This Mediterranean quinoa bowl is a scrumptious weeknight dinner or wholesome lunch! Nice for meal prep, it is filled with veggies, chickpeas, and extra.
Quinoa bowl recipes are a few of my favourite straightforward meals to toss collectively for a wholesome lunch or weeknight dinner. I really like them as a result of
- They’re customizable. You possibly can change up the quinoa bowl toppings based mostly on what you’re craving or what you might have readily available.
- They’re nice for meal prep. Cook dinner the quinoa and blend up a tasty sauce over the weekend. Then, rapidly assemble quinoa bowls all week!
- They’re tremendous satisfying…to not point out tasty! I fill my quinoa bowls with protein-packed quinoa, fiber-rich veggies, and massive drizzles of a flavorful sauce. It’s the last word mixture of wholesome and scrumptious.
You possibly can put virtually any vegetable, protein, or sauce in a quinoa bowl, so I encourage you to attempt to making your personal. However to get you began, I’m sharing my go-to Mediterranean quinoa bowl recipe under, plus ideas for customizing it and making it forward. It’s a staple in my kitchen. Whether or not you observe it to the letter or completely change it up, I hope it turns into one in yours too!
The right way to Make These Quinoa Bowls
This Mediterranean quinoa bowl begins with easy, recent elements:
- Cooked quinoa, after all! Any sort of quinoa works properly—white, purple, black, or tri-color.
- Spiced roasted chickpeas – Together with the quinoa, they pack this bowl with plant-based protein. In addition they add scrumptious crunch!
- Cherry tomatoes and Persian cucumbers – For a veggie punch! For those who can’t discover Persian cucumbers, English cucumber is a good sub. If common cucumber (not Persian or English) is your solely choice, peel and seed it earlier than including it to the bowls.
- Avocado – For creamy richness.
- Garlic yogurt sauce – This sauce is SO straightforward to stir collectively—no meals processor or blender required! It’s a vivid, creamy mixture of Greek yogurt, garlic, olive oil, and recent lemon juice.
- Pickled purple onions – For a vivid pop of taste.
- Contemporary parsley and mint – They make this quinoa bowl tremendous flavorful and refreshing.
- And Aleppo pepper flakes – They add a contact of warmth. Can’t discover them? Common purple pepper flakes work right here too!
To assemble, fill a bowl or meal prep container with a base of quinoa. Then, add the chickpeas, greens, avocado, and drizzles of the garlic yogurt sauce. Prime with pickled onions, recent herbs, and pinches of Aleppo pepper. Season to style, and luxuriate in chilly or at room temperature.
Discover the entire recipe with measurements under!
The right way to Cook dinner Quinoa
For those who’re new to cooking quinoa, don’t let it intimidate you! Making ready it is extremely just like cooking rice on the range. Right here’s how I do it:
- Rinse the quinoa, and place it in a saucepan with water. (I take advantage of 1 3/4 cups water for each 1 cup of quinoa.)
- Deliver the water to a boil, cut back the warmth, and canopy the pot.
- Simmer for quarter-hour, or till the water is absorbed.
- Take away the pot from the warmth and let stand for 10 minutes.
Fluff the quinoa with a fork, and luxuriate in! For extra detailed directions, try my put up on the way to cook dinner quinoa. Or strive cooking quinoa within the Prompt Pot!
Make-Forward Suggestions for This Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl
This Mediterranean quinoa bowl recipe is nice for meal prep!
Begin by cooking the quinoa, making the yogurt sauce, and roasting the chickpeas. Then, assemble bowls in meal prep containers with the quinoa, roasted chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, and pickled onions.
Retailer them within the fridge for as much as 4 days, and retailer the sauce in a separate container within the fridge. Whenever you’re able to eat, drizzle on the sauce, and add the avocado and recent herbs. You’ll have the BEST weeknight dinner or fast lunch.
**Wait so as to add the avocado and recent herbs till proper earlier than serving in order that they don’t wilt or brown within the fridge.**
Customise Your Quinoa Bowl
I really like this recipe as written, however be at liberty to make it your personal! Listed here are a number of straightforward methods to alter it up:
Let me know what variations you strive!
TIP
Make it vegan. For plant-based quinoa bowls, exchange the garlic yogurt sauce with tahini sauce or hummus.
This recipe is of course gluten-free.
Extra Grain Bowl Recipes
For those who love these wholesome quinoa bowls, strive one in all these grain bowl recipes subsequent:
Loopy for quinoa? Attempt my Mediterranean quinoa salad, quinoa burger, or quinoa breakfast bowl subsequent.
Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl
Serves 4
Stop your display screen from going darkish
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Cook dinner the quinoa in response to this recipe.
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In the meantime, make the smoky chickpeas: Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Place the chickpeas on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and cayenne. Toss to coat and unfold evenly on the baking sheet. Roast for 20 to half-hour, or till golden brown and crisp.
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Assemble bowls with the quinoa, smoky chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado. Prime with pickled onions, mint, and pinches of Aleppo pepper. Drizzle with garlic yogurt sauce and serve.
