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    Home » Bowls & stir-fries

    Hummus bowl with roasted cauliflower

    Updated: Jun 29, 2025 · Published: Feb 27, 2024 by Cadry Nelson · This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. · 10 Comments

    Jump to recipe
    Text overlay: Hummus bowl with roasted cauliflower, cadryskitchen.com. Bowl with hummus, roasted cauliflower, rice, and salad.

    This hummus bowl with roasted cauliflower is a flavor-packed and vibrant meal. You get a delicious mix of tastes & textures in every bite. It’s finished with a drizzle of lemon tahini dressing.

    Vegan & gluten free optional. (To make it gluten-free, just leave off the pita.)

    Hummus bowl with air fried cauliflower, grilled olives, brown rice, and spinach salad.

    What is it about a bowl? When you serve foods together in one vessel, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts.

    No place is this clearer than with this satisfying hummus bowl.

    It’s loaded with lemony cauliflower, hearty brown rice, fresh salad, briny olives, and a drizzle of creamy tahini dressing. And of course, the star of the show – garlicky hummus.

    Scoop it all up with warmed pita bread or mix it together with a fork. And you’ve got a nourishing lunch or dinner that has all of the bright and tangy flavors you crave.

    In this post:

    Jump to:
    • Why readers love this recipe
    • Recipe inspiration
    • Ingredients
    • Step by step instructions
    • Make it your own
    • 📖 Recipe

    Why readers love this recipe

    5 stars

    “Lebanese food is the best! I love everything about this bowl, especially that tahini drizzle on top!” – Dianne

    Recipe inspiration

    This hummus bowl recipe was inspired by a meal I had in Vancouver, Canada at Nuba, a Lebanese restaurant chain. It’s not a vegan restaurant, but they have lots of plant-based offerings.

    I ordered Najib’s special filled with olives, pickled vegetables, hummus, tahini sauce, and lemony roasted cauliflower.

    It’s food that on the face of it doesn’t sound complicated. And yet, they took what’s inherently delicious about vegetables and turned it up a notch. It was positively dreamy.

    Since that Vancouver trip, I’ve been making lemony roasted cauliflower on the regular. (It can be cooked in the air fryer or oven!) It’s wonderful on its own, but it’s even better in this mouthwatering hummus bowl!

    Ingredients

    Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.

    Labeled ingredients for hummus bowl.

    Cooked rice: Cooked rice makes up the base of the bowl. You can make it from scratch following the package directions. Or heat frozen rice for a quick lunch or dinner. Use another type of grain, if you’d prefer.

    Roasted cauliflower: Simply seasoned with lemon juice and optional sumac, roasted cauliflower can be made in the air fryer or oven.

    Hummus: Homemade hummus is my go-to here. However, if you’re short on time, use store-bought.

    Green salad: Baby spinach, onion, and grape tomatoes add color and freshness.

    Olives: Grilled olives are a current favorite, but Castelvetrano or kalamata are also terrific here. (Grilled olives are one of my regular Trader Joe’s purchases.)

    Lemon: A squeeze of lemon just before serving makes the hummus and cauliflower really pop.

    Tahini dressing: I always have a batch of tahini dressing in the fridge. Made with just 3 ingredients, it comes together lightning fast.

    Pita: Warmed pita helps with scooping up hummus. To make this dish gluten-free, leave it off (or buy gluten-free pita).

    Step by step instructions

    This section shows how to make this recipe at a glance with process photos of the steps. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

    Hummus bowls with spinach salad and lemony cauliflower by pita.
    1. Put cooked rice into four bowls. Then add spoonfuls of roasted cauliflower and a dollop of hummus.
    2. Add your salad ingredients: baby spinach, grape tomatoes, and onions. Finish with olives and a lemon wedge.
    3. Drizzle everything with creamy tahini dressing.
    4. Serve with warmed pita on the side (optional).

    Make it your own

    Grilled olives on table with hummus, salad, and roasted cauliflower.

    You can make this mouthwatering Mediterranean hummus bowl your own by adding new ingredients or swapping out what’s there.

    Make any of these variations:

    • Replace raw onions with pickled red onions or quick pickled shallots
    • Vary the olives and serve warmed Castelvetrano olives
    • Replace rice with quinoa, farro, or couscous
    • Replace plain hummus with beet hummus, sun-dried tomato hummus, kalamata olive hummus, dill pickle hummus, or baba ganoush
    • Omit the pita or replace it with pappadum for crunch & scooping up hummus

    Add any of the following:

    • Stuffed grape leaves
    • Add more veggies like crunchy cucumbers, red bell pepper, radishes, or fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley
    • Vegan feta cheese
    • Grilled artichoke hearts from a jar
    • Roasted chickpeas cooked in the oven or air fryer
    • Air fryer falafel (or oven baked)
    • Garlicky pickled turnips

    Tip: This hummus bowl makes a great packed lunch option. Just keep the rice & roasted cauliflower separate, so that you can reheat them before serving with the remaining ingredients.

    Also, keep in mind that there’s plenty of room for shortcuts here by using frozen brown rice and store-bought hummus, as opposed to homemade.

    Hummus bowl with roasted cauliflower and spinach salad.

    If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!

    📖 Recipe

    Bowl with hummus, roasted cauliflower, salad, and olives.

    Hummus bowl with roasted cauliflower

    Author: Cadry Nelson
    5 from 5 votes
    This colorful hummus bowl was inspired by a meal at Nuba in Vancouver, Canada. It is awash with color from olives, spinach, and tomatoes. But the real stars of the show are the roasted cauliflower and hummus. For a meal-in-a-bowl with a satisfying mix of textures and flavors, this is the lunch or dinner you need.
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 2 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 12 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4 people
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Mediterranean, Vegan
    Keyword: rice bowl, roasted cauliflower

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups cooked brown rice
    • 1 batch roasted cauliflower
    • 1 batch homemade hummus
    • 2 cups baby spinach
    • 4 teaspoons diced onions
    • 20 grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
    • 12 olives
    • 1 lemon sliced
    • 1 batch vegan tahini dressing
    • 4 pita warmed, optional (Omit or use gluten-free pita for a GF option)

    Instructions

    • Put a ½ cup of brown rice into four bowls. Add a spoonful of roasted cauliflower & hummus into each one.
    • Put ½ cup of baby spinach into each bowl. Top each mound of spinach with a teaspoon of diced onions & 5 grape tomatoes. Add 3 olives & a lemon slice to each bowl. (The lemon is for squeezing onto the hummus, cauliflower, and salad, if you desire.)
    • Drizzle vegan tahini dressing across the bowl.
    • Serve with warmed pita, if you like.
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    Nutrition

    Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 510mg | Potassium: 528mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2175IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 3mg

    Content, recipe, and photos updated February 27, 2024. Originally posted October 26, 2018 as a brown rice bowl.

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    About Cadry Nelson

    Cadry Nelson is the writer, recipe creator, and photographer behind Cadry’s Kitchen, and the author of Living Vegan For Dummies, 2nd Edition. Since launching her blog in 2009, Cadry has been making plant-based cooking approachable, and reimagining classic comfort foods. Her work has been featured in NBC News, Buzzfeed, Yahoo, Parade, VegNews, and more. She regularly appears on local TV shows, demonstrating to a broad audience how easy vegan cooking can be.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 5 votes (1 rating without comment)

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    1. Rciki

      November 04, 2018 at 11:43 am

      5 stars
      This sounds so perfect. I love eating bowls, but for some reason never think to make them. . . saving this recipe so I don’t miss out this time!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        November 06, 2018 at 10:30 am

        That’s great, Ricki! I hope you love it as much as I do!

        Reply
    2. Shell

      November 01, 2018 at 2:49 pm

      5 stars
      This meal looks amazing, and I love how you have been recreating it at home! Cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies. I love meals planned around it.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        November 06, 2018 at 10:29 am

        Thanks, Shell! No reason to relegate cauliflower to sidekick when it makes such an excellent star. 🙂

        Reply
    3. Dianne

      October 29, 2018 at 2:48 pm

      5 stars
      Lebanese food is the best! I love everything about this bowl, especially that tahini drizzle on top!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        October 30, 2018 at 9:29 am

        Tahini drizzles are always the perfect finish!

        Reply
    4. Becky Striepe

      October 29, 2018 at 8:32 am

      5 stars
      I am loving this mix of earthy, sweet, and savory in this bowl! The cauliflower is calling my name right now!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        October 30, 2018 at 9:29 am

        Thanks, Becky! <3

        Reply
    5. Susan

      October 28, 2018 at 8:51 pm

      This looks so good. I loved that cauliflower at Nuba so much. And putting it in a bowl just sounds perfect.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        October 30, 2018 at 9:28 am

        Who would guess we’d both be thinking about their cauliflower all this time later? Clearly it’s something special!

        Reply

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    I’m the creator behind Cadry's Kitchen and author of Living Vegan For Dummies.

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