Turn collard greens into a powerhouse meal with Southern Style Grain Bowls. Fully loaded with flavor and the perfect way to fill up on everything important (and yummy)!
It’s been a while since I’ve shared one of my infamous bowl recipes, so I figured now was the perfect time to show you how to make these southern style grain bowls. And with autumn inching closer and closer every day, we need to stock up on cozy bowl recipes ripe for enjoying on the couch!
These bowls are made with a delicious blend of rice, sweet potato, red onion, chickpeas, collard greens, and a delicious hummus and lemon juice sauce. Not only do these power your body, the blend of flavors are *chef’s kiss*!
How to make Southern Style Grain Bowls
We’ll start this recipe by cooking the potatoes, chickpeas, and onion. From there, simply create the sauce, cook your collard greens, and assemble!
Step 1: Cook the rice
We’ll start by cooking 1½ cups of rice according to the instructions on the package. Once finished, add a cover to keep it warm.
Step 2: Prep and cook the veggies
Then, preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC). In a medium bowl, toss together 1 large chopped sweet potato, 1 drained 14 oz can of chickpeas, 2 tbsp of olive oil, and the following spices: ½ teaspoon each of cumin, smoked paprika, and garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and ground cinnamon.
Spread the veggie mix onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut a red onion into large chunks and add it to the sheet. Bake the tray for 30 minutes, flipping everything over after 15. The veggies are done when the sweet potato is fork tender.
Step 3: Create the sauce
Meanwhile, stir together ½ cup of hummus, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1 clove of minced garlic for the sauce. Add a splash of cold water to reach a pourable sauce consistency.
Step 4: Cook the collard greens
Sauté the collard greens until they’re soft. Using this recipe, it should take about 20 minutes.
Step 5: Assemble the bowls
Assemble the southern style grain bowl by spooning the cooked rice into serving bowls followed the veggies, collards, and sauce!
Switch up your southern style grain bowl with these ideas
This grain bowl recipe can be mixed and matched in a ton of different ways.
- Grains: Switch out the rice in favor of quinoa, farro, bulgur, or whatever you like! My guess is that bulgur would be particularly delish.
- Starches: Replace the sweet potato with some other fall starch faves like butternut squash or pumpkin!
- Sauces: As for the sauce, you can use whatever you’d like, whether it’s yum sauce, feta tzatziki, or something else!
More Loaded bowl Ideas
Power up and fuel your body with some more delicious bowl recipes! The lemony arugula option is a personal fave.
- Vegan Tuna Sushi Bowl
- Lemony Arugula Grain Bowls
- Vegetarian Pineapple Poke Bowls
- Stone Fruit Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
Fillings
- 1 ½ cups uncooked brown rice
- 1 large sweet potato cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 14-oz can chickpeas drained and pat dry with paper towels
- 2 Tbsp olive oil 30 mL
- ½ tsp each cumin smoked paprika, garlic powder
- ¼ tsp each salt, pepper, ground cinnamon
- ½ medium red onion
- 1 batch sautéed collard greens click for the recipe
Sauce
- ½ cup hummus
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- Rice: Cook rice according to instructions on the package. Cover to keep warm when finished.
- Veggies: Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). In a medium bowl, toss together chopped sweet potato, drained chickpeas, oil, and spices. Spread onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut red onion into large chunks and set them on the sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping everything over after 15 minutes. Veggies are done when sweet potato is fork tender.
- Sauce: Meanwhile, stir together all sauce ingredients, adding a splash of cold water to reach a pourable sauce consistency.
- Collards: Sauté collard greens until soft (using this recipe – 20 minutes).
- Assemble: Spoon cooked rice into serving bowls, followed by veggies, collards, and sauce!
Kudzu says
Thank you for the “Southern Style Grain Bowls” recipe. I do have a question. At this time, your nutritional info starts, “Serving: 1serving Calories: 542kcal (27%) Carbohydrates: 93.6g (31%) Protein: 13.7g (27%) Fat: 15.3g (24%) Saturated Fat: 538g (3363%)…” The saturated fat content looks, well, impossible. Am guessing it is just a typo, perhaps a misplaced decimal point.
Sarah says
Thanks for pointing that out! A typo indeed. Should be 5.3 😀
kudzu says
Well that’s a relief! Thought either my eyes or my math skills were failing me. lol
BTW, am very glad to have found your site again. Last year was my first time making a vegetarian holiday meals. Am not much of a cook, but decided to try your sheetpan Thanksgiving dinner. Made mistakes. Nothing looked quite like yours, but it all turned out delicious anyway. It was a wonderful meal. It truly tasted like Thanksgiving. 🙂 Was so glad someone had pointed me in your direction.
Caryl Neufeld says
I want to make this! But what would happen if I subbed tahini for hummus?
Sarah says
It would be a bit less rounded (more bitter), but I think it’d be tasty!