Healthy One-Bowl Dishes

Bowls encourage mixing ingredients, no matter how motley they may be, and instantly transform your meal into a stack, allowing you to build texture and layer. Start with whole grains, add veggies and beans, sprinkle with protein, and drizzle with sauce. Top with crunch, and toss. 

Soba noodles are made from buckwheat, a wheat-free grain (look for packages that specify gluten-free), and they cook in only 3 minutes. Look for them in the international aisle and get cookin'! 

Eating more plant-based meals is easier to do when they’re as tasty and quick to prepare as this one. Much of the deliciousness comes from charring the broccolini and the onion wedges in a super-hot cast-iron skillet; those deeply browned, crisp edges impart incredible flavor with no additional fat, sodium, or calories. And talk about a weeknight dinner workhorse—canned unsalted chickpeas are fast, convenient, and hearty. We just toss them with a lemony dressing to perk up their flavor.

This is the kind of breakfast that's worth waking up for—and enjoying again for lunch or dinner. If you want a starchy component, add precooked farro or quinoa.

If ketchup goes with every chicken dinner in your family, try these saucy, sweet, and tangy chicken thighs instead. The meat becomes incredibly tender in the slow cooker so you can easily slip out the bones and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces for kids. Bone-in chicken thighs are pan-seared before being basted with sticky-sweet sauce and slow cooked to fork-tender perfection. Sear the chicken thighs in batches to avoid over-crowding the pan and hindering browning. Though we swoon over the superiorly moist meat, the real magic lies within the sauce, which masters the balance of savory and sweet. For a burst of freshness, we add a simple cabbage slaw that rounds out the meal with a satisfying crunch. For an extra dose of veggies, pair it with sugar snap or snow peas. Our recipe requires little legwork and saves 300 calories and 250mg of sodium over the classic.

Minneapolis Chefs Jamie Malone and Erik Anderson lay Asian flavors on this stone-cold stunner. "Varying texture keeps things interesting," Chef Malone says. "Don't overcook your noodles," Chef Anderson says. "You don't want them to be too soft or mushy. You want a pleasant, chewy texture. It's all part of the fun of eating noodles."

Marinated chicken simmered in an aromatic coconut broth = flavor building at its finest. This Southeast Asian-inspire bowl is all about big flavor with minimal effort. When working with lemongrass, give the stalk a couple of whacks with the back of a knife before chopping to release its flavorful oils.

Flip a gyro into a whole-grain bowl layered with kale, veggies, herbs and chickpeas. Then we top it with lean, spice-packed chicken, feta cheese, and tahini-spiked yogurt. It's everything you want from the hearty Greek platter with less than 400 calories—a sum of parts you feel good about finishing.

In place of the normally time-consuming enriched broth, we infuse water with bacon for smoky richness, a trick we learned from chef David Chang.

Add bright, bold colors to your palate with this nutty dinner. The sesame-peanut sauce is so downright delicious, you'll want to drizzle it over every meal.

A no-cook trick has breakfast and lunch ready when you roll out of bed. Combine 1 cup uncooked bulgur and 1½ cups 1% low-fat milk in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Fluff grains; then top and toss with one of our two tasty combos, ready in a snap.

This is a great way to make use of leftover veggies. Mushrooms, cabbage, spinach and carrots are topped with a fried egg and drizzled with a spicy aioli sauce for an irresistible meal.

What's more refreshing than cubed avocado, mozzarella, and sliced tomatoes? Absolutely nothing! Here, the classic Italian appetizer turns into a riff on the Korean rice dish bibimbap, with a whole-grain upgrade no one will complain about.

Bread-and-butter pickles, pinto beans, coleslaw and pulled pork unite for a true Southern twist, y'all.

Serve yourself the perfect summer bowl for one. Sweet grilled pineapple complements the juicy pork tenderloin perfectly.

If you have trouble finding lingonberry, cranberry preserves are a fine substitute.

This is a Tex-Mex riff on the Korean rice dish bibimbap, in which various toppings are arranged over a bed or rice. Here, burrito bowl must-haves such as smoky black beans, fresh pico de gallo, and slaw top brown rice. Take leftovers to go: Spread mashed avocado on a whole-wheat tortilla, add elements from burrito bowl, and roll up.

A little meat travels far since there's no center stage in a bowl. Here, a few ounces of Peruvian steak works wonders on top. Season well, and shred or finely chop to get a little in each bite. 

Any ramen lover will tell you—it's all about the broth. We build layers of rich umami flavor with the help of mushroom stems, fresh ginger, kombu (a type of edible kelp), sesame oil, and, of course, low and slow heat.

This recipe gives you the flavors you love with easy-to-find supermarket ingredients, so you can satisfy your cravings for Thai food at home.

Making stock has never been easier, thanks to the slow cooker. You can also use unsalted chicken stock as a substitute. 

Grating jalapeño, ginger, and garlic allows them to infuse the coconut milk with bold flavor quickly, while caramelizing the mixture intensifies the savory-sweet appeal of this saucy noodle bowl.

Rich chicken thighs are supremely satisfying when paired with lots of buttery browned mushrooms.

Nutrient-rich kale has a mild flavor and becomes tender very quickly, making it a snap to add to speedy meals like this one. Mix and match those greens and grains! Sub farro or quinoa for brown rice, and spinach, chard, or cabbage for kale.

Our simple, speedy trick for creating deep and full-bodied favor: infusing store-bought vegetable stock with sautéed fresh garlic and ginger.

Add mushrooms, shredded carrots, or any veggies you have on hand to add even more color and crunch.

Get your slurp on! Chicken is marinated in gochujang for a sweet and spicy kick—little bits of meat offer delightful, chewy bites in the bowl.

Fresh basil perfumes the sauce in the stir-fry and makes a pretty garnish. You can substitute chopped unsalted peanuts for the cashews as well.

Little bits of crisped pork belly offer chewy bites in the bowl, but easier-to-find ground pork is delicious, too. If you happen to have some leftover cooked pork shoulder, you can toss that in the soup as well.

Craving a rice bowl from your favorite Chinese restaurant? This citrus-infused chicken teriyaki tastes like takeout but comes in under 500 calories! 

Sesame oil, soy sauce, fresh ginger, and sliced napa cabbage give this stir-fry vibrant Asian flavor. 

This nutrient-packed quinoa and greens salad boasts roasted carrots for caramelized flavor, sliced grapes for a juicy burst, and almonds for crunch. The Greek yogurt dressing adds protein while making the dish irresistibly creamy. Pre-assemble the ingredients in a bowl to save time, but make sure to add the salad greens right before serving to keep them crisp. Feel free to switch out dried cranberries for grapes to get a tangy twist.