Are you looking for a healthy dinner recipe? Try this sweet potato buddha bowl. It is a delicious and flavorsome dish packed with nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Give it your flair. Enjoy this quick and super healthy dish.
What is a buddha bowl?
Buddha bowl is a vegan person’s paradise, truly! Because it is made with vegetables and plant-based protein, it is a perfectly healthy meal. Jam-packed with nutrients and minerals, you can top the bowl up with a delicious sauce of your choice.
The best thing about the buddha bowl is that you can make it with any combination until you fulfill the component profile.
Essential elements of a buddha bowl
The perfect buddha bowl is made from the following components:
- Veggies: one of the first essential ingredients in a buddha bowl is vegetables. You can use any veggies you like; whether it is a sweet potato, carrots, squash, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, etc., the choice is yours.
The vegetables can be sauteed, roasted, or parboiled. I find roasting my vegetables gives them a rich flavor preserving all their nutrients. To give my bowl color, I add a few extra vegetables as well. I love using cherry tomatoes and avocado to add in a few extra nutrients. Go to town on the veggies and see what sticks. A tip, kale tastes just as delicious as any other vegetable.
- Protein: the next essential component is protein. This could be tofu, beans, chickpeas, or animal protein. Today, we will be using black beans. I love adding black beans to my buddha bowl. It adds color. You can cook your beans from scratch, but we will be using canned beans because this is a quick and easy Buddha bowl recipe. Drain, rinse and heat the beans. I added some cumin with a pinch of salt for some flavor. Again, you can add any beans you like. Kidney, pinto, and northern beans are a few favorites of mine.
- Grains: get the carbohydrate, dietary fiber, and vitamins from a grain of your choice. I love to serve my sweet potato Buddha bowl with rice, but you can use quinoa, millet, brown rice, or even barley.
- Sauce/Dressing: lastly, a buddha bowl is incomplete without a sauce that adds richness and texture to the dish. I love topping it up with this vegan cashew sauce because it is super delicious, rich, and creamy. However, you can use tahini, nut butter, basil pesto, avocado sauce, this honey vinaigrette dressing, or any vegan sauce of your choosing.
- Add-on and Spices: now you won't want your dinner to be bland, do you? You can add your favorite seasonings to get in some kick and heat. Adding nuts, herbs, and seeds not only adds nutrients to the healthy bowl, but it adds crunch. Nuts and seeds like roasted cashews, hemp seeds, or pumpkin seeds taste irresistibly delicious.
Tips and tricks for a delicious sweet potato buddha bowl:
- Make your Buddha bowl ahead of time by preparing the ingredients and storing them in the refrigerator on the weekend. Prepping the night before makes dinner a breeze for my family on busy days. All you have to do is chop the vegetables, cook the grains, protein, and make the dressing. Store in an airtight container until you are ready to use. On the day of-Simply season, roast the veggies, preheat the grains, proteins, and assemble the Buddha bowl. Et voilà!
- If you are looking for a low-calorie or fat-free dish, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, or even avocado oil for baking the veggies or protein ( if using animal protein).
- Although you can use sauteed or boiled sweet potatoes, I recommend you marinate them in little olive oil, herb de Provence, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then bake them. As you bake the potatoes, they will get a perfect texture and hold their shape. Similarly, you can bake cherry tomatoes or kale as well.
- You can also air fry the vegetables. Yes, get that air fryer out from packing dust and make good use of it 🙂
There you have it—a hassle-free weeknight dinner that takes little to no time to put together.
I hope you’ll give this belly-filling bowl recipe a try. If you are looking for something on the lighter side, try this fan’s favorite quinoa bowl.
Share a spoon with us on our social media if you make this recipe using the hashtag worldlytreat(#worldlytreat). We’d love to join the soirée. Also, don’t forget to pin it for later. Chat soon?
PEACE & LOVE
Maureen
Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 large Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (½ inch size)
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Herb de Provence
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- Salt & pepper to taste (I used ½ teaspoon each, incase you are in doubt)
- 2 (14.oz) cans Black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- 2 cups Cooked rice (jasmine or basmati works great)
Toppings
- 1½ cups Cherry tomatoes
- 2 large Avocados, cubed
- Cashew sauce for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or lightly spray with cooking spray
- Meanwhile, place the sweet potato in a shallow bowl, add the olive oil, herb de Provence, garlic powder, salt and pepper then combine, thoroughly coating the sweet potatoes.
- Spread the sweet potatoes over the lined baking sheet on a single layer leaving at least 1-2 inches space in between for even baking. (When in doubt use two pans).
- Bake for 28-30 minutes turning halfway through until the skin is crisp and charred. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Prepare the protein
- If using canned beans, place in a microwave-safe bowl, add the cumin powder, stir, and heat for 3 minutes. Set aside. If you are cooking the beans from scratch, follow the directions on the package.
Assemble the bowl
- Divide sweet potato, rice, and beans into 4 serving dishes. Add the cherry tomatoes, avocado, and toasted cashews (or vegetable, seed, and nut of choice). Top with Creamy cashew sauce (You can find the recipe in the post) or your favorite dressing. Enjoy!
Freya says
I do love a good Buddha bowl, but yours is simply magnificent, and thank you so much for the tips!
Maureen Celestine says
Same here, Freya! I am probably too obsessed with buddha bowls 🙂 The pleasure is always mine.
FOODHEAL says
I am grabbing this buddha bowl with me. It has everything I love.
Maureen Celestine says
Go right ahead, enjoy. Thanks for stopping by
Jill says
I love this bowl, not only is so colorful and pretty but its so healthy and delicious! That creamy cashew sauce really makes the whole dish!
Maureen Celestine says
It does, Jill. It's easily addictive.
Ramona says
Your Buddha bowl looks absolutely incredible. I know now what I am making with my sweet potatoes that I must use up. Brilliant idea for my work lunch. Mmmm. Delishh!
Maureen Celestine says
So glad to hear that, Ramona. I love how versatile Sweet potatoes are 🙂