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Looking for the perfect easy fall recipe? This Sweet Potato Quinoa bowl is extremely versatile and lends itself perfectly to swapping out ingredients based on what you have on hand. It’s a quick, budget-friendly family meal that everyone can enjoy.
Sweet potato and quinoa create the base for a tasty fall quinoa bowl you can actually enjoy year-round. Even better it’s an easy recipe that’s perfect for any level of cook to prepare.
If you love these flavors, you definitely need to check out this sweet potato fried rice, quinoa casserole, and quinoa stuffed peppers.
Why This Recipe Works
- Budget-friendly sweet potato and quinoa bowl.
- Works great warm or cold!
- Perfect for meal prep.
- So many possible variations and a great way to use up veggies and grains you have on hand.
What Goes Into This Recipe
There’s lots of flexibility when it comes to making a sweet potato and quinoa bowl but here’s what we are using to make one.
- Quinoa: A healthy grain that cooks up quickly and boasts a surprisingly high amount of protein making it perfect for vegan cooking.
- Sweet potato: Adds a bit of sweetness to the bowl that works well.
- Vegetable broth: Adds more flavor than using water alone.
- Raisins and red onion: A balance of savory and sweet that makes a great topping for this simple vegan quinoa bowl.
- Sunflower seeds: Buy them without the shells for an easy way to add a nice crunch to the quinoa and sweet potato bowl.
Substitutions and Variations
- Don’t have sweet potato? Throw in butternut squash instead.
- Hate raisins? Add in some dried cranberries instead.
- Sunflower seeds are usually the cheapest, but pumpkin seeds are equally as great. You can also use nuts or a combination of nuts and seeds.
- Want to use another grain? Go for it! This recipe works great with brown rice, farro, barley, or any others you want to explore. Just be sure to adjust the cooking time as some grains take longer to cook than quinoa.
- Add more protein! Throw on some crispy air fryer chickpeas or black beans!
- Add more veggies! It’d be great with some roasted brussels sprouts or mixed roasted vegetables.
- Drizzle with Sauce. While we think the flavors are pretty terrific, a sauce makes it even better. Try it with this vegan garlic sauce, avocado sauce, or spicy peanut sauce.
How To Make Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl
- 1) Place the quinoa, sweet potato, and vegetable broth in a medium pot with a lid. Heat to a boil. Then cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low.
- 2) Cook the quinoa and sweet potatoes for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.
- 3) Stir in the raisins, red onion, and sunflower seeds.
- 4) You can serve warm, or you refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve chilled.
Expert Tips
- Cut the sweet potatoes into small bite-sized pieces which will cook more quickly.
- If using other grains, adjust the cooking time as needed. For longer cooking grains, it may be best to cook them separately from the sweet potatoes.
- For a crunchier quinoa texture use tri-colored quinoa. The black and red quinoa in this mixture retains some of its texture when cooked, unlike white quinoa which cooks up soft.
- This is the ultimate in “use up what you have” recipes. Go ahead and change out the seeds, raisins, veggies, you name it!
FAQs
Not at all! Quinoa cooks quickly without soaking. It does need a good rinse before cooking it though!
Quinoa contains saponins, which have a bitter taste. Much of this plant compound is removed these days during processing but rinsing quinoa before cooking will remove any additional saponins on the quinoa. If you notice suds in the water when you rinse quinoa, that’s the saponins.
How to Store
Refrigerator: Allow it to cool completely before storing it in the refrigerator in airtight containers.
Freezer: I don’t recommend storing your quinoa sweet potato bowl in the freezer because the sweet potatoes don’t freeze well.
Reheat: It reheats easily in the microwave or you can return it to a skillet and cook until heated through. On top of the stove, I find adding a bit of cooking spray and water helps it cook easier without sticking. This dish also works great cold if you want to skip the reheating or want to carry it with you on the go!
More Quinoa Recipes
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
- 1 cup of diced sweet potato
- 2 cups of vegetable broth
- ¾ cup of raisins
- ½ cup of diced red onion
- ½ cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds no shells
Instructions
- Place the quinoa, sweet potato, and vegetable broth in a medium pot with a lid. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Cover with the lid and reduce the heat to low.
- Cook quinoa for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.
- Stir in raisins, red onion, and sunflower seeds.
- You can serve warm, or you can refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve chilled.
Notes
- Cut the sweet potatoes into small bite-sized pieces which will cook more quickly.
- If using other grains, adjust the cooking time as needed. For longer cooking grains, it may be best to cook them separately from the sweet potatoes.
- For a crunchier quinoa texture use tri-colored quinoa. The black and red quinoa in this mixture retains some of its texture when cooked, unlike white quinoa which cooks up soft.
- This is the ultimate in “use up what you have” recipes. Go ahead and change out the seeds, raisins, veggies, you name it!
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Although plantbasedonabudget.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Plantbasedonabudget.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Sweet potato & butternut squash are great pairings with quinoa! Love it
I made this mainly because I had all the ingredients on hand. I thought it might be too bland, so I had some sriracha to douse it with, just in case. Boy, was I wrong! I never even removed the cap from the sriracha bottle. This dish is very flavorful and delicious, as is. I will definitely be making it again and again!
This sweet potato quinoa bowl makes a great lunch … I love the addition of raisins!
Yes – such a yummy wholesome bowl to enjoy!
My favorite bowl to make! Quinoa and sweet potato pair perfectly. Love this recipe…mmmm 😀
Definitely such a nice yummy combo!
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was so filling and delicious! I didn’t have sunflower seeds on hand so I used pepitas instead and loved the crunch. Will definitely be making this yummy dish often!
Love the pepitas addition! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Love how simple this recipe is!
So simple yet so delicious!
Perfect meal prep recipe for Sundays!
Definitely a great meal prep meal! So easy to prep and soo good!
So simple and delicious! Love quinoa dishes!