Tempeh Rice Bowls with Amazing Curry Sauce
Make these tempeh rice bowls with amazing curry sauce for the vegan bowl of your dreams! This meal is rich in protein, fiber, antioxidants, and flavor.
“This curry bowl is delicious and comes together so quickly. I used both marinated tempeh and tofu air fried. I subbed soy milk for the coconut milk and it was still a delicious sauce. I’ll definitely be making this on the repeat. Thank you for the recipe!”– Lisa
A customizable bowl just might be the perfect meal in my opinion. I have a popular sushi bowl with spicy mayo recipe on my site, and this is a similar recipe but has hearty tempeh in it and a curry sauce instead of the spicy mayo. Both recipes are delicious and I recommend you try them both!
A few reasons to make these delicious bowls
- They boast 20 grams of plant protein before you even add the grain (rice or quinoa)! Adding a cup of brown rice or quinoa would be 5-8 grams more protein.
- You can customize them depending on family preferences so everyone is happy. My kids just eat the sweet potato, grain, and tempeh. My husband and I want everything. You can add so many other ingredients, like leafy greens in the base, avocado slices, chopped mango, edamame, chopped cucumber.
- It’s a gorgeous meal with lots of color, but uses mainly winter ingredients. No need to wait for summer for colorful in-season produce!
- The curry sauce is quickly made in the blender and is so yummy! It can be made nut-free if needed by using sunflower seeds.
What makes the curry sauce AMAZING?!
The flavor of this curry sauce and how quick it is to make is what makes it amazing! You don’t have to heat anything on the stove or even mince garlic. You just put some simple ingredients into the blender, and out pours smooth and flavorful curry sauce that levels up any ingredients it slathers!
Ingredient Substitutions & Variations
Tempeh or Tofu?
You can use either tempeh or tofu here. I love the nuttiness of tempeh in this dish, but sometimes I have a hard time finding tempeh near me since I live in in meat-and-potato central (Idaho, haha!). If you prefer to use tofu, try to get super firm tofu. Marinate it in the liquid and pan-fry it or air-fry as indicated in the recipe for the tempeh.
Cashews or Sunflower Seeds in the Curry Sauce?
Either work! If you don’t have a high-speed blender, soak the raw cashews OR sunflower seeds in hot water for at least 10 minutes before blending the sauce so it’s blends smoothly.
FAQ
Is the curry sauce spicy?
You can control the spiciness by using more or less curry paste. I usually use the Thai Kitchen brand of curry paste as it’s naturally vegan (many other brands contain shrimp) and most widely-available. Once I made a curry dish for friends though and branched out and used a more authentic curry paste. It was three times the heat level and super spicy, I felt so bad for our guests who were downing water. So, if you’re using the Thai Kitchen brand and following the recipe as written, it is NOT spicy, just a great flavor.
Can I make this in advance?
One of the beauties of this meal is it can all be made in advance! I recommend fresh hot rice if you’re serving a crowd, but otherwise it can all be reheated. It’s a great meal prep recipe because you will WANT to eat it for days straight!
Can I make this oil-free?
Yes! This tempeh rice bowl is naturally oil-free. You can spray the sweet potatoes with oil before baking them for extra crispiness and camelization, or not. You can oil your skillet before sauteeing the tempeh, or not. It’s personal preference. The curry sauce uses whole food sources of fat (coconut and cashews), not oil.
Is this bowl gluten-free?
It is naturally 100% gluten-free.
How can I make this as simple and quick to make as possible?
To make this meal as easy as possible, buy pre-grated carrots, pre-shredded purple cabbage, and pre-chopped sweet potato cubes!
More Bowl Recipes
I love a good bowl meal, and if you do, too, check these other recipes out!
Sweet Potato Chickpea Rice Bowl with Tahini Sauce
Sweet Potato Black Bean Bowls with Chipotle Sauce
Cauliflower Burrito Bowls with Cilantro Chimichurri
If you love protein-rich plant based recipes like this, you would love my Protein-Rich Recipes e-book! It’s been thoroughly tested and approved by recipe testers of many ages and circumstances.
Tempeh Rice Bowls with Amazing Curry Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked rice or quinoa
- 1 or 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1-2 cups shredded purple cabbage (I buy this pre-shredded)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 2-3 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
Tempeh Marinade
- 1 8-oz package tempeh (or use super firm tofu)
- 2 TBSP soy sauce or tamari
- 1 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
Curry Sauce
- 1/2 cup raw cashews or sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk (light or regular)
- 2 TBSP soy sauce or tamari
- 1 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 TBSP red curry paste (or green or yellow)-- Thai Kitchen Brand is what I use, if you use other brands they may be spicier and you should start with less
Instructions
- Cook the rice or quinoa if you haven't already.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees if you'd like to bake the sweet potato. Otherwise, you can microwave or air fry it.
- Prepare the tempeh by chopping it into 1/2 inch cubes and boiling it for 10 minutes. You can skip this step if time is short. It reduces any bitterness of tempeh but is not necessary.
- In a shallow bowl, mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, and maple syrup. Let the tempeh cubes marinate for 10 minutes. If substituting super firm tofu, cut it into cubes and let the tofu marinate in the same mixture.
- Chop the sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Alternatively, you can microwave the whole sweet potato for 5-6 minutes. Once cool enough to handly, slice in half lengthwise, cut it into cubes and scrape it out of the skin.
- Chop bell pepper, grate carrot, slice green onions and chop cilantro.
- Cook tempeh (or tofu) in a frying pan with the rest of the sauce in the bowl on medium heat for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Use a spritz of oil if your pan needs it before cooking. Add a little water to prevent burning if needed. Tempeh or tofu can also be air fried for about 10 minutes until golden brown.
- To serve, combine in a bowl: rice or quinoa, purple cabbage, sweet potato cubes, bell pepper, tempeh, cilantro and green onion. Drizzle the curry sauce liberally on top.
To make the curry sauce (this can be done in advance)
- Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Add a tablespoon of water or more coconut milk if needed to help it blend.
- If you make this recipe and enjoy it, please come back and leaving a rating and review! Thank you so much!
Notes
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To quote my husband, “this is amazing, like I’d order this at a restaurant good.” The flavors go wonderfully together and I have eaten a few bites of the sauce plain because it’s just that good.
Yay! I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks so much for the star rating and comment!
How have I missed making this?! I decided to make it because visitors were coming to dinner, and, wow, it is so good! AND so healthy! I love that there are so many vegetables. Everyone loves to customize his own plate, and this is the perfect dish for that.
This curry bowl is delicious and comes together so quickly. I used both marinated tempeh and tofu air fried. I subbed soy milk for the coconut milk and it was still a delicious sauce. I’ll definitely be making this on the repeat. Thank you for the recipe!
So helpful about the soy milk for less saturated fat! Thank you, Lisa!