This Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl is packed with a ton of flavor and great for meal prep! It's made with fluffy quinoa, colorful roasted veggies, chickpeas, fresh salad, and creamy tzatziki. It's simple, easy to make, and filling. It's a great vegetarian dinner for spring, summer, or early fall. You can serve it as it is or with your favorite protein like roasted chicken or fish.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Packed with flavor - Fluffy quinoa is topped with delicious colorful mixed veggies roasted with lots of Greek Seasoning, protein-packed chickpeas, fresh salad, and garlicky Tzatziki. The bowls are filling, flavorful, healthy, and vegetarian. You can add roasted chicken or fish for added protein as well!
Great all year round - Most of the veggies I picked for this recipe are in season during the summer (zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and red onion) but these bowls can be made all year round! They're especially great during cold gloomy days when you're craving something comforting and flavorful to brighten your day!
Perfect for meal prep - You can make each one of the components of this dish ahead of time and have it ready for the busy days ahead! It can all be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days and enjoyed both hot and cold!
Ingredients
- Quinoa - You can make this bowl with regular white quinoa or with red or black quinoa. Make sure to thoroughly wash it before cooking.
- Roasted veggies - You can pick any veggie combo for roasting but I recommend the classics - bell peppers, zucchini, red onion, and eggplant. The eggplant will need more cooking time than the rest.
- Greek seasoning - The veggies are seasoned with a generous sprinkle of this seasoning for lots of flavor. You can use store-bought or you can make your own homemade Greek seasoning.
- Chickpeas - Canned chickpeas are a great source of vegan protein you can add to bowls like this one. You can also cook your own but I always use canned chickpeas to save time.
- Fresh salad - The bowl is topped with a simple salad of cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion with an olive oil and lemon dressing.
- Tzatziki - You can use store-bought or make homemade tzatziki (highly recommended!) You'll need cucumber, Greek yogurt, fresh dill, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and pepper.
- Olives - This is optional (I forgot them in the photos) but I love adding Kalamata olives to these bowls. They add saltiness and umami flavor.
Variations and Substitutions
- Protein - You can serve the bowls as they are or stretch them into more servings by adding more protein. Roasted chicken, roasted fish like salmon, shrimp, or even roasted lamb would be delicious!
- Greens - Add some chopped romaine lettuce, baby spinach, baby kale, or iceberg lettuce for freshness and some crunch.
- Rice - Serve the bowls with rice instead of quinoa. White basmati rice or brown rice would be great.
- Feta - Add some sheep or goat feta for more flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
I recommend first roasting the veggies and prepping the rest while the veggies roast (40 minutes).
Roasted veggies
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200C).
- Add diced eggplant and red onion to a large baking sheet.
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoon of avocado oil and toss. Season with 1 tablespoon of Greek seasoning, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and toss again.
- Roast for 15 minutes.
- Push the eggplant and red onion to one side and add the chopped bell peppers and zucchini.
- Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon avocado oil, and season with 1 tablespoon Greek seasoning, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Toss to mix well.
- Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
- While the vegetables are roasted, prep the quinoa, tzatziki, and salad.
Quinoa
- Thoroughly rinse your quinoa and add it to a small saucepan with 1.5 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook partially covered until all water is absorbed.
- Take the quinoa off the heat, fluff it with a fork, cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
Tzatziki
- Squeeze as much water as you can out of your grated cucumber and add it to a medium bowl.
- Add Greek yogurt, fresh dill, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper.
- Stir until well mixed and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Add cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice to a medium bowl.
- Toss to mix and set aside until ready to use.
Put it all together
- Divide the cooked quinoa between 3-4 bowls.
- Add roasted veggies, chickpeas, kalamata olives, cucumber tomato salad, and top with tzatziki.
- Add a lemon wedge if desired and extra black pepper or fresh dill. Enjoy!
Storing and Reheating
You can store everything together but it's best to store all the components of the bowls separately and put them together when you're ready to eat. Store everything in airtight containers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
The quinoa can be stored for 4-5 days when stored properly but the rest of the dish should be consumed within 4 days.
The bowls can be enjoyed both hot and cold straight from the fridge.
If you want to heat them up, I recommend warming up the quinoa on the stove and the veggies in the oven at 300F (150C).
FAQs
I don't recommend it. None of the components of this dish would freeze well.
Yes! Just use vegan tzatziki or make your own tzatziki at home with vegan yogurt. The rest of the dish is vegan and gluten-free.
More Recipes with Quinoa
If you're looking for other bowls or salads made with quinoa, give the four below a try! The asparagus quinoa salad and the pomegranate quinoa salad are great served as a side while the other two can make a great lunch or dinner on their own. You can serve all of them vegan or add a protein of your choice like roasted chicken, salmon, or shrimp.
To see all the latest bowls, head over to Main Dishes.
📖 Recipe
Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl is packed with a ton of flavor and great for meal prep! It's a great vegetarian dinner for spring, summer, or early fall. You can serve it as it is or with your favorite protein like roasted chicken or fish.
Ingredients
Roasted veggies
- 1 eggplant, diced
- 2 medium red onions, chopped into large chunks/quartered
- 3 tbsp avocado oil, divided (or other cooking oil)
- 2 tbsp Greek seasoning, divided
- ½ tsp sea salt, divided
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 2 bell peppers, seeds removed and sliced
- 2 zucchinis, chopped
Quinoa
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1.5 cup water
Tzatziki
- 2 small cucumbers (or ½ large cucumber), grated
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Tomato cucumber salad
- 2 small cucumbers (or ½ large cucumber), diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
The rest
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup chopped kalamata olives
- Optional add-ins: feta cheese, hummus, marinated artichoke hearts, pickled red onion, sundried tomatoes, chicken, salmon, tofu, lemon wedge
Instructions
Roasted veggies
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200C).
- Add diced eggplant and red onion to a large baking sheet.
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoon of avocado oil and toss.
- Season with 1 tablespoon of Greek seasoning, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and toss again.
- Roast for 15 minutes.
- Push the eggplant and red onion to one side and add the chopped bell peppers and zucchini.
- Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon avocado oil, and season with 1 tablespoon Greek seasoning, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Toss to mix well.
- Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
- While the vegetables are roasted, prep the quinoa, tzatziki, and salad.
Quinoa
- Thoroughly rinse your quinoa and add it to a small saucepan with 1.5 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook partially covered until all water is absorbed.
- Take the quinoa off the heat, fluff with a fork, cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
Tzatziki
- Squeeze as much water as you can out of your grated cucumber and add it to a medium bowl.
- Add Greek yogurt, fresh dill, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper.
- Stir until well mixed and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Add cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice to a medium bowl. Toss to mix and set aside until ready to use.
Put it all together
- Divide the cooked quinoa between 3-4 bowls. Add roasted veggies, chickpeas, kalamata olives, cucumber tomato salad, and top with tzatziki. Add a lemon wedge if desired and extra black pepper or fresh dill. Enjoy!
Notes
All the components of these bowls are best stored separately for 3-4 days in airtight containers in the fridge.
You can make this recipe vegan by using vegan yogurt in the tzatziki. The rest of the recipe is naturally vegan and gluten-free.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Gloria says
Love the Mediterranean flair on these quinoa bowls. A great dinner for any night of the week. Meatless meals are so filling and delicious.
Kathryn says
We loved these quinoa bowls! They were so delicious and made the best lunch. So many of my favorite ingredients in a bowl!
Leslie says
This is such a fabulous recipe! The fresh ingredients, textures, and flavors are just perfection!
amy liu dong says
I love this quinoa bowl! It has appetizing colors that will make you finish the whole bowl, aside from that it looks so easy to make! I'll be saving this for my reference!
Tammy says
I love hearty veggie bowls like this! The Mediterranean flavors are so refreshing...perfect for a hot summer day and very easy to make too!
Molly Kumar says
I love such easy breezy recipes and it was totally Yumm!! Made it for the weekend brunch and everyone loved the Mediterranean flavors along with roasted veggies. Definitely, will make again soon.
Hayley Dhanecha says
I am always looking out for more veggie bowls and I came across your delicious recipe! Love the flavours with the roasted veggies and tzatziki.
Moop brown says
This bowl looks so colorful, tasty, and packed with nutrients. Thank you for sharing, I can't wait to try.
Ramona says
An incredibly delicious and nutritious meal to have at anytime during the day. I can't wait to try this tomorrow!
Jordan says
I used to make quinoa bowls all the time for lunch and kind of got burnt out. Saw this idea and had to try it. I'm obsessed all over! This is such a good combination of ingredients – will make again.