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Home > Lunch/Dinner > Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with Falafels and hummus dressing (Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)
1 hour

Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with Falafels and hummus dressing (Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

Last updated July 16, 2018. Originally posted July 16, 2018 By Jyothi Rajesh 25 Comments

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Mediterranean Buddha bowl is a nourishing meal that has bits of everything. Little portions of everything you want to eat – whole grains, starch, portion of protein, assortment of vegetables (both raw or cooked), and a delicious dressing topped over. The key to any Buddha bowl is artfully arranging the ingredients in a deep rimmed dish.

Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl

They are also known as  bliss bowl, hippie bowl, vegan bowl, poke bowl, glory bowls, power bowls, glow bowl, nourish bowl, sunshine bowl , macro bowls (for all the macro nutrients they are stuffed with)or The big bowl of awesome. What ever you may call it, buddha bowls are easy to prepare, nutritious, delicious, and require very minimal effort.

Mediterranean Buddha bowl is a bowl packed with a combination of whole grains, pulses, loads of vegetables (and fruits),  topped off with a delicious creamy sauce/dressing. Each bite will be an explosion of flavors and texture in your mouth. It’s all vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free packed lunch/dinner bowls for your guys!

2 blue bowls having falafel, quinoa, vegetables all arranged for Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl

Buddha bowls or bliss bowls are basically bowls of delicious, nutrients dense food that seems to be the biggest meal trend of 2017 and a favorite of health bloggers. Most particularly in the vegan community.  While the trend seems that Buddha bowls or bliss bowls is vegetarian or vegan meals.

Okay, so Buddha bowls are vegan, with whole grains, plant proteins and vegetables in it served in deep rimmed dish. All filled with vibrant colored food.  But what about Buddha bowl recipe? The beauty of the Buddha bowl is that there is no single recipe, I mean there is no single right way to do it. It’s more of a formula you use to design your Buddha bowl. It a bowl that is vibrant fully loaded with variations of flavors and texture. You need to remember just that!

Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowls with smoky red pepper hummus dressing in a jar

Buddha bowl formulates to –

Base – baby spinach, lettuce, kale, watercress, swiss chard

Healthy grains or legumes,

Proteins – tofu, chickpea,

Vegetables  (Raw or cooked) – Tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, artichokes,

Complex carbs – quinoa,sweet potatoes, yam, butternut squash, brown rice, buckwheat,

Crunch (nuts, seeds), pumpkin seeds, nuts, edamame, sesame seeds, cucumbers, red peppers

Dressing/sause – hummus, pesto, avocado based dressings, tahini, lemon juice cilantro dressing

Fruits – apples, strawberries, blueberries, papaya, mango

That’s it!

See you can’t really mess up, since it pretty much has everything, artistically thrown into the bowl. Load it up with as much different ingredients you may want, or keep it real simple with just a few handful ingredients but loaded with flavors.

Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl served in blue ceramic bowls

This is the kind of bowl that I can eat for lunch and dinner every single day and not be bored of it as it’s easy to customize with whatever ingredient I like to eat and with whatever ingredients I have in hand.

What is a buddha bowl?

Buddha bowl has no religious connection to Buddha, rather it depicts the way Buddha or monks ate food.  Buddha bowl foods are packed with nutrients, plant based food all in one bowl. If you look up the definition of Buddha bowl on internet – it says “a bowl which is packed so full that it has a rounded ‘belly’ appearance on the top much like the belly of a buddha.”

At some point last year, a new trend caught fire. It was happening thing on healthy blogs, on restaurant menus, and it went crazy on pinterest. Buddha bowls became the most favorite among health bloggers since then. It was called buddha bowl or bliss bowl. Buddha bowl is a modern food culture that is nourishing all-in-one meal in a bowl.

All in one bowl? That’s my kind of meal we are talking about. I would easily eat it for lunch and dinner.

This easy Buddha bowl is all I’ve been craving since I made it for the first time in my kitchen

It’s savory

Subtly spiced

Has perfect crunch element

Comforting

Incredibly Satisfying and filling

Packed with flavor

picking up a Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl

How to make a Mediterranean buddha bowl:

Mediterranean inspired Buddha bowls  must have falafels and hummus. Right O!

So start off making falafels first. A simple homemade falafel can be made just the way you like it. You could keep it plain and simple like we did or add some herbs to give it added flavor and colors. And we definitely want to bake the falafel, it’s clean eating Buddha bowls after all.

Cook soaked chickpeas until just done. No over cooking.

To the food processor add cooked chickpeas (that is drained well), garlic cloves, lemon juice, salt, cumin powder, smoked paprika, red chili flakes and process until a sort of meal is formed. DO not over process it. You want to see small chunks of chickpeas in the falafel mix.

Scoop out the falafel , form little patties with your hands. Place it on to baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and let cool completely. Falafel will be very fragile when out of oven.

prepping falafels to be baked and then roasted for crispy texture Crispy falafel

Next let’s make the outrageously delicious hummus dressing for this Mediterranean Buddha bowl.

Roast red bell peppers on a grill on stove fire until it gets nice charred all sides.  Remove from fire, and carefully peel  off the skin. Remove the seeds and chop the flesh of red bell peppers into small pieces.

To cooked chickpeas add garlic cloves, pepper powder, cumin powder, salt lemon juice, tahini, smoked roasted red bell peppers and slowly pour in olive oil as you process until you get smooth and creamy hummus.

You can keep the dressing as thick or think you like. To think it down add little water or olive oil so it’s right pouring consistency.

Prepping smoky red pepper hummus dressing

Finally for the vegetables –

Chop all the vegetables. Cherry tomatoes, avocados, olives and baby spinach

And for the whole grains I’ve used red quinoa, corn bulgar mix.

Putting it all together –

Into 2 bowls(deep rimmed bowls) divide baby spinach at the base of the bowls. Portion out half of quinoa+corn bulgur mix. Add as much falafel as you like and vegetables on the sides.

Top everything with roasted bell pepper hummus sauce. Garnish with pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds if desired.

Serve immediately! Enjoy!

2 blue bowls having falafel, quinoa, vegetables all arranged for Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl

More hummus variations that you can use it as dip or dressing –

Roasted beetroot hummus

Basic hummus without tahini

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Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl
5 from 9 votes

Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with Falafels and hummus dressing (Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

Jyothi Rajesh
Mediterranean Buddha bowl is a bowl packed with a combination of whole grains, pulses, loads of vegetables (and fruits), topped off with a delicious creamy sauce/dressing. Each bite will be an explosion of flavors and texture in your mouth. It’s all vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free packed lunch/dinner bowls for your guys!
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Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 1 hr
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 2 people
Calories

Ingredients
  

Falafel

  • 1 cup chickpeas or 15 oz can chickpeas
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil adjust as required

Smoked red pepper hummus sauce

  • ½ cup chickpeas
  • 2 cloves garlic cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Juice of 1lemon
  • 2 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 red bell peppers
  • 5-6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Whole grains

  • 1 cup quinoa corn bulgur mix or plain red quinoa or couscous
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper powder

The rest of the bowl

  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes
  • 2 ripe avocadoes
  • 1 cup tightly packed baby spinach or Romania lettuce leaf
  • 10 -12 olives

Instructions
 

For the falafel –

  • Cook soaked chickpeas until just done. No over cooking.
    To the food processor add cooked chickpeas (that is drained well), garlic cloves, lemon juice, salt, cumin powder, smoked paprika, red chili flakes and process until a sort of meal is formed. DO not over process it. You want to see small chunks of chickpeas in the falafel mix.
    Scoop out the falafel , form little patties with your hands. Place it on to baking tray lined with parchment paper.
    Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes.
    When done, remove from oven and let cool completely. Falafel will be very fragile when out of oven.
    For crispier falafel, saute baked falafel in a pan with little olive oil over medium heat until falafel browns on all sides. This step is optional!

For smoky red pepper hummus sauce -

  • Roast red bell peppers on a grill on stove fire until it gets nice charred all sides. Remove from fire, and carefully peel off the skin. Remove the seeds and chop the flesh of red bell peppers into small pieces.
    To cooked chickpeas add garlic cloves, pepper powder, cumin powder, salt lemon juice, tahini, smoked roasted red bell peppers and slowly pour in olive oil as you process until you get smooth and creamy hummus.
    You can keep the dressing as thick or think you like. To think it down add little water or olive oil so it’s right pouring consistency.

Whole grains –

  • Cook quinoa corn bulgur as per packet instructions about 12 minutes. You can flavor the quinoa mix with little salt pepper powder and lime juice.
    In place of quinoa + corn bulgur mix you can used just quinoa or couscous. Which ever is your favorite. 

Putting it all together –

  • Into 2 bowls(deep rimmed bowls) divide baby spinach at the base of the bowls. Portion out half of quinoa+corn bulgur mix. Add as much falafel as you like and other ingredients arranged side by side. Mix everything together, getting the dressing on everything, and enjoy!

Notes

To make crispier falafel -
after baking the falafels, I put them in a pan with little olive oil and cooked until it turned crispier on both steps. You can skip this step if you don't mind crispier falafels.

Nutrition

Serving: 0gCarbohydrates: 0gProtein: 0gFat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0gMonounsaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgPotassium: 0mgFiber: 0gSugar: 0gVitamin A: 0IUVitamin C: 0mgCalcium: 0mgIron: 0mg
Did you make this recipe?Follow @CurryTrail and tag #CurryTrail to share your creation!

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2 blue bowls having falafel, quinoa, vegetables all arranged for Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with red pepper hummus dressing with text overlay

blue bowl having falafel, quinoa, vegetables all arranged for Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with red pepper hummus dressing with text overlay
2 blue bowls having falafel, quinoa, vegetables all arranged for Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with red pepper hummus dressing with text overlay
2 blue bowls having falafel, quinoa, vegetables all arranged for Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl with red pepper hummus dressing
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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Mary Bostow says

    July 25, 2018 at 12:23 am

    Beautiful presentation and delicious as well, thank you for an amazing recipe!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 25, 2018 at 9:03 pm

      Thank you Mary for the appreciation

      Reply
  2. Gene says

    July 24, 2018 at 9:56 pm

    Great flavors and color. I love the mix.

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 25, 2018 at 9:03 pm

      Thank you Gene

      Reply
  3. Heather says

    July 23, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    5 stars
    Love the explanation of ‘Buddha bowl’!!!! But most important, love this recipe! Super easy, very healthy and great crunch factor. This would be perfect for lunch and you would be so happy the rest of the day 🙂

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 23, 2018 at 11:16 pm

      Thank you Heather

      Reply
  4. Stacey says

    July 23, 2018 at 9:23 am

    5 stars
    This is stunning, and sounds perfect like my ideal dinner! I love falafel and that hummus sounds amazing!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 23, 2018 at 11:16 pm

      Thank you Stacey

      Reply
  5. Kitty says

    July 23, 2018 at 7:03 am

    Gosh that hummus looks fantastic. We’re big fans of falafel too but I’ve never made it! Gotta fix that.!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 23, 2018 at 11:17 pm

      Thanks

      Reply
  6. Amanda Mason says

    July 23, 2018 at 6:59 am

    5 stars
    I love how you broke this article down – PERFECT for me!! Buddha bowls are so healthy ad a great alternative for those who still want/need protein but want a break from animal protein. This is such a solid quality post…excellent write up! Sharing this now!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 23, 2018 at 11:17 pm

      Thank you Amanda

      Reply
  7. Anne Murphy says

    July 23, 2018 at 4:37 am

    5 stars
    I haven’t made felafel for a while – and I wasn’t thinking of using it like this, just in pita! That dressing sounds wonderful, too – I have a major roasted red pepper fan in the house, so I have to give it a try.

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 23, 2018 at 11:17 pm

      Thank you

      Reply
  8. Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago says

    July 22, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    Great flavors in here. Sounds like the perfect option for a healthy vegetarian lunch!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 22, 2018 at 7:50 pm

      Thanks Kathryn

      Reply
  9. Whitney Bond says

    July 22, 2018 at 3:54 am

    5 stars
    This looks like an amazingly healthy flavorful meal! That red pepper hummus dressing sounds absolutely perfect, can’t wait to give this version of a Buddha Bowl a try!

    Reply
  10. Lorie says

    July 22, 2018 at 1:29 am

    5 stars
    I’m a huge fan of Buddha bowls. This one looks perfect. I will say yours are much prettier than mine ever turn out ?

    Reply
  11. Patti @ Patty Cake's Pantry says

    July 20, 2018 at 9:31 am

    5 stars
    Did I read this right? I can bake falafel? I love falafel but rarely make them because I hate frying things. It’s hot and messy work to stand over a pan of hot grease. You have made me so very happy now that I know I can bake my falafel. I’m doing a happy dance. I see lots of falafel in my future. The buddha bowl looks delicious. So many colors and flavors. Yum!

    Reply
  12. Dominique | Perchance to Cook says

    July 20, 2018 at 6:54 am

    I love everything about this vegan bowl!! Those falafels look literally perfect! I love love eating them with hummus. This is really my kind of bowl!

    Reply
  13. Gina Marie says

    July 19, 2018 at 3:55 am

    5 stars
    I cannot wait to try this! I did my first Buddha bowl last year and I am always searching for unique ways to create them! Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 19, 2018 at 11:42 am

      Thank you Gina

      Reply
  14. Gloria says

    July 17, 2018 at 7:03 am

    5 stars
    This looks amazing. Love all the flavours and textures happening in the delicious bowl of food. What a great mealtess dinner any night of the week.

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 17, 2018 at 8:02 am

      Thank you Gloria!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Going Vegan in 2019 - The Ultimate Guide for Beginners | The Green Loot says:
    December 12, 2018 at 1:25 am

    […] 32. Mediterranean Buddha Bowl with Falafels […]

    Reply

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Jyothi - Author of Curry Trail.

Welcome, I'm Jyothi

My food philosophy is simple, fresh and full of flavors! I love ‘spicy’ food. In fact so much so that I can skip dessert for extra spicy savory food!

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