4 Delicious and Simple Grain Bowl Recipes For Easy Weeknight Dinners
Learn my simple formula to build a balanced grain bowl along with 4 easy grain bowl recipes with meal prep tips for weeknight meals.
I love a good grain bowl for an easy weeknight dinner option. It gets even easier if you make a few things ahead, or if you’re short on time or energy, use some minimally processed, pre-made foods. Grain bowl combinations are almost endless, and can be adjusted to fit any cuisine or preference. They also fit into any season, and using seasonal ingredients can help you get enough variety to prevent boredom.
Though, when there’s endless variety and flexibility, it can be challenging to decide what to put in your grain bowl. Below are four satisfying and simple grain bowl ideas to inspire your healthy weekly meal plan.
How To Build Healthy Rice Bowls
I have an easy formula for creating your own grain bowl. One that’s balanced, nourishing and satisfying. I find that many grain bowl recipes are complicated for a weeknight dinner, with various recipes within recipes for the different elements, and involve a lot of prep, time and clean up. I like to utilize
Base
The base would typically be some kind of grain, often quinoa, rice or farro. You can also use riced cauliflower as a base, or to add in with a grain half and half. These can be cooked and prepped ahead, to simply reheat at meal time.
Protein
There’s so much variety with the protein in grain bowls. The simplest option is a simply seasoned chicken (baked, grilled, shredded, whatever). This is because it can fit with any variety of grain bowl/cuisine and you can make it ahead or buy pre-made (rotisserie, chicken sausage, chicken burgers). You can also get more creative when you have the time, with different marinades, taco meat, salmon or shrimp and plant based proteins like tofu or lentils.
Fat
Healthy fats can come from the add ins and/or a sauce. You can add in nuts like pepitas or cashews, or avocado. Sauces can be olive oil, tahini, mayo or sour cream based.
Fiber
Grain bowls are naturally high fiber meals. To add more fiber you can add in non starchy vegetables, where there’s a lot of flexibility. You can add raw, pickled, roasted, grilled or sautéed vegetables. You can even add fruit if it fits with the flavors of the bowl. It helps to be mindful of the add in, the more you add, the more chopping and prep you’d need to do.
Sauce/Flavor
Flavor can come from a variety of things. The cooking method of ingredients can add flavor, as well as herbs and sauces. As for a rice bowl sauce, I love using spicy mayo, chipotle crema, tahini based dressings and pesto. You could even do a Thai curry sauce with red, green or yellow Thai curry paste and coconut milk.
Texture
Texture is important to consider when it comes to grain bowls because they can easily be a soft, mushy texture. I like to vary the ingredients, with some crunch either from raw veggies or nuts. A creamy sauce can help add variety and interest too.
Burrito Bowl
This is one of my favorite rice bowl ideas. You can make it as interesting or as simple as you’d like, depending on what you’re in the mood for.
Base
Brown rice or quinoa
Protein
Grilled or sautéed chicken (seasoned simply or with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper)
Fat
avocado
sour cream/chipotle in adobo (or chipotle powder) mixed with sour cream
Fiber
sliced scallion
chopped cilantro
chopped tomatoes
chopped red onion
sautéed or grilled peppers
frozen or fresh fire roasted corn
pickled jalapeños
Flavor
salsa (jarred or fresh)
hot sauce
Prep
Make the chicken ahead, either in big batches for the freezer, or the weekend before for the fridge
Prep the vegetables by washing and chopping if you don’t want to do it to serve
Use store bought ingredients like salsa, corn and pickled jalapeños
Mediterranean Grain Bowl
This farro bowl is nourishing and fresh. It can be made plant based or with lean proteins like chicken, shrimp or salmon. It’s a great option for last summer with fresh produce like zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and herbs are abundant.
Base
Farro
Protein
Grilled or sautéed chicken, shrimp or salmon (seasoned simply with salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano)
Lentils (for plant based protein)
Fats
olive oil
tahini dressing
feta
toasted walnuts
Fiber
fresh arugula
halved cherry tomatoes
chopped red onion or scallion
roasted, sautéed or grilled peppers
pepperoncini
grilled or sautéed zucchini
olives
Flavor
fresh herbs (parsley, basil)
Prep
Make the chicken or lentils ahead, seafood is best cooked to serve
Use store bought ingredients like pepperoncini and jarred roasted red peppers to save time
Sushi Bowl
Base: Forbidden rice (my fave), jasmine rice, brown rice
Protein: Salmon or shrimp
Fat: Avocado, dressing
Fiber: (add any combination of these!)
chopped cucumber
shredded carrot
chopped cilantro
chopped scallion
chopped mango
shredded cabbage
sliced radish
sliced jalapeño
Flavor: spicy mayo (mayo, tamari, sriracha, toasted sesame oil, grated or dried ginger if you have it!)
Cashew Teriyaki Rice Bowl
This is a really satisfying sweet and savory Asian rice bowl option, that’s a good fake out takeout dinner when you want to avoid takeout.
Base
Brown basmati or brown rice
Protein
Teriyaki (store bought or homemade) chicken, shrimp or salmon (sautéed or grilled)
Fat
Cashews
Fiber
broccoli
bell peppers
onion
spinach
kale
mushrooms
Flavor
top with sliced scallion
Prep
Make teriyaki sauce ahead (this recipe looks good, I’d use honey instead of brown sugar)
Make the teriyaki chicken ahead, or save time by using ground chicken
Use store bought ingredients like teriyaki sauce, frozen broccoli to save some prep time