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!