This is my favorite Vegan Meal Prep! Nourish Bowls are balanced, delicious and sure to satisfy at lunch time. Save time and money by meal prepping!
Why meal prep?
- So you can nourish your body with good food throughout your busy week.
- To save money! Avoid eating out at lunch time with an easy meal prep that tastes amazing and fills you up.
- To avoid decision fatigue… Trying to think about what you’re going to eat all the time is exhausting, especially if you are new to a vegan diet.
This is my personal FAVORITE vegan meal prep. I never get tired of eating this combination! I hope you love it as much as I do.
What’s in Nourish Bowls?
- Brown rice
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- Steamed kale
- Black beans
- Simple cashew cream
- & Sriracha or other hot sauce, if desired
How long does this vegan meal prep take?
Give yourself about an hour on a Sunday (or whenever works for you) to get everything prepped and ready for the week. Most of that time is hands off though!
- Get your rice cooking and preheat the oven.
- Roast the sweet potatoes while the rice is cooking.
- Soak the cashews for 5 minutes, then make the cashew cream sauce.
- Drain and rinse the black beans.
- Steam the kale while the rice and sweet potatoes are cooking.
- Then, put it all together! Easy peasy. And you will have good food to eat all week long!
If you are prepping for two (like I am), simply double the recipe.
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What kind of containers should I use?
I LOVE these glass meal prep containers. In fact, I have a ton of them now and use them for storing homemade salad dressings, sauces and other leftovers. I also love them for soup, and I freeze food in them sometimes as well!
Also, these little containers are perfect for the cashew cream and/or Sriracha, in case you want to keep that separate until re-heating!
Would you like to see more Vegan Meal Prep ideas? Let me know in the comments!
Nourish Bowl Vegan Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 5-6 ounces chopped kale (half of a 10 oz bag)
- (1) 15-ounce can black beans
Cashew Cream
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup water
- 1 garlic clove
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Optional: Sriracha hot sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cook the rice: Rinse the rice and place it in a medium pot with a lid. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 40 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- While the rice is cooking, roast the sweet potatoes: Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks and place on the pan. Spray lightly with oil or toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil (or omit for oil free) and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until cooked and lightly brown. Remove and set aside.
- Steam the kale: If you have an Instant Pot, add 1 cup of water to the inner pot and the kale. Secure the lid, make sure it's sealed and cook on high for 3 minutes. Let pressure release, then carefully remove the lid. *Without an Instant Pot, steam the kale in a large pot for 8-10 minutes, until tender.
- Drain and rinse the black beans and set aside.
- Make the cashew cream: Soak the cashews in boiling hot water (I heat the water up in a tea kettle and then pour over the cashews) for at least 5 minutes. Drain, then add to a blender with 1 cup of water, garlic and salt. Blend until very smooth.
- To assemble the meal prep bowls: In 3-4 cup containers, add about 1/2 cup of cooked rice. Now add 1/3 cup black beans, divide the sweet potatoes and kale into the 5 containers.
- Options: Now, you can either add the cashew cream on the top OR keep it in separate small containers and pour the cream on after you re-heat the bowl. I prefer to keep the cream separate until eating, but either way works.
- When you are ready to eat, simply warm up the bowl, drizzle with cashew cream and Sriracha. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is for 1 bowl but will greatly vary depending on amounts used and how much cashew cream you put on top.
- You could easily swap out ingredients such as using a different grain (quinoa, farro, etc), bean or green leafy vegetable. Another sauce option would be to use Vegan Peanut Sauce instead.
Nutrition
Originally posted April 2018, I have updated this recipe with new photos and better writing February 2020.
This recipe kicks ass! I love being vegan for so many reasons, this recipe being one of them. ?
Hi Jake. I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing your encouraging feedback!
This looks amazing! How long does it keep in the fridge?
The bowls will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge.
I have three kids and a hungry husband and our family is vegan!
I would love to see more of these meal prep emails like this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, especially for school meals and desserts or snacks!
I’m going to make The Nourish Bowl and wondering if the rice could be replaced with white quinoa, I’m not a fan of rice?
I just read the entire recipe and spotted where you can substitute rice a quinoa. Thanks
Thanks for such a great recipe with so much flexibility. I used what I had which included quinoa, edamame, broccoli, and sweet potato. And I made the cashew cream sauce. So good! I’m excited for my lunches this week! Thanks again, Nora.
Delicious! Very straightforward prep with every day ingredients.
Hi Jennifer. I’m glad you are enjoying! Thank you for sharing!
can’t wait to try this recipe
Hi! So I love all the components and it’s definitely an easy meal prep…But I can’t say I liked the cashew creme. It’s a little sweet for me (the sweet potato is enough sweetness for my palate). Any suggestions?
Maybe you just aren’t a fan of cashew cream? It doesn’t taste sweet to me at all, and there is no sugar added. But why not try a sauce you know you like, or even just hot sauce?
Making this for work lunches! I do landscaping and I think this will be a great and filling meal. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re so welcome!
So yum! I doubled for me and hubby. Always busy so these are great and an on-the-go meal. Thx so much
You’re welcome!
So simple and flavorful. Eating my first lunch now. Please do more meal preps!
I’m glad you like it!
These look delish! Question though, can I use another type of nut? I’m allergic to cashews!
You could use raw slivered almonds, just soak them really well first. Thanks!
Hi and thanks for sharing this with me. I will be looking forward to more meal preps since it will really help me stay vegan as you wrote at the beginning of the article. Hugs and kisses for you. ??
Yes, more meal prep please. This one seems really easy to do. Meal prep helps me so much, but it takes me a long time! Thank you for this! I have all these ingredients, so I’m going to prep it Friday or Saturday!
Girl you THE BOMB! Thanks for posting another yet helpful but awesome recipe by THE NORACOOKS lollll yayyyyy DONT STOP!
Thanks!
More lunch prep ideas! This is great; thank you so much!
You’re welcome!
You have been my number one go to for vegan recipes! I’m so glad you posted a meal prep one. I will look through your blog for more, as well as various sauces and herb flavorings bring it together. Thank you for making our transition to vegan easy peasy.
You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment!
This was sooooo delicious. I substituted bok choy for the kale as I had that in the fridge and it was great. Jealous looks from others in the office at lunch all week!
This was so delicious. I plan to make it again and double the recipe! Do you have any other meal prep meals like this on the blog? It’s so helpful. Thank you!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Natalie! It’s one of my favorite meals. This was the first “meal prep” post I did, but I plan on doing more! I’m so glad you found it helpful. 🙂
How long does the meal last in the refrigerator?
It lasts about 4 days, maybe 5.
This is such helpful information with clear directions. Thank you!!