Grain-Free, Whole30, Keto "Buddha Bowl" Recipe
You may have heard of a recent trend called "The Buddha Bowl." If you haven't, don't worry. I didn't know it was called this until recently so, yeah. Basically a Buddha Bowl is a bowl full of deliciousness including a grain of choice (quinoa or rice), veggies of choice, greens, beans, etc.
Recently, I've been really into this concept of throwing everything into my cast-iron skillet, cooking it up, throwing it into a bowl and topping it with a fried egg or two. Who knew that I was engaging in a very popular trend. #trendy
Today I'm going to enlighten you (Buddha reference, get it?) with my go-to version of a grain-free Buddha Bowl. My husband and I eat this for dinner at least twice a week and the best part? It's completely customizable and you can really use anything you have in your fridge, freezer, or pantry.
Grain-Free, Keto, Whole30 "Buddha Bowl" Recipe
Ingredients:
- Protein of choice: I love to use ground beef or ground pork. I like to use at least an 85/15 fat ratio (1 pound). You could use ground turkey, ground chicken, bacon, or any other protein you would like. If you're looking for a vegetarian option, try beans.
- Base of choice: I use frozen riced cauliflower (1 package.)
- Veggies of choice: I literally use whatever I have in my fridge/freezer. Zucchini, green beans, broccoli, red/green/yellow peppers, broccoli, spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, red potatoes etc.
- 1/2 white onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Spices of choice: I love using curry powder. You might like ground cumin with crushed red pepper flakes or just salt and pepper.
- Liquid fat of choice: Olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, animal fat, etc.
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cast Iron Skillet
Instructions:
- Chop all veggies (except cauli rice) and throw them in your cast-iron with a tablespoon or two of liquid fat. Do not add garlic until the end.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes until onions are beginning to turn translucent and other veggies begin to soften. If you're adding potatoes, you may need to cook it a bit longer. Just play it by ear. Don't worry, you can't mess this up!
- Add the meat and seasoning of choice.
- Stir veggies and meat together until browned.
- While meat and veggie mixture is cooking, microwave frozen riced cauliflower according to package directions or cook your base of choice. Again, this may be rice, quinoa, whatever you decide!
- Add garlic to the meat and veggie mixture and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Place cooked riced cauliflower in bottom of large bowls.
- Spoon meat mixture over top.
- In same cast-iron skillet add another tablespoon of liquid fat and fry up a few eggs (if desired).
- Top bowl with fried eggs (completely optional but totally delicious!)
- You could also top with a sliced avocado if you'd like!
- ENJOY!
This recipe serves two people. Double recipe for a family of four.
Check out these Bowl variations:
Carnitas with green bell pepper, onions, served on a bed of riced cauliflower and homemade guac!
Roasted chicken (in the cast iron) with green beans, onions, on a bed of cauliflower rice! Your protein of choice does not have to be a "ground" meat!
Ground pork seasoned with curry, bell pepper, chopped asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower rice!
Ground beef seasoned with curry and mixed with zoodles (zucchini noodles), onions, cauliflower rice, and topped with a fried egg!
Breakfast bowl variation: Potatoes, ground pork, topped with scrambled eggs!
My latest and greatest: Leftover Nomnompaleo crispy Kalua Pig on a bed of fried cauliflower rice topped with homemade guacamole and homemade Tostones!
As you can tell, I absolutely love playing with this recipe! I find myself throwing so many different ingredients together in my cast iron and seeing what happens! You can make these however you want. Don't be afraid to try new things in the kitchen!
I hope these Buddha Bowl recipes bring you joy, just like it does for my family.
With love,
Emily