My Favorite Buddha Bowl

This Buddha Bowl is the ultimate vegan grain bowl and my personal favorite recipe! A mix of brown rice, crispy tofu, roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli is smothered in the best vegan peanut sauce for a hearty and nutritious meal.

Craving more loaded bowls? You’ll also love my Burrito Bowl, Buffalo Cauliflower Buddha Bowl, Nourish Bowl, and Vegan Poke Bowl recipes!

Crispy marinated tofu and a medley of raw and roasted veggies are loaded on top of a bed of fluffy brown rice before everything is smothered in the best vegan peanut sauce. It’s a super satisfying and hearty mix but you can switch up the components and toppings as much as you’d like! If there’s one thing that’s true about buddha bowls, it’s that they’re endlessly customizable.

What is a buddha bowl?

Buddha bowls, AKA grain bowls, macro bowls, and hippie bowls, are typically made with five components: (1) cooked grains, (2) a protein, (3) a medley of fresh and/or cooked vegetables, (4) a sauce, and (5) garnishes. 

No two buddha bowl recipes are alike—the components are meant to be mixed and matched! When you’re searching for buddha bowl ideas or thinking of new flavor variations, pick what’s in season, the ingredients you already have on hand, or what you like. All that’s important is to overstuff your bowl with tons of good stuff so you end up with a hearty and satisfying meal for lunch or dinner.

How to make buddha bowls

Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card. 

First, prepare a batch of my Marinated Tofu if you haven’t done so already. 

Cook the rice in a medium pot on the stove until it’s fluffy. 

Lay the sweet potato cubes and broccoli florets on a baking sheet. Coat them in oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until they’re fork tender and slightly crispy around the edges.

The broccoli may finish roasting before the sweet potatoes. If this happens, transfer the broccoli to a plate and finish roasting the potatoes on their own.

Meanwhile, pan-fry the marinated tofu until the cubes are crispy on all sides. 

Lastly, whisk the peanut sauce ingredients together in a small bowl or jar.

To assemble the tofu buddha bowls, divide the rice into bowls or meal prep containers and top with the roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli, tofu, shredded red cabbage, and a few avocado slices. Drizzle some peanut sauce over top and garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro. Enjoy!

Multi-task to save time: To make meal prepping buddha bowls even easier, place the cubed tofu in the marinade, cook the rice, and make the buddha bowl dressing the night before you finish and assemble the bowls. The next day, fry the tofu, reheat the rice, and prepare the rest of your toppings while you roast the veggies in the oven.

Vegan buddha bowl variations

While I love this flavor combination, I want you to feel free to switch things up depending on what’s in season and what you have on hand. Buddha bowls are extremely versatile! Here are a few ideas:

• Grains – The brown rice can be switched for any variety of rice you like. You could even use cooked farro, couscous, cauliflower rice, or quinoa as a base instead.
• Plant protein – Use a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, black beans, or white beans instead of tofu. Or, swap the marinated tofu for 1 cup of steamed edamame, a block of pressed and pan-fried or air-fried tofu (no marinade needed), my Garlicky Balsamic Maple Marinated Tempeh, or homemade seitan bites. During summertime, swap the marinated tofu for my Grilled Tofu!
• Vegetables – Instead of roasted broccoli, use brussels sprouts, cauliflower, asparagus, or steamed kale. Instead of roasted sweet potatoes, use butternut squash, pumpkin, beets, Yukon Gold potatoes, or yellow squash and zucchini. Any extra raw vegetables, like sliced radishes, shredded carrots, or diced cucumbers, can also be added!
• Sauce – Replace the peanut sauce with this Lemon Maple Tahini Dressing, garlicky cashew cream sauce, a dollop of pesto, a scoop of hummus, my Green Goddess Dressing, a simple lemon vinaigrette, chipotle sauce, cashew cheese sauce, or any other sauces and dressings you like.
• Toppings – Garnish the bowls with something pickled or briny (like pickled red onions or olives), seeds (hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.), chopped nuts (peanuts, cashews, etc.), fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, scallions, etc.), etc.

Frequently asked questions