Chickpea Power Bowl (Printable)

Protein-packed bowl with spiced chickpeas, roasted vegetables, grains, and tahini.

# What You'll Need:

→ Grains

01 - 1 cup quinoa or brown rice, uncooked
02 - 2 cups water or vegetable broth

→ Chickpeas

03 - 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
04 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
05 - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
06 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
07 - 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
08 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

→ Roasted Vegetables

09 - 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
10 - 1 red bell pepper, chopped
11 - 1 small zucchini, sliced
12 - 1 red onion, sliced
13 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
14 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
15 - 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

→ Tahini Sauce

16 - 1/3 cup tahini
17 - Juice of 1 lemon
18 - 1 clove garlic, minced
19 - 2 to 4 tablespoons water
20 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

→ Toppings

21 - 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
22 - 1 avocado, sliced
23 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped
24 - 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, optional

# How To:

01 - Set oven to 425°F (220°C).
02 - Rinse quinoa or rice thoroughly. Combine with water or broth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tender (quinoa: 15 minutes; brown rice: 30 to 40 minutes). Fluff with a fork.
03 - Toss sweet potato, bell pepper, zucchini, and red onion with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring halfway through, until tender and lightly browned.
04 - Toss drained chickpeas with 1 tablespoon olive oil, smoked paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Spread on a second baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes until edges are slightly crispy.
05 - Whisk tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic, and salt together in a small bowl. Gradually add water, whisking until desired consistency is reached.
06 - Divide cooked grains evenly among four bowls. Top each bowl with roasted vegetables, spiced chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, fresh herbs, and seeds if desired. Drizzle generously with tahini sauce.
07 - Serve bowls immediately while vegetables are still warm.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • Everything roasts at once while you make the tahini sauce, so your hands-on time barely breaks twenty minutes.
  • It tastes even better the next day when the flavors get cozy together in the fridge, making meal prep actually feel worth it.
  • You can swap almost anything out based on what's hiding in your vegetable drawer without ruining the whole thing.
02 -
  • Don't skip rinsing the chickpeas or drying them; I learned this the hard way when I wondered why mine stayed chewy instead of crisping up like they should.
  • The tahini sauce thickens as it cools, so make it slightly thinner than you think you want it, or you'll end up with a sauce that's more like concrete by dinner.
03 -
  • Batch this recipe and portion it into containers, but keep the tahini sauce separate so everything stays fresh and the grains don't absorb all the moisture and turn dense.
  • Toast your pumpkin seeds in a dry pan for two minutes before using them; it wakes up their flavor and makes them taste intentional instead of like you grabbed them straight from the bag.
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