Thai Buddha Bowl with Peanut Sauce - this clean eating recipe with red rice and a rainbow of veggies is gluten free and vegan friendly.
This is an updated version. Original published Jan. 11, 2016
Konrad and I have been in love with red rice for a few years already. We first got introduced to it while we spent a couple months on Bali in 2012. Bali, and especially Ubud, is a haven for yogis, vegans and healthy food lovers in general.
Since that time red rice is our side of choice. It is a nutritious whole grain that retains a wonderful 'bite' during cooking and a somewhat chewy texture. There is even a sprouted version available.
We always cook a good amount of it - as much as our rice cooker can handle - and then we use the leftover cooked red rice for lunches the next couple of days. (Also works well with leftover quinoa.)
This Thai Buddha Bowl was born in the process!
~ ~ ~
What is a Buddha Bowl?
To me a buddha bowl usually consists of a wholesome grain as the base. Red rice in the case of today's thai bowl, but we also use other varieties of brown rice and quinoa quite often. We usually eat buddha bowls for lunch.
Then there are the toppings. Use fresh/raw or roasted veggies for a vegan rice bowl. But you can also include meat based protein, like some grilled chicken.
And finally, for a buddha bowl sauces are key! To bring all of the above ingredients together they need to be drizzled with a very flavourful buddha bowl dressing.
So essentially it is a grain and veggie bowl with sauce!
How to Make a Buddha Bowl
First, for most buddha bowl recipes I will check the fridge before I start. These healthy bowls are great for combining leftovers into a new exciting dish.
In this red rice bowl I used leftover rice from dinner the night before. If there are no leftover grains, now is the time to put on a pot of quinoa or rice of choice.
Next I check for veggies. Are there leftover roasted ones? Can the fresh ones be consumed raw? If not - like let's say sweet potatoes - put them on a baking sheet to roast in the oven.
In this Thai rice bowl recipe I warmed the red rice and topped it with raw bean sprouts, matchstick carrots and sliced cabbage, garlic chives and crushed peanuts. Almost like the things you would find in a good Pad Thai - almost.
Since this was lunch I wasn't too concerned about protein, but you can definitely add some legumes like chickpeas for more of a protein bowl.
How to Make Peanut Sauce
As I mentioned above, it's the sauces that make a buddha bowl. There are many fresh herb or avocado dressings that you can just blend up quickly (like the delicious avocado salsa in my Mexican Buddha Bowl).
To bring everything together in my Thai Buddha Bowl peanut sauce was of course the perfect choice! It is a cooked sauce that I first made for this spaghetti squash recipe.
Made from all-natural peanut butter and coconut milk, it also includes red curry paste for that distinct Thai flavor. I sweetened the peanut butter sauce with coconut sugar, because Thai peanut sauce always is on the sweet side. Feel free to omit the sugar though, if that's your preference.
I am surprised I haven't used the sauce in more healthy power bowl recipes since (aside from these fresh spring rolls), because it is truly delicious! I can almost gobble up the warm sauce straight with a spoon.
Now, I only did one thing different with the sauce this time. I used fish sauce instead of soy sauce. (To make this a vegan buddha bowl, still use soy sauce; and to make vegan + gluten free, use Tamari).
Fish sauce is such an integral part of Thai cuisine and it gives meals an amazing savory, salty (umami!) flavor, but it doesn't exactly smell great. Fish sauce works its magic in combination with other ingredients.
However, Konrad hates it when I cook with fish sauce, because of the way it makes our apartment smell. So my workaround has been to stir in fish sauce only at the very end. This way it doesn't actually cook and diffuse into the air.
To me this Thai Buddha Bowl is kind of like a warm salad. I like for the red rice and peanut sauce to be warm, while all the vegetables are fresh and crunchy.
If you prefer a less raw texture and flavor, you could totally sauté the shredded carrots, cabbage and bean sprouts in a little olive oil just to soften them somewhat.
The recipe for the peanut sauce uses a full can of coconut milk (so you don't have to deal with the storage of leftover milk). This yields more peanut sauce then you need for 2 servings of this Thai Style Buddha Bowl.
The remaining sauce stores well in the fridge for at least a week. Use it up for more Thai rice bowls, and it is also great with other rice dishes, (veggie) noodles or as a dip.
Video: How To Make A Thai Buddha Bowl
If you like this Thai Style Buddha Bowl Recipe, please:
- Share it on Pinterest
- Join my Recipes Email Newsletter
- View my Thai recipes index
Recipe
Thai Buddha Bowl with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked red rice
- ½ cup bean sprouts
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup shredded purple cabbage
- garlic chives and crushed peanuts for topping
Peanut Sauce:
- 1 14 ounce can coconut milk
- ⅔ cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons red curry paste shrimp paste-free red curry paste for vegans
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce Tamari or fish sauce (for non-vegans)
Instructions
- Warm leftover red rice or cook it fresh according to directions.
- To make the peanut sauce combine all ingredients except for fish sauce (if using) in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on medium. Then turn heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken the sauce while stirring very frequently. Stir in fish sauce at the end and set sauce aside.
- To assemble the buddha bowls divide the cooked red rice between two bowls and top with bean sprouts, shredded carrot and purple cabbage, garlic chives and crushed peanuts.
- Drizzle with warm peanut sauce to taste (⅛-1/4 cup per serving) and serve.
Notes
Pin Thai Buddha Bowl with Peanut Sauce recipe for later?
Products used in this Thai Style Buddha Bowl recipe:
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support in making Leelalicious possible!
Random Questions
A Buddha Bowl typically includes a base of wholesome grains, fresh or roasted veggies, and a flavorful dressing. Additional elements like protein sources such as legumes or meats can also be added.
A Buddha Bowl is characterized by its balanced and nutritious components, including whole grains, veggies, and a flavorful dressing. Its versatility allows for various ingredient combinations, making it a satisfying and wholesome meal option.
Buddha Bowls are also known as grain bowls or hippie bowls. They have gained popularity for their simplicity, balanced nutrition, and customizable nature.
Absolutely! You can customize the toppings based on your preferences and what you have available. Consider adding roasted or raw veggies, or even meat-based protein like grilled chicken, to make your Buddha Bowl more personalized.
Celine
Appologies if somwone already aaked this but how long can you keep the peanut sauce in the fridge?
Regina
I would say 5-7 days. You could also freeze leftover sauce for another time
Jade
Could you use coconut cream instead of coconut milk?
Regina
Since coconut milk is just watered down coconut cream, yes you can use that as well
Elizabeth
What do you think about substituting green curry paste for the red?
Regina
I think it might work too. You'll just have a slightly difference Thai flavor profile
Allison
Can you freeze the peanut sauce?
Regina
I haven't tried it, but I don't see why not
Fran
Veggie Ideas this Peant Thai Sauce is over the top incredible!
Fran
Fran
This is my answer for a quick and easy Peanut Thai Sauce. Wow~ I'm making this tonight!
Thank you for sharing with us.
Fran
Regina
Hope you enjoyed it!
Candess@UnsafeFoods
This looks so good! I can't wait to try it this week! Your photos are amazing by the way.
Regina
Thank you SOO much Candess! I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as the pictures 😉
johanne
What a gorgeous photos! Warm peanut sauce is lovely, pairing it with red rice is genius!
Regina
Yes, I love this bowl a LOT! The sauce is great with so many things too
Samantha
Really loved this peanut curry coconut sauce!
Regina
It's my absolute favorite too!
Val
Is this a low fat recipe
Regina
I doubt it. I don't count calories/avoid fat so I don't really calculate nutritional information. But because of the peanut butter I doubt it is low fat. Maybe something like PB2 powder could be use in place?
val
Wow, this was so good!
Regina
Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to leave your great feedback
Susan
Sorry but according to the ingredients, the Curry paste you linked to contains Shrimp paste, making it non-vegan.
Regina
Thanks for pointing it out Susan. I'll be sure to link to a vegan red curry paste as well
Michelle
OK the peanut sauce is to die for. it was awesome and we most likely used way more than we should have! We did our own toppings for the red rice (roasted sweet potatoes, pears, avocado, black beans, chickpeas and corn) but it was the sauce that made it complete. Awesome recipe!
Regina
Thanks for this awesome feedback Michelle!! And I couldn't agree more on the amazingness of this sauce. Your rice toppings sound fantastic too.
Abby
This is a really great idea for a buddha bowl. I made it on a much smaller scale. I omitted the coconut sugar (and used PB with no added sugar or sweetners) and it didn't suffer at all. There really is no need for so much sugar. Thank you for the base, I will make again!
Regina
Great to hear you enjoyed the sauce without any sugar as well. But there really isn't that much sugar in this recipe - only 1/4 cup and it makes more sauce than is needed for 2 servings. And I also only recommend using all-natural peanut butter (nothing but peanuts and maybe a little salt).
Sofie Henriksson
Hi! Awesome recipe, i do the sauce for my lazy spaghetti days. But i never get it to get thick, it's always runny 🙁 What am i doing wrong? I even skip the water but does close to no difference. After i've had it in the fridge and eat it the next day it's perfect. Pls help it's so delicious <3
Regina
Hi Sofie, my sauce is also always runny while it is still warm. Only once it cools down it gets thicker. I guess that is mainly due to the coconut milk and peanut butter which each are thicker/harder when cold. Maybe you could reduce the amount of coconut milk, if you want to try to achive a thicker warm sauce?
Jen
Love it!
Regina
Thank you Jen 🙂
Kate
Oh oh oh, I am making this so very soon. YUM! I have been trying to find more meal-salads and this will be added to the list!
One question, just curious, if I only happen to have sweetened peanut butter in the house and want to use it up, can I use that and just cut out the coconut sugar? Or should I still put some coconut sugar in, just not as much?
Thanks!
Regina
I've never tried it with sweetened peanut butter. But if I had to, I wouldn't add any additional sugar. My guess is, that it will already be sweeter than this version of natural pb with coconut sugar. But should you feel it needs more sweetness, you could always add it in later. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Katherines Corner
I enjoyed my visit to your delicious blog. I invite you to share at my Thursday Blog hop this week. Hugs!
Amy
I one ate something similar, it was really good, thanks!
Bethany @ Athletic Avocado
This buddha bowl is everything I ever wanted and more! I have never tried red rice but I need to find it ASAP!
Regina
Yes! You've GOT to try it. I really think it's the BEST!
Angie@Angie's Recipes
I too love red rice! This is a fantastic buddha bowl..wonderful flavour and colour!
Regina
Isn't red rice just the best?
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Red rice is fantastic!! I love the extra bite/chew it has!
And anytime you add a peanut sauce..yum! Love all the coconut milk too!
Regina
Can never get enough of this peanut sauce!!!