If you’ve taken a look around our blog recently, you’re well aware of our love for veggie bowls. We love them in any imaginable composition, and today, we want to share our current favorite quick quinoa veggie bowl made with spiralized carrots and chickpeas.
Totally customizable, colorful and as nutritious as it gets — veggie bowls are where it’s at!
If you’ve ever wondered how in the world to put together a well-rounded vegan dinner, you need these pretty vegan bowls in your life.
Depending on your components of choice, veggie bowls can be put together within minutes and make healthy eating a breeze! They work especially well for a quick dinner or to-go lunch when you have some leftover vegan staple foods.
Any time we cook some potatoes, rice or quinoa for our main meals, we make sure to prepare a larger batch than we need so we can create some mix-and-match veggie bowls over the next two days!
By swapping individual components, like the leafy greens, roasted veggies or spiralized carrots, we ensure that our plant-based dinner bowls never get boring and we’re able to cover a huge array of nutrients.
We’ve made quite a few quinoa veggie bowls in our lives, and from this experience we’ve learned some key factors that make them especially fantastic, such as adding lots of different colors and texture contrasts.
Let’s go over some basics, adjustments and customization ideas!
What Are Spiralized Carrots?
If you’re new to carrot noodles or carrot pasta, listen up! Making spiralized carrots is a fun way to enjoy more vegetables on a regular basis.
Using a simple vegetable slicer or mandoline, you can create noodle shapes out of different veggies — the most common ones are carrots, zucchini, cucumber and beets. Spiralized carrots can be eaten raw or sautéed, depending on your time restrictions and taste preferences.
Make sure to serve them with a delicious sauce if you don’t want your spiralized carrot bowl to taste too veggie-forward.
Now, what exactly can you do with spiralized carrots? Apart from creating colorful quinoa veggie bowls, they can be a delicious component of a crunchy Pad Thai salad, served with a creamy sauce and some baked tofu or even mixed in with some cooked grain-based pasta and dressed up with marinara sauce.
Why We Love Veggie Bowls
- Bursting with color & essential nutrients
- Crunchy, creamy and satisfying
- Can be made 100% whole food plant-based
- Beautiful eye-catcher and crowd-pleaser
- Super meal prep-friendly & versatile
- Low-budget and seasonal produce-heavy
- Awesome for weight loss
- Quick & accessible 30-minute vegan dinner
- Easy to make gluten-free, nut-free or to fit any other dietary need
Quinoa veggie bowls can be adjusted to meet any nutrient requirements from higher fat to higher protein, dressed up with delicious sauces and are a great beginner recipe.
What’s more, veggie bowls are so versatile that you can prepare them for your whole family and let them just add anything they want to it — this is especially helpful for those who are looking to follow a vegan diet but live with non-vegans.
This recipe is part of our popular 1-week vegan meal plan which you need to check out!
If quinoa is your jam, find our favorite 40+ vegan quinoa recipes here.
Are Veggie Bowls Healthy?
Depending on your exact ingredients, veggie bowls are usually very healthy indeed! Sure, you can mess up any colorful dish by adding some deep-fried-anything to it, but as long as you focus on adding a variety of different whole plant-based foods to your veggie bowl, you should be fine.
No matter if you call them Buddha bowls, nourish bowls, macro bowls or veggie bowls, these colorful plant-forward dishes are often available in a vegan-friendly version and pack a lot of essential nutrients.
Built on the principle of featuring lots of different food groups, they usually look like this:
- 50% fresh of cooked fruits and vegetables
- 25% complex carbs like rice, quinoa or potatoes
- 25% protein & fat sources like tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils and nuts
Finally, add a good drizzle of vegan sauces like tahini dressing, herby tofu ranch or orange yogurt sauce and some tasty toppings!
What’s more, veggie bowls are often very weight loss-friendly because they are high in fiber and water-rich produce.
Bottom line: make more veggie bowls!
Ingredients for This Quinoa Veggie Bowl
- Quinoa — nutritious & protein-rich, this gluten-free pseudo-grain offers satiety and can be replaced with wild rice, millet or potatoes.
- 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 for quick vegan meals), this veggie bowl with spiralized carrots can be whipped up in under 30 minutes!
See for yourself how easy it is to make our colorful quinoa bowl.
How to Make This Veggie Bowl From Scratch
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.
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.
All that’s left to do is to assemble your colorful veggie bowls with the marinated kale as a bed of greens upon which you can plate the quinoa, chickpeas and spiralized carrots next to each other for a pretty pattern.
Top with parsley, green onion, walnuts, avocado and orange! You can just drizzle some fresh lemon juice on top for a veggie-forward and really quick quinoa bowl or add your dressing of choice.
We recommend some herby tofu ranch, creamy peanut sauce or an orange soy yogurt combo.
Now, you’ve probably been wondering about the “spiralized carrots” part, right? Let’s see how to create them.
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! Spiralizers can come in a hand-held version that’s 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!
No matter if you want some fun add-ins for your salad bowls or to replace cooked pasta with some gluten-free, grain-free and nutritious carrot noodles, spiralized veggies are an awesome addition to your plant-strong meals.
Tips for the Best Quinoa Veggie Bowl
We don’t want to leave you without some more quinoa veggie bowl tips — armed with this advice, these bowls are sure to become your go-to lunch or dinner soon.
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 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, 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.
How to Store Spiralized Carrots
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 4-5 days. The paper towel helps absorb any excess moisture!
However, you can also assemble the quinoa veggie bowls and store in food containers to eat over the next 2-3 days without anything getting soggy — including the spiralized carrots!
Additionally, spiralized carrots and other vegetables can be frozen and saved for later, making them a great grab and cook option when you’re out of fresh produce.
Should you be interested in meal prepping, keep on reading for a free guide!
Full 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!
Delicious Vegan Sauces for This Bowl
Our original recipe below just calls for some salt, pepper and lemon juice to slightly season this quinoa veggie bowl. If you’re looking to add more creaminess and a punch of flavor, here are some ideas for you!
- Easy Cashew Mayo
- Herbed Tofu Ranch
- Sugar-Free Mango Chutney
- Spicy Peanut Butter Sauce
- Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Have your ingredients and favorite add-ons ready? Let’s see how to create this colorful plant-based veggie bowl in under 30 minutes.
Spiralized Carrot Quinoa Veggie Bowl
This 30-minute plant-based lunch or dinner is made with spiralized carrots, chickpeas, kale and avocado. A colorful and nutritious quinoa veggie bowl that’s easy to make and endlessly customizable, perfect for meal prep and budget-friendly. Try this colorful beginner recipe and get our free Vegan Bowls eBook!
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 like tofu ranch or cashew sour cream to increase the flavors if you like!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 380Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 378mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 17gSugar: 9gProtein: 16g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated automatically, their accuracy is not guaranteed. Just focus on whole plant-based foods and eat until satiety!
Did you try our quinoa bowls and added some spiralized carrots or other veggies? Which sauce did you use? 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!