The ultimate nutrient-packed vegan buddha bowl! Fresh veggies, beans, sauerkraut, and a vibrant turmeric tahini sauce make it hearty and flavorful.
When I need a bit of a recharge, I head to a macrobiotic restaurant in Austin called Casa de Luz and order a buddha bowl. As you walk in, there’s an Ayurvedic proverb painted above the door that says “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” I love this. The place actually feels less like a restaurant and more like a yoga retreat. There’s no menu, just one meal served. It rotates daily, but it will always be some type of buddha bowl, with a grain, a legume, blanched leafy greens, steamed vegetables, a pickled vegetable, and a delicious sauce. It may sound limiting, but I’ve honestly had some of the best sauce and vegetable pairings of my life here, so I used this basic template to build my own buddha bowl recipe.
My Buddha Bowl Recipe Components
To make a homemade version of Caza de Luz’s macro bowls, I used one item from each of these categories:
- A delicious sauce – I made a vibrant turmeric tahini sauce that I’ve been putting on everything. It’s my favorite type of creamy sauce in that it doesn’t require a blender, so you can stir it together in no time.
- Steamed vegetables – I steamed carrots, broccoli, and kale until they were just tender and far from mushy.
- A legume – I went out of my comfort zone and gave mung beans a try. If you’ve never tried them before, they cook quickly, and they have a bit of a funny taste. But within this bowl they’re perfection. If you can’t find them, French green lentils or roasted chickpeas would work here too.
- A grain – I used brown rice, but quinoa or farro would also be great.
- A pickled vegetable – Sauerkraut! I love Bubbies.
Buddha Bowl Recipe Variations
I love this recipe as written, but feel free to customize your buddha bowl. Here are a few of my favorite variations:
- Roast the veggies instead of steaming them, or use different veggies entirely! Roasted sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower would all be delicious.
- Swap in a different protein. Try lentils or chickpeas, or top your grain bowls with cubes of baked tofu or tempeh.
- Vary your grain. As I mentioned above, quinoa or farro would work well here. For extra veggie power, skip the grain, and swap in cauliflower rice or spaghetti squash.
- Switch the sauce. Make a different variation of my basic tahini sauce recipe, or use a different sauce entirely! I love finishing a buddha bowl with peanut sauce, cilantro lime dressing, hummus, or drizzles of sesame oil and soy sauce or tamari.
- Try a different pickle. Don’t have sauerkraut on hand? Use pickled red onions instead!
These components all keep nicely in the fridge if you want to meal prep this recipe for lunch during the week. Find my best meal prep tips here and more of my favorite healthy lunch recipes here!
More Favorite Plant-Based Recipes
If you loved this recipe, find 85+ delicious vegan recipes here, or try one of these plant-based dishes next:
- Mango Ginger Rice Bowl
- Brown Rice Adzuki Bean Bowl
- Rainbow Kale Salad
- Sesame Soba Noodles
- Fresh Spring Rolls
Best Buddha Bowl
Ingredients
Turmeric Tahini Sauce
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1½ teaspoons dried turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Bowls
- 1 watermelon radish or 2 red radishes
- squeeze of lemon
- 1 uncooked cup sprouted mung beans or cooked lentils
- 6 small or 3 medium carrots, steamed
- 1 small head broccoli florets, steamed
- 8 kale leaves, chopped
- 2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
- ¾ cup sauerkraut or other fermented veggie
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds or hemp seeds
- microgreens, optional
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Make the Turmeric Tahini Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, water, turmeric, sea salt and several grinds of pepper. Set aside.
- Thinly slice the radish (this is best done on a mandolin), and toss the slices with a squeeze of lemon. Set aside.
- Cook the mung beans in boiling salted water according to package directions, or until tender. Drain.
- In a steamer basket over a pot of simmering water, steam the carrots, covered, until just tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove and set aside. Next steam the broccoli until tender but still bright green, 4 to 5 minutes. Lastly, steam the kale until just tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Assemble individual bowls with the brown rice, mung beans, carrots, broccoli, kale, sauerkraut, sesame seeds and microgreens, if using. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the Turmeric Tahini Sauce.
This looks great!!! I’ve been searching for watermelon radish….can’t seen to find it anywhere!!!
I’ve been seeing them at my Whole Foods lately – they seem to vary by region and season – hopefully you can find them later this spring! (although they’re not completely necessary for this recipe, they’re just pretty!)
I imagine different regions and stores/supplies dictate what we can buy and I’m pretty sure if you want the taste & texture of the original recipe subbing regular sweet smaller spring radishes would be more than okay!
All through this post I was saying Yes, Yes, Yes! I love that Ayurvedic proverb too – should put it up in my office. And a big yes to steaming veggies and adding mung beans to this bowl! Will definitely be making this soon. Thanks Jeanine!
Made it. Loved it. Will repeat. Especially loved the sauce. Was pleasantly surprised it didn’t need sweetness from honey or maple. Thought the flavors would be slightly bitter without but I was wrong. Excellent!
Hi Katie, I’m so glad you loved it! xo
The lack of sweetener is what attracts me to this dressing. Can’t wait to try it. Will be back to comment! (I despise sugar anything with savory!)
I just started making my own tahini sauce & I am so excited about it!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/organic-roasted-cauliflower-grocery-outlet/
This looks so delicious and healthy! Love eating colorful food too!
Will definitely try this – sounds tasty and healthy 💪
This sounds so fresh and clean! I love tahini sauces and this sound delicious. I will definitely have to try this out!
These look so pretty!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
lovely blog its so healthy and i think tasty also
I love this kind of bowls where you have everything you need on it!! They always make me feel very good.
Looks so delicious and pretty!
These look really, really good! Definitely something I’d make for myself!
I need a restaurant like that in my life!!! Eliminate the choices – we have too many – and just feed me something clean, nutritious, and delicious! Tahini is the best. I can’t get over how beautiful this bowl you created is!
Thank you! Ha, yes, sometimes zero choices is best!
I love the colors in this bowl!
Yum! Boyfriend and I switched to being vegetarian 2 months ago, your blog is a life saver! You can only eat Tofu so many times. First recipe we’ve tried, can’t wait to try more! SPIRALIZED DAIKON “RICE NOODLE” BOWL and QUINOA APRICOT & ARUGULA SALAD next!
I’m so glad you both enjoyed this!!
Hi Jeanine!
Looking forward to trying this soon. 🙂 I haven’t seen any watermelon radishes pop up yet this year – it’s still a bit chilly here and I tend to see them later in the spring. Anyway, I was wondering if you have any ideas for substitutes – maybe a handful of thinly sliced red radishes?
Thank you so much,
Aidan
yep – thinly sliced red radishes would be just fine here!
I’m munching on this right now and wanted to check back in because it’s really amazing! The sauce is super delightful, and now I know that I like mung beans. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Hi Aidan – I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
This was yummy, thank you 🙂 Loved the dressing
So yummy. Just made with leftover quinoa, lentils, steamed broccoli, and added some steamed carrots, sauteed beet greens, the sauce as written, and sauerkraut. Incredible. Thanks!
Thank you! Your turmeric tahini sauce was delicious with beets!
These bowls look so great! Definitely excited to make these at home the next time I hit the grocery store. Thank you so much for sharing!
Can’t wait to make all these salads. How long does the avocado/tahini dressing last in the refrig?
Hi Phyllis – the avocado sauce will last 2-3 days (since avocados brown fast). The turmeric tahini sauce in this post will last about 5 days. I hope you enjoy!
Hi Sara, I’m so glad you loved the bowls!
Hey! Do you have any recommendations of what to add to this if it gets too watery? I want it to be more of a dip and less of a dressing,…I think the tahini I used may have been too liquidy. Thanks in advance!
Hi Emily, this one is definitely more of a dressing than a dip. To thicken it, you could add chickpeas and blend it into a food processor so that it’s thicker, more like hummus. I hope that helps!
Hi Jeanine,
I loved the original sauce recipe you had here. Any chance you would share it? I know you have the link to a new version but I would prefer the old version.
Thanks,
Lily