Nourish bowls are a simple and balanced meal option that you can customize based on your own needs and preferences. Follow this formula and use your favorite staple ingredients!
Raise your hand if you’re living your best bowl life!
Also known as power bowls, buddha bowls, grain bowls or just “clean-out-the-fridge” bowls, nourish bowls are pretty much my lunch obsession and once you learn the trick to building one on the fly, I think you might like them as much as I do.
Consider this your step-by-step tutorial to making a nourish bowl that is equal parts satisfying and delicious. If you like meal prepping, you will love these because it’s simple to batch cook a few of the components, then wing it on the rest based on your mood.
Even on days when it seems like there’s absolutely nothing to eat, if you keep your kitchen stocked with a few key staples, you’ll be able to throw something similar together in 10 minutes. These also make for a quick and easy packed lunch.
Nourish Bowl Staples
Keep several items from each category stocked, and you’ll be able to make these whenever you need a quick and healthy lunch in a hurry:
- Grains – quinoa, farro, rice, bulgur, wheat berries, or couscous
- Proteins – beans, lentils, baked or grilled tofu cubes, an over-easy egg, smoked fish like salmon or trout
- Leafy greens – arugula, sautéed shredded kale or delicate butter lettuce
- Crunchy vegetables – shredded red cabbage or carrots, thinly sliced radish
- Fruits – sliced apples or pears, fresh berries, dried cherries, chopped dates, pomegranate seeds or segmented citrus
- Olives or Nuts – kalamata olives, toasted walnuts, sliced almonds, crushed peanuts
- Avocados/Cheeses – smoked gouda, crumbled feta/bleu/goat cheese, grated parmesan, or even nutritional yeast to keep it vegan
- Sauces & Dressing – tahini dressing, tzatziki sauce, lemon vinaigrette, green goddess
Customize these based on your needs and preferences. I promise if you follow this formula, the result will be nothing short of amazing.
Nourish Bowls Ideas
It can take some practice to build a bowl with flavors that pair well together, but after a few tries you’ll be a pro. My main strategy is to pair things that have a more mild flavor, then pull it all together with a flavorful sauce.
Make a full batch of a really delicious homemade dressing at the beginning of the week so you can use it for several days. The recipe at the bottom of the post will make enough sauce for a few bowls.
Sample Combinations
- Classic: Farro + chickpeas + cherries (or dried cherries) + arugula + bleu cheese + herb dressing
- Summer: Quinoa + tofu + fresh berries + feta + toasted almonds + balsamic vinaigrette
- Asian-inspired: Brown rice + shredded cabbage and carrots + chicken + crushed peanuts + peanut sauce
- Mediterranean-inspired: Couscous + feta + olives + cucumber + tomatoes + salmon + tzatziki sauce
How to Meal Prep Nourish Bowls
If you want to get ambitious and do some prep for the upcoming week, pick 1-2 items from each of the categories above and make sure everything is prepped and ready to go (cook grains, wash greens, make a batch of dressing).
I love these food storage containers (affiliate) because they are sleek, durable, don’t stain, and are both microwave and dishwasher-safe.
When it’s time to eat, it’s as simple as pulling out all of your ingredients and assembling. Make sure to keep cold items like avocado, fruit and dressings separate until after re-heating or just enjoy cold.
Which of the combinations most interesting to you? I love mixing and matching but love the first one best. You really can’t go wrong with any of them.
More grain bowl recipes:
- Spicy Chickpea Power Bowls
- Autumn Rice Bowl with Lentils and Creamy Apple Cider Vinaigrette
- Vegetarian Burrito Bowls with Green Goddess
Nourish Bowls
Nourish bowls are a simple and balanced meal option that you can customize based on your own needs and preferences. Follow this formula and use your favorite staple ingredients!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving
- Category: Bowls
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (or other chile sauce)
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup pre-cooked grains (like farro, rice, couscous or quinoa)
- 1 cup vegetables, cooked or raw (like shredded carrots/cabbage, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, roasted potatoes or cauliflower)
- 1/3 cup protein (like beans, lentils, smoked salmon or tofu cubes)
- 1/4 cup fresh fruit (like berries, grapes or citrus segments)
- 1 Tablespoon chopped nuts (like walnuts or almonds)
- 1 Tablespoon cheese (like bleu, feta or goat) and/or avocado chunks
- optional: dried fruit (like tart cherries, golden raisins or dried apricots)
- optional: fresh tender herbs, chopped (like basil, dill, cilantro or parsley)
Instructions
- Make the sauce: combine tahini, lemon zest & juice, maple syrup and sriracha in a jar. Whisk well with a fork and stream in water until it’s a nice smooth and pourable consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Layer remaining ingredients in a bowl, then drizzle sauce over the top.
Notes
- The equipment section above provides affiliate links to things I use often in my kitchen and love.
- I love to change up this bowl by the season. Follow this basic formula to get the proportions right, but try new combinations.
- Nutrition information calculated using farro, carrots, chickpeas, blueberries, bleu cheese, walnuts, and two tablespoons of the sauce. Numbers will vary based on what you add.
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Sue says
We often have leftover rice and most of the other ingredients here are regularly in our kitchen–plus the recipe is so flexible that I can really make this whenever I want. It’s just as healthy as a veggie-filled salad but feels more filling with the rice/grains & I love the change-up (especially now that I work from home & make my lunch every day). It’s a great way to use up what’s hanging around in the fridge.
Leanne says
Thanks Sue! I so agree – much more satisfying than a salad. Thanks for taking the time to rate this one!
Jacqueline roberts says
Sooooooooooooioo good. And I love that you can pretty much use whatever’s in your fridge!
Leanne says
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! 🙏
Jacqueline roberts says
Forgot to rate it the first time 🤪