Try these Sweet Potato Chickpea Taco Bowls for a simple weeknight dinner. Easy and quick to prepare. See below for meal prep instructions, all components of this meal can be made and prepped ahead to save you time on the busiest days. Sweet potatoes, roasted chickpeas and all the taco toppings you like in one bowl.
Today's post is less of a recipe and more of a plan. Remember those taco spiced chickpeas from a while back, yes! those. They make the best taco dinner bowls. And you can prep all the pieces ahead of time!
It's taken me a long, long time to figure this one out... dinner bowls. Honestly, just call it a bowl, add some sauce and like magic, the family is eating leftovers and not even complaining a little bit 😇
These Sweet Potato and Chickpea Taco Bowls come together very quickly if you prep a few things in advance. But if you don't have time, don't worry, it's still easy to pull together.
Taco Dinner Bowls
For busy nights, this fresh meal can be made in about 35 minutes from start to finish including the chickpeas. Just make sure you have everything on hand. See the bottom of this post for a shopping list.
If you are making this meal the night it is served. First roast some veggies...
and roast the chickpeas too! I use this basic recipe for chickpea tacos for the chickpeas. You can do both in the oven at the same time.
And while everything roasts, prep a few veggies. I like to keep things simple.
Here is what I usually prep:
- Fresh baby spinach or other baby mixed greens for a light and healthy base
- Cherry tomatoes
- Avocado or guacamole
- Lime wedges
- Pickled jalapenos
- and if I have them, green onions or radish
- Salsa
- cilantro
- We love this vegan queso, but coconut yogurt mixed with a little lime juice and cilantro is an easy sauce too!
See the queso post for instructions -- you can prep the vegan cheese sauce without soaking the cashews overnight if you want to! Just get those cashew sitting in some boiling water before you preheat the oven.
How to prep dinner bowls on the weekend
The real beauty of this kind of meal is you can make all the components a few days ahead. Warm stuff up if you want, or serve everything still chilled. It's all good.
Add these steps to your weekend meal prep plan so you can throw this meal together on the busiest nights:
→ Soak the cashews the night before, or first thing in the morning and then hit the grocery store for your weekly shopping trip. They will be soaked enough by the time you get back.
→ Preheat the oven and open a can of chickpeas. Make this marinade and toss the chickpeas. Preheat the oven to 375.
→ Scrub your sweet potatoes, peeling is optional and cut into 1-inch pieces. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet with a tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper. You can also add some taco-inspired seasonings if you feel like it -- cumin or chilli powder is nice here too.
→ Roast sweet potatoes and chickpeas in the 375 oven for about 20 minutes. Chickpeas will be done after 20 minutes, remove the chickpeas from the oven. Gently stir the sweet potatoes to turn them over and test for doneness. Potatoes will need another 5-10 minutes.
→ Allow chickpeas and sweet potatoes to completely cool, then pack in separate air tight containers and store in the refridgerator until you are ready to serve. They will keep for about 5 days.
→ While the vegetables roast, make the vegan queso cheese dip. Allow to cook and store in an air tight container. It will keep for about 1 week.
→ Buy greens already cleaned and ready to eat. I usually buy a big box of spinach and use it for several meals or smoothies during the week too.
→ Fresh veggies - green onions, radish, cherry tomatoes, cilantro are easy enough to prep just before serving but if you want to prep these ahead, they will keep for a couple of days in covered containers and refrigerated. It's best if you pack them separately so they keep their own flavours.
Shopping list for vegan taco bowls
Here is a list of everything you need to make these taco bowls
Pantry:
- 2 15 oz cans of chickpeas
- pickled jalapenos
- cashews
- nutritional yeast
- hot sauce
- salsao
Fresh Produce:
- 1.5 lbs of sweet potatoes
- 1 sweet red pepper
- small box of fresh greens - spinach or mixed baby lettuce
- 2-3 limes
- 1 lemon
- bunch of cilantro
- fresh jalapenos (or pickled, see above)
- cherry or grape tomatoes, 1 pint
- 1 avocados
- radish or green onions (optional, for garish)
- unsalted, cashews (for queso)
Seasonings:
- chili powder
- ground cumin
- dried oregano
- paprika
- cayenne powder
- garlic powder
- sea salt
Easy Vegan Taco Dinner Bowls
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs large sweet potato, peeled and diced about 3 cups
- 1 sweet red pepper about 1 cup, cut into strips or chuncks
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- taco spiced chickpeas
- vegan queso
- 6 cups spinach
- 1 avocado
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375
- To prep sweet potatoes, scrub potatoes, peel if desired or if skin is tough, cut into 1-inch pieces. Toss on a rimmed baking sheeet with 1 tablespoon of oil. Toss well to cover with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast about 25-30 minutes or until browned and tender all the way through.
- If the taco spiced chickpeas are not ready to do, make those now and get them into the oven with the sweet potatoes. They don't take as long to cook.
- While potatoes roast prep fresh veggies. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, clean and chop cilantrol and green onions. Slice radish and jalapenos. Slice a lime into wedges.
- To assemble bowls: place a generous handful of greens in each bowl, top with roasted potatoes and peppers and chickpeas. Top with fresh veggies - your choice - cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, radish, onions, diced avocado and cilantro and with a lime wedge and vegan queso cheese sauce.
Leave a reply: