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Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

on January 23, 2023
last updated February 10, 2025
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This Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema hits the perfect balance of sweet and savory, with a subtle spicy kick.
Close crop of Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

Looking for a hearty and healthful meal that’s packed with protein? 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.

Between all of the nutrient-dense and high protein ingredients, 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.

Overhead shot of Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema Ingredients


Here’s everything you need for the Sweet Potato Bowl:

  • Quinoa. You can use white, black, red, or tricolor quinoa.
  • Vegetable broth. 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.
  • Sweet potato.
  • Red onion.
  • Corn. The subtle sweetness of the corn plays off the sweet potato so nicely.
  • Olive oil.
  • Taco seasoning. You can buy some from the store or easily make your own taco seasoning to add complex flavor to your roasted veggies.
  • Black beans.
  • Leafy greens. Like arugula, spinach, or spring mix. These are optional but do add a lot of freshness to the dish.
ingredients for sweet potato quinoa bowl - leafy greens, sweet potato, quinoa, vegetable broth, black beans, olive oil, taco seasoning, corn kernels, red onion

Here’s everything your need for the Avocado Crema:

  • Avocado.
  • Sour cream or Greek Yogurt. For a lighter but tangier crema, use Greek Yogurt. For a richer, more subtle tang in your crema, use sour cream.
  • Lime juice.
  • Salt.
  • Cilantro. Fresh herbs are great in this crema, but are completely optional!
ingredients for avocado crema to put on sweet potato quinoa bowl - avocado, sour cream, cilantro, salt, lime juice

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

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl Tips and Tricks


How to Cook Flavorful Quinoa

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.

Adding rinsed quinoa to pot to cook in vegetable broth
Rinse your quinoa and cook it in vegetable broth.

The Best Way to Slice a Red Onion

Just one half of a red onion is plenty to make two generous-sized portioned bowls. Cut your onion in half first. Then, cut either end off.

This should make it easy to peel off the outer, papery layer of the onion.

From there, you can slice your onion into thin segments. Once you have your thin slices, you can use your hands to pull apart the layers of the onion.

If you find translucent, paper-thin pieces during this pull-apart process, just discard them. The ends and peels of the onion can easily be composted.

Chopping the ends off of a red onion to slice and peel.
Chop the root end and slice your onion in half. Select the half you will be using and peel off the outer layer.
Slicing peeled red onion into thin strips.
Slice the peeled half of the red onion into thin strips.
Separating layers of sliced red onion.
Peel apart the layers of the onion until you’re left with thin slices.

The Best Way to Cube a Sweet Potato

Start by peeling the skin off of your sweet potato with a vegetable peeler.

Once your sweet potato is peeled, slice it into thin strips, about 1-inch thick. From there, you can lay the strips flat and easily cut them into small, bite-sized cubes.

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.

Peeling sweet potato to prep for roasting.
Peel the sweet potato first.
Slicing sweet potato into 1-inch-thick strips.
Slice into 1-inch-thick strips.
Chopping sliced sweet potato into cubes to roast quickly
Cut each strip into small cubes.

Roast Your Vegetables

Once you’ve cubes your sweet potato and sliced your red onion, add them to a large baking sheet with the corn. You can use frozen or fresh corn kernels, either work!

Add the olive oil and taco seasoning to the sweet potato, red onion, and corn and sprinkle the taco seasoning on top. I like to keep the vegetable separate for plating later, but you can also opt to mix them all together.

Just make sure they are all in a single layer, and not sitting on top of each other. Use your hands or kitchen tongs to toss the veggies in the oil and taco seasoning, to evenly coat them.

This will help them roast evenly and ensure that each and every bite is filled with flavor.

Once your oven is preheated to 425°F, add your baking sheet to the top rack. Roast for 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are crispy.

Adding taco seasoning to sweet potatoes, corn, and red onion to roast
Add olive oil and seasonings to the vegetables and toss to coat.

How to Warm Black Beans in the Oven

Drain and rinse your black beans. After 20 minutes, 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 the sweet potatoes, red onion, corn, and black beans back into the oven at 425°F for an additional 2 minutes, so the black beans get a chance to warm.

Adding black beans to baking sheet with roasted vegetables
Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes at 425°F, then add the black beans and place back in the oven for 2 more minutes.

Use Fresh Lime Juice in Your Avocado Crema

Meanwhile, get going on your avocado crema! You can make this easily in a food processor or high-powered blender.

I highly recommend using fresh lime juice in your avocado crema, to bring fresh citrus flavor to your sweet potato quinoa bowl.

I like to use a citrus squeezer to extract the lime juice from the lime. Typically, a large lime contains 2 tablespoons of lime juice, so just one lime should be perfect for this recipe.

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.

Adding fresh lime juice to food processor to make avocado crema.
Fresh lime goes a long way in your avocado crema.

How to Make Avocado Crema in a Food Processor

Making your avocado crema is as simple as adding the avocado, sour cream or Greek yogurt, lime juice, salt and cilantro (optional) to the food processor or blender and blending on high.

Continue to blend until it’s completely smooth. Don’t worry, you can’t over-blend it! Make sure the cilantro is completely broken down into small fragments if you’re adding cilantro to your crema.

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.

The best way to tell if your avocado is ripe is by squeezing it. If it yields to gentle pressure, it’s ready! If you squeeze it and its rock hard, it still needs time to ripen.

However, if you squeeze it and its super tender or has some spots that cave in more than other when you apply gentle pressure, odds are your avocado is overripe.

Adding all avocado crema ingredients to food processor.
Add all avocado crema ingredients to the food processor.
Blending avocado, Greek yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, and salt together to make avocado crema.
Blend on high until smooth.

Assemble Your Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl

Once all of your elements are ready, it’s time to assemble it!

Start with your fluffy 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,

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with fresh greens and a dollop of avocado crema

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.

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Close crop of Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

5 from 4 votes
Marley Goldin
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This Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema hits the perfect balance of sweet and savory, with a subtle spicy kick to bring tons of flavor to this healthy meal.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
 
 

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 pound sweet potato (1 large sweet potato = approx. 1 pound)
  • ½ medium red onion (½ red onion = approx. 2 ounces)
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
  • 15 ounces black beans (1 can = 15 ounces beans)
  • ½ cup leafy greens like spinach, arugula or spring mix

Avocado Crema

  • 1 large hass avocado
  • ½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt (½ cup sour cream = approx. 5 ounces)
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime = approx. 2 tablespoons juice)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro (optional, ¼ cup herbs = approx. 0.2 ounces)

Instructions
 

Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl

  • Preheat your oven to 425°F.
  • Rinse quinoa with clean water in a sieve and add it to a medium pot with the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and let sit, covered, for an additional 10 minutes.
    Fluffy quinoa cooked in vegetable broth
  • Prep your ingredients by peeling and cubing your sweet potato, slicing your red onion, and draining and rinsing your black beans. You can use fresh or frozen corn.
    frozen corn, black beans drained and rinsed from the can, cubed sweet potato, and sliced red onion
  • Add the sweet potato, corn, and red onions to a large baking sheet. Use clean hands or kitchen tongs to toss and evenly coat with the olive oil and taco seasoning. Then, spread the vegetables out in a single layer.
    cubed sweet potato, frozen corn, and sliced red onion on baking sheet with olive oil and taco seasoning
  • Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes. Then, add the black beans to the baking sheet and put it back in the oven for an additional two minutes to warm the beans.
    Adding black beans to roasted sweet potatoes, corn, and red onions to warm in the oven
  • Assemble your Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowls by adding the cooked quinoa, leafy greens, roasted sweet potato, corn, and red onion, and the warmed black beans. Add a dollop of Avocado Crema on top and enjoy!
    Close crop of Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Crema

Avocado Crema

  • Slice the avocado in half and remove the pit. Add the avocado flesh, sour cream or greek yogurt, lime juice, salt, and cilantro (optional) to a food processor and blend until smooth.
    Fresh Avocado Crema in the food processor

Pro Tips

  • For a lower sodium option, or if you don’t have any vegetable broth on hand, you can opt to make your quinoa in water instead. 
  • This is a great recipe to use leftover quinoa for as well! Just reheat your leftover quinoa (detailed instructions for reheating quinoa in post) and skip step 2.
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword Healthy, Quinoa Bowl, Roasted Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato, Vegan Bowl
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