Buddha bowls, the Instagram-worthy one-bowl meal loaded with a healthy, balanced mix of protein, vegetables, and good fats, have been around for ages yet their popularity is blazing hot right now. While these stunning and nourishing bowls offer something for everyone, they’re particularly a huge hit with vegans. Here’s why!
Kelli Foster
It’s a nourishing meal packed with an array of nutrients.
You get everything you need piled in a single bowl. Made with whole foods, Buddha bowls offer diversity of nutrients from plants to ensure you’re hitting all of your nutritional needs.
It doesn’t actually require a recipe.
Buddha bowls are incredibly easy to make, and don’t actually require a recipe. Start with a formula of whole grains + protein + cooked and raw vegetables + sauce. Once you have the basics down all you need is inspiration to create nutritious Buddha bowls.
Customize it just the way you like it.
Buddha bowls are endlessly customizable and highly adaptable, so you can make them just the way you like. Which means swapping ingredients in or out of a recipe is always easy.
All the sauces.
This is the magical component that takes any bowl from good to great. Each bowl is finished off with a sauce or dressing that makes it unique and absolutely delicious.
They’re anything but boring.
You can eat a Buddha bowl everyday without ever feeling like you’re eating the same thing over and over. The possibilities are endless for creating bowls with different combinations of ingredients and sauces.
Meal prep makes Buddha bowls extremely convenient.
The greatest convenience of Buddha bowls is their make-ahead potential. By meal prepping, making the components of your bowl and a sauce in advance, you have nearly a week’s worth of healthy, nourishing meals ready to go.
It's a fun way to eat vegetables that’s not a salad.
Do not mistake a Buddha bowl for a salad. There is so much more to this plentiful meal. Vegetables are a big component of Buddha bowls, but in addition to raw, most include a mix of cooked, and pickled, or fermented vegetables. Not to mention whole grains, beans, legumes, tofu, nuts, and seeds that give it substance.
They’re actually filling.
No one wants a meal that leaves you hungry an hour later. Between the whole grain, veggies, and healthy fats, like avocado, olive oil, and nuts, this is a meal that’s as filling as it is delicious.
It teaches you new ways to prepare and eat vegetables.
Buddha bowls keep mealtime fresh and interesting by simply showing you different ways to cut and prep basic vegetables. For example, use a peeler to shave carrots and zucchini into ribbons, transform them into noodles with a spiralizer, or blitz cauliflower or broccoli into “rice” with a food processor. Also try roasting vegetables with different spices.
There’s a bowl for every meal, and even dessert.
From sweet porridge bowls and savory breakfast bowls to larger, heartier bowls for lunch and dinner, and fruit-topped bowls to satisfy your sweet tooth in the evening, there’s a nourishing Buddha bowl any time of day.
