Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

This vibrant Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema is absolutely loaded with flavor between the natural sweetness from the sweet potato and corn, citrus from the avocado crema, and subtle spice from the taco seasoning on the roasted veggies.

This naturally vegan quinoa bowl will keep you full and satisfied for hours. Plus, it comes together in just 40 minutes!

In this recipe you will learn how to make fluffy and flavorful quinoa (using the same technique I use in this Quinoa Breakfast Bowl). You’ll also learn how to perfectly roast sweet potatoes, red onions, and corn kernels and how to make Avocado Crema.

As a busy mom and foodie, I love prepping a big batch of quinoa at the start of the week and using it throughout. This bowl comes together especially quickly when the quinoa is pre-made, but either way, it’s rather simple!

You can roast all the vegetables on one sheet pan, whip up the easy sauce, and quickly assemble your bowl.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema Ingredient Highlights

---

You can use white, black, red, or tricolor quinoa.

Cooking the quinoa in broth infuses the base of your bowl with savory flavor. You can even make your own veggie broth from vegetable scraps. If you don’t have any on hand, you can cook your quinoa in water and rely on the crema to flavor your quinoa.

Similarly, you can buy some from the store or easily make your own taco seasoning to add complex flavor to your roasted veggies.

You can use frozen or fresh corn kernels, either work (I use frozen).

Any leafy greens work here like arugula, spinach, or spring mix.

For a lighter but tangier crema, use Greek Yogurt. For a richer, more subtle tang in your crema, use sour cream.

Typically, a large lime contains 2 tablespoons of lime juice, so just one lime should be perfect for this recipe.

Quinoa Bowl with Sweet Potato Substitutions and Variations

If you don’t have some of the ingredients, or want to switch it up, here are some options for you that can be roasted with the sweet potato in place of the corn and/or red onion:

• Chickpeas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Shallots
• Brussels sprouts

Quinoa Avocado Bowl with Sweet Potato Tips and Tricks

---

How to Make a Quinoa Sweet Potato Bowl

It’s always best to rinse your quinoa. This will not only clean it, but also rinse off a naturally occurring insect repelling chemical called saponin, which can give your quinoa a bitter taste. I like to use a sieve to run clean water over the quinoa.

Add your rinsed quinoa to a medium-sized pot with the vegetable broth. Otherwise, you can opt to cook it in water, but cooking your quinoa in vegetable broth will infuse tons of delicious flavor!

For the fluffiest quinoa, bring the quinoa and veggie broth to a boil. Then, turn the heat all the way down to low and cover it. Allow it to simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Next, remove the pot from the heat and allow it to sit, covered, for an additional 10 minutes.

Finally, fluff it with a fork before serving it. To fluff, simply use your fork to gently lift from the bottom of the pot in an upward motion.

Just one half of a red onion is plenty to make two generous-sized portioned bowls. Slice it thin.

Peel and cube your sweet potato.The cubes certainly do not have to be perfectly uniform, but it’s best to keep them roughly equal in size, so they roast at the same rate.

Add the prepped onion and sweet potato to a large baking sheet with the corn.

Add the olive oil and taco seasoning and toss to coat.

Make sure the veggies are in a single layer and not sitting on top of each other. This will help them roast evenly and ensure that each and every bite is filled with flavor. Roast until the sweet potatoes are crispy.

Drain and rinse your black beans. Remove your sheet pan from the oven and add the black beans. Toss with kitchen tongs to get some of the seasoning on the black beans.

Then, stick it back in the oven for a couple more minutes so the black beans can warm up.

Meanwhile, get going on your avocado crema! Add the avocado, sour cream or Greek yogurt, lime juice, salt and cilantro (optional) to a food processor or blender and blend on high until smooth.

I like to use a citrus squeezer to extract the lime juice from the lime. If you are squeezing your lime by hand, I recommend squeezing it into a separate dish first to avoid adding any seeds to your food processor or blender.

I find the easiest way to remove the avocado flesh is by slicing the avocado in half, discarding the pit, and then using a spoon to scoop the avocado flesh out of the skin. Make sure not to add any brown bits of avocado to the crema if your avocado is overripe.

Now all that’s left to do is assemble your quinoa bowl.

Start with the quinoa as the base, and layer on the roasted sweet potato, corn, red onion, and black beans. If you’re adding greens, you can either toss them with the quinoa in your base or add them on top.

Finish the bowl with the avocado crema for extra creaminess, moisture, and flavor,

How to Properly Store and Reheat this Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl

If you have leftovers of an assembled quinoa bowl that is already dressed in avocado crema, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It’s best to enjoy these leftovers cold, as the avocado crema should not be heated.

In an airtight container, the avocado crema alone will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator or can be frozen for up to a month.

Leftover roasted sweet potato, corn, red onion, and black beans are best reheated in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F and spread them out on a baking tray. No need to add any additional oil or seasoning.

Heat the leftover roasted vegetables in the oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.

Leftover quinoa can be reheated in the microwave, covered, on high for about 3-4 minutes, until nice and hot. Quinoa itself stays fresh in the refrigerator for about 5 days and can be frozen for up to 6 months.

You can add 1-2 minutes of reheating time for the microwave if the quinoa is frozen, or you can thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before reheating it.