Easy Plant-Based Sweet Potato Bowls with Veggie Cashew Cream
My new favorite dinner, these Easy Plant-Based Sweet Potato Bowls are perfect for the whole family. Loaded with nutrient-rich sweet potatoes, hearty black beans, and flavorful veggies, these bowls are not only tasty but also super easy to make. And with a creamy, dairy-free cashew sauce, they’re sure to satisfy your taste buds.
What’s to Love About These Plant-Based Bowls?
Health benefits: This recipe features nutrient-rich roasted sweet potatoes and black beans, making it a healthy and balanced meal option. Eating more whole foods and a plant-based diet is a great way to up your nutrition game.
Easy to make: This recipe is easy to follow with simple ingredients, making it perfect for busy weeknights or lazy weekends. You can even meal prep with this recipe!
Delicious flavors: With a creamy cashew sauce and flavorful veggies, this recipe is packed with delicious flavors that are sure to please. This sweet potato bowl has all of the flavors going on along with the perfect crunchy and creamy texture.
Plant-based: Whether you’re a vegetarian or just trying to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet, this recipe is a great option. In my opinion, the best part and key ingredient is the creamy and cheesy sauce made from raw cashews. It tastes like comfort food but it’s really healthy food. LOL.
Versatile: You can easily customize this recipe to suit your preferences by adding your favorite toppings or adjusting the seasoning to your taste. Great for picky eaters, this meal will be a hit among all family members.
Optional Toppings
Other than Roma tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, finely shredded cabbage, and lime juice, here are some additional plant-based foods that may taste great on top of these sweet potato bowls.
Brown rice, cauliflower rice, or quinoa
Mushrooms
Other plant-based protein such as tofu
Hot sauce
Nutritional yeast
Red bell pepper
Red onion
Fresh salsa
Take your dinner to another level and enjoy these additional healthy ingredients or eat it as is. Either way, this will be one of your favorite dinner recipes from now on!
The Ingredient List
What makes this one of the most delicious recipes, is the variety of ingredients. Check out the simple ingredients below for this easy dinner idea.
Sweet potato-You’ll be roasting these until they are golden brown and delicious.
Vegetables-Grab tomatoes, avocado, and red or green cabbage as well as any additional vegetables you may want to add.
Beans-Make these Pressure Cooker Black Beans or skip that step and use canned black beans for this recipe.
Vegan cheese sauce-While this is certainly optional, I highly recommend making this Healthy Hidden Veggie Cashew Crema Sauce to top your Buddha bowl off with. You could also use salsa instead.
How to Make These Sweet Potato Bowls
Step one: Make a pot of these Pressure Cooker Black Beans.
Step two: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with a silicone cooking mat or parchment paper.
Step three: Prepare the sweet potato and carrots by peeling and cutting them into chunks. Lay them in one even layer on the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, Use your hands to evenly combine. Cook in a preheated oven for 30-38 minutes or until its fork tender and is starting to brown. Cooking time may vary. 35 minutes does the trick for me.
Step four: Cut all of your veggies: tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and cabbage. You can either leave them all separate or place everything into one large bowl, drizzle with juice from 1/2 a lime, sprinkle with a little sea salt, and toss it all up. Set this aside.
Step five: Prepare this Healthy Hidden Veggie Cashew Crema Sauce in a high speed blender.
Step six: It’s time to build your easy plant-based sweet potato bowls. This is the fun part. Add the beans, roasted sweet potato, all of the different vegetables, and the vegan cheese sauce.
Tips + Modifications
-If you want to speed the dinner up even more and do not have a lot of time in the kitchen, make these modifications. Skip the pressure cooker black beans and use canned. Also, use salsa instead of the cashew sauce, although I do not recommend this. LOL.
-For meal prepping, individually place each item in airtight containers and store them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. That way you are ready to build a bowl at any time.
-To reheat, place the sweet potato and black beans in a microwavable bowl. Cover with a napkin or a microwavable cover and heat in the microwave until cooked through. Add the cashew sauce and cook another 30 seconds. Give it all a good stir.
Other Plant-Based Bowls You May Enjoy
If you love sweet potatoes, you will definitely love this Plant-Based Sweet Potato Burrito Bowl!
Another family favorite in our house is this Plant-Based Green Goddess Power Bowl. Loaded with greens, and packed with flavor, it’s no wonder we love it!
Easy Plant-Based Sweet Potato Bowls with Veggie Cashew Cream
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan, lined *For the roasted veggies
- 1 Pressure cooker *For the black beans
- 1 high speed blender *For the cashew crema
Ingredients
For the roasted vegetables:
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes *¼ cup of this will be used for the cashew crema sauce
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks *This will be used for the cashew crema sauce
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- salt and pepper to taste
For the pressure cooker black beans:
- ½ small red onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded and finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup dry black beans or pinto beans, washed and drained
- 1¼ cup vegetable broth *water works, too
- ½ cup fresh salsa
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon of the following spices: ground cumin, Italian seasoning, paprika, and salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
For the healthy hidden veggie cashew crema sauce
- ¾ cup softened/soaked raw cashews *can be salted or not
- ¼ cup roasted sweet potato chunks *Use from what you roasted above
- 1 roasted medium carrot *Use from what you roasted above
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- juice from ½ a lime
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon of the following spices: onion powder, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, and salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- pinch of red pepper flakes
For the bowl:
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 large avocado, peeled and chopped *Guacamole works, too
- 2 cups finely shredded red or green cabbage
- Juice from ½ of a lime *To toss into the cabbage
Optional:
- ⅓ cup minced cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Make a pot of Pressure Cooker Black Beans. (Add everything to a pressure cooker. Give it a stir. Cook on high for 42 minutes. Allow the steam to naturally release for 10 minutes and then enjoy.)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with a silicone cooking mat or parchment paper.
- Prepare the sweet potato and carrots by peeling and cutting them into chunks. Lay them in one even layer on the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, Use your hands to evenly combine. Cook in a preheated oven for 30-38 minutes or until it's all fork-tender and is starting to brown. Cooking time may vary. 35 minutes does the trick for me.
- Cut all of your veggies: tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and cabbage. You can either leave them all separate or place everything into one large bowl, drizzle with juice from 1/2 a lime, sprinkle with a little sea salt, and toss it all up. Set this aside.
- Prepare this Healthy Hidden Veggie Cashew Crema Sauce in a high-speed blender. (Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth and creamy).
- It's time to build your easy plant-based sweet potato bowls. This is the fun part. Add the beans, roasted sweet potato, all of the different vegetables, and the vegan cheese sauce. Top with optional fresh cilantro or other optional toppings such as salsa or different roasted vegetables.
Notes
Enjoy!
XOXO
Michelle