If you enjoy healthy bowls then I am sure you will LOVE this Mediterranean chickpea quinoa bowl. It is packed with fresh healthy veggies, drizzled with the best hummus sauce and is made with quinoa and chickpeas, which provides a generous amount of fiber and plant-based protein. Perfect for lunch and meal-prep and is 100% vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Healthy bowls are definitely my go-to meal for quick lunches or dinners. When I need something super quick, I love making a rainbow salad bowl or a Mexican buddha bowl. But to me, there is nothing better than a vegetarian Mediterranean bowl recipe!
This falafel buddha bowl and this marinated tofu tzatziki Greek bowl are packed with Mediterranean flavors and are amazing to meal-prep on the weekend for quick lunch bowls during the week. But what is amazing about this new Mediterranean chickpea quinoa bowl recipe is that you can make it in under 20 minutes without much prep or cooking!
This healthy quinoa bowl combines chickpeas, veggies, a super simple 5-min lemon hummus sauce and protein-rich quinoa. The salty kalamata olives add a punch of flavor and it is packed with refreshing veggies, such as crunchy cucumber, sweet cherry tomatoes.
Let me know if you tried it down in the comment section! ❤️
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❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Easy, quick and great for meal prep
- Packed with Mediterranean flavors
- Healthy and loaded with plant-based nutrients
- Ideal for batch making healthy lunches to go
- Very versatile and can be customized to your taste
- Filling lunch idea
- Vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free and nut-free
🗒 Ingredient notes (+ substitutions)
- Quinoa: I used white quinoa, but you can use any type of quinoa! A tri-color quinoa would look nice too in this bowl.
- Chickpeas: I always use canned chickpeas for convenience, but feel free to cook your own chickpeas from scratch if you want.
- Fresh vegetables: I used cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion. Look below for more ideas!
- Canned artichokes: they pair so well in this Mediterranean-style bowl and they are ready to go straight from the can, which is easy.
- Marinated kalamata olives: my favorite topping ingredient in this bowl as it adds a lot of saltiness and a nice chewy texture. You can use another kind of marinated olives too.
- Store-bought hummus: hummus makes for such an amazing base to make a Mediterranean-style sauce as it is so creamy already, super healthy and convenient. I used a roasted garlic hummus from our local market, but try making it with a flavored hummus recipe, such as this broccoli hummus or a spicy kimchi hummus!
- Lemon juice: add to taste as different kinds of hummus will have varying levels of zesty-ness already.
⭐️ Full list of ingredients (+ quantities) down below in the recipe card!
📝 Variations
- Grain: you can use brown rice, noodles or lettuce instead of the quinoa. You can also use pearl couscous for a fun change.
- Veggies: baby kale or spinach, purple cabbage, radishes, sprouts, shredded carrots, diced red pepper, avocado.
- Plant-based protein: you can top your bowl with some smoky roasted tofu or pan-fried marinated tempeh.
- Sauce: If you don't have or don't like hummus, then feel free to serve using a different sauce! Here are a few ones that I think would work well in this bowl: harissa dressing, vegan tzatziki, creamy balsamic tahini dressing, tahini pesto or baba ganoush without tahini. Or, check out my garlic herb yogurt sauce in this Mediterranean tray bake, it would be amazing in this bowl too!
- Condiments: try adding balsamic pickled red onion, jarred roasted red pepper, a drizzle of balsamic glaze or vegan feta cheese.
Also, you can add spices and pan-fry the chickpeas to add even more flavor. For inspiration, check out this sautéed chickpea recipe!
🍽 How to make this Mediterranean chickpea quinoa bowl
Step 1: Add the quinoa to a small saucepan and add the water. Cover and bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat and keep cooking for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, keep covered and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes. I like to cook more quinoa than I need and use the extra to make savory breakfast bowls and quinoa overnight oats.
Step 2: Make the sauce by whisking together the hummus, lemon juice, garlic and dried herbs. Then, add and whisk 1-2 tablespoons of water at a time to reach the desired consistency.
Step 3: Build your bowl: start by adding the quinoa and chickpeas to your serving bowl, then garnish with cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, artichokes and olives. Drizzle some of the sauce over the bowl and garnish with the fresh parsley. Serve with lemon wedges to make my bowl extra tangy.
⭐️ Detailed recipe (+ video!) down below in the recipe card!
💡 Helpful tips
- If you prefer, you can also heat up the chickpeas before serving. You can simply warm them up in a pan quickly or use the oven (check out how I make spiced chickpeas in this vegan chickpea gyro recipe, they would be great in here in this bowl).
- This recipe only makes for 2 bowls, so I highly recommend making more to have amazing leftovers.
❗️ Storage and meal prep tips
Try keeping the sauce apart from the rest for more freshness when serving the leftovers. Just keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To meal-prep a few lunches ahead of time, then you can double this recipe and divide into 4 glass containers. Also, divide the sauce into 4 smaller containers as well. You can change up the veggies and topping ingredients in each bowl just to vary your meals.
❓ FAQs
You can enjoy it either way! When I just make it, then I like to serve the quinoa warm and I also warm up the chickpeas quickly just using my microwave only for a few seconds, but then the rest is cold. It makes for a nice contrast in temperature, which I like. I will usually enjoy the leftovers all cold as it is easier that way.
Yes! Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and so are the rest of the ingredients in this recipe.
Try these vegan Mediterranean recipes next!
I hope you enjoy this Mediterranean quinoa chickpea bowl recipe as much as we do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!
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📖 Recipe
Mediterranean Chickpea Quinoa Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa - or enough for 2-3 bowls
- 15 oz canned chickpeas - rinsed and drained
- 15 cherry tomatoes - halved
- 20 kalamata olives - sliced
- 15 oz artichokes - rinsed and drained, then sliced
- ½ English cucumber - sliced
- ¼ red onion - finely sliced or diced
- fresh parsley - chopped
Citrus herb hummus sauce
- ¾ cup plain hummus
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove of garlic - crushed
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- salt to taste
- water - to thin out the sauce to your taste, I used 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Start by cooking the quinoa. To make 1 cup total of cooked quinoa, then use ⅓ cup of quinoa with ⅔ cup of water. Start by rinsing the quinoa in a fine mesh colander and then transfer to a small pot. Add the water, cover and bring to a simmer. Once it starts to simmer, then turn down the heat to medium low and keep cooking for about 15 min (always covered). Once done, remove from the heat, keep covered and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Then, fluff using a fork.
- While the quinoa is cooking, make the hummus sauce. In a small bowl, simply whisk together the hummus, lemon juice, garlic, dried herbs and salt. Then, adjust consistency with as much water as you need (I used a total of 2 tablespoons). Set aside.
- When ready to eat, divide the quinoa and chickpeas in between 2-3 bowls and top with the cucumber, tomatoes, olives, red onion, artichokes and then drizzle the hummus sauce over. Sprinkle some fresh parsley and serve with a few wedges of lemon. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store the leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I recommend to keep the sauce apart while storing.
- I highly recommend to cook more quinoa than you need to use in other meals! Add cooked quinoa to oatmeals, overnight oats, sprinkle over soups or avocado toasts or make more buddha bowls!
- Other sauces you can use instead of using hummus include: harissa dressing, creamy tahini balsamic dressing, vegan tzatziki or tahini pesto.
- Nutrition: please note that the nutritional information is an estimate per serving provided for informational purposes only (calculated by software) and accuracy is not guaranteed. Consult with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if you need precise nutrition calculations for health reasons.
I roasted my chickpeas with broccoli and oh my nomzzz. Amazing. 5 stars.
Thanks so much for your comment, I'm glad you liked it! 😊
Made this tonight with a side of focaccia bread and it was five stars for sure. Excellent salad! Thanks for all your great recipes.
Hi Kelly, thanks so much for sharing 😊