Y’all know I’m all about the bowl meals, right? It’s pretty routine for me to just go into my fridge, grab whatever odds and ends I have, and throw them into a bowl for a meal. They usually have some sort of base (a grain or salad greens), a protein, some vegetables, and some sort of cheese or dressing on top. The rice-hummus combo is one of my favorite bowl meal bases, so I wanted to highlight that here and show just how flexible it is. So, that being said, these Mediterranean Hummus Bowls are less of a “recipe” and more of a template for easy meals. I’m going to offer plenty of ideas for swaps and substitutions below, but I encourage you to get creative and discover your own new flavor combinations based on what you have in your fridge!
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Ideas for Swaps and Substitutions
Proteins:
- Garlic Marinated Chicken (thighs or breast)
- Soft Boiled Eggs (see a photo of my “breakfast” hummus bowl in that post)
- Beef Kofta Meatballs
- Ground turkey or chicken instead of ground beef prepared in the same way as the beef in the recipe below.
- Go all veg! The hummus provides a good amount of protein, so you can keep it simple and just do the rice, hummus, and vegetables.
Vegetables:
- Any mix of roasted vegetables
- Quartered artichoke hearts
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Roasted or grilled eggplant
- Sautéed or grilled zucchini or yellow squash
- Roasted cauliflower
- Roasted red peppers (from a jar)
- Bell peppers
- Shredded beets or carrots
Bowl Bases:
- Any other grain, like bulgur, farro, brown rice, quinoa, etc.
- Salad greens
- Or you can even make this into a naan pizza. Spread the hummus over the naan like a sauce and add the rest of the ingredients on top.
Mediterranean Hummus Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
Seasoned Ground Beef
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.65)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
Bowl Ingredients (all ingredients optional)
- 4 cups cooked rice ($0.70)
- 1 cup hummus* ($1.48)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.89)
- 1/2 English cucumber ($0.75)
- 1/4 red onion ($0.07)
- 1 cup kalamata olives ($0.90)
- 2 oz. crumbled feta ($1.10)
- handful fresh parsley, chopped ($0.25)
Instructions
- Add the ground beef to a skillet, along with the oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Cook and stir the beef over medium heat until fully browned and evenly combined with the spices.
- To build the bowls, add 1 cup rice and 1/4 cup hummus to each bowl. Divide the remaining ingredients among the four bowls, or in any amount that you desire. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Mediterranean Hummus Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Add 1/2 lb. ground beef to a skillet along with 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook and stir the beef over medium heat until it is fully browned and combined with the spices.
While the beef is cooking, prepare the rest of your toppings. I used grape tomatoes, English cucumber, some leftover red onion that I had, leftover kalamata olives, a handful of parsley, and some leftover feta cheese. Here’s a tip for red onions: let them soak for about 5 minutes in ice water and that will take the super spicy edge off and make them a little easier on the stomach. :)
Then it’s time to build your Mediterranean Hummus Bowls! Start with about one cup of rice per bowl, add 1/4 cup hummus, then just go ahead and divide the rest of your ingredients among the four bowls. You can serve them right away, or pack them away in meal prep containers for later. They’ll keep in the fridge for about four days.
Are you already a hummus bowl eater? What are your favorite topping combos? I’d love to hear more ideas! Leave your favorite ingredients for me in the comments below.
Delicious spring meal. It felt like spring today, so we wanted something lighter. We all thought it was delicious. Added a bell pepper. Daughter didn’t buy feta. I would have liked it. Haha. (Eastern WI]
Truly one of the best budgetbytes recipes I’ve made. Simple, super healthy, keeps really well in the fridge. It’s the perfect weekday lunch. Throw some balsamic vinegar on it and you’ve got a hit. I will be making this for the rest of my life.
Hello, I would like to make this, but is there anything I could replace beef with?:)
You could swap with ground turkey or chicken.
Thank you!
I love making recipes like this for flavor packed lunch bowls. Instead of rice I made some orzo and tossed it with balsamic dressing and Italian parsley. Some other toppings that are great additions are marinated artichokes and roasted peppers! We also love Mama Lil’s peppers for a little kick, but these added toppings do bring up the price.
Thank you to a great recipe!
I’ve made this a few times for my family and it is so good and so easy to make. The first time I made this I was going to use the meatballs from Beth’s kofta meatball recipe but ended up frying up the ground beef and now I use that spice mix each time.
My husband and I just made this for the first time tonight (I am currently eating seconds as I write this haha). It’s AMAZING! I love Mediterranean flavors, and I love how quick and easy this was to throw together (minus making homemade hummus, but that’s still no big deal). Definitely adding this to our regular rotation!
My picky daughter lights up when I tell her we’re having this for dinner! We experiment with a lot of different toppings and it’s always delicious. Sometimes we stretch it and add extra protein by stirring in some Greek yogurt. YUM! Thank you!
Love this! Have made it several times, adding different roasted vegetables each time. I love to add pickled red onions instead of raw. So delicious!
Oh many those pickled red onions are a game changer!
Delicious!
Nice recipe, delicious and tasty to eat!
This was soooo good!! I can’t wait to try some other varieties!
AHHHMAZING! Sautéed the onions for a couple minutes because raw onions aren’t my fav but other than that I followed the recipe. I absolutely LOVE your recipes because I KNOW it’s going to be good! Thank you!
Great tip!
Beth does it again! This was absolutely magnificent. I have to add this to my rotation of quick, easy, delicious and nutritious budgetbytes meals!
Our local Arabic restaurant serves something similar for lunch. They start with a handful over greens then a scoop hummus, tahini, tabouli, 2 falafel and a scoop of a rice/lentil mix. It is so yummy so so with a bit of Arabic hot pepper sauce.
This looks so beautiful and I love the flavors going on. Thanks for sharing!
Great recipe! Inexpensive, easy, and delicious. The ground beef is really flavorful and veggies give the dish a nice freshness while the hummus is the dressing that brings it all together. Thanks again Beth!