• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

our recipes + your inbox = the eatmail

Join now

Subscribe for new recipes + 3 fan-favorite ebooks

  • About
  • Contact

Live Eat Learn

Easy vegetarian recipes, one ingredient at a time

free ebook

Subscribe for new recipes + 3 fan-favorite ebooks

  • Recipe Index
  • Vegetarian 101
  • Travel
  • Meal Plans
  • Course
    • Breakfasts
    • Lunches
    • Dinners
    • Appetizers
    • Sweets
    • Drinks
  • Diet
    • Dairy Free
    • Gluten Free
    • Low Carb
    • Paleo
    • Raw
    • Vegan
  • Season
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Fall
  • Ingredient
    • Avocado
    • Bean
    • Cauliflower
    • Chickpeas
    • Eggplant
    • Mushroom
    • Tofu
    • Quinoa
    • View All
  • Collections
    • All Time Favorites
    • Air Frying
    • Budget Friendly
    • Comfort Food
    • High Protein
    • Meal Prep
    • Meatless Monday
    • View All
  • Visit our kombucha site
    Visit our dog food blog
Home Eat Dinners

Southern Style Grain Bowls

No ratings yet
Recipe Print Share
Share on:
By: Sarah BondUpdated: Feb 05, 2022 5 Comments

This post contains affiliate links.

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)!

A southern style grain bowl filled with sweet potatoes, veggies, collard greens, red onion, and rice, and topped with a hummus and lemon juice sauce

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*!

A southern style grain bowl filled with sweet potatoes, veggies, collard greens, red onion, and rice, and topped with a hummus and lemon juice sauce

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.

A clear glass bowl filled with chopped sweet potato, chickpeas, and spices

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.

A baking tray filled with seasoned and chopped sweet potato, red onion, and a can of chickpeas
A baking tray filled with cooked chopped sweet potato, red onion, and chickpeas

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.

A clear glass bowl filled with hummus, lemon juice, and minced garlic

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!

A 4-step image displaying how to assemble a southern style grain bowl. Step 1: rice. Step 2: Potatoes and veggies. Step 3: Collard greens. Step 4: 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!
A southern style grain bowl filled with sweet potatoes, veggies, collard greens, red onion, and rice, and topped with a hummus and lemon juice sauce

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

Southern Style Grain Bowls

No ratings yet
Prep: 15 minutes minutes
Cook: 30 minutes minutes
Total: 45 minutes minutes
Author: Sarah Bond
Calories: 542kcal
Servings: 4 servings
Print Rate
Turn collard greens into a powerhouse meal with Southern Style Grain Bowls. Fully loaded with flavor and the perfect way to fill up!

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!

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving Calories: 542kcal (27%) Carbohydrates: 93.6g (31%) Protein: 13.7g (27%) Fat: 15.3g (24%) Saturated Fat: 5g (31%) Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 538mg (23%) Potassium: 638mg (18%) Fiber: 13.3g (55%) Sugar: 3.6g (4%) Calcium: 192mg (19%) Iron: 5mg (28%)
Did You Make This?

Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!

Tag on Insta! Leave a Rating Pin on Pinterest

You may also like...

  • Collage of recipes in bowls
    15 Healthy Bowl Recipes
  • Roasted Vegetable Grain Bowls
  • Lemony Arugula Grain Bowls
  • Buddha bowl recipe with fruits and veggies in a bowl
    How To Build Buddha Bowls (15 Minute Recipe)
Previous Post
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Have a question? Submit your question or comment below.

Rate this Recipe:




  1. Kudzu says

    Posted on 9/23 at 2:34 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      Posted on 9/24 at 1:30 pm

      Thanks for pointing that out! A typo indeed. Should be 5.3 😀

    • kudzu says

      Posted on 9/26 at 9:03 am

      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.

  2. Caryl Neufeld says

    Posted on 9/27 at 3:55 pm

    I want to make this! But what would happen if I subbed tahini for hummus?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      Posted on 9/27 at 6:24 pm

      It would be a bit less rounded (more bitter), but I think it’d be tasty!

Primary Sidebar

Hello

I'm Sarah

A flavor-loving nutritionist and sensory science specialist showing you how to make easy vegetarian recipes, one ingredient at a time.

Let's Meet

Freebie alert!

3 reader-favorite cookbooks delivered straight to your inbox.

Get in now!

Subscribe for new recipes + 3 fan-favorite ebooks

Spring Brunch Recipes

Edible Flower Spring Rolls

Paleo pancakes with almond butter and berries on a blue background

Paleo Banana Pancakes

Carrot lox on a bagel.

How To Make Carrot Lox (Vegan Smoked Salmon!)

Vegan french toast on a white plate

15-Minute Eggless French Toast (Vegan French Toast!)

Grapefruit brulee with mascarpone on a plate with a spoon.

How To Make Grapefruit Brulee

How To Make Healthy Avocado Toast

Dinner This Week

Vegan tikka masala with naan and rice in a white bowl

M

Chickpea Tikka Masala

Roasted Chickpea Gyros

T

Roasted Chickpea Gyros

Vegan Thai red curry in a bowl on a red background

W

Thai Vegetarian Coconut Curry

Vegan nachos on a black plate on a white background - These vegan nachos are piled high with easy mushroom BBQ "pulled pork" and a cashew-based queso cheese sauce that will knock your dairy-free socks off.

R

BBQ Mushroom Pulled Pork

Roasted Cauliflower Street Tacos

F

Roasted Cauliflower Tacos

Lemon risotto in a bowl with basil on a yellow background

S

Lemon Basil Risotto

As featured on:

3 bonus books!

Join our Eatmail newsletter to get free copies of our top 3 cookbooks, new recipes, exclusive meal plans, and more!

Follow Along

  • Easy Vegetarian Facebook Group
  • Kombucha Brewers Facebook Group
Back to Top
  • Web Stories
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Collaborate
© 2023 Live Eat Learn
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled Support by Foodie Digital
114 shares