Buddha Bowls: Have you ever heard of them?
Buddha Bowls are a food lover's dream meal. It’s a colourful food bowl filled with proteins, vitamins, and other essential nutrients. These healthy, balanced meals consist of hearty grain, vegetables, and carbohydrates with protein added as needed.
Served hot or cold, prepared beforehand or assembled at the last minute, according to a recipe or improvised, there isn’t one specific recipe to follow!
They're endlessly customizable!
The ingredients you have at hand can be thrown together to create your own Buddha bowl recipes.
You only need to follow these guidelines below to make an authentic Buddha bowl:
Vegetables:
About 2/3 of your bowl should consist of vegetables, whether it's raw julienned vegetables, grilled broccoli or cauliflower, avocado slices, lettuce, bean sprouts, or anything else you like. Grapefruit and pomegranates or any other fruit would be good additions.
Grains:
Grains and proteins should make up the remaining third of your bowl. Select whole grains whenever possible. Buddha bowls are usually made with whole grains such as rice and quinoa.
Proteins:
Make your own protein blend by combining different kinds of protein, such as vegetable proteins that include beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, edamame, peanuts, and almonds, among many others. Cheese and eggs are also good sources of protein.
Dressing:
Dress your salad with any dressing that complements your ingredients. For a Buddha Bowl-like taste, add a few flakes of nutritional yeast to your favourite dressing. Known as a vegan's favourite food, nutritional yeast is rich in vitamin B.
Presentation:
You can dress up these beautiful bowls with an assortment of garnishes, including edible flowers, microgreens, fresh herbs, nuts, and seeds. Pick a large, single-serving bowl to complete your experience, and serve it with some bread.
We've rounded up our TOP 3 Buddha Bowls from around the web, to get you started on creating your own!
Each recipe is nutritious and tasty and cooks in under 30 minutes, easily fitting into your busy schedule and on your budget.
Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl
The kale base and roasted sweet potatoes provide a hearty and nutrient-dense power bowl.
The turmeric chickpeas provide protein to keep you going, while also fighting inflammation to make it a complete meal.
Lastly, this bowl is topped with a simple Mediterranean dressing made of tahini, lemon juice, and maple syrup that will make you want to pour it over everything!
PREP TIME 5 minutes
COOK TIME 25 minutes
TOTAL TIME 30 minutes
Servings 3
Ingredients
VEGETABLES
2 Tbsp olive, melted coconut, or avocado oil
1/2 medium red onion (sliced in wedges)
2 small sweet potatoes (halved)
1 bundle broccoli (large stems removed // chopped)
2 big handfuls of spinach (larger stems removed)
1/4 tsp each salt + pepper
CHICKPEAS
1 can chickpeas (drained, rinsed + patted dry)
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp each salt + pepper
1/2 tsp tsp oregano (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
TAHINI SAUCE (OPTIONAL)
1/4 cup tahini
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 medium lemon (juiced)
2-4 Tbsp hot water (to thin)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 204 C and arrange sweet potatoes and onions on a bare baking sheet. Drizzle both with a bit of oil, making sure the flesh of the sweet potatoes are well coated and place skin side down on the sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven flip sweet potatoes and add broccoli. Drizzle broccoli with a bit of oil and season with a pinch each salt and pepper.
Bake for another 8-10 minutes, then remove from oven and add spinach. Drizzle spinach with a touch more oil and season with a pinch each salt and pepper. Bake for another 4-5 minutes then set aside.
While vegetables are roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat, add chickpeas to a mixing bowl and toss with seasonings.
Once hot, add 1 Tbsp oil and chickpeas and sauté, stirring frequently. If they’re browning too quickly, turn down the heat. If there isn’t much browning going on, increase heat. I found 10 minutes total at slightly over medium heat was perfect.
Once the chickpeas are browned and fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.
Prepare sauce by adding tahini, maple syrup and lemon juice to a mixing bowl and whisking to combine. Add hot water until a pourable sauce is formed. Set aside.
To serve: slice sweet potatoes into bite-size pieces. Divide vegetables between 3 serving bowls and top with chickpeas + tahini sauce.
Best when fresh, though leftovers will keep for a few days in the fridge.
Avocado, Egg, and Spinach Bowl
This bowl of goodness for one contains quinoa, a nutrient-dense food that, when topped with half an avocado, sautéed greens, and a perfectly poached egg, turns into a SUPER BREAKFAST!
Getting started with this fast meal will set you up for a successful day, plus it makes an easy dinner option when you don't have many groceries.
And what makes it so good?
The ingredients!
- Spinach is packed with vitamin A, C, and K, providing a good source of protein.
- Quinoa is a gluten-free source of protein.
- Avocados contain healthy fats that are good for the heart.
Adding to its appeal is the fact that it's an easy recipe to execute. Try this next time you're in a hurry for a quick, healthy meal.
What you'll need:
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 bunch spinach, destemmed, torn into pieces (any kind of kale works)
1/2 avocado, cubed
1 egg
Sea salt
Ground pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus an extra splash or two
1/8 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Splash of your favourite hot sauce
How to make it:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Toss spinach with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper and place on a baking sheet prior to roasting.
Roast spinach for 12-15 minutes, flipping at least once throughout the process.
Mix 1/8 cup olive oil with lemon, sea salt, and pepper.
Place quinoa into a serving bowl and mix in olive oil mixture.
Dress cubed avocado with a sprinkle of lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper.
Place avocado on top of quinoa, and roasted spinach to follow.
Fry up egg over medium heat, about 3 minutes each side, season with sea salt and pepper, and place on top of kale.
Splash a drop or three of your favourite hot sauce on the egg.
Cut into the egg and let the goodness seep into the rest of the goodness.
Black Rice Buddha Bowl
Now is the time to choose foods that make you feel nourished, loved, and rejuvenated. Black rice Buddha bowls provide nutrient-dense foods and a sense of gratitude while detoxifying your system.
Wondering what the secret is?
Black rice is rich in antioxidants that aids the liver in getting rid of disease-causing toxins. As a result of the phytonutrients in black rice, they drive dangerous substances from the body.
As you reap these detox benefits, you'll also be supporting healthy digestion through kimchi. Known for its probiotics, kimchi is a well-known fermented food that boosts your immune system, improves your skin's texture, and help you maintain healthy digestion.
Kimchi-Marinated Spinach Buddha Bowl (serves 2)
Ingredients:
For the black rice pilaf
150g black rice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 celery sticks, washed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
6 radishes, washed, trimmed, and thinly sliced into rounds
seeds from ¼ large pomegranate
3 tablespoons raw pistachios, roughly chopped
For the kimchi-marinated spinach
2 tablespoons kimchi
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
80g spinach, washed and leaves roughly torn off the stem
For the Buddha bowl
8 roasted sweet potato wedges
8 to 10 blanched broccoli florets
flesh of 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 tablespoon pickled ginger
white sesame seeds
2 wedges of lime
Method
1. Begin by making the pilaf. Put the rice in a saucepan and cover with 600ml water. Place the saucepan over a medium-high heat and cook uncovered for 35 minutes or until the water has been completely absorbed and the rice is cooked through. Add a little more water to the pan if needed. Rinse the cooked rice through a fine colander to remove the black residue. Allow to drip dry in the colander while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. For the kimchi-marinated spinach, place the kimchi, sesame oil, lime juice, and olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Add a few tablespoons of water if needed to loosen the dressing. Massage half the dressing into the kale leaves for 2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted and soft from the dressing acids. Set aside the rest of the dressing and the spinach while you finish off the rice pilaf.
3. Put the cooked black rice in a mixing bowl, add the olive oil and sea salt, and toss to combine. Add the celery, radishes, pomegranate seeds, and pistachios. Toss to combine again.
4. Divide the spinach between 2 large shallow serving bowls, then divide the rice into the bowls, too. Fill the rest of the bowls with roasted sweet potato wedges, blanched broccoli florets, edamame beans, avocado slices, pickled ginger, white sesame seeds, and wedges of lime. Serve with the remaining dressing drizzled over the top and enjoy immediately.
Buddha bowls are a simple, one-bowl meal that is a great way to get in whole grains, lean protein, fresh veggies, and your favourite dressing. In one bowl, you can get a daily dose of healthy, nourishing nutrients.
Overall they are:
Easy to make
Great for meal prep
Store well in the fridge
Great source of plant-based protein
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten-free (usually)
High in Protein
High in Fibre
Fun to make!!!!
Prepare these Buddha bowl recipes ahead of time. You can use whatever spices you like to make them your own. Serve the dishes in a cute bowl with a slice of bread on the side, and enjoy!
It is nourishing on the inside as well as out, hearty, flavourful, and more exciting than a regular salad!