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    Vegetarian Burrito Bowl with Avocado Crema

    September 9, 2024

    Roasted veggies, savory beans and a lime-garlic avocado crema top a bed of cilantro-lime rice in this hearty, healthy vegetarian burrito bowl recipe

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    vegetarian burrito bowl with cauliflower and avocado crema

    A Healthy Burrito Bowl So Delicious You’ll Never Miss the Meat

    Ideal for meal-preppers, vegetarians, or even just meatless Monday devotees who’d like to mix things up, there’s so much to love about this delicious, simple homemade burrito bowl. It’s even really easy to adapt for vegans—there’s only one non-vegan ingredient, and it can easily be swapped for a vegan version. We take advantage of a few store-bought ingredients—like jarred salsa—to add ease to your prep process, as well as huge flavor for very little effort.

    ingredients for vegetarian burrito bowls cilantro rice, cauliflower, avocado, lettuce, taco seasoning, salsa, beans

    The Best Vegetarian Burrito Bowl Starts With Super-Flavorful Ingredients

    While you could keep your veggie burrito bowl as basic as some roasted veggies and canned beans served over a bed of rice, a few extra steps and ingredients will really pay off and turn a somewhat boring-healthy dinner into a meal that everyone begs for (that also happens to be very healthy). To make these easy burrito bowls, you’ll need:

    • Cauliflower.
    • Bell peppers. We like to use a combo of red and green, jto make this burrito bowl as colorful as possible.
    • Onions.
    • Olive oil.
    • Limes. You’ll need these for the burrito bowl toppings, and for the avocado crema (more on that later.)
    • Taco seasoning. Homemade, or store bought in a pinch.
    • Beans. Pinto or black—either work great.
    • Jarred salsa. Or homemade! Whatever is easy—you’ll mostly be using this to flavor the beans.
    • Romaine lettuce.
    • Cilantro-lime rice. Of course, you can use plain or brown rice if that’s what you’ve got. Or, you’ve got leftover rice, just jazz it up a little with some cilantro, lime juice and zest! Yum!
    cauliflower, red and green bell peppers, onion and taco seasoning in a glass mixing bowl
    cauliflower, red and green bell peppers on a baking sheet with taco seasoning, olive oil and lime juice
    Avocado, cilantro, sour cream and lime juice in a small glass mixing bowl
    Avocado crema in a small glass bowl with a spoon

    Make It Restaurant-Worthy: DIY Avocado Crema

    All of the components of this colorful, hearty vegetarian burrito bowl are seasoned in various ways, so it’s not that the burrito bowl isn’t crazy flavorful and delicious without this crema drizzled on top. It’s just that sometimes it’s nice to go that extra mile, you know? And that’s what this lovely avocado crema does—it takes a perfectly lovely burrito bowl and makes it a little snazzy. It also ties all of the ingredients together into a nice little burrito bowl bow and brings a sense of real coherence to the meal. Anyway, if you don’t want to fuss with it, you’ll still have a delicious dinner. But if you do, here’s all you’ll need to make your dinner a little something special:

    • Avocado
    • Garlic
    • Sour cream (or, if you want to keep your burrito bowl vegan, just use a vegan sour cream—they’re easy to find at the store, usually close to the traditional dairy sour cream, or near the tofu.)
    • Lime juice
    • Cilantro
    roasted cauliflower and bell peppers on a rimmed baking sheet with taco seasoning
    warm pinto beans simmered in a pan with salsa

    How To Make a Burrito Bowl

    Making a burrito bowl is mostly an effort of assemblage. You can prep most of this bowl way ahead of time, too, and in doing so, make it a meal that comes together in minutes. Here’s how we like to approach this burrito bowl recipe:

    1. Make the cilantro-lime rice. Burrito bowls are always a great use for leftover rice—either from takeout or from a homemade meal—so you can also just season some leftover rice with a little cilantro and lime juice.
    2. Roast the veggies! Roast cauliflower florets, peppers and onions—all seasoned with a little taco seasoning—for about 30 minutes. This can be done at least 2-3 days ahead of time, if you’re meal-prepping.
    3. Buckle up for one of our very best tips, ever! Season your beans by simmering them for a few minutes with some salsa. Voila! Instantly delicious beans! You could do this ahead, we supposed, but it takes only a couple minutes, and the burrito bowl is best if the beans are freshly warmed, so this is a step we reserve for the day-of.
    4. Avocado crema time! Mix this up while the beans simmer—yeah, it’s that fast to make.
    5. Assemble! Have everyone assemble their burrito bowls however they see fit, and ta da! A super-healthy dinner loaded with fiber, vitamins, and whole grains that everyone will love.
    vegetarian burrito bowl with cilantro, lime, rice, beans and cauliflower

    Tools You’ll Need:

    More Healthy, Easy Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

    Meatless also means veggie-full, and who doesn’t love that? Here are a few vegetarian recipes that have earned a spot in our regular rotations:

    vegetarian burrito bowl with cilantro rice, cauliflower limes and beans
    vegetarian burrito bowl with cilantro rice, cauliflower limes and beans

    Is Burrito Bowl Night The New Taco Night?

    Or maybe Mexican food is popular enough in your home that there’s room for BOTH in a week? Either way, we hope you try and love this burrito bowl recipe! If you do, we’d love to know! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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    Vegetarian Burrito Bowl with Avocado Crema

    Updated on September 9, 2024

    • Serves:  6
    • Prep Time:  20 min
    • Cook Time:  30 min
    • Calories:  410
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    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup taco seasoning
    • ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons lime juice, from 1 lime
    • 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
    • ½ yellow onion, cut into ½-inch-thick strips
    • 1 green bell pepper, cut into ½-inch-thick strips
    • 1 red bell pepper, cut into ½-inch-thick strips
    • 1 (15.5-ounce) can pinto or black bean, drained and rinsed
    • ½ cup salsa
    • 4 cups Cilantro-Lime Rice
    • 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
    • Cilantro, for serving

    Avocado Crema

    • 1 small avocado
    • 1 garlic clove
    • ½ cup sour cream
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • 3 tablespoons lime juice, from 2 limes
    • ¼ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center position.

    2. In a large bowl, combine the taco seasoning, olive oil and lime juice. Add the cauliflower, onion, and bell peppers and toss to coat. Spread the mixture onto a rimmed sheet pan.

    3. Roast until the vegetables are browned and the cauliflower is tender, about 30 minutes.

    4. Meanwhile, make the avocado crema. Add the avocado, garlic, salt, lime juice, and cilantro to a food processor or small blender and blend until smooth.

    5. In a small skillet, combine the beans and salsa over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, until warmed through.

    6. To serve, divide the cilantro-lime rice into 6 bowls, top evenly with the beans, roasted vegetables, and lettuce. Drizzle with the avocado crema and sprinkle with cilantro.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 410
    • Protein 8 g
    • Carbohydrates 52 g
    • Total Fat 21 g
    • Dietary Fiber 10 g
    • Cholesterol 0 mg
    • sodium 590 mg
    • Total Sugars 7 g

    Vegetarian Burrito Bowl with Avocado Crema

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

    or
    • Joann

      What is cilantro rice and how do you make it?

      In the ingredient list the cilantro-lime rice is linked. Click on the link to take you to the recipe but you basically add lime zest, lime juice, and cilantro to rice. Hope you enjoy Joann!

    • Kara

      This is scrumptious! We’ve made so many of your recipes and loved them all, that we’ve finally purchased the cookbook! Thank you!

      YAY! We are so happy you are enjoying our recipes and got our book! Thanks Kara Joy!

    • Wanda

      looking for vegetarian recipes that are also dairy free

      On the homepage of our website you can click on the "dietary" icon in the upper right. Select vegetarian from the drop down. Each recipe listed will also have small squares with it's other categories so any recipe that has has a "DF" square under the title would be dairy free as well. Hope this help! Off the top of our heads some of our favorites would be our Spicy Peanut Udon Noodles, Lentil Sew with Quinoa and mushrooms and Buddha Bowl. Hope this helps Wanda!

    • Abbey

      What is a serving? 1/2 cup?

      We don't currently have yield listed.

    • Jess

      Am I supposed to train the beans? I went ahead and did it. But it doesn't mention to do it in the recipe.

      Yep, that's great!

    • Val

      Yum this recipe was great!! I made my beans different and sauteed them with garlic, olive oil, salt pepper and cumin and just added the pico on top of the bowl. So easy and great for lunch the next day!

      Thanks Val, so happy you loved it!

    • Julie

      This recipe was absolutely delicious! The only thing I did wrong was to roast the vegetables beforehand so they were cold when I put it all together. Will cut up the vegetables beforehand but roast them right before the dinner. The avocado sauce was wonderful. Will definitely make this again!

      Thanks Julie, we are so happy you loved it!

    • Andra

      Made it for the first time for my boyfriend and his family. I actually bought fresh parsley instead of cilantro by accident. We used it the same as we would the cilantro and It was still really amazing and they are not fans of cilantro so they loved it even more! Grilled chicken and red cabbage coleslaw on the table too and it was a home run for all! Thank you for the recipe.

      Thanks Andra, we are so glad you all loved it!

    • Léa

      Delicious and very easy recipe ! Loved it

      Thanks, so happy you loved it!

    • Doris

      Yummy. Filling

      Thanks Doris!