My Best Grain Bowl Recipes

March 21, 2021

We make Grain Bowls around here weekly! I’ve rounded up my favorites to share with you below along with a few tips for making bowls that look every bit as good as they taste.

Grain Bowl Goodness

Grain Bowls have been around for a while now and maintained a fair amount of popularity. They always look beautiful and quite honestly are a pretty big part of our family’s diet around here. I make at least one grain bowl every week, so it can be easy to fall into a rut. In order to pull myself out of that rut I focus on pulling together ingredients that are both colorful and flavorful. Below I have a few tips for making better grain bowls followed by a roundup of my favorite bowl recipes.

Grains, Grains, Grains

When I first started making grain bowls it felt like I was constantly using quinoa and it was too much. For a while there I had to quit quinoa to recover! But it’s important to remember that you have an amazing variety of grains to choose from. My current favorite is farro, but I also love barley and brown basmati rice. Keep an eye out for others like wheat berries, freekeh, or millet.

A Few Grain Bowl Tips:

  • Don’t pass on the protein. Protein is what makes a grain bowl feel like a full meal. Whether it’s traditional protein like meat or chickpeas or even a soft boiled egg is pretty great.
  • Cook your grains in anything other than water. I usually completely replace the water with broth or do a half and half ratio. It’s an amazing (and easy!) way to add big flavor.
  • Don’t disregard your sauces and condiments. I think that’s the secret to making a really stand-out bowl. Things like pickled onions, peanut sauce, tzatziki, harissa, tahini, and pesto are some of my favorites.
  • Remember to add some texture. A good crunch in a grain bowl simply can’t be beat. Whether it’s chopped nuts, or seeds like pepitas or sunflower seeds, I love that textural variety.
  • Say cheese! I always opt for a little bit of cheese in my grain bowls. Crumbled goat, feta, or blue cheese will add instant flavor and creamy texture.

See my favorite Grain Bowl recipes below!

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Apple Cheddar Grain Bowl

This combo of Honeycrisp apples, white cheddar (beechers cheese forever!), avocado, pecans, chicken, wild rice, and kale is tossed with a creamy balsamic dressing…and it’s perfection!

Beet + Goat Cheese Grain Bowl

A hearty grain bowl with an ingredient match made in heaven – beets and goat cheese! Earthy beets, tangy goat cheese, dark leafy greens, and extra creamy balsamic dressing.

Spiced Sweet Potato Bowl with Spicy Avocado Lime Dressing

These Spiced Sweet Potato Grain Bowls have just a hint of spice. When tossed with a Creamy Avocado Lime Dressing it creates the perfect balance of flavors all wrapped up into one bowl.

Rainbow Buddha Bowls

A grain bowl with every color in the rainbow nestled on top of hearty grains. The zingy citrus cilantro vinaigrette is really what wins me over with this recipe.

Greek Grain Bowl

Tossed together in this bowl of healthy goodness is arugula, shrimp, farro, chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, and feta. It’s all dressed with a creamy yogurt dressing and a squeeze of lemon. Served with a side of pita chips this one is going to be tough to resist!