Made with plant-based chicken in just 30 minutes, these vegan tex Mex bowls are sure to be a new favorite weeknight dinner option! These delicious bowls are loaded up with rice, roasted vegetables, seasoned plant-based chicken, and fresh tomatoes.
Cooking dinner for our small family of 3 can sometimes get a little complicated since we are all on different diets: vegan, vegetarian, and low carb. Can anyone else relate?!
That is why I love coming up with healthy vegan bowl meals that we can serve deconstructed and let everyone choose their own components. These vegan Tex Mex bowls are a new favorite!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Customizable: Allow everyone in your family to assemble their own bowls so they can include just their favorite toppings and components.
- Meal Prep Friendly: You can easily prep the components of this bowl in advance so that you can cut down the prep time the night you serve it.
- Diet & Allergen Friendly: this recipe is vegan, dairy free, and egg free. It can easily be made gluten free, just use a plant-based chicken that is made from soy or pea protein instead of gluten.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Plant-Based Chicken: we have made this with a couple different plant-based chicken products on the market; the lightly seasoned chick’n from Tofurky and this one from Abbot’s Butcher. Both turned out great! If you don’t want to use a plant-based chicken, rehydrated soy curls would be a great option as well as beans like black beans or pinto beans.
- Veggies: while you prep all the different components for these bowls, you’ll want to roast some veggies in the oven. We like to do a combination of zucchini, onion, and bell pepper. Corn and summer squash also go well with this recipe.
- Green Enchilada Sauce: this adds all the flavor to the plant-based chicken. We just buy it from the store, but if you like – you can also make your own.
- Spices: to add flavor to the roasted veggies, you’ll toss them in some cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder. Feel free to add other spices as well like chili powder or paprika.
- Rice: we like to serve these bowls with white rice (I use minute rice so it cooks up quick!). However, you can sub any other grain that you like such as brown rice or quinoa. You could even use a cauliflower rice if you want to make a low carb version.
How to Make Tex Mex Bowls
Step One: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the veggies to a sheet pan and toss in the olive oil and spices (cumin, garlic, onion, paprika, sea salt). Bake until tender, about 25-30 minutes.
Step Two: While the veggies bake, add the oil, vegan chicken, and garlic powder to a large skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until golden and then stir in enchilada sauce. Bring to a simmer to thicken a bit then remove from heat. Cook your rice and chop any toppings. Assemble your bowls!
Recipe Notes:
- Meal Prep: if you want to cut down on the prep time the night you plan to serve these bowls, you can pre-cook your rice and pre-chop all the veggies. You can also prep the vegan chicken in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge. To serve, just reheat in a skillet and then add to your bowls.
- Swap enchilada sauces: we like to use green enchilada sauce for these bowls, but red enchilada sauce is also delicious! Just substitute the same amount of red sauce for the green sauce in the recipe.
Recipe FAQs
No, green salsa is not cooked like green enchilada sauce so it has a different flavor profile. I recommend using enchilada sauce for these vegan tex mex burrito bowls.
The spice level for both red and green enchilada sauces vary from mild to vary spicy based on the ingredients used. Most canned enchilada sauce you can buy in the store will be labelled by spice level.
Yes! You can use either red or green enchilada sauce in this recipe.
What to Serve with Tex Mex Bowls
We like to serve these tex mex burrito bowls with cooked rice for the base of the bowl and then top them with: avocado slices (or homemade vegan guacamole), hot sauce (Cholula is our favorite), vegan sour cream, fresh cilantro, chopped cherry tomatoes (or pico de gallo), pickled red onion, and fresh cilantro. I didn’t add it this time, but you could also serve tin some corn and corn chips or tortilla strips for crunch.
Add a lime wedge to squeeze some fresh lime juice on top when serving to brighten up all the flavors with a hint of acidity. To drink, might I suggest these strawberry mint margaritas?
Storage and Reheating
- Storage: store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze leftovers in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: you can reheat leftovers from the fridge for 1-2 minutes in the microwave or add it to a skillet to reheat. If frozen, allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
More Vegan Tex Mex Recipes
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Vegan Tex Mex Bowl
Ingredients
For the Veggies
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small zucchini, sliced
- 2 bell peppers, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
For the Vegan Chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 package (8 oz) vegan chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 can (10 oz) green enchilada sauce
For the Bowls
- 3 servings rice
- Avocado, cilantro, pickled red onion, hot sauce, vegan sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the veggies to a sheet pan and toss in the olive oil and spices (cumin, garlic, onion, paprika, sea salt). Bake until tender, about 25-30 minutes.
- While the veggies bake, add the oil, vegan chicken, and garlic powder to a skillet. Saute until golden and then stir in enchilada sauce. Bring to a simmer to thicken a bit then remove from heat.
- Assemble your bowls with rice, veggies, vegan chicken, and any toppings you desire. Enjoy!
Notes
- Low Carb Option: use cauliflower rice instead of white rice for the base of your bowl.
- Leftovers: you can store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a skillet on the stovetop.
- Nutrition facts do not include toppings.
Nutrition
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