If you love meals that are bursting with color, pack a lot of veggies and are full of flavor, you need to try this Korean Bibimbap.
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The original meaning of the word is “mixed rice” and the traditional dish contains animal products. Our simplified vegan version allows you to bring delicious Korean flavors to your home with accessible ingredients and healthy seasonal veggies that can be customized.
Just like our rainbow Buddha bowl, quinoa veggie bowl and tofu nourish bowl, this healthy recipe is a delicious weight loss meal and great for your next vegan meal prep session.
Find more vegan bowls like this lentil kale salad on our blog and enjoy this Korean version of the popular nourish bowl.
Recipe features
- Colorful & wonderfully textured
- Super weight loss-friendly
- Great for meal prep & leftover rice
- Customizable quick dinner
- Gluten-free & nutritious
- Can be assembled in under 30 minutes
This bowl offers many different colors and textures since some components are baked, others sauteed and the rest is finely chopped and added raw on top of our cooked rice.
20+ Vegan Rice Recipes →
Ingredients needed
- Rice — you can use pre-cooked rice for a super quick Bibimbap or cook white or brown rice while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
- Kale — seasoned, massaged and baked into crispy kale chips!
- Mushrooms — low-calorie meat replacement that’s sautéed in flavorful soy sauce
- Carrot, bell pepper, cabbage — colorful crunchy veggie add-ins for our Korean bowl
- Miso sauce — an easy 5-ingredient condiment that you can drizzle your veggies with.
These are the main ingredients for our Bibimbap bowl. You can also top it with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds! Find more add-in ideas below.
Tip: Bump up protein!
Add some pan-fried tofu to your bowl for more protein!
How to make this vegan bibimbap
Prepare the rice
If you can’t work with leftover rice, simply cook your favorite rice on the stove according to package instructions. Once done, set aside.
Prepare the kale
In the meantime, wash and chop your kale leaves. Toss them with salt and pepper, then massage the kale with your wet hands. This will help the seasoning stick and crisp up the kale!
Arrange the kale leaves in a single layer and place the baking sheet in the oven. Roast them for 10-15 minutes, until they are lightly browned and crispy.
Sautée mushrooms
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add your sliced mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 6-8 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Once they have cooked down and turned golden-brown, stir in the soy sauce and cook for another minute, then set aside.
Make the miso sauce
In a small saucepan, bring miso and water to a gentle simmer and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Once the mixture has thickened up slightly, stir in lime juice, ginger, and cayenne.
Assemble the Bibimbap bowl
Once all the components have been prepared, it’s time to assemble your meal!
Start by layering the rice on the bottom and top with crispy kale, sautéed mushrooms, fresh carrots, red bell peppers and red cabbage.
Top with fresh cilantro, sesame seeds and spicy miso sauce. Enjoy warm!
Storage & reheating
This recipe works well for meal prep, especially if the components are prepared and stored individually. You can make a batch of the miso sauce in advance (or double the recipe to use it for other dishes, too) and keep it covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.
As mentioned above, you can use leftover cooked rice for this bowl and pre-chopped veggies to save some more time.
We love to prepare several servings of this Bibimbap and store it in individual food containers for a quick to-go lunch the next day! Find detailed instructions in our 1-week vegan meal plan and free eBook.
It can be enjoyed cold the next day or heated in the microwave!
FAQs & tips
Is this Bibimbap gluten-free?
If you use certified gluten-free soy sauce or tamari, it’s completely vegan and gluten-free.
Add more protein + fat
We love roasting some tempeh or tofu cubes in the oven (marinated in homemade sauce) alongside the kale leaves and top our Bibimbap with them for some added protein. Edamame beans also work.
Additionally, you can use more sesame seeds or other nuts and seeds as well as seed butter to bump up the calorie and fat content.
Other add-ins
Feel free to use veggies like cucumber, mung bean sprouts, pickled daikon, green onion, spinach, eggplant or zucchini for this recipe.
For more traditional Korean flavors, use Gochujang (chili paste), toasted sesame oil or kimchi.
Simplify this recipe
You can use your favorite store-bought vegan Korean sauce or a combination of soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar and garlic for the dressing.
The mushrooms can be marinated in soy sauce and then baked in the oven alongside the kale chips to reduce the preparation steps for this recipe.
More easy dinner recipes
If you liked our tofu nourish bowl, try the following plant-based recipes next!
- Sweet Potato Lima Bean Salad
- Spinach Fig Salad
- One-Pot Potato Curry
- Vegan Chow Mein Noodles
- Raw Pad Thai Salad
Did you make our vegan Bibimbap and like it? We’d love to read about it, so be sure to leave a review and share your thoughts in the comments below. You can also Pin this recipe here!
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice 185 g, dry
- 2 cups kale 40 g, thinly sliced
- 3 cups white mushrooms 200 g, chopped
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 medium carrot thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 3 oz red cabbage thinly sliced (85 g)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped (0.3 oz / 8 g)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Spicy Miso Sauce
- 4 tbsp miso paste
- ½-1 cup water 120-240 ml*
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
- ½ tsp cayenne
- 1 garlic clove
Instructions
Prepare the rice
- Cook the rice according to package directions. Once done, set it aside.
Roast the kale
- Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and line a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Toss kale with a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Using your wet hands, massage the seasoning into the kale. This will help the seasoning stick and crisp up the kale!
- Arrange the kale leaves in a single layer and place the baking sheet in the oven. Roast for around 10-15 minutes, until it’s lightly browned and crispy.
Sauté veggies
- While the kale is roasting, preheat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have cooked down and turned golden-brown.
- Stir in soy sauce and cook for another minute, just until the soy sauce gets bubbly.
Make the sauce
- In a small saucepan, bring miso and water to a gentle simmer and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Once the mixture has thickened up slightly, stir in the rest of the ingredients.
Assemble & enjoy
- Once all ingredients are ready, assemble them into bowls. Start by layering the rice on the bottom and top with crispy kale, sautéed mushrooms, fresh carrots, red bell peppers and red cabbage.
- Top with fresh cilantro, sesame seeds and spicy miso sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- *this depends on your desired flavor and consistency.
- For more Korean flavors, add Kimchi, Gochujang or toasted sesame oil to your Bibimbap.
- Find veggie replacement tips in the article above and feel free to add marinated tofu or tempeh to your bowl for extra protein!
Colorful veggies meet cooked rice and a spicy homemade miso sauce in this healthy vegan Bibimbap recipe! Made with accessible ingredients, it’s suitable for weeknights and meal prep.