Enjoy this colorful rainbow Buddha bowl on a cozy fall or winter night! Endlessly customizable and loaded with texture and flavor, this easy and healthy vegan dinner can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Winter can be dark, cold, and long — let’s make these months much more enjoyable with our colorful rainbow Buddha bowl!
Also called nourish bowls, these versatile meals usually feature lots of different food groups to create a balanced and colorful dish.
free 7-day vegan meal plan
Your next week of eating is planned out with these quick and delicious vegan bowls, meal prepping steps & full grocery list.
From grains and legumes to veggies, leafy greens, nuts, seeds and fruit, vegan bowls like our rainbow Buddha bowl come in so many different shapes and sizes.
Try our Mexican Buddha bowl, tofu Buddha bowl, sweet potato bowl, Bibimbap bowl, or quinoa veggie bowl to see what plant-based bowls can look like!
Packed with color, flavor, and texture, they are endlessly customizable so that no matter your dietary or taste preferences, a delicious Buddha bowl is never far away.
Look at the recipe
- Vegan, oil-free & gluten-free
- Satiating and nourishing
- High in antioxidants & protein
- Weight loss-friendly
- Easy to make & customize
- Great for meal prep
There’s little else we enjoy more than a colorful rainbow Buddha bowl that features so many different textures and flavors!
And it’s honestly so easy to make with little equipment needed — only a good knife, cutting board, bowl, baking sheets and pot are required.
Ingredients needed
- Sweet potatoes — vibrantly orange and so satisfying.
- Chickpeas — they get roasted in cozy spices alongside the sweet potato!
- Quinoa — more bulk, satiety and protein in our winter Buddha bowl.
- Kale & spinach — every good bowl needs some leafy greens, right?
- Red cabbage & orange — after all, we’re looking for the colors of the rainbow here.
- Tahini — this runny liquid gold will be the base for our easy dressing.
Sounds like a great combination, don’t you agree? Together with some toasted walnuts, lime juice and maple syrup, this rainbow Buddha bowl is incredibly flavorful and moreish.
How to make a winter rainbow Buddha bowl
Start with roasting
Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Coat the sweet potato cubes and chickpeas with spices and arrange them in a single layer on the first baking sheet. Roast for 25 minutes, tossing everything halfway through.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix chopped kale with apple cider vinegar and salt. Massage for about a minute, then spread it into a single layer on the second baking sheet.
Place into the oven and roast for 10 minutes, then flip the kale chips and roast for 5 more minutes.
Chop, whisk and cook
While the ingredients above are roasting in the oven, cook the quinoa according to package instructions.
In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, water, lime juice, maple syrup, garlic powder and salt for the flavorful dressing. Adjust to taste preferences, then set aside.
Wash and chop fresh spinach, red cabbage and half an orange.
Assemble your Buddha bowl
Divide all of your prepared ingredients between two serving bowls: cooked quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas, kale chips, fresh spinach and cabbage.
Top with orange slices and toasted walnuts, then drizzle your winter bowls with the tahini dressing.
Tips & adjustments
Meal prep this recipe
You can buy pre-chopped vegetables to save some time and use any dressing you have on hand! We love to make larger batches of this tahini dressing and store it in the fridge for 1-2 weeks to have with our winter Buddha bowls.
You can also pre-roast the chickpeas and sweet potatoes and then reheat them for a few minutes in the oven once you’re ready to enjoy your rainbow bowl.
Check out our 1-week vegan meal plan to see how we meal prep this Buddha bowl and 6 more bowls within 7 days!
This recipe is also featured in our free downloadable “Week of Vegan Bowls” eBook.
Add more colors of the rainbow
Red bell pepper or tomato, bright green avocado, pink radishes, purple sweet potato, blueberries, vegan cheese crumbles, beetroot, black sesame, baby corn, sauerkraut, cucumber or cauliflower — the plant kingdom has so many different colorful foods to offer!
Just use what you like the most and have on hand — here are some suggested swaps.
Other add-ins & swaps
Slice some onion into wedges and add it to one of the baking sheets if you like! Cubed and marinated tofu or tempeh can also be roasted alongside the other ingredients for added protein in your winter bowl.
We suggest you add a dollop of beetroot dip or green goddess hummus or choose from our selection of oil-free vegan dressings.
Our favorite picks for this rainbow Buddha bowl include:
If you like fruit in your Buddha bowls, we recommend roasted pears, chopped dates or dried cranberries in this winter-themed recipe.
Sweet potatoes can be replaced with winter squash and instead of quinoa, use rice, buckwheat, wheat berries or omit the grains for more potatoes and beans!
More vegan winter dinners
If you liked this rainbow Buddha bowl and are looking for more vegan winter recipes, try the following goodness next!
- Sweet Potato Arugula Salad
- Lentil Carrot Soup
- Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant
- Thai Vegetable Stir-Fry
- Lentil Kale Salad
Did you make our vegan winter rainbow Buddha bowl and liked it? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and leave a rating. You can also Pin this recipe here!
Ingredients
- 3 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into cubes (600 g)
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas drained (160 g)
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 4 kale leaves de-stemmed, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup fresh spinach 30 g
- 3 cups red cabbage shredded (210 g)
- ⅔ cup quinoa uncooked (110 g)
- ½ orange peeled and cut into slices
- ½ cup lightly toasted walnuts 50 g
- Salt and pepper to taste
Tahini Dressing
- 1.5 tablespoons tahini
- 2 limes juice only
- 5 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare quinoa according to package instructions. It will cook while you move on to the next steps. When finished, set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Onto the first one, add the chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and spices (cumin, turmeric, ginger, cayenne) and toss to coat evenly.
- Spread into a single layer and put into the oven for 25 minutes, tossing the chickpeas and sweet potato cubes halfway through.
- Put the chopped kale together with apple cider vinegar and a sprinkle of salt into a medium-sized bowl. Massage with clean hands for about a minute. Arrange in a single layer on your second baking sheet and put it into the oven.
- Roast the kale leaves for 10 minutes, then flip over and roast for 5 minutes more. Remove and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the tahini dressing until smooth. Adjust to taste preferences by adding more salt, maple, garlic powder, or lime juice.
- Finally, assemble the bowls by evenly dividing the quinoa, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, kale, red cabbage, and fresh spinach.
- Garnish with orange slices, walnuts, and kale chips. Then drizzle with tahini sauce and serve warm.
Notes
- You can use any dressing of your choice for this Buddha bowl.
- Instead of quinoa, you can use cooked rice, buckwheat, wheat berries, couscous or simply omit it.
- Find more swaps and ideas for add-ins in the article above!
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.
What a lovely recipe! This colourful vegan bowl is so perfect for fall and winter. We loved the suggested add-ins & swaps as it can be transformed into a different delicious bowl every time!
The tahini, lime and water ratio should be double checked. It makes a very liquid sauce.