Dragon Bowls With Creamy Tahini Sauce
Dragon bowls are a vibrant meal with a grain base, colorful veggies, protein, and a homemade creamy sauce. They’re extremely customizable and a great way to use up what you already have on hand.
Looking for more power bowls? Try my beef burrito bowls, shrimp sushi bowl with avocado, crustless pizza bowls, or smoked salmon poke bowls.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make a dragon bowl:
- Base – cooked grains like white or brown rice, quinoa, orzo, couscous, etc. I typically use white rice.
- Veggies – a colorful mix of roasted and fresh veggies: roasted sweet potatoes and carrots, crunchy sugar snap peas, summer squash.
- Seasoning – smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper on one pan, herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper on the other.
- Protein – cooked shrimp, salmon, grilled chicken, baked tofu, steak, beans, eggs: hard or soft boiled, fried, poached, etc.
- Dragon sauce – olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, raw honey, black pepper, water, and kosher salt, to taste.
How to Make dragon bowls: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Season veggies. Add the sweet potato and carrots to one large baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, seasonings, kosher salt, and black pepper. Spread them into an even layer. On a second baking sheet, toss the summer squash or zucchini with olive oil, herbs de Provence, salt, and black pepper. Spread into an even layer.
- Roast. Roast the zucchini for 30 minutes and the carrots and sweet potato for 40 minutes or until fork tender. Stir both pans halfway through.
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add more water (no more than 1 tablespoon at a time) as needed to thin the sauce.
- Cook protein (or use leftover protein). Season your protein of choice and cook on both sides in a large skillet over medium heat with a bit of olive oil until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Assemble bowls. Layer each bowl with cooked rice or grain of choice, roasted and fresh veggies, protein, and a generous drizzle of sauce. Enjoy!
Helpful Tips
- Get creative. These bowls are a great way to ‘play with your food’. Cutting the vegetables into different shapes will also help to create some contrast in the bowl.
- Avoid using a small bowl. The magic happens when you pour the sauce on and mix all your ingredients together. It’s obviously more challenging to do this if your bowl is really small.
Quick Tip: Sauce lovers should double the recipe. No one complains about having leftover sauce. It’s great on everything!
Storage
Store each component separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Keep the sauce in a mason jar or another tightly sealed jar.
For a grab and go meal, assemble your bowl but leave the dressing out. Reheat and add the dressing just before serving.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this dragon bowl recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No nutritional yeast? – use another savory, umami-rich ingredient such as low sodium soy sauce or tamari.
- No lemon juice? – you can also use lime juice.
- Use other homemade sauces – such as sauteed green onion pesto, peanut sauce, spicy cashew dressing, or creamy lemon miso dressing.
- Change up the vegetables – this will depend on what’s in season: roasted beets, sweet & spicy butternut squash, purple/red cabbage, bell pepper, leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or mixed salad greens, sliced cucumber, sprouts, roasted red peppers, marinated mushrooms, avocado, snow peas, etc.
- Add toppings – sesame seeds, green onions, pickled veggies, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
A dragon bowl is often also called a nourish bowl or a buddha bowl. Regardless of the silly names, they’re a vegetable forward, healthy meal with a grain, protein, and a sauce to tie it all together.
Yes. You can prepare all the components: grains, roasted veggies, protein, and sauce in advance and store them separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can assemble everything but the sauce ahead of time for an easy grab and go meal.
More Bowls
I hope you love these Dragon Bowls! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Dragon Bowls with Creamy Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
Dragon Bowls
- 3 cups cooked white or brown rice see below for more ideas
- 1 large orange flesh sweet potato peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 large carrots cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 summer squash or zucchini cut into 1-inch pieces
- olive oil
- smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder measure with your heart
- herbs de Provence measure with your heart
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- protein of choice
Dragon Sauce
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon raw honey or maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons water plus more if needed to thin
- kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Season veggies. Add the sweet potato and carrots to one large baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper. Spread them into an even layer. On a second baking sheet, toss the summer squash or zucchini with olive oil, herbs de Provence, salt, and black pepper. Spread into an even layer.
- Roast. Roast the zucchini for 30 minutes and the carrots and sweet potato for 40 minutes or until fork tender. Stir both pans halfway through.
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add more water (no more than 1 tablespoon at a time) as needed to thin the sauce.
- Cook protein (or use leftover protein). Season your protein of choice and cook on both sides in a large skillet over medium heat with a bit of olive oil until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Assemble bowls. Layer each bowl with cooked rice or grain of choice, roasted and fresh veggies, protein, and a generous drizzle of sauce. Enjoy!
Yum. Both dishes look so good. I want to try making dragon sauce, sounds awesome! ????
I made the dragon bowls tonight for dinner. I used fresh spinach, sautéed mushrooms, steamed sweet potato, avocado, brown rice, fresh red pepper, and leftover turkey meatballs. I didn’t add any water to the sauce as it was of a good consistency. The bowls were just delicious – so much flavor and freshness. I would highly recommend this recipe. Be adventurous!
P.S. I will admit that I looked at the picture to try to simulate the beautiful bowl with all of the different colors!
What can I use as a substitute for nutritional yeast?
Hi Yolande,
If you eat dairy, you can substitute parmesan cheese or just omit it completely.