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Bowl meals are everywhere right now—from salmon rice bowls to Mediterranean bowls—and this simple Buddha bowl formula shows you how to make a Buddha bowl with your own combination of ingredients.
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What is a Buddha bowl?
A Buddha bowl is a colorful, one-bowl meal featuring nutrient-dense, often plant-based, components. These may include quinoa or other grains, pickled or roasted vegetables, leafy greens, proteins like tofu and chickpeas, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, and a delicious sauce to top it off. This recipe shows you how to make a Buddha bowl that's protein-packed, visually appealing, well-balanced, and accommodates many dietary preferences.
The goal is to create a balanced selection of ingredients with compatible flavors and textures that fill you up and make you feel awesome! Honestly, anything goes with this meal in a bowl!
Buddha bowl ingredients
These are the ingredients I used for this chickpea Buddha bowl recipe – but you can swap ingredients to your heart's content.
- kale - Use any kale variety or other leafy greens.
- beets - Use roasted beets or Instant Pot beets for added color, volume, and flavor.
- sweet potato - Roasted or pressure cooker steamed sweet potato adds fiber and a mildly sweet flavor to the bowl.
- quinoa - This seed adds protein to the bowl, but can be swapped or combined with any other grain of your choosing.
- chickpeas - These bring protein, fiber, and a nutty flavor to the bowl.
- citrus - I used blood oranges, but navel oranges are equally delicious.
- pomegranate - These add crunch and a pop of flavor.
- avocado - Add the good fat and the perfect creamy texture to your bowl.
- sprouts - Use any bean sprouts or microgreens.
- walnuts - Feel free to swap these with your preferred nuts or seeds.
- lemon tahini sauce - This delectable quick sauce is made with tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, and pepper. It's the ultimate topper for any buddha bowl.
How to make a Buddha bowl
There's no wrong way to make a bowl – endless combinations make it versatile and fun! You can prep any ingredients in advance and build the bowls in minutes when you're ready to serve. This allows for a flexible and flavorful experience tailored to any given day.
Make-ahead steps
- Cook grains, such as quinoa or brown rice, and allow to cool.
- Roast, air fry, or pressure cook sweet potatoes and beets, and allow them to cool. Pickled beets are great too!
- Prepare protein sources such as marinated tofu, sautéed or roasted chickpeas.
- Wash and chop fresh, leafy greens, such as kale or spinach, and microgreens.
- Slice or dice avocado for a creamy element.
- Make the Buddha bowl sauce using the recipe I've included. Or make this scrumptious peanut sauce recipe.
Assembling the bowls
Place leafy greens, cooked quinoa, cooked sweet potatoes, and sauteed chickpeas in a wide bowl.
Add other ingredients such as sliced avocado, sliced blood oranges, diced beets, crunchy walnuts, and microgreens to the bowl. Whisk together the sauce ingredients and transfer to an airtight storage container.
Drizzle the delectable sauce over your ultimate chickpea bowl and devour!
Once you know the basic formula, you can build endless variations. See my 50 Buddha Bowl Recipes for more ideas.
Storage tips
- Refrigerate ingredients separately in airtight containers for easy assembly.
- Keep nuts and seeds at room temperature until serving.
- Label containers with ingredients and expiration dates.
More vegan recipes
📖 Recipe
The Best Buddha Bowl Recipe
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Note about scaling
When scaling, the light gray ingredient notes after the comma don’t change. Adjust as needed.
Ingredients
Roasted vegetables
- 1 medium Beet, diced into ¼" pieces
- 1 medium Sweet Potato, peeled and diced into ¼" pieces
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For the salad
- 4 cups Kale, massaged with olive oil until tender
- 1 cup Cooked Quinoa
- 1 cup Roasted Chickpeas
- 2 medium Oranges (blood orange when in season), peeled and sliced
- 1 cup Pomegranate Arils (seeds), or fresh berries
- 1 Avocado, diced
- 1 cup Bean Sprouts, or microgreens
- ½ cup Walnuts, coarsely chopped
For the Buddha bowl sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sesame Tahini
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 tablespoon Water
- pinch Lemon Zest
- pinch Salt, optional
Instructions
Roasted Vegetables
- Heat oven to 400°F. Toss BEETS and SWEET POTATO in OLIVE OIL and SALT to lightly coat. Place on baking sheet; bake 15 minutes, or until tender; set aside to cool.Note: Instant Pot Beets work great in this recipe too!
For the salad
- Chop KALE, ORANGE, AVOCADO, and WALNUTS; portion out the POMEGRANATE, QUINOA, CHICKPEAS, and SPROUTS. If you're meal prepping this buddha bowl in advance, store all ingredients separately until ready to use.Kale tip: Add a little olive oil and salt to the kale and massage gently with your hands until kale starts to become tender. This makes it more palatable and delicious!
For the sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together TAHINI, LEMON JUICE, WATER, LEMON ZEST, and (optional) SALT until combined; if needed, adjust the consistency by adding more tahini or water.
To serve:
- Divide ALL ingredients across four bowls. If serving immediately, drizzle the lemon tahini sauce and enjoy! Otherwise, store the sauce separately to use for serving.
Equipment
- baking sheet or Instant Pot
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are estimates and may vary based on brands, ingredients, and portions.
Victoria says
I came across your recipe a few weeks ago and finally I tried it. Of course I forgot to buy the kale (my husband was happy about it) and I substituted quinoa for couscous. I loved your recipe! I wish i could say the same for my husband. But he is a meat and potatoes person. He did like the components of the recipe and the one I am most shocked with was he actually liked the beets! Thanks for sharing this recipe ! I will have to make it again for myself!
The Kitchen Girl says
Lol, thanks! This makes me smile and I'm glad you enjoyed it. You could always sub spinach or another green for the kale for your hubby 😉
Rahul @samosastreet.com says
Beautiful bowl! I love the variety of flavor in this bowl and the dressing is delicious!
The Kitchen Girl says
Thanks so much, Rahul! Yes, this is definitely a buddha bowl with tons of flavor and texture Enjoy!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
This looks so tasty and healthy too! Well worth a try and full of flavour!
The Kitchen Girl says
Thanks, Bintu! Yes, glad you can enjoy this one 🙂
Jill says
I love all the flavors and elements in this buddha bowl. Definitely going to add this to my menu plan for the week.
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome, Jill! So glad you can enjoy this...thanks so much!
Peter says
Love that you included the tidbit about “no rules” and you COULD keep it vegan or make it however you like. But honestly, I love EVERY ingredient you included in this buddha bowl and I didn’t need meat in it at all. Beautiful salad, very nicely presented 🙂
Ann says
I am in love with farro. I make enough for a Buddha bowl and mix and match all week. I love these for breakfast and lunch. Thanks so much the dressing recipe it works so well.
The Kitchen Girl says
You're so welcome, Ann! Yes, farro would be great in this buddha bowl too Thanks for the feedback
Kelly says
Our favorite bowl recipe! I love all of the colors and flavors. It’s all works so well together.
The Kitchen Girl says
Oh yay, Kelly! So glad to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know
Becky B. says
I made this once and it's fantastic! I didn't manage to make it look so delicious, but the taste is awesome!
Thank you, regards,
Becky
Traci Antonovich says
Becky...YAY! So glad you enjoyed it! And I'm cracking up b/c, trust me, it took some effort to make mine look like that for my photo shoot LOL. It's a lot more fun to just pile things up and devour 😉 Thanks SO much for sharing your experience with me. Day made!
Neha says
This salad looks so vibrant and nutritious! I try to keep atleast one meal wholesome in the day. And this is the one for dinner tomorrow night. Thanks for such a wonderful share! Btw, I have recently started a baking blog. Here is the link-https://greedyeats.com Please visit if you find some time!
Traci Antonovich says
Yay Neha! So glad to hear it! Congrats on getting the baking blog started 🙂
Nadja | Nashi Food says
I love the combination of the lemon tahini dressing with the rest of the ingredients. I think all of them pairs well together. Thanks for sharing this Hippie Bowl.
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Nadja, the lemon tahini dressing is the icing on the cake on this one 🙂
Maria says
This is how I eat almost every day. Well, scratch that. This is how I try to eat almost all the time. This bowl should be called an explosion of nutrients. So rich in all the good stuff and super delicious at the same time!
Traci Antonovich says
Haha I hear ya Maria on wanting to eat like this often. Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
Cat says
Mmmm, this looks so nutritious and flavorful!! Definitely, need to try it!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks so much Cat! Hope you get a chance to try it 🙂
Allison - Celebrating Sweets says
I love that this is a meal I could feel good about eating. Trying these bowls soon (with extra avocado)! 🙂
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Allison...you can definitely feel good about eating this one 🙂
Ann says
I’ve always wanted to make one of these Buddha bowl things but preparing all those different components just seemed so daunting. I like your tips about working them into my meal plan so I already have things ready! This looks delicious!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Ann! I hope you find the meal-prep method to work for you 🙂
Danielle says
This sounds delicious, I need to start making stuff like this for dinner during the week to curb my unhealthy weekend eating! Plus, I LOVE beets!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Danielle...I'm right there with you on needing to make these more often 🙂
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Well there certainly are a lot of healthy and nutritious ingredients in that "hippie" bowl. I would love this for dinner any night of the week. Chickpeas are a great meat alternative...and we use them a lot too.
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Gloria! Aren't chickpeas the best?! I don't know what I'd do w/o them 🙂
Dana says
Bowl meals. are. EVERYTHING. I never get tired of seeing these, seriously. Brimming with wholesome ingredients and colorful produce, I just want to make them all! I might start with this one, though 😉
Traci Antonovich says
I never tire of them either, Dana! Always something new with each one 🙂 Thanks and hope you get to try this one!
Pam Greer says
I love that all these old hippie foods are now in fashion again! I still have some of my natural foods cookbooks from college - in all the photos the girls are in maxi dresses!
Traci Antonovich says
Haha so funny! I love that 🙂 And I love it that it's all fashionable to eat healthy. Winning! 🙂
Adriana Lopez Martin says
What a great idea love all the components of this bowl really hits the spot. Your photography is incredibly delicious!
Traci Antonovich says
Yay...glad you like the bowl. And thanks for the very kind words! 🙂
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
Fellow 'hippie at heart' here too ~ I love this! I try to eat at least one meal like this a week, and this is going on the menu 🙂
Traci Antonovich says
Yay Sue! Glad to hear it my fellow hippie at heart 😉
Sandi says
Oh my gosh...you gave this yummy bowl recipe the best name! Love it!
Traci Antonovich says
Haha thanks, Sandi. It named itself 😉
Chris says
This looks so fresh and flavoursome! Can't wait to tuck in and give the recipe a go. Thanks so much for sharing!
Traci Antonovich says
Yay Chris! Hope you get a chance...and hope you love it like I do. Thanks so much!
Rose says
I love the term "hippie food" we used to judge the houses where we babysat as good or bad based on the amount of hippie food vs. junk for snacking after the kids went to bed. Funny thing is, now MY house is full of hippie food and I love it! I also love meals in a big bowl. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Traci Antonovich says
Haha that is hilarious, Rose. And isn't it funny how it's totally a thing now? I'm so happy about it...because I used to get made fun over it...uhm, and it's so delicious and healthy!
Valentina says
Well I definitely need to win at a healthy eating game, and this sounds delicious and looks gorgeous -- so I'm in! You had me at turmeric -- one of my favorite healthy spices!
Traci Antonovich says
Right there with you...and I'm crazy about turmeric too! Thanks so much, Valentina 🙂
Emily says
This hippie bowl is beautiful! Totally pinned it and not just because I like beets!
Traci Antonovich says
Haha lovvvve hearing that, Emily! Thanks so much 🙂