My sister’s been going on about the Buddha bowl for a long time. But for some reason I was never interested in trying it. It made me think of the bland, tasteless food that was passed off a vegetarian fare in the 1980’s. Boy, was I wrong… A properly constructed Buddha bowl is SO absolutely DELICIOUS. Savoury, earthy and tangy all at once.
Check out this sweet potato and chickpea Buddha bowl recipe on Minimalist Baker, which really kick-started my whole fascinations with bowl-based dinners. After trying a few different Buddha bowls, I realized that all good Buddha bowls have a pretty standard construction.
My breakdown for a perfect Buddha bowl:
- 1 cup base (lettuce, grains, sweet potato or beans)
- 1/2 cup vegetables (cooked or fresh)
- 1/4 cup protein (nuts, hard boiled egg, cooked meat)
- Fermented vegetables (pickled veggies or sauerkraut)
- Salad dressing (I like green-goddess dressing, see recipe below)
- Top with 2 tbsp of something crunchy.
From this basic base of a Buddha bowl (or not so Buddha, if you’ve included meat) you can explore all sorts of different flavours. Here’s a few ideas:
Mexican: Use rice, pinto beans, sauted mushrooms and peppers, curtido and fermented salsa. Top with crumbled corn chips
Asian: have a base of rice noodles, topped with grilled tofu and vegetables, kimchi and peanut sauce. Top with roasted peanuts
Indian: Start with a bed of rice and top with some cooked chickpeas and vegetables, fermented chutney, pickled lemons or dosa filling and a curry sauce. Top with Punjabi mix.
Cajun Spice: Toss cooked chickpeas and sweet potatoes in oil, then sprinkle with a Cajun spice mix and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Throw in some diced up broccoli and allow to roast for 10 more minutes. Add sauerkraut or pickled beets, tahini dressing and top with roasted pumpkin seeds.
PrintGreen Goddess Dressing
This green goddess dressing is perfect for a salad. Or add it on a buddha bowl or fries to add a bit of tang.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a jar and shake until well mixed.
Keywords: healthy, vegan, keto, paleo, creamy, buddha bowl, grain bowl, cajun fries, falafel
This sounds great.! But I’ve gone Paleo!! 🙂
You could do a paleo friendly bowl. They are so flexible! Just use greens, nuts and meat (skipping the buddha aspect). It’s just about preparing a much of different flavours then mixing them together in a meal topped with a dressing.
Yeah! So easy to make this whatever you need to fit your diet.
★★★★★