Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowls

If you’re looking for a delicious meatless meal to add into the rotation, you’ll love this nourishing sweet potato quinoa bowl with tofu, lentils, kale and hemp seed dressing.

It’s flavourful, high in protein and fiber to keep you full and a great option for meal prep.

The cool and creamy mint cilantro hemp seed dressing balances the spicy sweet potato and tofu and the quinoa and lentils add plenty of protein and texture to the bowl.

Enjoy these hearty bowls for a healthy weeknight meal or pack them up for meal prep to enjoy throughout the week.

Love healthy bowls? You’ll have to try these Vegan Quinoa Power Bowls, Harvest Bowls or Veggie Power Bowls next.

Ingredients

A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.

For the Sweet Potato Tofu Bowls

• Tofu: Use extra-firm tofu.
• Soy Sauce or Tamari: You can use soy sauce or gluten-free tamari.
• Cayenne: If you’re sensitive to spice, you might want to omit or reduce the cayenne pepper.
• Garlic Powder: Use ground garlic powder for the tofu.
• Sweet Potato: The amount of sweet potato doesn’t have to be exact but you want roughly 2 heaping cups or 1 large sweet potato.
• Olive Oil: For roasting the sweet potato and massaging the kale. Avocado oil or canola oil also works.
• Chili Flakes: The sweet potato is roasted in chili flakes and smoked paprika. If you’re sensitive to spice you may want to reduce or omit the chili flakes since we’re already using cayenne on the tofu.
• Smoked Paprika: Adds a smokey flavour to the sweet potato. You can use regular paprika if that’s what you have.
• Kale: Use any variety of kale or substitute arugula, spinach or mixed greens. Kale is best if you’re making these in advance. If you’ll be eating them right away, fresh greens work too (no need to massage greens like spinach, arugula, etc.).
• Lentils: Use green, black or French lentils. You can also use canned lentils if that’s easier.
• Quinoa: Use white, red or tri colour quinoa or swap it for another grain like brown rice or farro.
• Pickled Onion: These are easy to make with red onion, vinegar and sugar.
• Avocado: Optional but a nice addition to the final bowls.

For the Hemp Seed Dressing

• Hemp Seeds: These may be labelled hemp hearts. They’re fairly easy to find in stores or you can order them online.
• Cilantro & Mint: You’ll need fresh cilantro and mint. Other herbs that would work are chives or basil.
• Lime: You’ll need 1-2 whole limes to make the lime juice.
• Olive Oil: This helps emulsify and smooth the dressing. Avocado oil would also work.

Alternative Sauces

If you aren’t into the cilantro mint dressing, here are some other delicious options:

• Maple Dijon Dressing
• Miso Tahini Dressing
• Almond Satay Sauce
• Peanut Ginger Sauce
• Miso Gravy

Possible Variations

• Try this marinated tempeh instead of tofu.
• Make this roasted butternut squash instead of sweet potato.
• Swap the quinoa for rice or farro.
• For convenience, use canned lentils, chickpeas or black beans instead of green lentils.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Before You Start: This recipe calls for a batch of quick pickled red onions. Those need to sit for about 30 minutes so prep those first if you’re making them. You can find the pickled onion recipe here (it’s really easy). You’ll need red onion, vinegar and sugar.

Step 1: Start cooking the quinoa & lentils.

Start bringing 2 pots of water to a boil to cook the lentils and quinoa. Once they’re boiling, add the quinoa and lentils separately to each, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes (the lentils may need 20). Once they’re cooked, drain off any excess water and set them aside for now.

Quick Tip: If you don’t want to cook lentils, you can substitute canned lentils, chickpeas or black beans. You could also just double the quinoa.

Step 2: Bake the tofu.

Add the cubed tofu to a bowl and toss with the soy sauce, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place the cubes on a baking tray so they all have a little space around them.

Bake the tofu for 20-30 minutes until browned and crispy, flipping once halfway through (I usually skip the flipping to be honest, it still comes out crispy!).

Step 2: Bake the sweet potato.

Add the sweet potato to the same bowl you used for the tofu and toss with the oil, chili flakes, salt and pepper and smoked paprika.

Spread it out on a baking tray and bake along with the tofu for 20-25 minutes.

Step 4: Prepare the dressing.

Add all of the dressing ingredients to a small blender or mini food processor and blend until completely smooth. If it seems a little chunky at first, keep blending until you have a very smooth consistency.

Quick Note: This dressing is delicious but with ingredients like fresh mint, cilantro, lime and hemp seeds, it’s a little more elaborate than some of my other bowl dressings. You’ll find some alternative sauces listed below if you don’t have these ingredients on hand and want to make this recipe.

Step 5: Prepare the kale.

Tear or cut the kale into bite-sized pieces and add it to a mixing bowl. Add 2 tsp olive oil and massage it with your hands until softened.

Step 6: Assemble the bowls and enjoy.

Start with the massaged kale, dividing it between 6 servings. Divide the rest of the ingredients and top with a drizzle of scoop of the dressing.

Storing

• If you’ll be storing leftovers or making these for meal prep, store the dressing in a separate container and add to the bowls just before serving and leave the avocado off until serving.
• The bowls without the avocado and dressing will store well for 3-4 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
• You can reheat them in the microwave (leave dressing & avocado off until you’ve reheated) or eat them cold.