Loaded with healthy ingredients, these Easy Customizable Power Bowls are the perfect make ahead meal. These power bowls are loaded with nutrient-rich ingredients and so much delicious flavor. The best part? You can easily adapt the ingredients in these bowls to suit your own tastes or the ingredients you have on hand.
These easy, customizable power bowls are one of my favorite ways to meal prep healthy lunches or dinners. These meals are loaded with nutritious ingredients including healthy proteins and loads of fresh vegetables.
The recipe card at the end of this post includes one of my favorite power bowls to make complete with a quinoa base, a lean protein, and lots of vegetables drizzled in a homemade honey mustard vinaigrette. Use the recipe as is or read the “Customize your Power Bowl” section below for lots of ideas on how you can swap in your own favorite toppings to make a power bowl that suits your needs.
There are so many ways to top these delicious bowls, they never get boring! They are a go-to meal for us and hopefully will become a favorite of yours too.
Why we love this recipe
- Power bowls are loaded with healthy ingredients like veggies and lean proteins.
- They are great for meal prep! You can prep all of the ingredients ahead of time so that you can have a meal ready to take to work for lunch or a quick dinner on a busy weeknight.
- You can easily change things up to suit your own tastes or ingredients you have on hand. You can swap veggies, proteins, or use up leftovers from yesterdays dinner.
- Each bowl can be tailored to your family’s preferences. Prep the ingredients and let your family top their bowls using whichever ingredients they prefer.
Ingredients in my favorite power bowl:
- Quinoa: The base of my power bowls is usually quinoa. This healthy seed is often used as a grain, although it is not a true grain. It is a good source of protein and fiber as well as offering other nutrients.
- Vegetables: Sweet potato, spinach, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, corn, and radishes.
- Chicken: chicken thighs or chicken breast is a good choice for a lean protein. You can easily swap in a different protein (see my “Customize your Power Bowl” section for ideas.
- Chickpeas: A can of chickpeas is another great, nutritious addition to these power bowls.
- Olive oil: Used for cooking the sweet potatoes and chicken.
- Broth: Chicken broth or vegetable broth adds flavor to the quinoa as it cooks. You can, however, use water instead.
- Seasoning: Paprika, salt and pepper.
- Homemade vinaigrette: Olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and salt come together to make a tasty vinaigrette for this power bowl. That said, you can easily swap in your favorite dressing instead.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post. **
Basic steps for preparing a power bowl:
While the full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post, the basic steps for assembling my favorite power bowl recipe include:
1. Preparing the cooked ingredients. Roasting the sweet potatoes, boiling the quinoa, and cooking the chicken (or other protein) are the first things to tackle.
2. Prepare the veggies and legumes. Chop veggies into bite sized pieces so they are ready for assembling the bowls.
2. Make the honey mustard vinaigrette. All of the vinaigrette ingredients are added to a jar with a secure lid and given a good shake to combine.
3. Assembling the Power Bowls. Divide all of the ingredients into 4 bowls and then drizzle the bowls with the vinaigrette.
Customize your Power Bowl
Use a different grain. Instead of quinoa, you can replace it with rice, millet, barley, or an ancient grain blend.
Swap in a different protein. Instead of chicken, use shrimp (also pictured in this post), thinly sliced steak, meatballs, etc. You can even just stick with plant-based protein like tofu or legumes (cannellini beans, black beans, lentils, or chickpeas, which already included in the recipe).
Keep it vegetarian/vegan. As mentioned in the point above, you can omit the chicken and replace it with more plant-based protein instead. If you are aiming for a vegan-friendly meal, you would also need to replace the honey in the dressing with maple syrup, for example. Vegan or vegetarian versions of this meal are often called Buddha bowls.
Use your favorite veggies. I included a variety of veggies in my power bowl, but there are so many more to choose from. Raw, roasted, steamed – the possibilities are endless. Some great options include roasted or sauteed zucchini, eggplant, green beans, peas, brussel sprouts, or broccoli.
Add cheese. Crumbled feta, goat cheese, or even a shredded cheese can be delicious in this bowl.
Drizzle on a different dressing. My honey mustard vinaigrette is a favorite of ours but I love to change things up with other dressings too. Store-bought dressings can be used to keep things even simpler (one less thing to prep!). Also great on these power bowls is a heaping dollop of hummus, tzatziki sauce, baba ganoush, or chipotle aioli.
Meal prepping this meal
Every component of this meal can be prepared ahead of time. Since these power bowls are wonderful eaten straight out of the fridge, you can make all of the ingredients ahead of the time and store them in airtight containers in the fridge (just make sure your cooked components have cooled completely first).
You can store the components separately in the fridge or assemble the power bowls ahead of time so they are ready to grab and go for lunch. The only component that I would recommend storing separately in this case is the vinaigrette which is better added just before serving.
More loaded bowls and salads:
Summer Salad with Greek Yogurt Lemon-Dill Dressing
Soba Noodle Salad with Honey Sesame Dressing
Mediterranean Grain Salad with Roasted Summer Vegetables
Mediterranean Couscous Salad
Cobb Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Asian Salmon Salad with Citrus Soy Dressing
Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing
Swiss Chard Salad with Ancient Grains
Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Arugula Salad
Did you love this recipe? Please consider leaving us a comment and a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below.
Don’t forget to keep up with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Easy Customizable Power Bowls
Ingredients
Cooked power bowl components:
- 1 medium sweet potato chopped into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth or water
- 4 chicken thighs or 2 chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces (3/4 inch to 1 inch pieces are ideal)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Fresh veggies/legumes:
- 4 cups baby spinach chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
- 1/2 large cucumber chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 4 radishes sliced
- 1 can chickpeas drained
For the honey mustard vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare the cooked ingredients:
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place the chopped sweet potatoes in a baking dish and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, toss to coat the sweet potatoes evenly, and spread into a single layer. Roast in the oven until fork tender, about 30 minutes, flipping the sweet potatoes half way through the cooking time.
- Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa using a sieve and add it to a pot along with the broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover the pot and allow the quinoa to simmer for 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked. Remove from heat and let it rest for 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
- While the quinoa is cooking, season the chicken with paprika, salt and pepper. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the chicken to the skillet. Cook the chicken for about 3-4 minutes or until the bottom begins to brown nicely. Flip the chicken and continue cooking for 2 minutes, then stir and continue to cook until all sides are fully cooked. Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is fully cooked.
Make the honey mustard vinaigrette:
- Using a glass jar with a secure lid, add all of the vinaigrette ingredients to the jar and secure the lid. Shake the ingredients together until well combined.
Assemble Power Bowls:
- Gather 4 bowls. Add 1/4 of the quinoa (about 3/4 cups cooked) to each bowl. Divide the sweet potatoes and chicken into the 4 bowls as well.
- Divide the chickpeas and all of the fresh veggies into the bowls equally.
- Drizzle the bowls with the honey mustard vinaigrette. Serve.
Notes
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
