Tofu Buddha Bowl

This crispy Tofu Buddha Bowl is a healthy and satisfying way to eat for lunch or dinner. With tofu, sweet potatoes, avocado, kale, tomatoes and red cabbage, it all comes together with our Maple Mustard Tahini Sauce. It's a rich yet fresh bowl that's a great way to get some healthy fats and nutrients. Best part is you can meal prep a lot of the ingredients before hand for an easy dinner!

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Hey Internet, if you're looking for a meal that's packed with fresh vegetables and protein, you come to the right article. We've got a tofu bowl that's got these golden brown Crispy Tofu morsels that crunch when you bit into them. With a bunch of veggies and a delicious sauce, you'll keep coming back to this easy meal.

We made this recipe in the first year of our blog and we've keep coming back to this one-bowl meal for our healthy meals. It's really customizable; we often switch out the vegetables with what fresh veggies we have available. The ones we list in our recipe are just a suggestion of some of our favorites in this vegan buddha bowl. You could easily things like red onions, cooked bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, green onions, carrots, or almost any other veggie! You can also easily turn this recipe into a grain bowl by adding some brown rice, white rice, farro, or any other whole grains.

What we like to do is prep a bunch of sweet potatoes and baked tofu and store them in the fridge to get several power bowls worth of meals made. We just cut the veggies and then add the potatoes and tofu to them. It easily makes this a 10 to 15 minute recipe if they are made ahead of time. Not bad for a healthy bowl!

The term Buddha bowl is an older term used to refer to a bowl full of healthy ingredients like plant based protein, veggies, healthy fats and a delicious sauce. This seems to be the prevailing term even though the greatest phrase; it kind of feels like cultural appropriation to us. You could also call it a nourish bowl, macro bowl, or vegan bowl, but we're going to leave it like this to help people find the recipe. However, we did want to acknowledge the problematic wording.

So let's make these bowls!

Why You'll Love These Delicious Tofu Buddha Bowl

• Plant-Based Protein: A block of tofu is an excellent protein source. Each serving of this dish is easily has 15 grams of protein minimum! Turn it into our Crispy Tofu using an air fryer or a baking tray in an oven.
• Lots of Substitutes: Mix and match your what vegetables and toppings to fill your bowl! You could also check out our Vegan Sauces post to try out different sauces. Another of our favorites is our Lemon Miso Tahini.
• Prep Ahead: You can easily prepare the sweet potatoes and tofu ahead of time and store them in a fridge. Then you only have to prep your veggies and you're good to go!

Ingredient List

Pick up these simple ingredients for this hippie bowl the next time you're at a grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

• 1-16 oz Block (454g) of Super Firm Tofu or 1 Batch of our Crispy Tofu recipe: We recommend using the kind of super firm tofu (also sometimes called high protein tofu) that comes vacuum sealed in plastic rather than the tofu that comes in a tub of water (often called extra firm tofu). If you can only find the extra-firm tofu that comes in a tub of water, I'll teach you how to press tofu. Just drain the excess water and wrap the tofu in paper towels and put it between two plates or cutting boards and put a heavy weight on it, let it press for 20-40 minutes to get out as much excess moisture as possible.
• 2 Large Sweet Potatoes, Diced into ½ Inch Cubes
• 20 Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, Halved
• 2 Cups Cucumber, Sliced into Half Moons or Diced
• 1 Cup Red or Green Cabbage, Shredded: If you want to go the extra mile, toss the cabbage with lemon and salt for some extra flavor!
• 4 Cups Kale, stems removed: We definitely recommend massaging the kale for one minute with lemon juice and salt.
• 1 Medium Avocado, Sliced, Optional
• 4 Tbsp Beet or Regular Sauerkraut, Optional
• 1 Batch of our Maple Mustard Tahini Sauce (if you can't have sesame, try replacing the tahini with creamy peanut butter)

Substitutions

• Tofu: If you're allergic to soy, there are plenty of soy free tofu options out there! The most common versions are made from chickpeas, fava beans, or pumpkin seeds that you can find in some stores. Alternatively you can use some black beans, chickpeas, or any other bean you like. Try our Crispy Butter Beans!
• Sweet Potatoes: Other potatoes like golden or russet should work with this recipe, though you may need to adjust the sweetness of your sauce to compensate. Perhaps add a little maple syrup or agave. If you have zero potatoes, another starch like rice or quinoa, should work in a pinch!  
• Cabbage or Kale: Some spinach or arugula are good replacements for the cabbage or kale.
• Maple Mustard Tahini Sauce: There are lots of options to use instead of the tahini sauce! You could instead use this most delicious peanut sauce we used for our Vegan Peanut Noodles. It combines lime juice and creamy natural peanut butter to make a sweet, nutty, and tangy sauce. Or try our Spicy Almond Butter Sauce. Add if you don't want to put in the effort into a homemade sauce, you could always just use a bit of soy sauce and a little olive oil, sesame oil, or rice vinegar to add flavor.

How to Make This Tofu Bowl

1. Bake Sweet Potato: Add diced sweet potato (or regular potato) in a single layer to a lined baking sheet (we like either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and place in a preheated oven, 425 degrees F or 218 degrees C). Cook for 30-35 minutes, and flip halfway through.
2. Prep and Cook Tofu: If you are using our Crispy Tofu recipe follow the recipe there. If not, you can cube the tofu and bake as is in a large pan (try tossing with a little onion powder, garlic powder, and salt) or add it to a marinade of your making. Place on a lined baking sheet, leaving a little space between the tofu cubes. Bake tofu for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through. If you prefer to cook your tofu in the air fryer, cook it on 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for about 15-20 minutes, shaking the basket at least once, halfway through.
3. Prep Kale: If you’re using kale as your base, remove the stems as they are bitter (I either save them for stir fry or give them to my dog, who loves them) and tear into bite-size pieces. I recommend taking a spoonful or two of the dressing and massaging it into the kale in a medium bowl for about 30 seconds; it makes the kale tastier and easier to chew.
4. Prep Cabbage: Similarly if using red or green cabbage like I did, toss it in a little lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt. Even massage it in a little, which really makes the cabbage easier to chew and much more enjoyable.
5. Prep Other Veggies, Toppings, and Sauce: While the other things cook, you have time to prep any other veggies, toppings, and the sauce. My Maple Mustard Tahini takes just 2 minutes and it’s what I used for this bowl. You can mix the sauce ingredients in a jar or a small bowl.
6. Assemble: Build your bowl the way you like. No need to section it off to make it look pretty, but you can if you want to. Sorry Mom, I like playing with my food still. ;) Drizzle or pour on your sauce and enjoy!
7. Store: I recommend storing ingredients separately if eating these during the week. Roasted potatoes will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge, while the tofu will keep for 5 days (just reheat in the oven, toaster oven, or air fryer for best texture). You can store dressed kale for a couple of days in the fridge as well. As mentioned above, if meal prepping, make a grain as well and alternate to keep things interesting!

Frequently Asked Questions

More Great Tofu Recipes

You can find almost all of our tofu recipes on our Tofu Recipes post. Below are a few of our favorites!

• Hoisin Tofu
• Vegan Schnitzel
• Air Fryer Tofu Nuggets
• Pan Seared Tofu Steak
• Puffed Tofu (2 Ways)
• Tofu Poke Bowl

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