Nutritious and flavor-packed Buddha Bowl features cooked quinoa, seasoned and roasted sweet potatoes, cauliflower, red onion, crispy chickpeas, and a delicious herby sauce to top it off.
We’re completely obsessed with Buddha Bowls. The vegetables are tossed in a delicious turmeric and curry powder seasoning blend and then loaded on a bed of fluffy quinoa. But the star of the show has to be the savory-citrusy herb sauce that coats everything. It’s like a mix between pesto and an herbed dressing. It’s loaded with flavor and great texture and is truly the perfect component tying everything together.
Buddha Bowl FAQs
What makes it a Buddha bowl?
A Buddha bowl can mean many different things and has plenty of different names. They’re also often called hippie bowls, macro bowls, power bowls, grain bowls, yoga bowls, or dragon bowls. The idea is that nourishing and wholesome food is hodgepodged together in a bowl and assembled in a visually appealing, vibrant way.
Buddha Bowls are a one-dish meal in a bowl with rice or other whole grains, roasted veggies, some kind of protein (typically beans, tofu, lentils, and sometimes meat), and coated in a dressing of some sort. Typically, they’re vegetarian, but sometimes you’ll find a Buddha bowl with meat in it.
This recipe is fully vegetarian, but don’t worry– we’ve got plenty of protein in it thanks, to the chickpeas and quinoa.
Are Buddha Bowls healthy?
Where did the name Buddha bowl come from?
How to Make a Buddha Bowl
- Roasted vegetables and chickpeas: Start by roasting the vegetables and chickpeas in the seasoning blend. The blend serves dual purposes — it coats both the veggies and chickpeas.
- Cook quinoa: While the veggies are roasting, cook the quinoa and make the sauce. I have a step-by-step guide on how to cook quinoa below.
- Make the sauce: It’s easy to make — add everything to a blender or food processor and let it whiz.
- Assemble: The final step is assembling everything into a large bowl. Start with the quinoa, add on veggies, sprinkle the roasted chickpeas on top, and generously drizzle the sauce over everything. Add any other optional additions (see more on this below).
Bowl additions
We love adding kale (leftover from the sauce) and chopped avocado to these bowls. If you want to add kale, you can roast it (to make kale chips) or make a quick salad. Here’s how to make kale salad:
Prepare a quick kale salad:
- Start by removing the thick stems and then slice the kale very thinly.
- Once it’s all sliced, place it in a colander and give it a quick rinse.
- Next, sprinkle some fine sea salt on top and, using your hands, rub and massage the salt into the kale.
- Massage the kale for about a minute or until it turns a deep green color, and then give it another quick rinse.
- Allow the kale to dry completely before adding it to the Buddha bowl (a salad spinner speeds that process quite a bit).
Variation ideas
- Try different roasted veggies such as beets, carrots, or Brussels sprouts.
- Add different fresh toppings such as orange segments, shredded red cabbage, or red onion.
- Swap out the whole grain base for brown rice, farro, barley, or couscous.
- Add some crunch by topping the bowl with some chopped cashews.
- Top with herbs by adding leftover Italian parsley (coarsely chopped) or some micro greens.
- Swap the protein (chickpeas) for tofu or chicken (use this grilled chicken marinade).
More healthy bowl recipes
- Chicken Quinoa Bowl with a mango-black-bean salsa
- Egg Roll in a Bowl low carb, high protein bowl recipe
- Pesto Vegetable Bowls with white beans and couscous
- Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito Bowls with the best sauce!
- Chicken Fajita Bowls with guacamole
Buddha Bowl
Equipment
- 2 extra-large sheet pans 15 x 21-inch
- Parchment paper
- Medium pot
- Small food processor
Ingredients
Veggies & Quinoa
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground paprika
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large head (1 pound) cauliflower 4-1/2 cups when chopped
- 2 to 3 medium (1 pound) sweet potatoes 3-1/4 cups when chopped
- 1 red onion 2 cups when chopped
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas or garbanzo beans
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 lemon optional
- 1 to 2 avocados chopped or thinly sliced, optional
Sauce
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped kale gently pack when measuring
- 3/4 cup packed Italian parsley
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3 tablespoons roasted and salted cashews
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic 1 clove
- 1-1/2 teaspoon honey
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine cumin, paprika, turmeric, curry powder, garlic powder, and optional red pepper flakes. Add salt and pepper to personal preference; I add 1 and 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1 and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir seasonings to combine and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Line 2 extra-large sheet pans (15x21-inches) with parchment paper and set aside (turmeric will stain pans if they aren’t lined). Chop cauliflower into 1-inch florets. Peel sweet potatoes if desired. Chop sweet potatoes and onion into 1/2-inch pieces. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Let chickpeas air dry as much as possible, then dry off remaining moisture with a paper towel.
- In a medium pot, add quinoa (rinse in a fine-mesh sieve first to remove saponin coating), vegetable broth, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Cook 12–17 minutes, or until water is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 15–20 minutes to finish cooking by steaming, then remove lid and fluff quinoa with a fork.
- Add chickpeas to one of the prepared sheet pans. Drizzle on 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of spice mix. Toss to combine and spread in an even layer. Add prepared cauliflower, red onion, and sweet potatoes to the other sheet pan. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and remaining seasonings. Toss to combine and spread in an even layer so veggies don’t overlap. Place veggies on the top rack of the oven and chickpeas on the bottom rack. Cook 10 minutes, then remove both trays. With a metal spatula, toss veggies and return them to the same oven racks. After 8–10 minutes, remove chickpeas and test for doneness. Set aside when done. Leave veggies in oven another 5–10 minutes or until crisp tender (see note 1).
- While everything cooks, prepare the sauce. Remove stems from kale, coarsely chop, and rinse. Sprinkle kale with 1/2 teaspoon salt and massage it under running water, about 1 minute. Rinse again, then thoroughly dry (use a salad spinner if you have one). In a small food processor, add dried kale, parsley, lime juice, cashews, water, garlic, and honey. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Chop/pulse to combine. Scrape down the edges, then add olive oil and pulse until oil is emulsified. Don’t over-pulse or oil will get a metallic taste. Taste and adjust any flavors to personal preference.
- Divide quinoa evenly among bowls. Top with roasted veggies, crispy chickpeas, and a chopped (or thinly sliced) avocado. Drizzle sauce generously over bowls. If desired, add any leftover kale to the bowls (see note 2).
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I also struggled with the sauce being the right consistency, but oh man!!! The green sauce is sooooo delicious! I don’t even care! I substituted broccoli for cauliflower and it was very good as well.
I’m so happy you have loved this recipe! Thanks so much Hannah! 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight for my husband and me, and we both loved it! I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t like it, since in the past, I haven’t loved recipes that use turmeric or curry powder, but this was delicious. I loved the flavor of this. The sauce was delicious as well. Your sauce looks so creamy and homogeneous. How did you get yours to look like that? I processed mine in a food processor, but since you said not to over-process it or else there would be a metallic taste, mine didn’t turn out looking like yours. It was still good, but I’m just wondering how you got yours to look like that. Mine doesn’t look as thick or creamy as yours, and you can still see small bits of parsley/kale. Anyway, I’ll definitely make this recipe again.