Looking for a quick and versatile vegan dinner? This quinoa veggie bowl with chickpeas and spiralized carrots is easy and fun to make, customizable and really nutritious.
Simple and colorful vegan bowls for dinner is our favorite way to end a busy workday. Using whatever cooked grains we have left in the fridge and adding our favorite seasonal vegetables, plant-based protein and creamy sauces, this meal couldn’t be easier!
We love vegan bowls in any imaginable composition — from rainbow Buddha bowls to tofu nourish bowls or Mexican Buddha bowls, they are suitable year-round and so scrumptious.
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This quick vegan quinoa veggie bowl can be made in less than 30 minutes, is great for meal prep and pretty high in protein!
In fact, this very recipe is part of our 1-week vegan meal plan where it’s used as a light dinner or simple leftover lunch.
This mix-and-match approach to dinner makes healthy eating fun and approachable — plus, with some prepped components on hand, your veggie bowl can be ready to enjoy in only 10 minutes!
Look at the recipe
- Bursting with color & essential nutrients
- Beautiful eye-catcher and crowd-pleaser
- Super meal prep-friendly & versatile
- Low-budget and seasonal produce-heavy
- Quick & accessible 30-minute vegan dinner
- Easy to fit into any diet
Depending on which components you want to use and in which quantity, you can make this bowl really much higher or lower in calories!
Also, if you live in a mixed diet family, you can let others add anything they want to this plant-based recipe without you having to cook two meals. And if you don’t overdo it on the chickpeas, this is a great vegan low-FODMAP recipe!
Ingredients needed
- Quinoa — this gluten-free pseudo-grain is high in protein, offers satiety and can be replaced with wild rice, millet or bulgur.
- Chickpeas — more protein, texture and satiety! Our favorite bean is a fantastic add-in but can be swapped for any plant-based protein source.
- Spiralized Carrots — this noodle shape makes eating vegetables more exciting and can be achieved with a spiralizer or mandoline.
- Kale — every good veggie bowl needs some leafy greens! If you’re not a fan, swap for anything from romaine to spinach or arugula.
- Avocado — offering creamy texture, healthy fats and essential vitamins, avocados are one of our favorite veggie bowl toppings!
- Walnuts & Orange — we highly recommend adding some nuts or seeds and (if you’re open to it) fruit to your quinoa veggie bowl to make it a really exciting, healthy and versatile dinner.
Even if you don’t have any pre-cooked quinoa or grains on hand (something we often recommend you cook in larger batches to use the leftovers quick vegan meals), this veggie bowl can be whipped up in under 30 minutes!
How to make this quinoa veggie bowl
Cook quinoa
Start by cooking your quinoa as per the instructions on the package. Once all of the water is absorbed, fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.
Make this component more flavorful by cooking it in vegetable stock if you like!
Prepare the veggies
In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients for your quinoa veggie bowl! This means marinating and massaging your kale leaves (yep, that’s a thing), then washing and chopping all of the other veggies and fruits.
Choose a dressing
The sky’s the limit here! Try your veggie bowl with any of these dressings:
- Creamy tofu ranch
- Tahini yogurt sauce
- Balsamic date dressing
- Cashew sour cream
- Honey mustard dressing
- Roasted beetroot hummus
Here are 30+ oil-free vegan dressings to choose from!
Assemble your bowl
All that’s left to do is to assemble your colorful veggie bowls with the marinated kale as a bed of greens. Add the quinoa, chickpeas and spiralized carrots next to each other on top of your greens for a pretty pattern!
Top with parsley, green onion, walnuts, avocado and orange slices.
FAQs & Tips
How to make spiralized carrots
The most common way to make spiralized carrots is by using a spiralizer, which can actually be a pretty cheap and useful kitchen tool!
There are hand-held spiralizers that are comparatively small, very easy to use and painless to clean — perfect for beginners.
And how do you spiralize carrots without a spiralizer? Luckily, you can create carrot noodles using different kitchen tools you might already have at home.
Many people make spiralized carrots by just using a julienne peeler to create flatter and thinner carrot noodles. Apart from that, you could just grate your carrots for a quick-and-dirty version!
How to Make Spiralized Vegetables →
Tasty veggie bowl add-ins
Like we stated above, veggie bowls are super versatile and you can use pretty much any nutritious goodness you find in your kitchen!
However, you should make sure to use at least one component from each category below to make them effortlessly scrumptious and well-rounded.
- Complex carbs: wild rice, millet, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, bulgur, farro, buckwheat, quinoa, noodles.
- Veggies: bell pepper, cabbage, fresh or dried tomatoes, roasted veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, grated or spiralized carrots, arugula, corn, peas.
- Legumes: chickpeas, edamame, kidney beans, black beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, falafel, beanballs.
- Toppings: nuts, seeds, hummus, avocado, orange, apple, raisins, dates, fresh herbs, vegan cheese.
Storage & meal prep
If you want to make a single ingredient prep and spiralize a bunch of carrots, they are best stored in a paper towel-lined glass container or sealable plastic bag for up to 4-5 days. The paper towel helps absorb any excess moisture!
However, you can also assemble the entire quinoa veggie bowls and store them in food containers to eat over the next 2-3 days without anything getting soggy — including the spiralized carrots!
Just be sure to store the dressing separately and add it right before eating.
Free veggie bowl meal plan
If you’re new to meal prepping or plant-based eating, then we have something exciting to share with you! This quinoa veggie bowl with spiralized carrots is part of our 7-day meal plan “Week of Bowls” which features 7 different recipes that are just as easy and delicious as this one.
You can download our free 50+ page eBook with vegan transition tips, a guide to stocking your pantry, exact shopping lists and a full 1-week vegan bowls meal prep!
Get the free eBook →More easy dinner recipes
Try these easy and delicious ideas next!
Did you try our quinoa bowls and like them? Share with us in the comments below, rate our recipe and don’t forget to grab your free eBook. You can also Pin this easy recipe here!
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup quinoa dry (100 g)
- 2 cups chickpeas cooked & drained (330 g)
- 7 kale leaves de-stemmed & roughly chopped (2.5 oz / 70 g)
- 2 carrots spiralized
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1 cup fresh parsley finely chopped (2 oz / 60 g)
- ½ orange peeled & cut into slices
- 1 avocado cut into slices
- 1 oz lightly toasted walnuts crushed (30 g)
- ½ lemon juice only
- ½ tsp salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa in a medium-sized pot following the instructions on the package. Once it has absorbed all of the water, fluff with a fork and set aside.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients for your quinoa veggie bowl. Start by marinating your chopped kale leaves in a bowl with half of the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Massage with your hands for a minute.
- Now, spiralize or slice your carrots, then wash and chop all of the other components. Once your quinoa is cooked, you can assemble your veggie bowls!
- Using the massaged kale leaves as a bed of greens, you can now add the chickpeas, spiralized carrot, parsley and cooked quinoa.
- Top with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add any other plant-based condiments you wish!
- Sprinkle with crushed walnuts and decorate with sliced avocado and orange.
- Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days (dressings should be stored separately).
Notes
- If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can cut your carrots into thin slices. Should you not be fond of the raw carrot noodles, give them a quick sauté in some veggie broth!
- Feel free to swap out any of the components for something similar — find a guide to building your own bowl in the article.
- Be sure to add some delicious vegan condiments to increase the flavors if you like!
Alena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.
I think you need to take another look at the LOW FODMAP diet. You’re including foods that should NOT be in this meal (and several others on your list).
thanks for letting me know, Tricia! I’ll take a look at this shortly.