What exactly IS a Buddha Bowl you may ask? I had the same question a while ago when some friends had us over for dinner. She had this great idea to do a Buddha Bowl Bar, and wanted to test it out on us.

We’re always more than happy when someone is asking us to eat. “Yes please!” Not only was my husband pleasantly surprised, I absolutely loved it. The meal was right up my alley.

I couldn’t find an official definition, but the Urban Dictionary says they are (n). a bowl which is packed so full that it has a rounded “belly” appearance on the top much like the belly of a buddha. 

Okay, well whatever it is… I call it delicious, and the type of food I could eat every single day. We tried our hand and home, and it’s really all quite simple to put together.

What You Need for a Buddha Bowl

That is one of the best parts, it’s so customizable that you can get as creative as you want! For ours we used:

• Flank Steak (see below)
• Medium Boiled Eggs (see below)
• Avocado (sliced)
• Slow Roasted Tomatoes (store bought, sun-dried or even sliced cherry would work)
• Roasted Broccoli (directions below)
• Hummus (store bought)
• Quinoa (my husband used rice)
• Goddess Dressing (store bought, I like Annie’s)

Don’t be intimidated by the ingredients list. It’s actually quite small. There are, however, a few different components involved to prepare some of these ingredients.

Flank Steak

I used this 4 Ingredient Universal Marinade to cook a 2-4 lb flank steak in the crock pot for 6 (ish) hours.

Roasted Broccoli

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Meanwhile, spread your broccoli out on a cookie sheet lined with foil (for easy clean up).

Sprinkle salt, pepper, and olive oil over the broccoli.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes, or until a fork just barely gives when sliding into the broccoli.

Medium Boiled Egg

Place your eggs in a pot and cover with cold water, turn the burner on high.

As soon as the water reaches a rolling boil, remove the pot from the heat and cover.

Let the eggs cook happily in the water for about 16 minutes.

Drain, peel, then hopefully cut open to oozy perfection.

If not, oh well the egg will still be delicious in it no matter what.

Quinoa

Follow the directions on the package, or get the frozen kind from Trader Joe’s. That’s what I do!

Now You’re Ready to Assemble!

Start with the quinoa or rice in the bottom of the bowl.

Put about 4 oz of the steak, broccoli, tomatoes, and avocado around the top of the quinoa.

Add the egg (or eggs if you’re feeling super protein-y).

Put a dollop of hummus in the middle of everything.

Drizzle with Goddess dressing.

Dig in and enjoy a super hearty, super flavorful, and I’m telling myself a super healthy meal!