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Home Recipes Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl with Honey Lime Dressing
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Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl with Honey Lime Dressing

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A filling plant based meal using simple whole foods and some adobo seasoning makes for one delicious Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl. Top with a homemade honey lime dressing and this bowl will be on repeat! Packed with protein and fiber.

southwest quinoa power bowl with quinoa, avocado, black beans, onion, sweet potato, bell pepper and kale with creamy lime dressing, avocado halves and linen towel under bowl

Power Bowl Meal Prep

A Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl recipes that’s packed with veggies and flavor!

What is a Power Bowl?

Basically, it’s your perfect balance of protein, grains, veggies and fat. That’s what gives you the power to tackle just about anything – even tidying up!

I really like to pack in a TON of vegetables because plants are full of nutrition. And depending on your grains and dressing ingredients, this bowl can be made gluten and dairy-free!

Ingredients You’ll Need

The list of ingredients may look long here, but there are a few components this power bowl recipe – the bowl and the dressing.

Trust me, your effort will be worth it!

quinoa, bell pepper, sweet potato, southwest seasoning, olive oil, onion, black beans, cilantro, avocado on board with text labels

Power Bowl

  • quinoa
  • favorite southwest seasoning (I used adobo)
  • olive oil
  • sweet potato
  • onion
  • black beans
  • red bell pepper
  • avocado

You can of course customize this bowl to your liking, using different vegetables, whatever you have on hand, make use of leftovers from taco night, etc.

Honey Lime Dressing

This honey lime dressing is amazing and all you need are these simple ingredients:

  • coconut milk (plain yogurt also works)
  • honey (or agave if strictly vegan)
  • lime
  • olive oil
  • sea salt

olive oil, lime, sea salt, coconut milk and honey on board with text labels

How to Make a Power Bowl

It’s super simple and another great idea for some meal prep! This makes the best thrown together, easy quick meal, especially if you have the sweet potatoes, onions and quinoa cooked beforehand.

red bell pepper, chopped sweet potatoes, and onion in cast iron skillet

Just a Few Simple Steps

  • Make the quinoa and let cool.
  • Prep the veggies.
  • Make the dressing.
  • Mix everything together.

While this recipe was made for about 2-3 servings, keep in mind you could easily double all the ingredients and have yourself a healthy, plant-based meal for a family of four or so.

Instant Pot Quinoa

I used my Instant Pot to prep the quinoa, which not only saves some time but now you get bonus points for the pot of quinoa not boiling over while attending to the veggies. Seriously I swear it happens every time and the Instant Pot saves me. 

TO COOK: Place 1 cup rinsed quinoa in Instant Pot with 1 1/2 cups water or broth. Cook on high for one minute, natural release pressure for 10 minutes. Unlock lid, stir and done!

two power bowls with sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, avocado, quinoa and kale next to dressing pitcher and avocado half

Ways to Enjoy

You can eat this power bowl chilled if you’ve made it ahead of time.

You can also warm it up before eating it.

It would also make a great filler for tacos, or added into a bowl of greens for more of a quinoa bowl recipes.

Storing

Quinoa power bowls are one of my go-to healthy meal prep recipes because they last a full week in the fridge. The dressing can be mixed in or stored separately.

This recipe keeps best refrigerated in an airtight container in the fridge, and used within 7 days. 

I hope you enjoy this Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl as much as we did!

fork in bowl with sweet potatoes, quinoa, black beans, bell pepper, kale and avocado

Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and review here on the blog! I love seeing what you’ve made. Xx Ashley

Print

Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl with Honey Lime Dressing

two power bowls with sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, avocado, quinoa and kale next to dressing pitcher and avocado half
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 8 reviews

A filling plant-based meal using simple whole foods and some adobo seasoning makes for one delicious Southwest Quinoa Power Bowl. Top with a healthy, homemade honey lime dressing and this bowl will be on repeat! Packed with protein and fiber, plus gluten-free, and dairy-free friendly.

  • Author: Ashley
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 2 bowls 1x
  • Category: entree
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: Mexican-American
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale

For the bowls

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1/4 teaspoon adobo seasoning (or a southwest flavor seasoning)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet potato, chopped
  • 1/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 medium avocado, sliced
  • cilantro for garnish
  • 2 cups curly kale, massaged with olive oil (or your choice of greens) 

Honey Lime Dressing

  • 4 tablespoons canned coconut milk*
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • juice of 1 lime, about 3 tablespoons
  • 1 tablespoon raw honey (or agave if strictly vegan)
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt, or more to taste

Instructions

  1. COOK QUINOA: Rinse quinoa in fine mesh strainer and place in small pot of water with 1 1/2 cups of water. Allow pot to come to a boil, add in your seasoning and simmer for about 15 minutes, until quinoa is tender and water has mostly gone.
  2. COOK SWEET POTATOES: While the quinoa is cooking, cook your chopped sweet potato and onion in medium pan with olive oil. Add salt and pepper, or more seasoning if you wish. Cook on medium heat until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Option to add sliced bell peppers for about 5 minutes to soften.
  3. MAKE DRESSING: In a medium bowl whisk together all ingredients.
  4. ASSEMBLE BOWLS: Distribute quinoa, kale, potatoes and onions, black beans, bell pepper, and sliced avocado in bowls. Dress with honey lime dressing and garnish with cilantro if you wish, enjoy!

Notes

*can sub plain greek yogurt for coconut milk if not dairy-free. Feel free to double ingredients for full-sized family meal! Store any leftover ingredients in airtight container in fridge up to 5 days.

Nutrition does not include dressing.

Honey Lime Dressing= 80 calories, 3 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbs, 9 grams of sugar.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 bowl
  • Calories: 435
  • Sugar: 8
  • Sodium: 727mg
  • Fat: 16
  • Saturated Fat: 2
  • Unsaturated Fat: 13g
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 58
  • Fiber: 15
  • Protein: 13
  • Cholesterol: 0mg

Keywords: quinoa power bowl, southwest bowl, meal prep recipes

About Ashley

"Ashley Walterhouse is the founder of Fit Mitten Kitchen, based in the Greater Lansing Area of Michigan, AKA “the Mitten.” Ashley grew up as a picky eater but later discovered that eating healthy was actually easy and fun. She started FMK in 2015 as a way to share her newfound love of developing healthier recipes for all to enjoy."

Reader Interactions

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  1. Vicky says

    Hi. Are you referring to canned coconut milk for the dressing or in the container like an almond milk? Thanks.

    Reply

  2. Vicky says

    Hi. Are you referring to canned coconut milk for the dressing or from a carton, like an almond milk? Thanks.

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      Hi there! Canned coconut milk is going to give you a thicker dressing and better consistency 🙂 Although carton coconut milk can be used, it just wont be as thick. I would suggest using canned if possible.

      Reply

  3. Jen says

    This recipe is wonderful. My 5.5 yo gobbles it up and my husband said he could eat it for lunch and dinner every day for a month. I typically omit extra salt from my cooking, and our palates didn’t miss the omission here. I use a homemade Sazon as my southwestern seasoning for this recipe. After tossing the sweet potato cubes (have also used pumpkin) with the olive oil and Sazon, I roast it in the oven. I’ll also toss the onion and bell pepper with oil and Sazon, and I add them to roast once the sweet potatoes are soft/before they start browning. Then, I let everything roast until dark golden. We serve all of it over spinach, and it makes a delicious salad. Thanks for the recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      Jen, thank you so much for letting me know! I am so glad it is a household favorite for your family. And thank you for sharing your tips on prepping the veggies! It helps other readers out too 🙂 <3

      Reply

  4. kristine says

    This is one of my go-to dishes. Even the picky hubby loves it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. Gail says

    Love everything about the recipe, except the dressing. It was so sickly sweet and I only add 1/2 of the honey. Tried to salvage by adding some cilantro/garlic/jalapeno to tone down the sweetness. Didn’t work, had to throw it out!

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      Hi Gail,

      Sorry to hear you didn’t care for the dressing – everyone’s taste buds are different but adding some more salt and cutting back on the honey could help.

      Reply

  8. Nicole says

    I am obsessed with this bowl! I make it all the time for work. Keeps me full and gives me energy for 12 hour shifts. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  9. Jodi Wood says

    This was seriously one of the best recipes I have ever cooked. It tasted like I ordered it from a restaurant. Will definitely make again.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  10. Annick says

    This recipe turned out so delicious! My whole family loved it, and it’s great for meal prep! And the dressing really takes it up to another level!

    ★★★★★

    Reply