This Spiced Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl has it all. Healthy, nourishing and protein-packed, it features fluffy quinoa, crispy spiced chickpeas, mixed greens, and a subtle curry dressing. Vegan and gluten-free, it’s the perfect quick lunch recipe for busy days.

Curry Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl

What is a buddha bowl?

Buddha bowls are these colorful bowls usually composed of vegetables, healthy grains, and protein. They have been among the hottest food trends over the past couple of years. Healthy, nourishing, they are often vegan and gluten-free too.

I personally love these bowls and they have now become part of my lunch routine every single week. Easy to customize with seasonal ingredients and what’s in the fridge, these bowls are very convenient for batch cooking and always make the most delicious and satisfying weekly lunch. The one I suggest today is one of my favorite: a colorful buddha bowl with quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes and spiced chickpeas.

Curry Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl

How to prepare a buddha bowl?

Why should you make a buddha bowl too? Well simply because it’s colorful, fun, and it makes a perfect healthy lunch for busy days, leaving you full and satisfied. Also, I love that you can throw in any seasonal ingredients to the bowl and make it your own.

Buddha bowl and batch cooking. It’s easy to prepare most of the ingredients ahead of time and then build the buddha bowl at the last minute every day of the week.

  • Step 1 : Cook a huge quantity of quinoa in advance (on Sunday for instance).
  • Step 2 : Roast chickpeas and sweet potatoes.
  • Step 3 : Prepare lunch boxes in advance for the following week. Each day, simply add a few greens and fresh ingredients (avocado, red cabbage, mixed greens) to the box and you’re ready to go.

A healthy, nourishing bowl

And there you are! This buddha bowl is that nutritious energy boost you need to get you through the work day, it really is. It’s full of all the good veggies, grains, proteins, and healthy fats that your body need to keep you going through busy days.

Curry Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl

Let’s break down the buddha bowl by ingredient

  • Sweet Potatoes – high in vitamin C, which promotes a healthy, glowing complexion.
  • Chickpeas – provides a high content of protein and make an excellent replacement for meat in vegetarian and vegan diets.
  • Purple Cabbage – rich in vitamins C and K and high in anti–oxidants (great for your skin).
  • Avocado – full of fatty acids and antioxidants. The fatty acids help to moisturize and soften skin cells, while avocado’s antioxidants (beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E) prevent wrinkles and slow down the visible signs of aging.
  • Quinoa – provides a high content of protein and fiber.

A few words about the dressing now: it’s basically a simple vinaigrette to which I added some curry powder and one teaspoon of tahini, bringing a smooth texture. Packed with flavors, it’s my new favorite and it also guarantees to turn any boring veggie bowl or salad into something really delicious. Generously drizzle over the buddha bowl and enjoy!

Build your own healthy buddha bowl

There are plenty of options to build your own buddha bowl, full of all the good veggies, grains, proteins, and healthy fats that your body need to keep you going through busy days. This one features spiced roasted chickpeas and sweet potatoes as main ingredients. Feel free to swap out with any other ingredients of your choice and depending on what’s in season.

For the veggies: You can also use cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, roasted pumpkin, cooked spinach… It’s also a good way to eat as many different vegetables as possible and get all the vitamins your body needs.

For the grains: This one features quinoa, but you can definitely imagine using barley, buckwheat, farro or any type of rice: brown rice, white rice, short grain, long grain, etc…

For the protein: Use chickpeas or any other sort of beans. Consider also using tofu or tempeh for a vegetarian option or a lean animal protein like fish or poultry.

Again, remember that the options are endless, so have fun with this recipe and adapt it to use ingredients you love and make it pretty (I like when some vibrant, fresh colors pop out from the bowl).

Curry Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl

More healthy lunch recipe ideas:

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Spiced Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl

Curry Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl
  • Author: Delphine Fortin
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 2 servings 1x
  • Category: Vegan
  • Cuisine: Healthy

Healthy, nourishing and protein-packed, this vegan buddha bowl has it all: fluffy quinoa, crispy spiced chickpeas, mixed greens, and a curry dressing!

Ingredients

Scale

For the quinoa bowl:

  • 1 medium sweet potato, sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 15-ounces (420g) can, drained
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup (270g) quinoa, rinsed
  • 2 cups (500ml) water

For the curry dressing:

  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon tahini
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Other vegetables and toppings:

  • 1 avocado, halved and sliced
  • 1 cup (100g) red cabbage, shredded
  • 1 cup (225g) raw spinach or mixed greens
  • Sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the sweet potatoes and the chickpeas:

  1. In a medium size bowl, toss the sweet potato slices with one tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Arrange the sweet potato slices onto half of the baking sheet and set aside
  3. Re-use the same medium size bowl with the remaining olive oil, spices, salt and pepper. Add the drained chickpeas and toss until evenly coated. Transfer to the over empty half of the baking sheet.
  4. Bake sweet potatoes and chickpeas at the same time for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time. When done, remove from oven and let cool.

For the quinoa:

  1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil, then add quinoa and lower the heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes until all water is absorbed. When it’s done, remove from heat and keep covered for about 10 minutes so quinoa can absorb any excess water.

For the dressing:

  1. Whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Assemble the quinoa bowls dividing in each bowl the quinoa, sweet potato slices, curry-spiced chickpeas, red cabbage, avocado halves, mixed greens or spinach. Drizzle everything with the mustard curry dressing, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Spiced Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!

Curry Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl

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