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10 Rice Bowl Recipes to Make Dinner Fun
Shake up your dinner routine with these delicious and easy rice bowl recipes and ideas! These bowls are a fun…
Shake up your dinner routine with these delicious and easy rice bowl recipes and ideas! These bowls are a fun and customizable way to enjoy a flavorful healthy meal any night of the week.
When we’re not sure what to eat, often we come back to this idea: rice bowls! There’s nothing better than a lunch or dinnertime bowl full of goodness (in our opinion), and rice bowls present a concept that’s endlessly customizable.
Here we’re sharing 10 of our favorite rice bowl recipes, plus some tips for how to make your own “no recipe” bowls! We hope it can help to provide some needed inspiration for healthy lunch ideas or easy dinner ideas.
Tips for making rice bowl recipes
These rice bowl recipes are all easy: but several of them have multiple components to prep! Here are a few notes about how to make meal prep a breeze for these:
- Consider making the rice or sauce in advance. This saves precious time right before meal time. If you make the rice beforehand, reheat it by adding a splash of water then heating gently on the stovetop.
- Think about your protein. Most of these bowls are customizable to fit your dietary needs, so you can mix and match proteins. Some of our favorite proteins to add are pan seared chicken, sauteed shrimp, baked tofu, and canned chickpeas.
Our favorite rice bowl recipes
One of our favorite rice bowl recipe is these Mediterranean Rice Bowls: quick, easy, and packed with flavor! Featuring vibrant turmeric rice, spiced chickpeas, crunchy veggies, and a creamy tzatziki sauce, they're perfect for a satisfying lunch or dinner.
Tips and swaps: For vegan, use Tahini Sauce.
This easy rice bowl comes together in a flash! This fast dinner stars black beans and veggies with zingy cilantro lime ranch sauce.
Tips and swaps: For vegan, use Chipotle Sauce or this dairy free Cilantro Sauce. For more protein, add shredded chicken or Instant Pot shredded chicken.
This Greek chicken bowl recipe is an easy healthy meal ready in about 30 minutes! Enjoy flavorful turmeric rice, tender Greek chicken, crunchy veggies, and a creamy homemade tzatziki sauce for a satisfying weeknight dinner.
Tips and swaps: For vegetarian or vegan, use the chickpeas in the recipe and Tahini Sauce.
This salmon rice bowl recipe stars marinated salmon, fresh veggies, spicy mayo and crunchy bits of fried onion! It’s irresistible.
Tips and swaps: For vegan, scroll down to Tofu Bowls.
This shrimp bowl recipe gets 5 stars! An easy lunch or dinner, it stars cilantro lime rice, black beans and chipotle ranch dressing.
Tips and swaps: For dairy free, use Chipotle Sauce or this dairy free Cilantro Sauce.
This tofu bowl with rice stars crispy tofu, fresh veggies, spicy mayo and crunchy bits of fried onion! A deliciously healthy vegan dinner to fill your day with plant-based goodness.
This burrito bowl recipe is a lightning fast easy dinner idea! Add veggies and drizzle with creamy chipotle ranch dressing.
Tips and swaps: Tips and swaps: For vegan, use Chipotle Sauce or dairy free Cilantro Sauce. For added protein, add shredded chicken or Instant Pot shredded chicken. You can also add sliced Pan Seared Chicken Breast.
Do you love sushi but don’t want the hassle of making it at home? This vegan sushi bowl is a deconstructed sushi in a bowl, perfect for weeknight meals.
Tips and swaps: Top with Spicy Mayo.
This veggie power bowl makes an irresistibly healthy dinner or lunch! Serve roasted and fresh veggies with a whole grain and creamy sauce. Use one recipe coconut rice!
Tips and swaps: Add protein with Sauteed Shrimp or Baked Tofu.
Poke bowls are a classic Hawaiian recipe starring ahi tuna marinated in a flavorful poke sauce, rice, and lots of veggie topping ideas.
Tips and swaps: For vegan, make Vegan Poke Bowls.
Sauce ideas for rice bowls
Rice bowl sauces are the key to taking your bowl from good to amazing. Think of them as the finishing touch, the thing that ties all the flavors together. We love sauces that are creamy, tangy, spicy, or even a little sweet – it totally depends on the vibe of your bowl. Here are a few favorite sauces:
More rice bowl ideas
You can build a rice bowl idea around a specific type of rice! Here are a few ideas that you can build rice bowl recipes around:
Mediterranean Rice Bowl Recipe
Print Recipe- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the chickpeas or chicken
- 15-ounce can chickpeas or 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 4 cutlets (about 1 pound, organic if possible)*
- Garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, cumin and dried dill
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
For the bowl
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 English cucumber
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- Pickled Red Onions (made in advance) or ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 handful olives, pitted and sliced
- 1 handful feta cheese
- 1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Make the rice: Using a strainer, rinse the rice under cold water, then drain it completely. In a saucepan over high heat, bring 1 ¾ cups water to a boil. Add the rice, turmeric, garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir once, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Return the rice to the pot (without the heat). Cover the pot and allow the rice to steam for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork. Taste and add a little more salt and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.
- Make the tzatziki: Meanwhile, grate ½ the cucumber using the small holes on a box grater (if using a standard cucumber, peel and seed it first). Place the grated cucumber in a fine mesh strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Sprinkle it with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, then place over a liquid measuring cup and allow to stand for at least 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, remaining ½ teaspoon kosher salt, dill, and freshly ground black pepper. Squeeze out more water from the cucumber before adding it to the dip. Stir in the grated cucumber. Depending on your yogurt consistency, you can stir back in the cucumber water (or regular water) until it comes to the desired consistency (some Greek yogurts are very thick!). Stores up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Cook the chickpeas (or chicken; See Notes): Drain and rinse the chickpeas. In a medium bowl, mix them ½ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon each cumin and dried dill, and ¾ teaspoon kosher salt. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the chickpeas (carefully to avoid spitting) and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until warmed through.
- Assemble the bowls: Slice the remaining half of the cucumber and slice the tomatoes in half. If using red onion instead of pickled onions, slice the onion. Add the rice to a bowl and top with the vegetables and chicken (or chickpeas), then sprinkle with olives and feta crumbles and add a dollop of tzatziki. Leftovers last up to 3 days refrigerated.
Notes
To cook the chicken: Butterfly the chicken (if not already in cutlets). Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and sprinkle on both sides with the kosher salt (use 1 ¼ teaspoons if the chicken is closer to 1 ½ pounds). In a small bowl, mix the garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper, then sprinkle over the chicken. Add the olive oil to a large stainless steel or cast iron skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side, until browned on both sides. When the internal temperature is 165°F or the center is no longer pink, remove to a plate. Rest 5 minutes before slicing.
