5 Easy Plant-Based, One-Bowl Meals to Make This Week

There’s one thing I will never, ever get tired of eating for dinner (or lunch!): one-bowl meals packed with veggies! Piling a little bit of everything — grains, cooked veggies, raw veggies, crunchy things, sauce — into a single bowl feels totally comforting. In fact, I love these one-bowl meals so much that I wrote not one, but two cookbooks about them: one with plant-based bowls and one with bowls for every type of eater.

In addition to being totally nourishing, the beauty of one-bowl meals is that they are so, so versatile and endlessly adaptable. It’s a cinch to swap different grains, noodles, vegetables, and sauces between recipes to work with ingredients you already have on hand. This week I’m taking inspiration from stir-fry, burritos, and shawarma for a mix of feel-good, plant-based bowls (including three recipes from my new cookbook!). Here’s what I’m making.

I simply cannot resist noodles with peanut sauce, so I’m kicking off the week with these high-protein veggie bowls. Instead of soba or rice noodles, these bowls start with a pile of kohlrabi noodles (bonus points for an extra helping of veggies!). To save time and prep, I’ll grab a pack of pre-cut kohlrabi noodles from the produce section, although you can always spiralize a couple kohlrabi bulbs or even swap in raw zucchini noodles.

Get the recipe: Roasted Vegetable and Kohlrabi Noodle Bowls with Peanut Sauce

I scored a couple of great-looking eggplants at the farmers market and knew right away that I’d use them for these rice bowls. While the eggplant cooks in the oven, I’ll have just enough time to heat a package of frozen brown rice, mix together the sauce, and chop the herbs.

Get the recipe: Roasted Eggplant and Brown Rice Bowl with Turmeric Tahini

I’ve had a Chipotle craving that just won’t quit, so I knew it was time to slot these burrito bowls into the meal plan. I’ll get a jump-start on dinner by making the sofritas during my weekend meal prep session, so the weeknight just requires easy reheating and bowl assembly. We’ll use Tuesday night’s leftover brown rice for the base of the bowls (which I plan to mix with some lime juice and chopped cilantro), and top them off with a generous scoop of store-bought guac, more chopped cilantro, and tortilla chips.

Get the recipe: Sofritas Burrito Bowls

Stir-fries are my go-to solution for using up random bits and bobs of veggies lingering in the fridge, and I particularly love this plant-based version for how filling it is. The recipe calls for just 8 ounces of tofu, but I prefer to use the whole 14-ounce block, which I’ll press and stir-fry, before cooking the veggies.

Get the recipe: Tofu Chickpea Stir-Fry with Tahini Sauce

Hummus bowls have become one of my favorite Friday night dinners. I’ll use store-bought hummus to keep things simple (and minimize dirty dishes!), toss the lettuce with the leftover herbs from earlier in the week, and round out our bowls with plenty of warm pita bread for dipping and scooping.

Get the recipe: Mushroom Shawarma Bowls

• The Beginner’s Guide to Meal Planning: What to Know, How to Succeed, and What to Skip
• The Best Way to Use a Weekend for Meal Planning Success
• Ask Yourself These 5 Questions Before You Start Meal Planning
• 5 Strategies for Picking Recipes for a Week of Meal Planning

Join Our Meal Plan Club Facebook Group

Meal planning isn’t always easy — especially if you’re just getting started. But we’re firm believers that it’s the secret to stress-free weeknight dinners. We want to help you find inspiration and ease some of the pain points that come with getting dinner on the table night after night, whether you’re cooking one or a family of four or five. Every week we share a new meal plan solution specifically customized for you from reader requests or from a guest contributor, for Next Week’s Meal Plan!