Meal Prep Buddha Bowls

Nothing like a good recipe that makes multiple servings and these Meal Prep Buddha Bowls are a simple, tasty and filling make-ahead lunch that you can eat all week long.

Whether you call them Buddha bowls, macro bowls or power bowls, these little bowls of goodness are a great meal prep idea, and they are pretty hard to mess up. You can essentially just add all of your favourite ingredients to a bowl, cover it with a tasty dressing and you’re good to go. The key to making it filling, and heartier than a salad, is adding some grains, beans, lentils and/or starchy vegetables to help to make it more of a meal than a side dish. As long as you can include some a little protein, lots of veggies and some healthy fats, you’ve got yourself a pretty well-balanced meal with these meal prep buddha bowls.

For this particular recipe, I wanted to try and incorporate as much flavour as I could, while keeping the ingredients and steps to a minimum. If you time your cooking right, you can multi-task on a lot of the prep steps so you aren’t in the kitchen too long, and the oven will do most of the work for you. These meal prep buddha bowls will make 5 filling servings, or 4 larger servings, depending on how many meals you need that particular week.

Meal Prep Buddha Bowls

I used brown rice in these meal prep Buddha bowls, but if you prefer white rice you could certainly use that as well. This recipe makes 4 large portions, or enough to make 5 filling portions for a week’s worth of healthy meal prep lunches.

Author: Stephanie Kay
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 5 servings 1x
Category: Mains, Salads
Cuisine: Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

Scale

Ingredients

Roasted Cauliflower

1 small head cauliflower, florets removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Spiced Chickpeas

2 x 14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Rice

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Vegetables

1 box/bag leafy greens
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1-pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Garlic Tahini Dressing

1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 pinch sea salt
Water to thin if needed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a saucepan, combine water, rice and sea salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes until tender and fluff with a fork. (See package for specific instructions.)
In a bowl, add cauliflower florets, drizzle with olive oil, season with turmeric and sea salt. Using a spoon, toss until cauliflower is well coated with oil and turmeric mixture.
Add seasoned cauliflower to a large baking sheet, spread it out evenly, and set aside.
Using the same bowl, add drained and rinsed chickpeas, drizzle with olive oil and season with curry powder and sea salt.
Stir to ensure chickpeas are well coated in spices, and then transfer to a second baking sheet or tray. (If you only have one baking sheet, use a second oven-proof dish, pretty much any baking dish will work.)
Transfer both the cauliflower and chickpeas to the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes until cauliflower is tender, and chickpeas are crispy.
While the cauliflower and chickpeas are cooking, prepare the dressing. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl and whisk until well combined. Add water to thin as needed, and set aside.
Prepare the vegetables. Chop or shred cabbage into bite-size pieces, and half cherry tomatoes.
Once the cauliflower, chickpeas and rice are done cooking, remove from the oven, set aside and allow to cool 10-15 minutes before preparing the bowls.
Once cooled, you can begin to assemble the bowls. Divide ingredients among 4 or 5 glass containers (this will make 4 slightly larger portions or enough to make 5 filling portions).
Add rice to the bottom, layer with cauliflower and chickpeas, leaving leafy greens, cabbage and cherry tomatoes on top or to the side to ensure they do no wilt.
Do not dress the salad ahead of time! You can portion your dressing into 5 smaller containers or keep it in one large jar to be used every day.
These meal prep buddha bowls store well in the fridge for up to 5 days. The chickpeas may lose their initial crispiness a little but their flavour is still great!
Enjoy!