You would be forgiven for thinking that these vegan Buddha bowl recipes are compiled purely for photographic purposes only, but you’d be wrong.
All of these plant-based bowls of goodness are as delicious to eat as they are to look at, and they’re not all that difficult to put together either.
So, if you’re looking for a beautiful, healthy, filling, and, most importantly, vegan dish to delight all of your senses, then a plant-based Buddha bowl takes a bit of beating.
Let’s take a look at some of my all-time favorites, shall we?
The Quinoa Vegan Buddha Bowl
Perfect for a satisfying weeknight dinner, this Vegan Buddha Bowl from Sarah at Well and Full is so simple to put together it takes little more than half of an hour to prepare.
Using quinoa as its base provides you with a hearty, gluten-free meal packed with protein and the perfect combination of essential amino acids. The contrasting textures of crispy chickpeas, creamy avocado, and fresh greens drizzled with the warm spice of the red pepper dressing will make this dish your go-to comfort food.
Go and check it out now over on Sarah’s wonderful blog, Well and Full.
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Nourishing Vegan Buddha Bowl
This Buddha Bowl requires a bit more effort, but the results are well worth it.
The genius behind it, Elena from As Easy As Apple Pie, suggests doing most of the prep ahead of time, which is something I agree with wholeheartedly.
Wild rice is an incredible, low-calorie source of fiber offering a nutty flavor that is a beautiful complement to the bright freshness of the beetroot and red cabbage. The addition of sweet potato fills your bowl with antioxidant beta-carotene and replenishing B vitamins.
Dressed in a garlic and lemon infused tahini dressing, and finished with crunchy chickpeas, and pumpkin and hemp seeds, you will need to take a picture of this beauty before you dig in!
Get the full recipe here.
Cumin Chick Pea Buddha Bowl
This veggie-loaded bowl is a perfect energy inducing lunch which is packed with protein-rich spiced chickpeas and nutrient-dense baby spinach. Delicious!
Ania at Lazy Cat Kitchen does not include any grain or starch component to her bowl, which keeps it light yet satisfying. I love the unconventional inclusion of black olives and think they add a unique textural element, as well as some of those good fats that we need.
In addition to shredded beetroot and zucchini noodles (check out our zucchini spaghetti maker reviews to make your own at home), the quick pickled onion adds a little zing and the Sambal dressing kicks everything up a notch, or two if you like things spicy. This is a recipe to save and savor!
CHECK OUT OUR SPINACH 101 NEXT!
Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl
Did you say vegan, gluten-free, satisfying, with maple tahini dressing, and all in only 30 minutes? Sign me all up for that!
Dana from Minimalist Baker has the chops when it comes to quick and easy yumminess! First, sweet potato and kale go together like peanut butter and jelly, except, really, really good for you.
Second, the broccolini in this bowl will give you an extraordinary amount of Vitamin C, which your skin will love.
Top all of that off with seasoned chickpeas and a hint of maple in the dressing, and you have the perfect autumn-inspired dish filling enough even for the hard-to-please carnivores in your life.
Vegan Buddha Bowl with Spicy Peanut Dressing
Another nutrient dense, flavor punched vegan Buddha bowl in under 30 minutes? Yes indeed! Janie at The Hedge Combers has you covered!
Janie uses a frozen packet of cooked quinoa, beans, and veggies seasoned with lemony goodness to help get this dinner on the table in no time, so you’ll need to keep your eye out for similar packets in your local store if you want to keep things fast. That said, you could easily knock up your own, if you wish.
This delicious, easy to prepare bowl is then garnished with fresh watercress, cashews, avocado, and a simple peanut dressing that’s amped up with Sriracha sauce. This is one speedy Buddha bowl that will not disappoint!
RELATED: CAN VEGANS EAT SRIRACHA?
Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower Buddha Bowl
Monique from Nourish Every Day uses heart health boosting brown rice as the base for this, beautiful as it is scrumptious, Buddha bowl.
The cauliflower, tossed with an aromatic blend of cumin and turmeric, is roasted in the oven, which gives it a warm, inviting spiciness, a slightly charred crunch, and a gloriously golden yellow color.
Tomatoes, carrots, and zucchini are also oven roasted, with just a bit of coconut oil, which brings out their natural sweetness and added depth of flavor through caramelization.
Once your rice is cooked, and your veggies roasted, blanched edamame and kale will round out your bowl with a little texture and crispness. You will want this gorgeous bowl to hit your Instagram before it hits your table; it’s that pretty.
RELATED: HEALTH BENEFITS OF TURMERIC / WHAT’S THE BEST TURMERIC SUPPLEMENT?
Peanut Tofu Buddha Bowl
The key to this Buddha bowl is the tofu. We know tofu is a hurdle, and getting it right seems to happen almost never…ok, never!
Have no fear because Alex at Delish Knowledge provides instructions and a video to show you a fabulous fool-proof way to get your tofu crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and bursting with flavor. Thanks, Alex!
Paired with brown rice, chickpeas, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and a drizzle of the peanut dressing that makes tofu magic happen, this bowl is overflowing with plant-based protein that will keep you satiated and energized. This is a winner!
Crispy Tofu Black Rice Bowl
With earthy mushrooms, tender-crisp leaves of pak choi, and a slightly sweet Asian-inspired dressing, this dish will leave you wondering why that wok your Mom bought you when you moved into your first apartment has been wasting away in the cupboard for the last decade!
The rarely seen, yet oh-so-necessary, black rice gives this bowl an outrageous amount of antioxidant power, and tofu makes another appearance, too.
Humbly admitting her love/hate/love relationship with tofu, Sasha from Eat Love Eat offers tips on how to move beyond your tofu fears with the help of some corn flour, Asian spice, and a wok.
Simple, yet effective, the tricks included in this post will change the way you look at tofu forever!
Quick and Easy Vegan Buddha Bowl
When you look at this blog, you are going to wonder where Savor and Savvy has been all of your life.
Talk about an Ah-ha moment. Rice Cooker! Jazmin makes batches of rice to have on hand anytime that the Buddha bowl craving strikes. What a great idea! especially if you’re a Buddha bowl fan like I am.
Black beans and salsa give this bowl a surprising Southwestern twist but, with a huge list of ideas included in this post, you can get creative to make it to exactly your own taste.
BBQ Tahini Power Bowl
If the photographs alone at Veggies Don’t Bite don’t inspire you to get to the kitchen then we don’t know what will.
Sophia, the mastermind behind the images and this fantastic BBQ inspired bowl is a busy Mom of three, so she knows how to make delicious happen quickly.
Using purple potatoes, a mixture of beans, greens, and smokey molasses infused tahini sauce; it’s a Sunday barbeque minus the fat and food coma!
Definitely one you’ll want to check out.
Black Bean Buddha Bowl with Avocado Pesto
As a college student, Emilie of Emilie Eats knows a thing or two about time management. We have all heard of the freshman 15 and know that quick and easy can often translate into fat and unhealthy.
I love the use of farro in this bowl because it gives us a mighty dose of fiber and more complex carbs than most other grains. The avocado pesto is what really shines here, though, and you’ll find yourself wanting to use it over and over.
You have been warned!
Baked Falafel Buddha Bowl
Oh, falafel, how I do love thee so!
With this baked, gluten-free, vegan version of falafel, Veronika at The Healthful Ideas encourages us to color outside of the lines by blending unconventional components into an around-the-world journey for your taste buds.
Did she really use kimchi and salsa on a Buddha bowl with falafel? Yes, she did, and it is absolute brilliance!
Check it out here.
Detox Buddha Bowl with Spicy Chickpeas and Cumin Cashew Sauce
With a focus on making healthy foods delicious, Hope, through her blog, Love Food Nourish, helps those on restricted diets, and anyone else, to eat better and feel better. It’s a wonderful site, do take the time to check it out properly.
But, what of her Buddha bowl with spicy chickpeas? Well, this beautiful Buddha bowl uses the detoxifying powerhouses, red cabbage, and kale coupled with a to die for Cumin Cashew sauce that will make you wonder if the dish is actually as healthy as Hope has told us…it’s incredible!
Everything comes together so wonderfully in this dish you won’t regret making it, and your body will thank you, too!
Nourishing Garden Veggie Vegan Buddha Bowl
Lindsay, the nutrition guru behind the Cotter Crunch blog, brings the Buddha bowl to new heights with this digestion aiding, detox boosting, workout recovering powerhouse.
I love the combo of the punchy but underrated radish, peppery watercress, toasty pumpkin seeds and dried berries for a touch of sweet. You will absolutely want to check out what her Green Goddess Dressing does for this bowl of goodness, too. It’s amazing!
Head over to Cotter Crunch now.
Thai Buddha Bowl with Peanut Sauce
While traveling through South East Asia, Regina of Leelalicious, learned a thing or two about Thai food and shares her inspiration through this creative take on the Buddha bowl.
Using red rice, a discovery from a trip to Bali, purple cabbage, sprouts, garlic chives, and shredded cabbage, this bowl is bound to be a favorite go-to for a vegan lunch or dinner on the fly.
The earthiness of the rice and the freshness of the raw veggies combine beautifully with the fab peanut sauce and just a hint of curry. Wonderful!
CHECK OUT THESE VEGAN CURRY RECIPES NEXT!
Green Power Bowl
Mary Ellen over at VNutrition is a fabulous resource for all things healthy. Using the knowledge she is gaining in her post-graduate work in nutrition, she came up with this Green Power Bowl – and I’m very glad she did!
A mix of brown rice, kale, brussel sprouts, and chickpeas for protein, this dish packs a punch in the nutrient density department and with a little avocado to lower your bad cholesterol, you know you’re doing your body good as well as delighting your tastebuds.
I love the use of raw cashews as a healthy fat in the creamy cilantro lime sauce, too. Go make this recipe now!
RELATED: WAYS TO EAT KALE
Butternut Squash Tahini Buddha Bowl
Making a second appearance on our list, Alex, of Delish Knowledge, is no one-trick pony.
If you are feeling a little Casablanca and need some Moroccan spice in your life, this is your bowl! The butternut squash, roasted with a bit of Ras El Hanout, is combined with couscous, fresh spinach, and chickpeas.
The Tahini Goddess dressing is a wonderfully healthy version of the original and is so good you’ll have to stop yourself from drinking it straight!
Go find out what you’ve been missing by clicking here.
Dragon Bowls
In the introduction to her blog, Choosing Chia, Jess points out that “eating well is a journey.” I love that because I know it’s not always easy, yet many blogs make it seem like it is. That being said, Jess WILL help make it easier for you with her glorious Dragon Bowls.
Although the bowl itself contains many of the usual suspects – quinoa, beets, carrots, tofu, and cabbage – the sauce, inspired by a visit to a Montreal restaurant, is where the magic happens.
The Dragon Sauce is not your average tahini dressing, with a little garlic kick, lemon tang, maple sweetness, and a secret ingredient I won’t spoil, it will become a staple in your fridge, for sure.
Spicy Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl
We would expect nothing less than a spicy bowl from the edgy and extremely entertaining Amrita over at her blog Crazy Vegan Kitchen.
Opting for the great texture that comes from a brown rice base, she also throws her chickpeas into high gear with the fire of Sriracha and warmth of paprika. So good!
The crunch of the fresh red cabbage, deliciously delicate spinach, criminally creamy avocado, and the roasted goodness of the sweet potato become something else altogether when smothered in her racy Tumeric Tahini Dressing.
Liven up your life, go visit Amrita’s blog and get the recipe you’ve been waiting for.
Pretty neat list of plant-based Buddha bowls, eh?
I simply love these easy-to-make gorgeous dishes. Is there any better way to please all of your senses at once? I don’t think so.
Obviously, we all have our favorites, so I’m guessing there’ll be a few of you out there saying, “Hey, how come Lisa didn’t include so-and-so’s vegan Buddha bowl?”
If that’s you, don’t stay quiet, let me know! Drop me a comment in the box below so I can go and check it out for myself…I’m always on the lookout for new bowls of deliciousness.
About The Author:
Lisa Williams
Lisa Williams is a committed vegan, passionate animal welfare advocate, and keen follower of too many v-friendly food blogs to mention. She started happyhappyvegan.com back in 2016 because she felt there was a need for more straightforward information on plant-based living.
Back then, too many sites seem to either concentrate solely on recipes or be too intimidating or inaccessible for the v-curious, and she wanted to change that. The landscape is certainly a whole lot different now!
What a great selection of healthy and tasty looking buddha bowls! Thanks for including my recipe 🙂
My pleasure, Hope. Glad you liked the post!
Whenever I see a collection of buddha bowls like this, it makes me wonder why I don’t live on them exclusively! They are SO beautiful, vibrant and health giving!
I know, right? And they’re so simple to put together, too. What’s not to like?