When it comes to juggling a busy schedule during the week, one of my favourite meal-prep time-savers are Buddha Bowls (also known as Power Bowls), which are simply a combination of vegetables, protein, and grains in a bowl. These bowls save me time, effort, and eliminate decision fatigue - ultimately helping me make healthier, more economical food choices by streamlining the process.
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Eliminating Decision Fatigue
One of my biggest struggles in life is trying to manage a busy schedule with making smart and healthy food choices. After a long day, I'm exhausted and the last thing I want to use my remaining energy on is deciding what to eat.
Deciding what to eat when I'm busy and tired is one of the things I struggle with most - it often causes me to make poor sub-optimal choices that are either unhealthy or expensive.
Because these Buddha bowls are healthy, tasty and so easy to make, they "take the thinking out of it" for me - and often save me from grabbing a burger or pizza, or ordering delivery which can get super pricey.
The beauty of these bowls is that they are so easily customizable - you can use whatever ingredients you like based on your dietary restrictions, nutritional preferences, and personal tastes.
Perfect for Meal Prep
These bowls are made for meal prep. For my schedule (Mon-Fri work week), I like to batch-prep all of the ingredients in advance on a Sunday, so that I can mix and match them into different bowls during the week. Here are two ways to do this:
Method #1: You can prepare your bowls in advance, but portioning ingredients into large mason jars or storage containers, and then refrigerating them until you're ready to eat. This saves time and thinking, and is a true grab-and-go option when you're really strapped for time.
Method #2: Another easy way that gives you more customizability is to prepare each of the ingredients individually into their own storage containers or zip-lock bags, and then refrigerate them for later - so that you can mix-and-match different ingredients to suit your mood whenever it's to build-your-own-bowl.
5 Steps to Build-Your-Own-Bowl
While these Buddha bowls are super customizable, I stick to a simple formula when building them to make sure they're balanced nutritionally and taste great with a variety of textures and flavours.
Step 1: Choose a grain
One of my favourite grains to use is quinoa - a real superfood! Quinoa is packed with nutrients, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and is also gluten-free and anti-inflammatory. It's also super easy to make in either a rice cooker or on the stovetop. Brown rice is also a great alternative!
Step 2: Add your vegetables
Start with leafy greens as a base - kale, spinach, spring mix are some of my favourites. Then, load it up with more vegetables - chopped bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, beans, roasted sweet potatoes, etc. I try to use a variety of both raw and cooked veggies to keeps things interesting.
Step 3: Pick a protein
There are many different types of protein you can choose from - meats (grilled chicken breast, beef cubes, turkey breast), seafood (cooked shrimp, tuna salad), hard-boiled eggs, vegan (tofu, bean curds), etc.
Step 4: Mix in some healthy fats
It's important to balance the bowl out with some healthy fats. Avocado is a classic choice - adding creaminess to the gritty and hard textures from the quinoa and vegetables. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, tahini, omega-3 fats from hard-boiled eggs, or a handful of nuts and seeds are also great choices.
Step 5: Boost it with flavour enhancers
I like to enhance the flavour of my bowls with both sauces and toppings.
For sauces, you can use anything - keep it simple with a simple drizzle of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, use pre-made salsa, or prep your own dressings such as one of my favourites, the Green Goddess dressing.
For toppings, you can use dried fruits (i.e. raisins or cranberries) for some added sweetness, dried edamame, or seeds/nuts for a bit of crunch.
Proportions
As for proportions, there's no hard-and-fast rule - but for me personally, I typically allocate about ½ my bowl to veggies, ¼ to grains, and ¼ to protein, with sauces and toppings to taste. If you have specific dietary needs or goals in mind (such as weight loss, caloric deficit, weight gain, etc.) then you can certainly take a more calculated approach to allocating your macros.
Equipment
When it comes to meal prepping these Buddha bowls, preparing the ingredients is the most time-consuming part. As a result, I use a few kitchen tools to help make things easier and more efficient:
- Mandolin for slicing up hard vegetables quickly - you can easily adjust the shape and size, and fly through veggie slicing with ease.
- Air fryer for quickly baking/roasting chicken breast, sweet potatoes, veggies, etc.
- Salad spinner to speed up the washing and drying process for my leafy greens and broccoli. This makes the process so much easier.
- Rice cooker for cooking quinoa or brown rice - I just set it and forget it, and it comes out perfectly every time.
- Storage container system for batch prepping ingredients in advance, and storing them away in the fridge while maintaining freshness. Make sure they are air-tight!
Storage
Depending on the ingredients you use, some ingredients may last for a few days in the fridge, while others last longer - so use your own judgement. You can also freeze them to extend the shelf-life until you're ready to use them. I personally love using these Rubbermaid storage containers for all of my meal prep - they're freezer safe and have sealable and stackable lids.
Toasty's Tips
- Use a combination of cooked and raw vegetables - take a bit of extra time to roast and season some zucchini, sauté bell peppers, or steam broccoli florets. Toast your seeds and nuts.
- Season your meats or protein before cooking them - carries a lot of added flavour.
- Experiment with different flavours - use fresh and dried herbs, seasonings, and sauces to enhance your bowls with taste.
- Switch things up - use a wide variety of ingredients and change them up often; don't stick to just a few and repeat. Bowls that have more ingredients have different textures, flavours and mouthfeel, which helps eliminate meal boredom.
Other Recipes You May Like
📖 Recipe
Build-Your-Own Buddha Bowls
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
Choose your grains (e.g. quinoa, brown rice)
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
Add your vegetables (e.g. kale, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers)
- ¼ cup spinach
- ¼ cup cherry tomatoes - sliced in halves
- ¼ cup red bell peppers - chopped
- ¼ cup broccoli florets - steamed
- ¼ cup chickpeas
Pick a protein (e.g. roasted chicken breast, turkey breast, tofu)
- ½ cup chicken breast - roasted
Add some healthy fats (e.g. avocado, tahini, eggs)
- ½ avocado - pitted
Boost the flavour (e.g. sauces, dressings, salsa, dried fruits, nuts and seeds)
- 2 tablespoon green goddess dressing
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dried cranberries
- ½ tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- black pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Choose a grain: Quinoa is packed with nutrients, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and is also gluten-free and anti-inflammatory. It's also super easy to make in either a rice cooker or on the stovetop. Brown rice is also a great alternative!
- Add your vegetables: Start with leafy greens as a base (kale, spinach, spring mix, etc.). Then, load it up with more vegetables - chopped bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, beans, roasted sweet potatoes, etc. I try to use a variety of both raw and cooked veggies to keeps things interesting.
- Pick a protein: There are many different types of protein you can choose from - meats (grilled chicken breast, beef cubes, turkey breast), seafood (cooked shrimp, tuna salad), hard-boiled eggs, vegan (tofu, bean curds), etc.
- Mix in some healthy fats: It's important to balance the bowl out with some healthy fats. Avocado is a classic choice - adding creaminess to the gritty and hard textures from the quinoa and vegetables. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, tahini, omega-3 fats from hard-boiled eggs, or a handful of nuts and seeds are also great choices.
- Boost it with flavour enhancers: I like to enhance the flavour of my bowls with sauces (lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, pre-made salsa, or prep your own dressings) and toppings (dried fruits for sweetness, dried edamame, or seeds/nuts for a bit of crunch).
- Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl and enjoy, or pack it up into meal prep containers to refrigerate for the days ahead.
Notes
- Video: Watch the step-by-step video tutorial here.
- Note: All of the ingredients listed above are examples to illustrate simple options under each category to build a balanced bowl. The beauty of this formula is you can use whatever you like for each food type - so feel free to be creative!
- Proportions: I typically allocate about ½ my bowl to veggies, ¼ to grains, and ¼ to protein for a balanced bowl, with sauces and toppings to taste. But you can allocate based on your own dietary needs!
- Use a combination of cooked and raw vegetables - take a bit of extra time to roast and season some zucchini, sauté bell peppers, or steam broccoli florets. Toast your seeds and nuts.
- Season your meats or protein before cooking them - carries a lot of added flavour.
- Meal prep either by preparing your bowls into separate containers for each meal so they're ready to eat right away, or prep only the ingredients into separate containers, allowing you to mix and match to build your bowls on-the-go.
- Experiment with different flavours - use fresh and dried herbs, seasonings, and sauces to enhance your bowls with taste.
- Switch things up - use a wide variety of ingredients and change them up often; don't stick to just a few and repeat. Bowls that have more ingredients have different textures, flavours and mouthfeel, which helps eliminate meal boredom.
STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO
You can find step-by-step video tutorials for all of my recipes on my YouTube Channel. There you'll find many more tips and tricks to help you along!
Nutrition
Note: Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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