Featuring the most delicious medley of black beans, roasted sweet potato, fluffy quinoa, and alllll the mix-ins, these vegetarian power bowls are a plant-based powerhouse!
I’m LOVING these plant-based power bowls right now!
These vibrant veggie bowls have a few separate components that, together, make something downright magical. To keep things easy, I’ll break down each part with all the tasty details to take out any guesswork.
Each bowl features a base of fluffy seasoned quinoa, crispy roasted sweet potatoes, tender massaged kale, speedy marinated onion, and delicious mix-ins like black beans, avocado, cilantro, and any extras your heart desires!
The glory of this recipe is that everything is made while the sweet potatoes roast away in the oven. Woot!
Here’s a little breakdown of all the tasty ingredients that combine to make veggie bowl magic:
Fluffy Quinoa Base
For the base of our vibrant veggie bowls, we’ll combine one and a half cups of vegetable broth in a blender or processor with a Roma tomato, cilantro leaves, and some cumin. Blend into the most delicious cooking liquid to cook your cup of dry quinoa in. Delicious!
Roasted Sweet Potato
I could eat roasted sweet potato by the bowlful. In fact, I often do! This simple recipe is my go-to for grain bowls.
- 1.5 pounds sweet potato (approx. two medium spuds)
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- ½-¾ teaspoons chili powder
- ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Feel free to add any seasoning your heart desires. Ground cumin tastes great here and so does some spicy cayenne pepper.
To make these seasoned spuds, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel and dice sweet potatoes into 1/2-1 inch cubes. In a medium bowl, combine cubed potato, oil, and spices. Mix to coat and spread cubed potatoes, spaced, on parchment paper. Roast for 30 minutes or until nice and crispy. For even crispier potatoes you can flip halfway through but I often skip doing so to make life easier.
Massaged Kale
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the only kale worth putting in your face is massaged kale. A little rubdown with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt makes all the difference! The kale goes from dry and rough to tender and silky.
Speedy Marinated Onions
These are a total breeze to make and amp up the flavor of red onion for both salads and power bowls. You can measure these out via the recipe in the recipe card but I typically just slice up some red onion super thin and drizzle the oil and vinegar on top. Follow it up with some salt and pepper, mix, and marinate. Even after a few minutes they’re absolutely spectacular.
Creamy Salsa Dressing
To make a simple and oh-so-flavorful salsa dressing, combine 1/4 cup of sour cream with 2 tablespoons of your favorite red salsa. Season with ½ tsp ground cumin, ⅛ tsp salt, and the juice of half a lime and you’re good to go!
Another easy way to dress this beautiful bowl is to add a few spoonfuls of each: sour cream, guacamole, and salsa or pico de gallo
All the Tasty Extras
For these pretty power bowls, I enlist the help of black beans, sliced/diced avocado (or guacamole!), and fresh cilantro. You can even add your favorite hot sauce or taco sauce and some crispy tortilla chips for a fabulous crunch.
Vegetarian Power Bowls
This tasty recipe makes 3 beautiful bowls of veggie goodness.
Since I was solo this week, I made one to devour right away and meal prepped the remainder to be easy peasy lunches!
Vegetarian Power Bowls
Ingredients
QUINOA BASE
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 roma tomato
- 1 TBSP cilantro leaves
- ½ tsp ground cumin
ROASTED SWEET POTATO
- 1.5 lbs sweet potato (approx. two medium spuds)
- 1-2 TBSP avocado oil or olive oil
- ½-¾ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
SPEEDY MARINATED ONIONS
- ¾ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 2-3 TBSP avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
BEANS + VEGGIES
- 1 can black beans (15 oz) drained and rinsed
- 2-3 cups chopped kale
- ½ tsp avocado oil or olive oil to massage into kale
- 1 avocado (diced or made into guacamole)
- ¼-½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
CREAMY SALSA DRESSING
- ¼ cup sour cream (regular or vegan)
- 2 TBSP red salsa (choose your favorite)
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ⅛ tsp salt or season to taste
- ½ lime, juiced
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
- guacamole
- sour cream (regular or vegan)
- lime wedges for an extra burst of citrus
- sliced jalapeño
- mexican hot sauce
- tortilla chips
Instructions
- To keep things clear and simple, I've broken many of the power bowl components up into separate parts. Everything can be done while the sweet potatoes roast, including making the quinoa and prepping all your mix-ins. Woot!
FIRST ROAST THE SWEET POTATO
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel and dice sweet potatoes into 1/2-1 inch cubes. In a medium bowl, combine cubed potato, oil, and spices. Mix to coat and spread cubed potatoes, spaced, on parchment paper. Roast for 30 minutes or until desired crispiness is reached.
NEXT COOK THE QUINOA
- Add the cooking liquid from step 3 to a small saucepan with one cup of dry quinoa and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered with the lid slightly ajar, for 13-14 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy and the liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.
QUICK MARINATED ONIONS
- Combine oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Add thinly sliced red onions and mix to coat. Set aside.
MASSAGE THE KALE
- Remove kale leaves from the stem and finely chop. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and add a pinch of salt.
- Massage the oil into the leaves until tender in texture.
PREP REMAINING INGREDIENTS
- Drain and rinse black beans. Chop cilantro and avocado. Whisk together salsa ingredients if using or simply add a spoonful of salsa and sour cream to each bowl. Guacamole is excellent here too!
READY TO EAT?
- Divide quinoa between bowls. Top with roasted sweet potato, massaged kale, marinated onion, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and choice of dressing and any optional extras your heart desires. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try these tasty vegetarian power bowls, let me know!
You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Questions & Reviews
This was delicious but very time consuming. The flavours were great but so many steps.
Hey Laurey! I’ve found some shortcuts along the way bc I managed to get fully obsessed with these bowls and wanted to make them more often for lunches. I’ll do the quinoa in advance (sometimes without all the extras even – I’ll just make a big ole batch for the week to add to bowls and salads) and prep my kale in advance too. It stays so fresh when you put it in an airtight container with a layer of paper towels on the bottom and top of the greens. I think next time I’m going to see if I can advance prep the sweet potatoes and then just throw them on a skillet to crisp them back up? They’re pretty no-fuss to roast though if all the other ingredients are all prepped and ready to use. Hope this helps! xoxo
So glad you’re loving the recipe! xoxo
Absolutely delicous! SO MUCH good stuff in here!
Thanks Justine!