Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa Nourish Bowl
This Butternut Squash Quinoa Bowl is hearty and warming thanks to the roasted vegetables and vegan hot “honey” dressing. Easy to make for any occasion and delicious hot or cold.
The Perfect Bowl to Welcome Fall
While I’m not the biggest fan of the weather change, I must say that the recipes this time of year tend to be my favorite. I thrive on warm foods, and while I eat them regularly throughout the year, nothing beats a bowl of some seasonal produce in the fall.
So here we are with another yummy bowl of roasted butternut squash with quinoa, extra veggies and tofu. All the fall produce makes this nice and hearty while also providing the best flavor. Butternut squash right now provides a nice lightly sweet taste when it’s roasted along with the other vegetables. And on top of that this bowl is complete and packed with so much nutrition. Vegan like always, but gluten-free and nut-free as well. Also, perfect for those times you have some extra quinoa leftover.
Nourishing Yourself with One Bowl
I made this recipe straight forward to help make visualizing a balanced vegan plate super easy. I also wanted to show you some of the valuable nutrients you’d be getting from each component of your bowl.
Protein: Our main sources coming from both the tofu and quinoa. A serving of this bowl provides about 14-15 grams of protein.
Fiber: This meal is fiber rich thanks to the quinoa and vegetables here.
Beta-Carotene: Comes from that beautiful orange hue of the butternut squash and is a powerful antioxidant associated with lower cancer risk.
Key Ingredients and Swaps
- Butternut Squash: Provides a little mellow sweetness to this savory dish, but sweet potatoes work perfectly for this recipe as well.
- Broccoli: I love broccoli a lot, but I get it, you might not be a fan. Feel free to replace with another vegetable favorite like cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, zucchini, etc.
- Onions: I used red onion to keep it colorful, but definitely use what you prefer.
- Herbs: This dish is herb heavy and leans into things like dry oregano, coriander, fennel seeds and thyme.
- Hot “Honey” Dressing: This dressing is nice and tangy with just 5 super easy ingredients. Maple syrup, roasted garlic, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, and a splash of soy sauce.
- Tofu: Our protein of choice here. You can use my super basic tofu recipe, which you can find here, or feel free to use a pre-marinated block of tofu if desired to save time. You can also opt to add thawed edamame at the end or your favorite bean.
- Quinoa: While this recipe is made for quinoa, it’s very easy to replace with a different grain all together and I have some ideas listed below.
How to Make this Butternut Squash Quinoa Bowl
Make your quinoa. Prep your quinoa according to the package.
Prep the tofu. Add your tofu, soy sauce and nutritional yeast to an airtight container, seal and shake to coat.
Roast your veggies and tofu. To a sheet pan, add your veggies along with your oil and herbs. Give everything a good mix to coat and place in the oven along with your tofu. Make sure everything is spread out well on the pans so that everything roasts evenly. Wrap some garlic drizzled with oil in a small piece of foil and place on the end of the pan. Bake everything in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Make your sauce. Take your roasted garlic cloves and place in the container that you marinated your tofu. Mash the garlic and add your remaining sauce ingredients and whisk really well.
Assemble your bowl. Add the quinoa, veggies, and tofu to a bowl. Drizzle your sauce overtop and give everything a good toss to coat, then serve.
Tips for Making This Quinoa Bowl
- To save some time, feel free to use some pre-cooked quinoa, pre-diced butternut squash and a block of pre-marinated tofu. Pre-cooked quinoa is pretty easy to find on the shelves and even in the freezer section of your grocery store in the US. If you’re not a fan of cutting butternut squash, you can also get cubed squash from your produce section as well as some marinated tofu, which can help save time.
- Make your quinoa flavorful. While this will still taste great with regular water, you can cook your quinoa in the same amount of vegetable broth for more flavor.
- Dice the veggies into small pieces. To make sure everything cooks evenly and quickly, dicing the butternut squash and broccoli into small pieces will speed up the cooking time. I generally aim for 1/2 inch butternut squash cubes and 1 inch florets.
Frequently Asked Questions
This meal is perfect to make ahead of time. Roast your veggies and mix with the quinoa and tofu. Mix together your dressing ingredients, but store the dressing and the quinoa mix in separate air tight containers for up to 4-5 days. When ready to serve, you can add the dressing in.
If you are not a fan of quinoa or do not have access to it, this recipe can also work with couscous, rice (I love Forbidden Rice especially for this), millet, or cooked barley.
You can find my tips for cooking fluffy quinoa in my Quinoa Veggie Bowl post. The ratio is 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. I have timed cooking my quinoa, and typically with this method it cooks perfectly at about 13-14 minutes, but it can range depending on your stove top. Once the cooking time elapses, remove from heat and keep the lid on for an extra 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
This quinoa bowl is great hot or cold. If I’m reheating this, I often will pop it in the microwave to heat up for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. But this is also a perfect cold prep salad that tastes just as good.
More Recipes with Butternut Squash
Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa Nourish Bowl
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Butternut Squash Quinoa Bowl is hearty and warming thanks to the roasted vegetables and vegan hot “honey” dressing. Easy to make for any occasion and delicious hot or cold.
Ingredients
For the Sheet Pan
- 1 block (450 g) extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed
- 1 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
- 1/2 medium red onion, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme (destemmed) or 1/2 tsp dry thyme
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
For the Hot “Honey” Mustard Dressing
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp mild or spicy hot sauce
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, gluten-free
For the Bowl
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- Fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F and prepare one large baking sheet or two smaller sheet pans by lining it with parchment paper. Then start cooking your quinoa by placing your quinoa in a sauce pan with 2 cups of water or vegetable broth. Bring to boil, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid for 10-15 minutes or according to your package instructions. Once cooked, keep the lid on for an additional 5 minutes to steam, then fluff with a fork.
- To an airtight container with a lid, add your tofu with the soy sauce and nutritional yeast. Seal the lid, give it a careful shake to coat the tofu evenly and set aside.
- To the sheet pan, add your butternut squash, broccoli and onions. Drizzle with oil and top with all your herbs then toss together to coat and spread it out evenly on the sheet pan. Place two peeled garlic cloves on a small piece of foil with a small drizzle of oil and wrap it tightly in the foil. Then place the wrapped garlic on one end of the pan.
- Place tofu on the sheet pan, spreading them out so they don’t touch and then place the sheet pan(s) in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Once the garlic is cooked, add to the same container you made your tofu in and mash really well. Add your remaining sauce ingredients and whisk together really well.
- Now assemble the bowl when ready to serve. Add your quinoa to the bowl, your roasted veggies, the tofu and then the sauce. Gently toss everything together and enjoy.
Notes
To save some time, feel free to use some pre-cooked quinoa, pre-diced butternut squash and a block of pre-marinated tofu. Pre-cooked quinoa is pretty easy to find on the shelves and even in the freezer section of your grocery store in the US. If you’re not a fan of cutting butternut squash, you can also get cubed squash from your produce section as well as some marinated tofu, which can help save time.
Make your quinoa flavorful. While this will still taste great with regular water, you can cook your quinoa in the same amount of vegetable broth for more flavor.
Dice the veggies into small pieces. To make sure everything cooks evenly and quickly, dicing the butternut squash and broccoli into small pieces will speed up the cooking time. I generally aim for 1/2 inch butternut squash cubes and 1 inch florets.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
Delicious and easy!
Perfect throughout the year!
Easy to use varied veggies .
Always love a versatile meal. Thank you so so much for making this Chaya! Made my day to hear. 🙂
Hello Catherine,
We (my 8 year old twin daughters and I) loved this recipe, so tasty 😋😍😍
I love the fennel in it!
Used exactly the amounts as the recipe stated, just doubled the amounts for the sauce so that we each had 3tbsp sauce, that turned out to be perfect 🙂.
We had half the quinoa left over, but we can use that for another recipe I’ll be making today or tomorrow (https://plantbasedrdblog.com/2021/10/chopped-kale-salad).
Thank you Catherine for sharing this recipe 😘.
Greetings,
👩👧👧 Savitri and twin daughters
The Netherlands
Hello Catherine,
We (my 8 year old twin daughters and I) loved this recipe, so tasty 😋😍😍
I love the fennel in it!
Used exactly the amounts as the recipe stated, just doubled the amounts for the sauce so that we each had 3 tbsp sauce, that turned out to be perfect 🙂.
We had half the quinoa left over, but we can use that for another recipe I’ll be making today or tomorrow (https://plantbasedrdblog.com/2021/10/chopped-kale-salad).
Thank you Catherine for sharing this recipe 😘.
Greetings,
👩👧👧 Savitri and twin daughters
The Netherlands
Savitri, thank you so so much for this beautiful comment! It means a lot to get something like this and even better when I know that both you and your family were able to enjoy this meal. Thank you for your kindness! 🙂