My absolute favorite meal “formula” is roasted vegetables (with or without meat) over a bowl of grains, with a delicious drizzle of sauce. I come back to this type of meal over and over again because the formula is easy to prepare, meal preps well, and there are endless flavor possibilities. This week’s version was Curry Roasted Vegetable Bowls with a Lemon Tahini Dressing drizzle. It’s simple, colorful, flavorful, filling, and will leave you looking forward to the leftovers. :)
What is Curry Powder?
Since curry powder is responsible for all of the seasoning in the bowls, let’s take a minute to chat about it. If you’ve never had curry powder, it’s a warm blend of spices that are pre-ground and blended to mimic the fresh spices used in Indian cuisine. This blend usually includes cumin, turmeric, coriander, and other spices. Every curry powder blend is unique, so you may need to experiment with different brands or recipes to find one that suits your palate. If you’d like to try making your own curry powder, try this recipe for homemade curry powder from Spice it Upp.
Add More to Your Curry Roasted Vegetable Bowls
I kept my curry roasted vegetable bowls simple because I like simplicity, but you can add more to make them a little more fancy, if you’d like. I think a light sprinkle of raisins would add an incredible pop of sweetness to contrast the savory curry powder and tahini dressing.
Slivered almonds would offer an amazing crunch to these bowls without competing with the already strong flavors.
If you want to add some meat, rotisserie chicken would be great, as would some Yogurt Marinated Chicken.
Swap Out the Vegetables or Grains
This recipe is super flexible. You can swap out the vegetables for anything you like. Try broccoli, sweet potatoes, asparagus, sweet bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, or whatever vegetable you like.
The same goes for the “bed” for these bowls. If you don’t like brown rice you can swap it out with white rice, couscous, quinoa, your favorite grain, or even salad greens.
How Long Do The Leftovers Last?
Simple bowl meals like this hold up in the refrigerator for about four days, with the dressing kept on the side. Your mileage may vary depending on the freshness of your ingredients and the conditions within your fridge. I’ll link my favorite meal prep containers for meals like this in the recipe below.
Curry Roasted Vegetable Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain brown rice (uncooked) ($0.40)
- 1 head cauliflower ($2.29)
- 3 carrots ($0.24)
- 1 red onion ($0.37)
- 1 cup frozen peas ($0.60)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp curry powder ($0.30)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
Lemon Tahini Dressing
- 1/3 cup tahini ($1.13)
- 1/3 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice ($0.18)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
Instructions
- Begin the rice first because it takes the longest to cook. Combine the uncooked rice in a pot with 2 cups water. Place a lid on top, turn the heat onto high, and allow the water to come up to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer for 45 minutes (no stirring). After 45 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest with the lid in place for an additional five minutes.
- Once the rice is started, move on to the curry roasted vegetables. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Peel and slice the carrots. Slice the red onion into ¼-inch wide slices.
- Place the cauliflower, carrots, and red onion on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over top, then add the curry powder and salt. Toss the vegetables until everything is evenly coated in oil and spices. Spread the vegetables out over the baking sheet in a single layer.
- Transfer the seasoned vegetables to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes give them a good stir, then roast for another 15 minutes. Next, add the frozen peas and toss together with the roasted vegetables, then return the baking sheet to the oven for the an additional 5 minutes. Taste the vegetables and add additional salt, if needed.
- While the rice is simmering and the vegetables are roasting, make the lemon tahini dressing. Place the tahini, water, lemon juice, minced garlic, cumin, cayenne, and salt in a blender then blend until smooth. Set the dressing aside.
- When the rice has finished cooking, fluff with a fork. Place about ¾ cup rice into each bowl or meal prep container. Top with ¼ of the roasted vegetables. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of dressing just before serving.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Curry Roasted Vegetable Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Start the brown rice first, since it takes the longest to cook. Add 1 cup brown rice to a sauce pot with 2 cups water. Place a lid on top and turn the heat onto high. Bring the water up to a full boil, then reduce the heat to low and let the rice simmer for 45 minutes (no stirring). After 45 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice rest with the lid on for five more minutes.
While the rice is cooking, start on the roasted vegetables. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Chop one head of cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Peel and slice three carrots. Slice one red onion into ¼-inch wide slices. Place all of the vegetables onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp curry powder, and ½ tsp salt to the prepared vegetables. Toss the vegetables until they are evenly coated in oil and spices.
Transfer the prepared vegetables to the preheated 400ºF oven. Roast for 20 minutes then give them a good stir. Return the stirred vegetables to the oven and roast for another 15 minutes.
After roasting for 35 minutes total, add 1 cup frozen peas (no need to thaw). Toss them together with the roasted vegetables and return them to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
While the vegetables are in the oven, prepare the lemon tahini dressing. Combine ⅓ cup tahini, ⅓ cup water, ¼ cup lemon juice, 2 cloves of minced garlic, ½ tsp ground cumin, ¼ tsp cayenne, and ¼ tsp salt in a blender.
Blend the ingredients until smooth, then set the dressing aside.
Give the final roasted vegetables a taste and adjust the salt, if needed.
To build your curry roasted vegetable bowls, add about ¾ cup brown rice to each bowl or container then top with ¼ of the roasted vegetable mix. Drizzle with the lemon tahini dressing just before serving!
I love this recipe so much that it is a staple for me! I usually go with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots for the veggies and sometimes switch up the grain :) Thanks for the recipe Beth!
Ok, but in fairness I might have made the sauce wrong. It came out kinda bland.
My whole family of meat eaters liked this. Beth’s “vegan” meals are much better than the ones I find from the die-hard vegan cookbooks or websites. She seems to understand the omnivore’s taste buds!
Really enjoyed this! I made a couple of changes– added a little toasted sesame oil, garlic powder and onion powder, dried parsley to the cooking water for the rice just for a little more flavor and doubled the yummy sauce– made a delicious Sunday night supper. Thanks, Beth!
This was amazing! I just added lentils to the rice for some protein and had an epicure curry mix and rest was exact same (oh and my garlic cloves were very large ;), and this is something that if I ordered it from a restaurant I’d wish I had the recipe and continue ordering from them. Thank you so much for another bookmarked recipe to my for my family and I!
Hadn’t made anything from Budget Bytes in a while, so decided to migrate back here and found this recipe. I love it, and it turned out similar to the description! I made lentils, in addition to a grain, to make it a more well-rounded meal. The only thing I would change is waiting to add the red onion until there’s about 15-20 minutes left in baking-a lot of mine were sadly burnt. Some cilantro or parsley is a must. Will come back to this!
So I am a huge fan of this site, and many of the recipes in my normal rotation come from here. Unfortunately I was disappointed with this dish. Maybe the curry powder I used was not very good, but also the tahini dressing by itself did not taste good. I tried it again without the curry powder, and without the cumin in the sauce, and a little less lemon, and it turned out better for my tastes.
Thank you for the ideas!
Pro tip: Avoid “generic” curry powder and instead try to find curry powders that are primarily chilli-based.
Madras Curry Powder is a good place to start as a base for your curry powder. Now you can add some ground up cumin seeds, coriander seeds or maybe some fennel seeds or cardamom, based on what you like and the dish you are making. You can also add some kick to your curry powder by adding in a bit of Kashmiri mirch or paprika.
Just avoid the generic stuff, and learn to mix and match. Make a curry you can be proud of.
Super easy and super yummy for a meatless Monday dinner. Used the veg we had on hand (sweet potato, butternut squash, red pepper, carrots, zucchini, red onion), which seemed in spirit of the recipe. Roasted at 400F on convection for 40 mins total before adding frozen peas for five mins. Turned out great. Loved the tahini dressing — well done, Beth!
This was yummy! I went light on the dressing so the lemony flavor didn’t overpower it.
This is delicious, made it for dinner tonight and used frozen cauliflower and it turned out perfectly, the tahini dressing really brings it all together, it is so good I’m going to be recreating this budget friendly dish for years to come!!
An absolutely beautiful dish–I added some diced red bell pepper to up the color spectrum, and used garam masala plus some cayenne as my version of curry powder. Ordinary supermarket curry powder is mostly tumeric while garam masala has a higher percentage of sweet spices.
We don’t care for “bowls,” in part because my DH, with type 2 diabetes, needs to limit carbs, so the peas themselves added plenty of carbohydrate and we skipped the grain component. We save measured amounts of pasta, grains, and starchy veggies for treats. The roasted veggie combo in this recipe was delicious.
So exciting, so detailed, simply brilliant.
I do not like Tahini, is there another suggestion or maybe even other store bought flavors that you think would work?
I think a yogurt-based sauce would be really good with the curry flavors, so something like yogurt cucumber or yogurt dill.
Would this work with frozen vegetables? Especially for the cauliflower? Thanks!
Yes, you can definitely roast frozen vegetables, but keep in mind that they do end up with a different texture (softer and they don’t get as much caramelization around the edges). Since they do tend to have more moisture on them in the form of ice, it’s important to make sure they have enough breathing room on the baking sheet to allow that moisture to evaporate, so make sure not to overcrowd the baking sheet.