Name: Harvest Bowl (easy to meal prep!)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes; 1-2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken breast; 1 tablespoon avocado oil; salt and black pepper, to taste; 2 cups kale, finely chopped; 1 cup cooked quinoa; 1 apple, sliced; 1/4 cup dried cranberries; 1/4 cup sliced almonds or pumpkin seeds; 1/2 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard; 1 tablespoon maple syrup; 1 garlic clove, minced; 1 teaspoon salt

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This fully loaded harvest bowl is packed with seasonal ingredients, fresh flavor, and finished off with a dreamy maple dijon vinaigrette! Perfect to meal prep ahead of a busy week, or quickly throw together as an easy meal in under 30 minutes.

maple dijon dressing being poured over a harvest bowl

What You’ll Need to Make a Harvest Bowl

Sweet Potato – Peel and cube two sweet potatoes before roasting. Or, if you’d like, replace the sweet potato with your favorite squash. Peeled and cubed butternut squash, sliced acorn squash, or even sliced delicata squash would all taste great in this harvest bowl!

Chicken – Two boneless and skinless chicken breasts are lightly seasoned, then roasted to perfection! For a vegan option, see the “make it vegan” section below.

Quinoa – Any variety of quinoa is jam-packed with health benefits! It’s full of nutrients, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, fiber, and is a complete protein. Talk about a superfood, eh? Feel free to use whatever kind of quinoa you have handy – white, red, black, or rainbow – they all taste great. Or, if you don’t have quinoa, you can replace it with cooked brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, farro, or barley.

Kale – Similar to the quinoa, any variety of kale will taste delicious in your harvest bowl. So, use whatever you can get your hands on – curly kale, dino (lacinato) kale, red kale, or even baby kale. Though if using baby kale, no need to massage it, just add straight to your bowl, then toss in dressing.

close-up image of sliced chicken over a meal prep harvest bowl.

Tips and Tricks

Don’t skip massaging the kale! This step is super important to achieve nice, and tender kale. Skipping this step will result in tough, and hard-to-chew kale, just all around unappetizing!
I highly, HIGHLY, recommend doubling up on the maple dijon salad dressing. It’s seriously the star of this harvest bowl, and you’ll regret not making more. Also, leftovers stay fresh in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three weeks!

Adjust This Recipe to Your Dietary Needs

Make it Vegan: For a healthy, high protein vegan meal, leave out the chicken. Then, either double up on the sweet potatoes, or replace the chicken with a can of drained then rinsed chickpeas!

Make it Paleo/Grain-Free: Simply leave off the quinoa and you’ve got yourself a totally paleo and grain-free harvest bowl.

two meal prep containers showcasing this harvest bowl recipe.

How to Meal Prep This Harvest Bowl

Roast the sweet potatoes and chicken.
Cook the quinoa.
Make the maple dijon dressing.
Massage the kale.
Divide the massaged kale, cooked quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes and chicken, sliced apples, fried cranberries, and sliced almonds between four meal prep containers.
Store remaining dressing separately.
When ready to eat, remove one of your meal prep containers from the fridge and drizzle with some extra maple dijon dressing – enjoy!