If you've given cooking at home a good effort but are getting bored, today's post is just for you. One of the most common reasons people don't like to meal prep is that they don't want to eat the same thing every day. Sound familiar? I happen thrive in routine and as long as a meal is delicious, I can repeat it every day for a week. But I recognize that everyone is different and aim to offer solutions for you. Power bowls are an easy solution to this particular issue. I've raved about the magic of power bowls before and am now giving you a full rundown on how to customize your own with easy, everyday ingredients, including pantry staples! Perfect timing, right? Let get it.
How to Make a Power Bowl
First things first, to make a power bowl, you'll want to incorporate a protein, one or more grains or beans for energy, and different types for veggies for vitamins, fiber, etc. I love making power bowls because I can incorporate a little something different each day in order to have variety throughout the week. Meatless Mondays are covered. The days when I workout and need more protein are covered. Whether you want to eat light or chow down, you can do it all with power bowls and they're great if you have picky eaters at home (whether that be your kids or your man) 🙂 because they allow everyone in the house to get involved and build their own custom bowls from the available options. Below are several ideas for what to add to power bowls followed by my recipe for this exact bowl. Pick your favorites from the lists, prep them, then mix and match throughout the week!
Easy Power Bowl Protein Ideas
Chicken - Season and cook your preferred boneless or bone-in cuts of chicken. A simple way to add more variety is to divide the chicken and season it a couple different ways. And a great shortcut is to pick up (or have delivered) a rotisserie chicken from your grocer. You can easily select and cut the piece(s) you want each day and shred up the chicken breast for a little twist. Here are a few different chicken flavor ways to inspire you:
- Grilled Honey Jalapeno Lime Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Lemon Curry Chicken
- Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Lemon Rosemary Chicken
- Pineapple Salsa Chicken (slow cooker option)
- Tomato Basil Chicken
Meatballs - I rarely cook with beef or pork but love to make meatballs. If you aren't in the mood to make your own, pick up your favorite pre-made ones (I love these from Target). The point is for things to be both delicious and easy. Here are a few meatball options you might want to try:
Seafood - I love using seafood because it's [obviously] delicious and cooks up quickly. Shrimp, scallops, salmon--any seafood you would enjoy eating--are all fair game. Here are a few ideas for you:
- Brown Butter Cod
- Garlic Butter Shrimp & Scallops (takes only 10 minutes!)
- Lemon Pepper Shrimp
- Simple Seared Salmon
- Sweet & Spicy Shrimp with Broccoli
- Tomato Garlic Salmon
Plant-Based Protein Options - tofu, quinoa, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds are all great vegan protein options to include in your power bowls.
If you want to get fancy, pick two or three different protein options. You'll never get bored that way!
Ideas for Power Bowl Grains
I struggle with boiling rice without burning it (no judgement!) so typically go with a boil-in-a-bag or heat-and-eat option, which is perfect for right now. Pantry staples like rice, beans, and pasta are great carbs to throw into your power bowls. Here are my favorite, flavorful heat-and-eat options that you can easily add to power bowls or any meal, really:
- Brown Rice Cups
- Coconut Turmeric Rice
- Cuban Black Beans
- Mexican Cowboy Beans
- Red Rice & Quinoa
- Sticky Thai Jasmine Rice
- Trini Chickpea Curry
*If you are limiting your carb intake, just reduce or skip the grains and beans and load up on protein and veggies.
What Vegetables to Add to Power Bowls
Grocery stores don't have perfect stock at the moment, which is actually fine because you can include any kind of vegetables in power bowls. Get creative! Use whichever veggies you like or find available and frozen ones work well, too. Here are some suggestions:
- Cruciferous: broccoli, brussels sprouts (make them sweet & spicy), cauliflower, chopped cabbage, kale (use this method for crispy kale!)
- Leafy Greens: arugula, chard, collards, micro greens, spinach
- Others: okra, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes,
- Root Veggies: carrots, beets, garlic, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes (cinnamon honey sweet potatoes, anyone?)
How to Make This Power Bowl
I shared the easy meal prep process I used to make the components of the exact power bowl pictured here in my Instagram story (saved to highlights here) over the weekend and y'all gave me great feedback on it. So here's how I made everything. The entire process took only 30 minutes from start to finish!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds shrimp
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 12-ounce bag pre-cut broccoli florets
- 1 8-ounce container of sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- Trini Chickpea Curry
- Thai Jasmine Rice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons butter
- olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- sea salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- cinnamon, to taste
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel sweet potato then cut it into one-inch pieces. Season the pieces with cinnamon, cayenne, and sea salt then toss them in a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Season broccoli with sea salt and black pepper then squeeze lemon juice over top and toss it in about two teaspoons of olive oil. Spread sweet potatoes and broccoli out onto a sheet pan and roast for about 20 minutes or until browned.
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat then add mushroom, onion powder and one clove of garlic. Cook mushrooms down until tender and fragrant (about 4 minutes). Remove mushrooms from pan.
- Add olive oil to pan followed by shrimp, remaining garlic, crushed red pepper, and sea salt. Saute until shrimp is opaque and cooked through (about 5 minutes).
- Pack up components in airtight containers. Add whichever components (this is where the chickpea curry and rice come in) you like to a bowl each day then heat for about 2 ½ minutes in a microwave. Remove carefully (will be hot) and enjoy!
I hope this power bowl method serves you during this period of quarantine/social distancing and beyond. And be sure to pin this recipe to Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
P.S. More power bowls:
- 15-Minute Wonton Power Bowl
- Roasted Chicken & Veggie Power Bowls
- Sheet Pan Power Bowls
- Soul Food Power Bowls
Healthy Mix and Match Power Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds shrimp
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 12-ounce bag pre-cut broccoli
- 8-ounce container of sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves minced garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- 1 package of Trini chickpea curry (see notes) or heat-and-eat beans of your choice
- 1 container Thai Jasmine rice (see notes) or rice of your choice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons butter
- olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- cinnamon to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
- crushed red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel sweet potato then cut it into one-inch pieces. Season the pieces with cinnamon, cayenne, and sea salt then toss them in a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Season broccoli with sea salt and black pepper then squeeze lemon juice over top and toss it in about two teaspoons of olive oil. Spread sweet potatoes and broccoli out onto a sheet pan and roast for about 20 minutes or until browned.
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat then add mushroom, onion powder and one clove of garlic. Cook mushrooms down until tender and fragrant (about 4 minutes). Remove mushrooms from pan.
- Add olive oil to pan followed by shrimp, remaining garlic, crushed red pepper, and sea salt. Saute until shrimp is opaque and cooked through (about 5 minutes).
- Pack up components in airtight containers. Add whichever components (this is where the chickpea curry and rice come in) you like to a bowl each day then heat for about 2 ½ minutes in a microwave. Remove carefully (will be hot) and enjoy!
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