May Your Buddha Bowl Be Full Of All The Good Stuff
Buddha bowls are everything we want to eat, in one bowl. What is a Buddha bowl? It’s a one-bowl meal of good stuff, built around whole grains and veggies, and also known as a grain bowl. Ours is a vegan Buddha bowl recipe, and you can of course add an egg for protein (or cheese, meat, or tofu–it’s really up to you!). Buddha bowls are typically vegan (or at least vegetarian) and often gluten free, but the beauty of the Buddha bowl is that there are no rules.
Buddha Bowl Ideas
One of the great joys of making an easy Buddha bowl is that you can generally stick to a formula and get delicious results. What are the five key components of a Buddha bowl?
We recommend following this loose framework of ingredients for making Buddha bowls:
Whole grains: We use Brown Rice, and Quinoa, Farro, barley, millet, or fonio would all be great. You can even start your Buddha bowl with a bed of cauliflower rice.
Vegetables: Our recipe calls for sweet potato, avocado, and kale, and any dark greens and vegetables are healthful additions. Go for Roasted Butternut Squash, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, shredded red cabbage, chopped bell peppers.
Protein: We use black beans for a vegan Buddha bowl, and you can add an egg, shredded Chicken, fish, or any other meat.
Buddha bowl dressing: Drizzle vegan cashew cheese sauce, Tahini Sauce, peanut sauce, a simple Orange Vinaigrette or even just a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.
- Zhush! For our Buddha bowl we fresh cilantro and green onions, but nuts, seeds, fresh herbs and sprouts are all great toppings to add texture and flavor. Go crazy with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, mint, parsley, chopped peanuts–you get the idea!
How To Make A Buddha Bowl
Here’s how to make our hearty sweet potato Buddha bowl:
Roast the sweet potatoes. Drizzle the cubed sweet potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sugar, and salt. Toss to coat. Roast until beginning to soften, about 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the kale with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt. Remove the sheet from the oven and push the sweet potatoes to one side. Add the kale to the empty side and roast until the potatoes and kale are tender and beginning to brown.
Assemble! Divide the rice between bowls. Top with sweet potatoes, beans, and kale. Drizzle cheese sauce and top with cilantro, avocado, and green onions, if using.
Tools You’ll Need
More One Dish (or One Bowl) Recipe Ideas
Because sometimes one dish is all it takes! Here’s a few more recipes to keep dishwashing to a minimum.
Sushi lovers, we got you. We LOVE this Poke Bowl and this Salmon Sushi Bowl
Bowls for breakfast? Yes! Check out How to Make a Smoothie Bowl
Broccoli Beef Soba Bowl and Pork Milanese Bowls for a meatier meal
Our hero, the Gyro Bowl!
We Want To See Your Golden Bowl Fulls!
Did you make Buddha bowls brimming with good stuff? Share your photos and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
