This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.

This vegan Buddha bowl features a variety of fresh and roasted vegetables, rice, and the best feature: a tangy lemon tahini sauce.

Vegan Buddha Bowl with Tahini Sauce

It’s the time of year for cleanses, nourishing juices and fresh salads. Much as we love salads, sometimes it seems a bit anticlimactic: What’s for dinner, honey? Salad. Here’s a salad that is anything but a let down: a vegan Buddha bowl. We realize that this concept might be overly “vegetarian / vegan / hippie” for some tastes, but we challenge you to give it a try! With all the flavors, textures, and colors, this vegan Buddha bowl is so satisfying it’s appealing even for meat lovers. Don’t believe us? Try it and let us know via comments or on Instagram – we would love to hear from taste testers!

Related: Best Vegan Dinner Recipes | Best Healthy Dinner Recipes

Vegan Buddha bowl ingredients

When creating this Buddha bowl recipe, it was very important to us that it’d be filling, nutritionally dense, and delicious. For this particular vegan Buddha bowl, we used sweet potatoes, cauliflower, rice, chickpeas, beets, red cabbage, sunflower seeds, and salad greens.

The secret to this Buddha bowl is the dressing. It’s zesty, creamy, and a bit addicting. We’ve made enough here so that you have more for later — because you’ll want it! This vegan Buddha bowl is also great if you’re dealing with dietary restrictions: it’s vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Serve it with bread or crackers for a filling meal.

Vegan Buddha Bowl with Tahini Sauce

Can I use different buddha bowl toppings?

Of course! If you’d like to create your own vegan buddha bowl, you should place the following components in a bowl, with the goal of making it as colorful and visually appealing as possible:

  1. Greens (salad greens, steamed or massaged kale)
  2. Raw or roasted veggies (any type)
  3. Cooked grain (rice, quinoa, farro)
  4. Protein (beans, chickpeas, tofu)
  5. Crunchies (nuts, seeds)
  6. Dressing

We’ve shared our favorite Buddha bowl toppings in the recipe card below, but nourish bowls like this are super flexible and can be tailored to fit your personal tastes!

Related: Veggie Burrito Bowls with Cauliflower Rice

How to make a Buddha bowl

Whether you choose to make this specific vegan Buddha bowl or put your own spin on this recipe, the instructions are basically the same. You’ll need to roast the veggies and cook the grain, then thinly slice the vegetables you’ll be eating raw (in this case, the beets and cabbage). Whisk together the dressing, and then you can assemble your Buddha bowl!

Buddha bowls can easily be meal prepped as well. Simply prepare and store the toppings in separate containers and throw together a Buddha bowl whenever you’re hungry.

how to make a buddha bowl

Looking for more tahini recipes?

Outside of our Vegan Buddha Bowl recipe, here are a few other tahini recipes from A Couple Cooks:

Related: What is Tahini?

This vegan Buddha bowl recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, naturally sweet, and refined sugar-free.

Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Print

Vegan Buddha Bowl with Lemon Tahini Sauce

Save Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

This vegan Buddha bowl features fresh and roasted vegetables, rice, and to tie it all together: a tangy lemon tahini sauce.

  • Author: a Couple Cooks
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Roasted
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (2 medium)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups black rice or quinoa, uncooked
  • 15-ounce can chickpeas (1 ½ cups cooked)
  • 1 beet
  • ¼ head red cabbage (we used a combination of savoy and red)
  • 12 cups salad greens
  • Best Lemon Tahini Sauce, to serve
  • ⅓ cup sunflower seeds or pepitas

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  2. Dice the sweet potatoes; place them in a bowl and mix with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the sweet potatoes onto half of the sheet. Cut the cauliflower into florets; place them in the same bowl and mix with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Pour the cauliflower onto the other half of the baking sheet. Top the vegetables with fresh ground pepper and roast until tender, about 30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the rice or quinoa according to the package instructions or use our Instant Pot rice or Instant Pot quinoa methods.
  4. Drain and rinse the chickpeas; mix them with a drizzle of olive oil and a few pinches kosher salt.
  5. Peel and thinly slice the beet. Thinly slice the red cabbage.
  6. Make the Lemon Tahini Sauce.
  7. To make the vegan Buddha bowl: place the salad greens in a bowl. Arrange small piles of each component. Drizzle with the Lemon Tahini Sauce and top with sunflower seeds or peptias.

Notes

For easy prep, cook the rice, make the dressing, and chop the veggies in advance. The day of, roast the veggies and put together the salad.

Did you love this recipe?

Get our free newsletter with all of our best recipes!

Roasted Nourish Bowl with Lemon Tahini Dressing | A Couple Cooks

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Hi! We’re Sonja and Alex Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

30 Comments

  1. Terra says:

    Made this last night and it was a HIT!! Thanks so much for this recipe.

  2. ewa says:

    SO TASTY!!!!! with tahini lemon dressing! WOW!






  3. Andrea says:

    First time to leave a review. So many great flavors and colors. The sweet potatoe balances the other veggies and gives such a great sweetness. Next time will make everything in advance like suggestted. Looking forward to leftovers!!! Made mine with romaine and it was really good. Thanks so much for inspring me!! I dont like califlower but the roasting made all the difference. Thank you for your nourishing ideas.






    1. Sonja says:

      You are so welcome! We’re SO glad you enjoyed this recipe — it is a favorite of ours. And it’s fantastic to hear you enjoyed the roasted cauliflower! I agree, it’s such a different vegetable roasted. Thanks again for writing!

  4. Rachel says:

    I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for weeks and FINALLY made it. It’s filling, nutritious, delicious and pretty to boot. Thank you!

  5. RENEE says:

    AMAZING!!! how good does this look, I love bowls like this, they are so much fun. can’t wait to give it a try :) – http://www.reneesexton.co.nz

  6. DavidaRochelle says:

    Why do you suggest using “parchment paper” on top of the backing pan? Will wax paper work in most recipes as a substitute?

    1. Anonymous says:

      For ease in cleanup. Roasting can be done without it, though. Don’t use wax paper – fire and smoke hazard in the oven.

  7. Jane says:

    Just discovered your blog and really enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for sharing your food and your story – and good luck as you continue your treatments!

  8. Brittany says:

    This sounds amazing! I LOVE roasted veggies and tahini.

  9. Liz @ Floating Kitchen says:

    What a gorgeous looking bowl! Definitely wouldn’t feel deprived eating this salad. And tahini dressing is my jam. I make it all the time and I never feel like I’m missing out on cheese/dairy. So good! XO

  10. Georgia says:

    This looks absolutely divine! A perfect return to putting vegetables before cake and champagne ;)

  11. kristie {birch and wild} says:

    I posted a similar recipe on my blog last winter. Great minds think alike! So good to eat the colors of the rainbow when it is so grey outside.

    1. Sonja says:

      So fun! Yours looks fabulous – and you’re right, they are very similar!

  12. Amy@ Thoroughly Nourished Life says:

    I love the idea of a nourish bowl! A perfect healthy lunch or dinner for any time of year :) Although, I am a hippy-dippy salad lover too :)

  13. Susan says:

    I think I came across a nourish bowl recipe like this a long time ago and did nothing with it. However, after reading your recipe I think I’m going to have to try it. And I’m glad to know that you are doing better. I hope your health continues to improve.

    1. Sonja says:

      Thank you, Susan! Let us know if you try it out and what you think!

  14. Christy@SweetandSavoring says:

    You really nailed the visually appealing part- the colors are fantastic (and obviously, compliments to the photographer)! Thanks for giving me some new ideas- I get stuck in a rut eating the same vegetables. And I love lemon tahini dressing but I haven’t made it in AGES- thanks for reminding me!

    1. Sonja says:

      You’re so welcome! The dressing really makes the salad – I could eat it every day! (Or at least, feel like I could…!)

  15. Katie @ Whole Nourishment says:

    This is totally my kind of meal. I like the combo of cauliflower, beet, and sweet potato here. And very glad to hear you’re doing better, Sonja! Thanks for the update.

    1. Sonja says:

      You’re welcome — and thanks for your kind thoughts about my health!

  16. Aysegul says:

    What a delicious looking salad. We all need to get back to eating healthy. This one is a great start. Thanks for sharing!

  17. Tori@Gringalicious.com says:

    I’m so down with this recipe . Bowl food is the best! I love all of these colors too! Pinning!

  18. Kathryn says:

    The flavours, colours and textures of this bowl of goodness are totally what I need right now, particularly when all of my resolutions to eat cleaner + happier this year are being sorely tested by the return to work this Monday morning…Thank you, as ever, for making it that much easier to make the good decisions and I’m glad you’re starting to feel a bit better Sonja. Sending lots of good thoughts your way xo

    1. Sonja says:

      Thanks, Kathryn! The “back to reality” Monday is the worst, isn’t it? :)

  19. Jess says:

    What a beautiful way to start the new year – such beautiful colors and that dressing sounds amazing! Glad you’re feeling a bit better Sonja – sending happy thoughts and prayers your way.

    1. Sonja says:

      Thank you so much, Jess!

  20. Robyn @realfoodwholelife says:

    This is gorgeous you guys! Going right into a Real Food Meal Plan ASAP!

  21. ATasteOfMadness says:

    This looks so good!! I just had dinner, but I kind of wish I saw this earlier!

  22. Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says:

    I could eat salad for every meal – especially if it’s like this!! There is so much goodness in this bowl!

See More Comments