stovetop in under 45 min. I found it way too sweet so I added 2T coriander, 2 T tumeric, 2 T smoked paprika, 2 T cumin and some red pepper. Now it tastes like curry. It made a LOT.
Thanks for sharing your modifications, Cheryl! That will be helpful for anyone who is able to tolerate nightshade and/or seed-based spices and wants to add some extra heat.
My wife suggested this for dinner one night, and I was apprehensive. She’s normally not one for curries so I decided I had to give it a shot.
We followed the recipe to the letter and it was a truly wild experience.
The first bite tasted like nothing. Like all of the flavors somehow cancelled out, or maybe it was our palettes adjusting? Because the second bites onward were frankly revolting. I’m shocked at the other reviews. I don’t even know how I would try to fix this if I were to try it again.
Unfortunately, it sounds like it’s just not the recipe for you, especially if you or your wife don’t normally like curry. This is also a nightshade-free version, so it’s going to be very different than traditional curry recipes. However, I stand by it since it’s one of my favorite one-pot meals and I just made it again this week for my family and we all loved it. Everyone has different tastes!
We’ve made this recipe a number of times and have loved it! It’s so amazing that you can get such great curry flavor without nightshades. Delicious, comforting, and pretty simple to make—all the best qualities that I look for in a recipe. This is a winner!
Thank you so much for sharing! 🥰 So glad you loved it as much as I do!