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Buddha Bowl

August 20, 2024

This dish is abundant in good-for-you ingredients, and is endlessly customizable. We build ours around whole grains, legumes, and fresh vegetables with a drizzle of vegan cashew cheese sauce.

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brown rice, black beans, avocado, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted kale in a bowl drizzled with vegan cashew cheese sauce
Photography by Gayle McLeod

Bowls, Bowls and More Bowls.

May Your Buddha Bowl Be Full Of All The Good Stuff

Buddha bowls are everything we want to eat, in one bowl. What is a Buddha bowl? It’s a one-bowl meal of good stuff, built around whole grains and veggies, and also known as a grain bowl. Ours is a vegan Buddha bowl recipe, and you can of course add an egg for protein (or cheese, meat, or tofu–it’s really up to you!). Buddha bowls are typically vegan (or at least vegetarian) and often gluten free, but the beauty of the Buddha bowl is that there are no rules. If you’re a meat-eater, you might love our easy Egg Roll Bowl!

brown rice, kale, sweet potatoes, black beans, avocado and vegan cashew cheese sauce in bowls to make homemade buddha bowls

Buddha Bowl Ideas

One of the great joys of making an easy Buddha bowl is that you can generally stick to a formula and get delicious results. What are the five key components of a Buddha bowl?

We recommend following this loose framework of ingredients for making Buddha bowls:

  • Zhush! For our Buddha bowl we fresh cilantro and green onions, but nuts, seeds, fresh herbs and sprouts are all great toppings to add texture and flavor. Go crazy with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, mint, parsley, chopped peanuts–you get the idea!
chopped sweet potatoes on a baking sheet tossed with olive oil paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sugar and salt
roasted sweet potatoes seasoned with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sugar & salt and kale on a baking sheet
roasted sweet potatoes seasoned with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sugar & salt and kale on a baking sheet
brown rice, black beans, avocado, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted kale in a bowl next to vegan cashew cheese sauce

How To Make A Buddha Bowl

Here’s how to make our hearty sweet potato Buddha bowl:

  1. Roast the sweet potatoes. Drizzle the cubed sweet potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sugar, and salt. Toss to coat. Roast until beginning to soften, about 12 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the kale with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt. Remove the sheet from the oven and push the sweet potatoes to one side. Add the kale to the empty side and roast until the potatoes and kale are tender and beginning to brown.

  3. Assemble! Divide the rice between bowls. Top with sweet potatoes, beans, and kale. Drizzle cheese sauce and top with cilantro, avocado, and green onions, if using.

brown rice, black beans, avocado, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted kale in a bowl next to vegan cashew cheese sauce
brown rice, black beans, avocado, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted kale in a bowl drizzled with vegan cashew cheese sauce

Tools You’ll Need

More One Dish (or One Bowl) Recipe Ideas

Because sometimes one dish is all it takes! Here’s a few more recipes to keep dishwashing to a minimum.

We Want To See Your Golden Bowl Fulls!

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Buddha Bowl

  • Serves:  4
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  22 min
  • Calories:  241

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ -inch cubes
  • 2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 bunch kale, stemmed and roughly chopped
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

For Serving

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the center position.

  2. Add the sweet potatoes to a rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle with 1½ tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sugar, and ¾ teaspoon of the salt. Toss to coat. Roast until beginning to soften, about 12 minutes.

  3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the kale with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Remove the sheet from the oven and push the sweet potatoes to one side. Add the kale to the empty side and roast until the potatoes and kale are tender and beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes.

  4. If desired, warm the beans in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Alternatively you can add them to the sheet pan with the kale to warn them through.

  5. To assemble, divide the rice between bowls. Top with sweet potatoes, beans, and kale. Drizzle cheese sauce and top with cilantro, avocado, and green onions, if using.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 241
  • Protein 9 g
  • Carbohydrates 31 g
  • Total Fat 11 g
  • Dietary Fiber 12 g
  • Cholesterol 1 mg
  • sodium 661 mg
  • Total Sugars 3 g

Buddha Bowl

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Hailey

    I want to make this but am allergic to nuts. If I changed out the cheese sauce for like a nacho cheese sauce, would that be similar? Thank you 😊

    I would just use some salsa or guacamole instead.

  • Alice

    Any other sauce you would suggest for this bowl? Always looking to change it up. Thanks!

    Tahini Sauce, peanut sauce, a simple Orange Vinaigrette or even just a squeeze of lemon or lime juice!

  • Lindzy

    Superb! Due to allergies, we couldn't do the soaked cashews, so I subbed 1/2 c. Sour cream, 1/4 blanched almonds, and enough water to thin it out. It was fantastic!! Really great recipe, thank you!

    Thanks Lindzy! So happy you were able to make it work for you!

  • Jenn

    Delicious and pretty simple! I just prepped a whole bunch to have this for lunches all week. The cashew cheese sauce is phenomenal!

    Thanks Jenn! So glad you loved it!

  • Kasia

    Total flavor bomb!! Loved all the mix of flavors and textures. Definitely will keep this in the mix! Husband and I are not vegan and we both thought we could total be vegan if recipes were like this! Thank you!

    Thanks so much Kasia, so glad you both enjoyed it!