These vegan curry samosas are crispy bites with big flavors. Perfect to enjoy as an appetizer or side dish, this take-out favorite is easy to make at home for the ultimate homemade comfort food meal.
Samosas are puffy, crispy pockets of curry-seasoned veggies in easy-to-eat, finger food triangles. They're SO good!
I've enjoyed curry samosas at many Thai restaurants and Indian restaurants, and was so excited to learn how easy they were to make at home.
Make them tonight and enjoy this better-than-take-out version!
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What are samosas?
Samosas have a long and fascinating history that dates back to the Middle East and Central Asia, where they were originally called ‘sanbosag.’ These early versions were filled with minced meat and spices, later traveling to India via trade routes.
Over centuries, Indian cooks adapted samosas to include local flavors, like lentils, potatoes, and bold spices. The addition of curry flavors to the filling likely developed in response to the widespread popularity of Indian spices.
Today, curry samosas have become a global favorite, celebrated for their blend of crispy pastry and spiced fillings.
🌟 Why this recipe works
Here's why you'll love making these curry samosas:
- Crunch meets spice: The crispy, flaky pastry is the perfect vessel for a bold, spiced filling that’s satisfying and comforting.
- Versatile and customizable: You can play with the spices, vegetables, and even the type of dough to suit your preferences.
- Perfect for meal prep: These samosas freeze beautifully, making them an ideal make-ahead snack or appetizer.
- Crowd-pleaser: They’re universally loved and a guaranteed hit at gatherings, whether your guests are vegan or not.
- Budget-friendly: With simple pantry staples and fresh vegetables, this recipe is kind to your wallet.
🛒 Ingredient notes
Make these vegan samosas using simple ingredients that are easy to find in almost any local grocery store.
- Egg roll wrappers: Using store-bought egg roll wrappers save time and ensures the samosas are all the same size.
- Oil: Vegetable oil or melted coconut oil are great for a flaky texture.
- Water: Cold water helps bind the dough; you can use a splash of plant-based milk for extra richness.
- Vegetable stock: Use a little bit of vegetable stock or broth to cook the potatoes.
- Potatoes: Yukon gold or russet potatoes are ideal for their creamy texture.
- Carrots: Diced carrots bump up the nutritional value in addition to making the filling heartier and more colorful.
- Peas: Frozen peas are convenient, but fresh ones work too.
- Onion: Adds depth to the filling; you can use shallots for a milder flavor.
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic adds the best flavor, but garlic powder will work in a pinch.
- Spices: Curry powder, turmeric, and cumin, create the signature curry flavor. Adjust to taste or substitute with pre-blended curry paste. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
Be sure to use the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, which has the full list of ingredients with measurements and more detailed instructions. These are some step-by-step photos that you can reference to help you along the way as you make these curry samosas!
- First, you're going build the flavor base by sautéing the garlic and onions in vegetable oil, then "blooming" the spices for a minute along with them.
- Then you're going to add the vegetable broth or stock and potatoes and cook them.
- Then add the carrots and peas and cook those for another minute.
- Transfer everything to a large bowl and allow it to cool down a bit.
- Meanwhile, get a small bowl of water and a large cutting board ready for assembly.
- To assemble the samosas, you're first going to dip your fingers into the water bowl and wet the edges of one egg roll wrapper. Remember: the egg roll wrappers should have been cut in half to start, so they are long rectangle halves.
- Next, take a heaping teaspoonful of filling and place it near the bottom left corner of a wrapper. Leave some room around the filling.
- Then carefully bring the bottom right side of the wrapper up to cover the filling and meet up evenly with the left side of the wrapper.
- Gently press down on the triangle sides where the wrapper meets, to help seal in the filling.
- Next, bring the left side of the wrapper straight up and gently press down on the sides where the wrapper meets.
- Finally, bring the triangle filled side up to the right corner and gently press down where the sides mppeet to seal the filling in. You should have a nice triangle at this point.
- Repeat this process with all of the remaining wrapper halves and filling.
- When you are just about over halfway done, fill a large dutch oven or pot with vegetable oil and bring it to about 320°F.
- Once all samosas are filled and assembled and the oil has reached 320°F, add samosas carefully into the pot of hot frying oil. Be sure to only add enough without overcrowding them; each samosa should have some room around it to fry up evenly. I usually do batches of 5-6 at a time, but it will depend on the size of your particular pot.
- Turn the samosas over once the bottom and sides start to become a light golden brown.
- Once both sides are fried to a nice golden brown, use tongs or a kitchen spider to carefully lift them out of the frying oil and onto the prepared wire rack over a baking sheet. This allows the oil to drip down in a way that keeps the wrapper crisp.
- Repeat until you've fried all of the samosas. Serve with sweet chili sauce or your favorite Asian dipping sauce.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
Frying tip: If you find that one side of a samosa isn't sealing well, you can gently dip that side into the hot fry oil first, just for about 15-20 seconds, before gently lowering the rest of the samosa into the hot oil. This helps seal up that side and keep the filling intact.
Yes! Bake them at 375°F (190°C) for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown, flipping halfway through for even crispiness.
Cook the potatoes thoroughly and let the filling cool completely before assembling the samosas. This helps avoid soggy pastry.
The recipe is not a gluten-free recipe as written. But you can use a gluten-free flour blend for the dough or opt for gluten-free wraps like rice paper.
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in an oven at 350°F (175°C) until warmed through for the best texture.
🍽 Serving ideas
One of the things I love about samosas is how versatile they are to serve!
Serve them as an appetizer with your favorite dipping sauce, along with other yummy appetizers like Air Fryer Crab Rangoon, Thai Curry Puffs, and Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp.
If you're serving them as a side dish, they would be great alongside this Slow Cooker Beef Massaman Curry or Filipino Chicken Curry.
Serving these samosas as the main course? Complement them with some delicious sides like Shrimp and Chicken Fried Rice, Asian Carrot Cucumber Salad, or Mango Avocado Prawn Salad.
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
Pair either an off-dry white wine or a sparkling wine with these flavorful, savory samosas.
- White wine: A slightly sweet Riesling complements the spices beautifully, balancing the heat and enhancing the filling’s savory flavors.
- Sparkling wine: A dry Prosecco or Cava provides a refreshing contrast to the rich pastry and fragrant filling.
🍳 Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make this recipe? Here are the kitchen tools and equipment you'll need:
- Cutting board and sharp knife - for chopping veggies and also rolling up the samosas.
- Frying pan - for cooking the veggies.
- Dutch oven or large shallow fry pan, kitchen tongs, and a kitchen spider - for frying the samosas.
- Wire rack and baking sheet - for allowing excess oil to drip off the fried samosas immediately after frying.
More recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Vegan Curry Samosas
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- ½ small onion, diced about 1 cup
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 Tablespoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup diced potato about one small potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
- 1 cup diced carrots about 1 medium to large carrot
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 package egg roll wrappers (18 wrappers), sliced in half
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Make the filling
- Add oil to a large frying pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir together and cook for about 2 minutes, just until the ingredients are well combined and the vegetables are slightly softened and fragrant.
- Slowly pour in the vegetable broth and add the potatoes. Stir and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until the potatoes have slightly softened.
- Add the carrots and peas, and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and transfer the filling to a large bowl; set aside.
Assemble the samosas
- Place the egg roll wrappers (that have been sliced in half, so you have 36 total wrappers) and the bowl of water next to a large cutting board or other flat, sturdy surface. Start to assemble the samosas.
- Place one wrapper on the cutting board and using your fingers, wet the sides of the wrapper with the water.
- Scoop about a half tablespoon of filling mixture and place it toward the bottom right corner, leaving empty space around the filling on all sides.
- Gently guide the right bottom corner of the wrapper to meet the opposite edge, forming a triangle at the bottom of the wrapper. Gently press the sides together to seal in the filling.
- Carefully fold the triangle up two more times until the edge meets the top edge of the wrapper and you have a full triangle. Gently seal the edges together, using a little more of the water to help seal as needed.
- Set the samosa aside on a plate or wire rack, and repeat the steps with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Fry the samosas
- Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or other large heavy pan until the oil reaches about 350°F.
- While the oil is heating, place a wire rack over a baking sheet. Set aside.
- Using tongs, gently lower one filled samosa into the hot oil at a time. Working in batches, fry a few samosas at a time. Turn each over once as soon as you start to see the edges of the samosas start to turn golden brown.
- When both sides are fried and crisped to a golden brown, remove the samosas from the pan and place on the prepared wire rack, allowing the excess oil to drip onto the baking sheet. This allows the samosas to remain crispy and to remove excess oil.
- Repeat until you've fried all of the samosas. Serve with sweet chili sauce.
Notes
- Do not overfill each samosa! If you're finding it too difficult to assemble the samosas without filling falling out or being squished out, use less filling. I find that either a heaping teaspoonful or a half tablespoon of filling tends to be the right amount, but you may find that you can use a little more or less.
- After the first batch fries up, the other batches will fry more quickly, so watch them carefully so they don't overcook.
- If you find that one side of a samosa isn't sealing well, you can carefully dip that side only first into the hot oil when frying, then after a couple of second, gently lower the rest of the samosa into the hot oil. Doing this helps seal that side first and keep the filling from falling out while frying.
- Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To reheat, it's best to use an air fryer and reheat at around 350°F for about 2 minutes, or until heated through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
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