Peanut Chickpea Veggie Buddha Bowls

Fluffy white rice, garlicky sautéed kale and 5 minute Thai peanut chickpeas, this is an easy and incredibly quick veggie buddha bowl! Perfect for a simple dinner or lunch on the go!

Anything involving chickpeas is always popular around here, so I don’t know why it took me so long to think of Thai peanut chickpeas! They’re easy, saucy, full of flavor and perfect for meal prep.

Plus, this whole recipe is ready to eat in about 20 minutes, so if you have some of my jasmine rice prepped or use frozen rice, you’ll have dinner on the table in no time!

All it involves is making a batch of my popular Thai peanut sauce, heating it up with some chickpeas and serving it over garlicky sautéed kale, fresh white rice, avocado and any other veggies you can think of.

I love steamed broccoli, julienned carrots, sweet potato or even arugula. Easy, versatile, and ready in just 20 minutes. This veggie buddha bowl is a win, win, win.

We have so many buddha bowl recipes on the blog already, so you have to try my General Tso’s Chickpeas, poke bowl or sushi bowl next!

Key Ingredients

Chickpeas. Chickpeas are my favorite in buddha bowls. I don’t recommend another kind of bean here because the more firm texture of chickpeas works really well with the sauce!

Peanut Sauce. My go to peanut sauce for everything and anything! It’s so easy to make and pairs so well with these chickpeas.

Kale. The kale is quickly sauteed with garlic and olive oil for a lot of flavor. Plus, cooking it this way makes it a lot easier to digest!

Jasmine Rice. I love using my instant pot jasmine rice, but if you’re in a pinch, frozen white or brown rice will also work! Quinoa or millet are also great in buddha bowls.

How to make a buddha bowl

First, prepare the peanut sauce if you haven’t already. It’s super easy to make, just a matter of whisking together a few pantry staple ingredients. I suggest leaving it on the thicker side for this recipe.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to a pan on the stove.

Add in the peanut sauce, adding as much or as little as you like. I usually end up doing about 1/3 cup and saving some more for drizzling on the final bowls.

Heat over low heat for about 5 minutes, allowing the sauce to cook into the chickpeas. This really brings out a lot of flavor!

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and add to a second pan with the olive oil. Saute until golden.

Add in the chopped and de-stemmed kale and saute until dark green and wilted, this will only take a couple of minutes.

Remove from heat. Once the chickpeas are done, serve with the kale on top of a bed of rice along with the avocado.

Drizzle with additional peanut sauce & enjoy! I also love some fresh chopped chives and red pepper flakes for additional spice, but the choice is yours.

Should I serve it hot or cold?

Buddha bowls in general can be served either hot or cold, but this one in particular I suggest serving hot.

It’s still delicious cold, so it’s perfect for a grab and go kind of lunch, but if you’re making it fresh, hot from the pan is my favorite way to enjoy this chickpea veggie buddha bowl!

Does it keep well?

Yes! Once prepared, the chickpeas will keep in an air tight container in the fridge for about 3-5 days. I suggest reheating on the stove with a splash of oil.

The kale is best served fresh, but it only takes about 5 minutes to make so it’s easy to whip up right before serving.

Do you need to cook canned chickpeas?

Nope! Canned chickpeas are already cooked, so all you need to do is drain and rinse them and you’re good to go.

If you have chickpeas that you’ve already cooked from dried, you will need 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas for every can in this recipe.

Try these next!

• Peanut Tofu
• Orange Chickpeas
• Peanut Tempeh
• Peanut Cauliflower Wings

If you make this recipe, don’t forget to subscribe to newsletter and tag me on instagram so I can see your creation! Leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out!