A long-time favourite lentil bowl, this simple dinner is made up of cooked lentils mixed with roasted broccoli, sweet potato, and onion. Cloves of garlic are roasted alongside the other vegetables, skin on, to make a sweet roasted garlic vinaigrette for topping.
This is a great low effort meal, ideal for weeknights or after work. If you cook and refrigerate or freeze lentils in advance (I recommend it – a jar of frozen lentils is a lifesaver), it’s as easy as roasting a pan of veg.
The lemony garlic vinaigrette steals the show here. Roasting garlic in single cloves is must faster and you still get that great flavour, without using up a whole head. You can use this trick in other recipes like my Moroccan roasted vegetable salad.
Ingredients
- Brown Lentils: or green, or black – as long as they hold their texture after cooking. Salt the lentil cooking water for a better overall flavour, like you would for pasta or rice.
- Sweet Potato: be sure to cut to the recommended size to avoid the broccoli charring before the sweet potato is cooked.
- Broccoli: regular (Calabrese) broccoli or purple sprouting, if you have it in late winter.
- Onion: red is my preference, but any type of onion (or shallot) will work here.
- Garlic: roasted, skin on, for a sweet roasted garlic addition to the lentil bowl.
- Olive Oil: for roasting the vegetables and for the vinaigrette.
- Spices: sumac, cumin, hot pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Lemon: this is a lemon vinaigrette, but you could sub a splash of apple cider or white wine vinegar.
Method
This is very simple – if you have cooked lentils already on hand, it’s as easy as roasting some vegetables and whipping up a dressing.
Add the vegetables to a pan with the oil and spices. Roast until golden. 
Individual cloves of roasted garlic.
Notes and Substitutions
If you don’t have sweet potato on hand, carrots or pumpkin make a good substitution. Both tend to take a bit longer to cook, so you may want to add them to the oven slightly in advance of the broccoli.
Try mixing some hardy greens in with the vegetables right after they come out of the oven. If you like kale chips, you can also cook kale alongside the other veg right in the tray and it’ll crisp right up.
Change up the spices based on your preference. Coriander is excellent here. If you don’t have sumac, simply add the zest of the lemon to substitute.
The size for the sweet potato slices is quite specific because otherwise they cook too slowly compared to the broccoli. Large pieces of broccoli and small slices of sweet potato are needed here.
Top with any seeds or nuts you like. Pomegranate adds a bit of sweetness, but dates, raisins, or dried cranberries are all good too.
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Roasted Broccoli and Sweet Potato Lentil Bowls
This vegan lentil bowl is filled with seasonal goodness - roasted broccoli, sweet potato, and onion, with a lemony roasted garlic dressing.
Ingredients
Lentil Bowls
- 1 large sweet potato, halved and very thinly sliced (5 mm / 1/5 in.)
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into large florets
- 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 4 large cloves of garlic, skin on
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sumac*
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (to taste)
- 150 grams cooked brown, black, or green lentils
- Nuts and pomegranate seeds, for topping (optional)
Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
- 4 cloves roasted garlic, skin removed
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of a lemon (~3 tablespoons)
- 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the sweet potato, broccoli, onion, garlic, 2 teaspoons olive oil, sumac, cumin, salt, and pepper onto the baking sheet. Mix to coat the vegetables in the spices.
- Roasted for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Carefully remove the garlic cloves from the sheet and peel them. Mash the garlic with a fork, then whisk together with the 3 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, and pepper.
- Split the cooked lentils and roasted vegetables between two bowls. Top with the vinaigrette, nuts, and pomegranate seeds, and serve immediately.
Notes
* If you don't have sumac, add the zest of a lemon to the vinaigrette instead.
The size for the sweet potato slices is quite specific because otherwise they cook too slowly compared to the broccoli. Large pieces of broccoli and small slices of sweet potato are needed here.
Top with any seeds or nuts you like. Pomegranate adds a bit of sweetness, but dates, raisins, or dried cranberries are all good too.
Try mixing some hardy greens in with the vegetables right after they come out of the oven. If you like kale chips, you can also cook kale alongside the other veg right in the tray and it’ll crisp right up.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
2 peopleAmount Per Serving: Calories: 539Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 918mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 16gSugar: 12gProtein: 13g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
Newsletter
This post was first published in February 2016, under the title of ‘Late Winter Buddha Bowl’. It has been updated with some slight improvements to the recipe as of September 2021.
Linda | The Baker Who Kerns says
I love the look of this buddha bowl! Those roasted sweet potatoes look so yummy and I really like the idea of adding dates to your bowl. I have some leftover I'm not sure what to do with so I'm gonna give it a shot!
Alexandra Daum says
Thanks, Linda! I think I eat roasted sweet potatoes 3+ times a week, ha. Everything's better with dates, right? Yay, let me know how it turns out!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean says
I don't understand why anyone wouldn't LOVE lentils, Alexandra! Rob's not much of a fan either unless they're hidden in something like a soup or mashed with quinoa or mushrooms. They are SO good! My fave are the green or French lentils. Milo is adorable and I love how you are fostering. So important to help out. Shelters are stuffed to the gills here too. It's a problem worldwide especially because so many cats are dumped or are allowed to free roam (including feral cats). Their impact on wildlife is tremendous. As cute and cuddly as they are, they are ferocious hunters. Few people realize that the domestic cat is the #1 invasive species (I'm not blaming the cats, humans created this mess) anywhere. Anyway, hopefully sweet Milo will find a home soon (and he'll be an indoor cat!). I would have a hard time letting him go.. he is soo sweet. Now, this bowl! Just so tasty, nourishing and easy to make! My kind of meal. I could see your magic green sauce on this too, Alexandra! So good!
Alexandra Daum says
Ahh, right?! They're the perfect food in every way. Men. Me too, French lentils are by far my favourite – although I like the smoothness of red split lentils sometimes, too. Milo would for sure be upsetting the ecosystem as a feral cat! She is a crazy hunter, and I'm positive she'd be hunting birds in the city. We have indoor/outdoor cats at my parents' farm, but they are deeply spoiled and unsuccessful hunters. They like to watch, but that's about it. Ugh I'm already struggling with the idea of giving Milo up 🙁 Glad you like it, Traci! That green sauce would be great with this, thanks for the idea!
laurasmess says
This is so beautiful. I love buddha bowls and making a deliciously warm version like this is perfect for cool days (whether late winter or, like me, heading into the months of autumn). I cannot wait to try your dressing. I've got sweet potato and broccoli in the fridge and might switch up the lentils for the adzuki beans I've got in the cupboard 🙂 Thanks lovely! Perfect inspiration x
Alexandra Daum says
I saw that you live in Australia! It is perfect for fall weather, too. I think it'd be great with adzuki beans, I hope you like it!
Ali says
Thank you for a lovely recipe. This was my first Buddha bowl and it was delicious! I am looking forward to gaining confidence and trying my own ideas.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
So happy to hear that, Ali! Buddha bowls are so flexible, I wish you happy experimenting!
Jaime Whittiemore says
Loved this recipe; however I don’t care for sweet potatoes so I replaced them with butternut squash and it was amazing! I also sautéed up a red pepper and a yellow onion I had on hand. My whole family loved it!
Alexandra says
Sounds delicious!