This 5-ingredient, simple vegan Fall Harvest Bowl features roasted butternut squash, roasted carrots, kale, apple and green lentils. It’s easy to make, full of nutrition, hearty, filling and perfect for Fall.

Healthy Vegan Fall Harvest Bowl - Running on Real Food Recipes
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Fall Harvest Bowl Ingredients

To make this beautiful, simple vegan bowl, you’ll need:

  1. Kale. I lightly cooked the kale until it was dark green and slightly softened. This makes it easier to digest and reduces the bitterness. You can either steam it or heat it in a pan with just a splash of water.
  2. Green lentils. I cooked up some green lentils to add protein and fibre to this bowl. You could also use chickpeas or another bean or lentil of choice. To cook green lentils, use 1 cup of lentils and 2-3 cups of water, simmered until tender.
  3. Apple. Apples go well in savoury dishes and since they’re in-season during the Fall months, it’s the perfect time to experiment with using them in savoury recipes. Any kind of apple works, see what you can find local your area.
  4. Roasted butternut squash. I use butternut squash but acorn, kabocha or any other kind of squash or pumpkin works. You can either peel it and cube it before roasting or roast it whole or in large chunks and peel it after. I usually just cut my squash in half, place it on a baking sheet face down, then roast at 425 degrees F until I can pierce it with a fork. Once it’s tender, let it cool a bit then you can easily scoop out the seeds, peel it and cut it into cubes. So easy!
  5. Roasted carrot. I roasted up some carrots at the same time as the squash. Carrots add extra flavour, texture and nutrition to the bowl. I used a tiny bit of olive oil to roast them but you can omit the oil if you want, or steam them instead of roasting. Other than the oil, I just used salt and pepper.

That’s it! Just 5-ingredients are needed to make this cozy buddha bowl.

Healthy Vegan Fall Harvest Bowl Recipe - Running on Real Food
Chop up the carrots to prep for roasting.
How to Make a Fall Harvest Bowl - Running on Real Food
Raw green lentils ready to be cooked.
Kale Carrot Squash Fall Harvest Bowl - Running on Real Food
Cooking kale in a skillet with a splash of water is a quick and easy way to “steam” it for use in this recipe.
Squash Fall Harvest Bowl Recipe - Running on Real Food
Slice the butternut squash in half and roast face down on a baking tray.

Build Your Fall Harvest Bowl

I kept this harvest bowl very simple and you can expect to see more recipes like this on the way.

Fall buddha bowl with kale, apple, squash and carrot.

Plant-based eating can be this simple….whole food, nutrient-rich, practical dishes that can be made in advance or prepared on a weekday and be packed up for lunch the next day.

One you start getting more familiar with ingredients and flavours, you’ll have no problem putting together simple, wholesome vegan meals like this.

I’d love for you to get to a place where you can create healthy meals without always needing a recipe. That’s where these basic 6-ingredient or less meals will come in handy. If you’re new to plant-based eating, they make a great base for you to start experimenting with and making your own. Enjoy.

Butternut Squash and Kale Salad Bowl - Running on Real Food

How to Meal Prep This Recipe

These bowls work well as part of a “buffet” meal prep which is how I do my meal prepping. Every Sunday I cook a batch of lentils or beans, cook some grains like quinoa, farro or brown rice, roast some squash and/or sweet potato, make roast veggies or at least pre-chop them then I’ll do one or two main dishes, something like soup or stew but it’s mostly individual ingredients I can mix and match throughout the week.

Meal Prep Ideas: I have 10 weeks of my weekly food preps, all of which you can check out here. This bowl would be perfect to incorporate into something like that. Roast the carrots, cook some squash, cook some lentils and you’re all set.

Optional Dressing Ideas

The bowl is just delicious without dressing but if you want to add a sauce, I’d recommend either a generous drizzle of tahini or one of these recipes:

Dressing Options: Balsamic Vinaigrette // Lemon Tahini Dressing // Lime Almond Dressing // Dijon Vinaigrette // Maple Tahini Dressing

More Vegan Bowl Recipes

If you enjoy this harvest bowl, you might like these too:

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Healthy Vegan Fall Harvest Bowl - Running on Real Food Recipes

Vegan Fall Harvest Bowl

  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Salad, Entree
  • Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free

This harvest bowl is all about plant-based eating made healthy, wholesome and simple.

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked green lentils (or 1/2 cup cooked lentils per bowl)
  • 1 butternut squash, cut in half and seeds scooped out (or about 1  heaping cup of cooked squash of choice per bowl)
  • 6 carrots, peeled and chopped (or about 1 heaping cup of cooked carrots per bowl. I roasted them but you could also steam them.)
  • 1 large bunch of kale (about 2 large handfuls of kale per bowl), de-stemmed and chopped
  • 2 apples, diced (or about 1/2 an apple per bowl)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • optional: drizzle of tahini, tahini lemon dressing or tahini maple dressing

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. To cook the lentils, bring 2.5 cups of water to a boil in a pot. Add the lentils, cover and reduce to a light simmer. Cook for approximately 20 minutes until the lentils are tender. You may need to add more water as they cook. If there is excess water once they’re cooked, simply drain it off.
  3. Peel and chop the carrots, spread on a baking tray and toss with 1/2 tsp olive oil, sea salt and pepper. On the same or a separate baking tray, place the butternut squash face down.
  4. Roast the carrots and squash in the oven until tender. The carrots should take 25-30 minutes. The squash should be about the same but may be a bit longer depending on the size. Once the squash is cooked let it cool until you can handle it, then peel the skin off and cut into cubes.
  5. To cook the kale, add the chopped kale to a pan and heat over medium-high heat with a splash of water until it’s a vibrant, darker green and is slightly softened
  6. To assemble the bowls, add all the ingredients and enjoy!

Keywords: roasted, healthy, plant-based