Looking for a quick, healthy and flavorful dinner or meal prep recipe? Try these easy vegan Spring Roll Bowls with crispy tofu, avocado
Busy weeknights call for quick and easy dinners, but there's no need to skimp on flavor. We're huge advocates of bowl dinners because they're easy to throw together. Plus, we can use up leftover produce and pantry ingredients.
Dinner bowls are also very customizable. Basically all you need is a grain or carbohydrate, a protein, some form of healthy fat and all of the vegetables you can possibly fit. The more vegetables you add, the more colorful, satisfying and nutritionally beneficial your dinner will be.
Plus, the veggies in these vegan spring roll bowls are raw, which helps this dinner come together in less than 30 minutes. Bonus: raw vegetables means less clean up, which is always a plus in my book!
Meal prep
While these make for an excellent dinner, they're also a great option for vegan meal prep. This recipe calls for rice noodles, but if you're prepping ahead of time, I suggest swapping with white or brown rice. Cooked rice stores much better than cooked noodles, and it's super easy to whip up a big batch.
Once you have your grain base ready, simply prep all of the vegetables and tofu as instructed below. Store the rice and undressed veggies and tofu (except avocado) in an airtight container.
Prep the sesame miso dressing separately and store in another container. Bring along the avocado separately and slice when ready to eat. Shake (or stir) up the dressing before pouring over the bowl and enjoy at your desk or on-the-go!
Note: the tofu won't be quite as crispy if it sits in the container overnight, but it still tastes great.
Toppings
For this Asian-inspired bowl, we used a base of rice noodles, which you can find at just about any grocery store. (They're typically in the Asian foods section.) It doesn't matter if you use brown or white rice noodles - totally up to you!
Additionally, as we mentioned above, you can also swap rice noodles for regular rice. Soba noodles would work perfectly fine, too!
Crispy tofu is the main vegan protein in these spring roll bowls. Start out by pressing your tofu with a heavy object for 30 minutes to remove as much moisture as possible. The less moisture, the crispier the tofu!
We prefer to crisp up our tofu in the oven. A light coating of arrowroot or corn starch makes a big difference when it comes to crispiness. You can also crisp them in a fry pan on your stove top which will require a bit more oil and probably more mess to clean up, but they'll still taste great.
Other essential toppings include avocado, a sesame miso dressing, and a rainbow of crunchy vegetables.
Oh, and plenty of crushed peanuts for crunch - yum!
The vegan sesame miso dressing highlights all of the flavors. It's best to toss the noodles in some of the dressing before plating to prevent them from getting too sticky. The dressing comes together in just a minute or two - simply shake everything in a (closed) jar, or whisk until well combined.
If you want to switch up the dressing, you could also use the miso tahini dressing from this recipe. I'm a HUGE fan of tahini, so I like to use it as much as possible. It's the perfect creamy complement to crunchy, raw vegetables and super crispy tofu!
Need a few more easy weeknight bowl dinner ideas?
Try these:
- Vegan Burrito Bowls. Like Chipotle, but better. And 100% vegan!
- Savory Vegan Oatmeal with Mushrooms, Kale and Avocado. Who says oatmeal is just a breakfast food? This bowl will convince you otherwise.
- Vegan Sushi Bowls with Miso Tahini Sauce. These have a cauliflower rice base, plenty of fresh vegetables and a creamy tahini sauce.
- Mediterranean Salad with Falafel and Crispy Chickpeas. Technically a salad, but homemade falafel patties turn it into a full meal.
- Pulled Jackfruit Bowls via Lazy Cat Kitchen. These look fantastic!
- Spicy Satay Power Bowls via Choosing Chia. Spicy satay tofu?! I'm in!
We hope you give these other easy recipes a try after enjoying your vegan spring roll bowls!
📖 Recipe
Spring Roll Bowls with Crispy Tofu
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Looking for a quick, healthy and flavorful dinner recipe? Try these Spring Roll Bowls with Crispy Tofu, Avocado and a Sesame Miso Dressing! Vegan, gluten free and on the table in 30 minutes when prepped ahead of time.
Ingredients
- 1 package rice noodles, cooked according to package directions
- 12 oz package extra firm tofu
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp arrowroot or corn starch
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 mini cucumbers, sliced thinly
- 2-3 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
- ½ cup purple (red) cabbage, sliced thinly
- 1 small mango, peeled and diced
- 1 small avocado, peeled and diced
- 3 tbsp chopped peanuts
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 green onions, sliced thinly
- Fresh cilantro and lime wedges for garnish
Sesame Miso Dressing:
- ¼ cup sesame oil (regular or toasted)
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp mild white miso
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ + ⅛ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Drain the tofu and place it on a clean dish towel or several layers of paper towels. Slice the tofu in half so you have 2 equal but thinner rectangles of tofu. Then cube it and cover it with the rest of the dish towel or more layers of paper towels. Press with a heavy object (cast iron skillet, cookbooks, cutting board) for 30-40 minutes to remove as much moisture as possible. This results in perfectly crispy tofu.
- Put tofu in a medium bowl and toss gently in toasted sesame oil to coat. Then add in the arrowroot or cornstarch and salt and toss again until all of the tofu is coated and there are no powdery spots left. Spread the tofu out on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes until it is crispy and lightly browned. Give the tofu a gentle stir once or twice while it is baking.
- Cook rice noodles according to package directions.
- To prepare dressing, whisk all ingredients together. When noodles are finished cooking, toss in about half of dressing.
- Assemble bowls with noodles, sliced vegetables, tofu and drizzle with remaining dressing. Garnish with peanuts, sesame seeds, green onion, cilantro and a lime wedge.
Notes
If you'd like to make this for meal prep, swap rice noodles with regular cooked brown or white rice. It will store much better in the refrigerator.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bowl
- Calories: 504
- Sugar: 9.6 g
- Sodium: 542.8 mg
- Fat: 37.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.6 g
- Fiber: 9.5 g
- Protein: 15 g
Kate says
I didn't have any red cabbage and cooked my tofu with a little garlic powder added and at 400. As well as stirred it separately with some of the sauce before adding it to the bowl but overall such a great recipe! Fast to come together and classic but delicious flavours!
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks so much for your comment!
Deb says
If you use rice do you mix the rice with half the dressing like you do the noodles?
Lexi says
Hi Deb! I definitely would - it will make the rice a lot more flavorful, but not totally necessary. Hope you enjoy!
Deb says
Delicious and versatile! Had over rice noodles for dinner and the leftovers over a bed of lettuce for lunch the next day. The dressing is so flavorful! I doubled the lime, but I love citrus! For ease I grated the carrots and that worked well.
Lexi says
So glad to hear that! Great idea about the carrots!