Harvest Bowls
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Fall Harvest Bowls – A Sweetgreen copycat but better! These bowls are brimming with nutritious ingredients including fresh kale, crisp sweet apples, roasted Brussels sprouts, tender sweet potatoes, a chewy wild rice blend, crunchy nuts, and tangy feta. And it’s all finished with a sweet and tart lemon dressing.
The Best Harvest Bowls
This recipe is a copycat recipe with inspiration from Sweetgreen’s harvest bowl but with what I consider a few even more delicious additions.
In place of balsamic dressing I found honey lemon dressing tasted better and was more fitting, feta was overall more preferred among tasters versus goat cheese, and Brussels sprouts add one more veggie and will help get more servings out of it. Pan seared chicken was also used in place of roasted for a quicker option.
Simply put we are obsessed with these meal in one bowls, they are one of the tastiest healthy fall recipes and we just can’t get enough of them! Once you try them you may just start making them weekly like we are lately, and you can switch them up with different toppings (see ideas below).
They are loaded to the max with flavor and wholesome goodness. They make an excellent dinner and leftovers are perfect for meal prep for lunch the following day.
Harvest Bowl Recipe Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Lemon
- Honey
- Dijon
- Salt and black pepper
- Cooked chicken breast
- Wild rice blend
- Sweet potato
- Brussels sprouts
- Fresh rosemary and thyme
- Curly kale
- Apples
- Almonds
- Feta
How to Make Harvest Bowls like Sweetgreen’s
- Make the dressing: In a mixing bowl whisk together 1/3 cup olive oil, the lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, dijon mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Prepare rice: Cook rice according to directions on package.
- Heat oven prepare pan: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed 18 by 13-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Season veggies: Place Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes on baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper to taste and toss (you can keep sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts separate or just toss together).
- Roast until tender: Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes. Toss then continue to bake until veggies are tender, about 15 minutes longer.
- Add all ingredients to bowls: Among five pasta style bowls divide kale, cooked wild rice blend, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, cooked chicken, apples, almonds and feta.
- Top with dressing: Whisk dressing again then divide dressing among servings (adding about 1.5 Tbsp to each) and serve.
Can I Make Harvest Bowls for Meal Prep?
- Yes! If you’d like to prep these in advance they can be made and stored for 3 days.
- Just wait to add the apples so they don’t go brown, or let them soak in some lemon water for 10 minutes or so and drain before adding to bowls.
- Store single servings in an airtight, microwave safe container in the fridge.
- When ready to eat, uncover and heat on 50% power in the microwave until warmed through.
Possible Recipe Variations
Apples: You can use other varieties than what I used here. I have tried this with roasted apples and fresh and I did prefer the fresh crisp apples, the way Sweetgreen prepares it. If you’d like roasted softened apples just toss them in with the vegetables to roast in the oven.
Wild rice sub: You can also make this with a multi color quinoa blend, farro, freekah, bulgur, or brown rice.
Chicken: Rotisserie chicken or chicken thighs will also work here.
Dressing: If you’d like you can stick with a balsamic vinaigrette (see below) in place of the lemon dressing used here. In a pinch even a good quality store-bought dressing will work.
Nuts: Almonds, pecans, walnuts or pepitas work well, just use what you have and prefer.
Sweet potato sub: A good subsitute for this would be butternut squash or even carrots.
Onion: These are also tasty with sliced shallots, roasted with the veggies, if you’ve got some on hand.
Balsamic Dressing Version
- If you’d like the balsamic vinaigrette instead of lemon dressing just replace the lemon juice with 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.
- Also omit lemon zest.
- You can use honey or real maple syrup to sweeten (still 1 Tbsp).
More Hearty and Nutritious Bowl Recipes to Try
- Buddha Bowls
- Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Salmon Rice Bowls
- Spring Roll Bowls
- Sushi Bowls
- Unstuffed Pepper Bowls
Follow Cooking Classy
Harvest Bowls
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- Salt and black pepper
Bowls
- 1 cup wild rice blend,* such as Lundberg, cooked according to package directions
- 3 cups cooked chicken breast,** chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb. sweet potato (1 extra large), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, halved
- 1 Tbsp each minced fresh rosemary and fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried of each)
- 5 cups shredded curly kale
- 2 medium apples, cored and chopped (I prefer gala or honeycrisp)
- 2/3 cup slivered toasted almonds, or toasted chopped pecans
- 2/3 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
Instructions
- Note that if you like a generous dressing double it up but still only use 1.5 tsp lemon zest. These bowls are very lightly dressed as is but I've found it to be just enough.
- For the dressing: In a mixing bowl whisk together 1/3 cup olive oil, the lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, dijon mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Prepare rice according to directions on package.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed 18 by 13-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes on baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper to taste and toss (you can keep sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts separate or just toss together).
- Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes. Remove from oven and toss then continue to bake until veggies are tender, about 15 minutes longer.
- Among five pasta style bowls divide kale, cooked wild rice blend, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, cooked chicken, apples, almonds and feta.
- Whisk dressing again then divide dressing among servings (adding about 1.5 Tbsp to each).
Notes
- *Tri-color quinoa, farro, or brown rice will work in place of the wild rice blend.
- **You can use rotisserie chicken or I cook 1 1/4 lbs chicken breasts in a skillet. To do so pound them out even and a bit thinner. Season with garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. Heat a little olive oil in skillet then sear the chicken about 5 minutes per side or until cooked through.