Best Buddha Bowl

The ultimate nutrient-packed vegan buddha bowl! Fresh veggies, beans, sauerkraut, and a vibrant turmeric tahini sauce make it hearty and flavorful.

vegan / gluten free / dinner — Jump to recipe

Where did the name ‘Buddha Bowl’ come from, anyway? If you’ve been on Instagram in the last 5 years, chances are you’ve seen these colorful bowls, packed with plant-based goodness like grains, legumes, steamed and raw veggies, and flavorful sauces. According to a 2017 Epicurious article by Katherine Sacks, the name could come from how Buddha collected alms, using a large bowl to gather small bits of food that the residents of whatever village he was staying in could afford to share.

Before we started calling these colorful bowls “Buddha Bowls,” I knew them as macro bowls. When we lived in Austin, I headed to a macrobiotic restaurant called Casa de Luz whenever I needed a bit of a recharge. Instead of having a fixed menu, Casa de Luz offered one rotating meal per day. It would always be some type of buddha bowl, with a grain, a legume, blanched leafy greens, steamed vegetables, a pickled vegetable, and a delicious sauce. It may sound limiting, but I’ve honestly had some of the best sauce and vegetable pairings of my life there. Since I can’t visit Casa de Luz regularly now that we live in Chicago, I used their basic template to build my own buddha bowl recipe.

My Buddha Bowl Recipe Ingredients

To make a homemade version of a Caza de Luz macro bowl, I used one item from each of these categories:

A delicious sauce – I made a vibrant turmeric tahini sauce. It’s my favorite type of creamy sauce in that it doesn’t require a blender, so you can stir it together in no time. And if you have leftovers, you’re in luck! This colorful sauce tastes great on everything.
Cooked vegetables – Roasted sweet potatoes were my pick.
Raw vegetables – Watermelon radish, rainbow carrots, and red cabbage give this buddha bowl recipe a huge pop of color!
Leafy greens – Bring on the kale.
A legume – I chose my go-to plant-based protein: chickpeas!
A grain – I used brown rice, but if you don’t have any on hand, feel free to substitute white rice.
A pickled vegetable – Sauerkraut! I love Bubbies.

These components all keep nicely in the fridge if you want to meal prep this recipe for lunch during the week. Find my best meal prep tips here and more of my favorite healthy lunch recipes here!

Vegan Buddha Bowl Recipe Variations

I love this recipe as written, but feel free to customize your buddha bowl. Here are a few of my favorite variations:

Vary the veggies. Replace the sweet potato with roasted butternut squash or regular potatoes, or try a different kind of roasted veggie. Roasted Brussels sprouts, roasted broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or beets would all be great. You could also try cooking them in different ways. Steam or sauté the kale instead of leaving it raw, steam or roast the carrots, or boil the sweet potatoes. In the summer, grilled veggies would be great here too!
Swap in a different protein. Try edamame, lentils, black beans (or any kind of beans), or top your grain bowls with cubes of crispy tofu or tempeh. For extra crunch, you could even use roasted chickpeas!
Change up the grain. Replace the rice with quinoa, farro, or couscous. For extra veggie power, skip the grain, and swap in cauliflower rice or broccoli rice.
Switch the sauce. Make a different variation of my basic tahini sauce recipe, or use a different sauce entirely! I love finishing a buddha bowl with peanut sauce, lemon vinaigrette, green goddess dressing, cilantro lime dressing, hummus, or drizzles of sesame oil and soy sauce or tamari.
Try a different pickle. Don’t have sauerkraut on hand? Use pickled red onion or jalapeños instead!

Let me know what variations you try!

More Favorite Plant-Based Recipes

If you love this buddha bowl recipe, find 85 more delicious vegan recipes here, or try one of these healthy bowls next:

Rainbow Kale Salad
Sesame Soba Noodles
Roasted Veggie Grain Bowl
Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl
Or any of these 15 Best Rice Bowl Recipes!

Best Buddha Bowl

rate this recipe:#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0 .wprm-rating-star.wprm-rating-star-full svg *{fill:#343434}#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0 .wprm-rating-star.wprm-rating-star-33 svg *{fill:url(#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0-33)}#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0 .wprm-rating-star.wprm-rating-star-50 svg *{fill:url(#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0-50)}#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0 .wprm-rating-star.wprm-rating-star-66 svg *{fill:url(#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0-66)}linearGradient#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0-33 stop{stop-color:#343434}linearGradient#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0-50 stop{stop-color:#343434}linearGradient#wprm-recipe-user-rating-0-66 stop{stop-color:#343434}5 from 29 votesPrep Time: 15 minutes minsCook Time: 20 minutes minsTotal Time: 35 minutes minsServes 4
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Print RecipePrep these simple components ahead of time to pack this healthy buddha bowl for lunch, or make it for an easy weeknight dinner! Vegan and gluten-free.

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, cubed
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 watermelon radish or 2 red radishes
2 medium carrots
1 cup shredded red cabbage
Squeeze of lemon
8 kale leaves, chopped
2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
1 cup cooked chickpeas or cooked lentils
¾ cup sauerkraut or other fermented veggie
2 tablespoons sesame seeds or hemp seeds
Turmeric Tahini Sauce, for serving
Microgreens, optional
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Toss the sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread onto the baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Thinly slice the radish into rounds (this is best done on a mandoline), and use a vegetable peeler to peel the carrots into ribbons.
Toss the radish slices, carrots, and shredded cabbage with a squeeze of lemon. Set aside.
Place the kale leaves into a large bowl and toss with a squeeze of lemon and a few pinches of salt. Use your hands to massage the leaves until they become soft and wilted and reduce in the bowl by about half.
Assemble individual bowls with the brown rice, chickpeas, kale, carrots, radishes, cabbage, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, sesame seeds, and microgreens, if using. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the Turmeric Tahini Sauce.

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59 comments

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Carrie Keith
08.25.2023
As a long-time Austinite I can vouch for the deliciousness of Casa de luc. It is a great place for inspiration. I became obsessed with sauces after the first time I dined there. So good.
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  08.26.2023
  They’re sauces are the best!
  Reply ↓
Carmen
08.08.2023
Can’t figure out if this is served hot or cold with the mixture of ingredients it has. No direction as to keep precooked things warm and add them with cold veggies… help!
Reply ↓
- Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
  08.11.2023
  Hi Carmen, you can serve the bowls fully cold or use a mix of warm and cold/room temp ingredients. We actually love the mix of temperatures! Hope this helps.
  Reply ↓
Kylie
04.10.2023
how many calories it contains?
Reply ↓
Jessica Kavanagh
02.05.2023
Hey, I am doing to know what that twisty garnish is on top of the bowl! Looks tasty and interesting . Like a substitute for bacon lol.
-Jess
Reply ↓
- Adam
  06.11.2023
  I’m pretty sure those are the rainbow carrots, sliced lengthwise.
  Reply ↓
- Matt
  07.06.2023
  Its a watermelon radish.
  Reply ↓
Danielle M
01.25.2023

Excellent. For the most part I followed the recipe, but used some veggies that were already in my refrigerator. Delicious and the dressing made it! I’ve made other buddha bowls, but this was the best. I’ll definitely make this often. Highly recommend you try it!
Reply ↓
- Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
  01.26.2023
  I’m so glad you loved it!
  Reply ↓
Renee C.
05.23.2022

This was delicious and made enough for my husband and I for two nights, so we’re having leftovers tomorrow! It’s sa bit of prep work, but worth it. I used the turmeric tahini dressing and my husband and I really liked it!
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  05.26.2022
  I’m so glad you both enjoyed it!
  Reply ↓
Janice
05.02.2022
Would you have a calorie count for this recipe?
Thanks!
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  05.04.2022
  Hi Janice, I’m sorry, we don’t calculate nutrition info but you can plug the ingredients into a site like my fitness pal.
  Reply ↓
Joan P.
01.08.2022
Hi. This looks delicious and filling. I don’t like fermented veggies (except beets and pickles). Can you suggest a substitute?
Thanks. Joan
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  01.09.2022
  Hi Joan, pickled onions would be great here: https://www.loveandlemons.com/pickled-red-onions/
  Or pickled ginger.
  Reply ↓
Shelby
04.30.2021

This was quite yummy. I made it to prep for lunch since I work long days the next two days, and since it serves four I prepped two lunches and then used the other two portions for myself and my partner for dinner. For extra protein I made a jammy egg to go with it. Very good!
Reply ↓
Harsha
04.02.2021

Very delicious and healthy
Reply ↓
Athena
04.01.2021

Made this incredible bowl last night for dinner and it was exactly what I needed! Such a perfect Springtime bowl, the whole family loved it. I used regular radishes instead of watermelon (cause my grocery store never has them… sad). Super easy to make and the turmeric tahini dressing was delicious! Highly recommend!
Reply ↓
Erin
02.24.2021
I loved this! I meal prepped it for lunches too. Do you or others here reheat the roast vegetables and quinoa or do you just eat the whole thing cold? Thanks!
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  02.24.2021
  Hi Erin, I’m so glad you loved it! I just eat the whole thing cold!
  Reply ↓
Lisa H.
08.20.2020
Something like this is already on the menu once a week in my house (grain + bean + greens + assorted other sauteed vegetables), but I never really thought of adding raw or pickled vegetables to the mix. I don’t think I want sauerkraut on the chickpea/barley thing I’m eating now with a dollop of tzatziki, though, haha! – maybe pickled turnips like they put on shawarmas…
Reply ↓
Katie
08.04.2020
Hi! Love all of your beautiful recipes! Can you please share a link to a couple of your favorite bowls to serve in and/or could recommend a size? Thank you! I understand if you’re not able to share that.
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  08.30.2020
  Hi Katie, here are a few of my favorite ceramicists with great bowls:
  https://www.colleenhennessey.net/
  https://www.sarahkersten.com/
  and this is the one in the picture:
  https://herriottgrace.com/collections/all/products/stoneware-porcelain-pasta-bowl
  Reply ↓
Lily
01.13.2020
Hi Jeanine,
I loved the original sauce recipe you had here. Any chance you would share it? I know you have the link to a new version but I would prefer the old version.
Thanks,
Lily
Reply ↓
Emily
08.15.2019
Hey! Do you have any recommendations of what to add to this if it gets too watery? I want it to be more of a dip and less of a dressing,…I think the tahini I used may have been too liquidy. Thanks in advance!
Reply ↓
- Jeanine Donofrio
  08.18.2019
  Hi Emily, this one is definitely more of a dressing than a dip. To thicken it, you could add chickpeas and blend it into a food processor so that it’s thicker, more like hummus. I hope that helps!
  Reply ↓
Jeanine Donofrio
06.07.2019
Hi Sara, I’m so glad you loved the bowls!
Reply ↓

Best Buddha Bowl

Best Buddha Bowl

My Buddha Bowl Recipe Ingredients

Vegan Buddha Bowl Recipe Variations

More Favorite Plant-Based Recipes