Chickpeas simmered in a delightful Indian-inspired masala sauce, served with black quinoa, sautéed spinach, and crushed cashews! A nourishing, flavorful, and easy plant-based bowl recipe!
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I'm a huge fan of buddha bowls. What I love the most is the fact that it's never the same, you can change the toppings, the dressing, add nuts or crunchy veggies, it's incredibly versatile.
⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe
- It's packed with flavor and texture: From the tender chickpeas to the crunchy cashews and the super creamy masala sauce, these bowls are anything but boring.
- It's easy and requires about just 1 hour to prepare.
- It packs 12g of protein + 10g of fiber per serving.
- The reviews speak for themselves: Angela said: "Your masala sauce recipe is a revelation, such creaminess in texture with no dairy. Absolutely loved it."
🥣 How to Make Masala Chickpea Bowls
Sauce
The masala sauce in this recipe is inspired by my Veggie Balls in Masala Sauce recipe. It's super creamy, lightly sweet and spicy without being too hot!
The process to make the sauce is about the same as making a soup. Start by sautéing onions with garlic and ginger, followed by carrots and bell peppers (for color and sweetness). Add spices and cover with water. When the vegetables are soft it's time to blend everything into a thick and creamy sauce.
Chickpeas are then added to the skillet and coated with the sauce.
Quinoa
For the grains, I used black quinoa, which is a little bit crunchier than white quinoa and has an earthier taste. If you prefer, you can use white quinoa, brown rice or even buckwheat groats.
Toppings
For the toppings, I went roasted cashews (feel free to use roasted peanuts or almonds!), red cabbage to add crunchiness, and cilantro for freshness.
These bowls are super easy to prepare and make a filling, nutritious and (obviously) delicious plant-based meal!
🇮🇳 More Indian-Inspired Recipes
As always, let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
📖 Recipe
Masala Chickpea Buddha Bowl
Ingredients
Masala Chickpeas
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
- 2 onions sliced
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 medium carrot chopped into 2-inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon of each: garam masala, turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika
- 2 and ½ cup water
- 1 15-oz can cooked chickpeas drained and rinced
Quinoa
- ½ cup uncooked black quinoa or white quinoa
- 1 and ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Spinach
- 3 cups chopped spinach rinsed
- 1 clove of garlic
- salt, ground black pepper to taste
Toppings (optional)
- 1 cup red cabbage finely shredded
- ¼ cup slightly crushed roasted cashews
- fresh parsley or cilantro for topping
- crushed red pepper
Instructions
Masala chickpeas
- Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic and grated ginger and cook on medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the carrot and red bell pepper, continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add spices and salt and cover with the water.
- Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Let simmer for about 35 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. In the meantime you can start the quinoa.
- Remove from heat and process in a blender until silky smooth. Pour the sauce back into the skillet and stir in the chickpeas. Cover to keep warm.
Quinoa
- Combine the quinoa with the water and soy sauce in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked and almost no liquid remains.
Spinach
- Heat some olive oil in a skillet, add the garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add spinach and cook for 5-7 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
Bowls
- Divide the quinoa into 3 serving bowls, add sautéed spinach and masala chickpeas on top. Top with crushed cashews, red cabbage and fresh herbs. Serve immediately!
Notes
- You can substitute chickpeas for black or navy beans, or even lentils.
- Red cabbage is optional, if using you can blanch it in boiling water for about 2 minutes to make it more tender.
- You can use black quinoa, white quinoa, or brown rice. Use what you have on hand.
That is one good looking bowl! The colors are so vibrant, I just want to grab a fork and dive in head first 🙂 I love masala anything but have never made the sauce at home. Your recipe looks fool-proof and I can't resist an excuse to use our immersion blender - Cheers!
Thank you for sharing this! The bowl looks fantastic. Your photos are gorgeous!
Thanks Michelle! 😉
I've never had a Buddha Bowl but I must try it soon love your photos and the recipe seems great!
I made this tonight. It is very good! I skipped the cabbage, but I wish I hadn't. It would add another layer of crunchiness. I was very excited about how good it came out! Thanks for the fantastic recipe! 🙂 I have plenty to take for lunch tomorrow.
Thank you Hayley! 🙂
Wow, this looks delicious. Thanks for the great ideas!
Making this tonight! Looking forward 🙂
Hope you will like it!
Super delicious recipe, the chickpeas & sauce were awesome- possibly my new favorite way to cook/eat them! I added avocado on top, as well as a grated red beet to the chopped cabbage. I tossed that mixture with olive oil, ACV, a little lemon and salt for some extra flare. Thank you for sharing this masterpiece, everyone who ate it in my family loved it!
I'm so happy you and your family liked this curry 🙂 Grated beet on top sounds delicious. I had to check what ACV stands for though!
Thanks for the feedback Carly!
Just finished my Masala chickpea Buddha bowl and it was delicious! This recipe will definitely go into the regular lineup at our house. Thanks.
Hi Susan,
So glad to hear you liked it 😉 I guess you chose the wrong rating though!
I loved the flavors - but for whatever reason, my sauce was very watery, like 2-1/2 cups of water was far too much. It poured into the blender like water and was very liquid-y after blending. The flavors are great and I will make this again, with less water. I’m still not sure what I did wrong.
Thanks for the feedback Daisy! I guess the size of the carrots, onions, and red bell pepper can affect the consistency of the sauce.
I had that same issue! I ended up putting it back on the stove and added more quinoa to reduce /absorb the liquid. Otherwise tasty.
Yaay, masala chickpea is what I was looking for. Super tasty!!
Ok this might sound like a stupid question but what do you use to shred your cabbage (and other vegetables in general) so finely? Do you have a specific robot? Or maybe you're just more patient than me! I find it so time consuming that there are certain vegetables I never cook.
Also, this looks very good and look forward to trying it! I think I'll try and adapt it for my instant pot.
Thanks 🙂
I just use a sharp knife 🙂 I don't use a robot for this.
Thanks! Let me know if you try it!
Another Yum! Next time I won't blend the sauce though.
Thanks Sylvia! 🙂
I made this tonight and it’s absolutely delicious! I usually find quinoa bitter even after rinsing it but the addition of soy sauce made a big difference. I’ll use that trick again. The chickpeas and sauce is amazing. I’ll be making this recipe regularly. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Thanks for your feedback Tori! Glad you liked it 🙂
Your masala sauce recipe is a revelation, such creaminess in texture with no dairy. Absolutely loved it. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
So glad you liked it Angela! Thanks for your rating!