In this recipe roundup, you’ll find 25 recipes for protein bowls and power bowls from some of my favorite macro balanced food bloggers.
Okay, cool. But what are protein bowls?
They come in many forms like burrito bowls, stir fry or rice bowls, noodle bowls, or some kind of carbohydrate base topped with a protein and usually veggies. Most of the recipes on this roundup use lower carb options like veggie rice and include lots of veggies to increase the volume of meals.
I think you’ll find plenty of inspiration. Just keep in mind, you can always customize the starch or carbohydrate to fit your nutrient needs. There are plenty of rice and potato substitutes available these days!
1. Harissa Chicken Power Bowls
Being a loosely based Cava copycat, this is one of my favorite examples of making protein bowls. You can make a simple harissa ground chicken and pair it with Greek Right Rice (or another veggie rice), tzatziki, feta, pickled onions, cucumber, avocado, or any variety of fixin’s.
- Calories: 180
- Protein: 26g
- Carbs: 10g
- Fat: 6g
Recipe: Honey Harissa Ground Chicken
2. Chile Lemon Chicken and Rice Bowls
This recipe come your way via Josh Cortis of The Meal Prep Manual, which as the name suggests, is an excellent resource for all things meal prep. It pairs yogurt, garlic, onion, and lemon juice marinated chicken thighs with a combination of rice and high volume vegetables like shredded cabbage. Perfect for staying full for longer!
- Calories: 475
- Protein: 42g
- Carbs: 43g
- Fat: 11g
Recipe: Chile Lemon Rice Bowls
3. Teriyaki Ground Beef Protein Bowls
Simple teriyaki ground beef with zucchini and mushrooms over a blend of jasmine and cauliflower rice (to mask any cauliflower-ness) and a drizzle of homemade lower calorie yum yum sauce. These power bowls are super easy to make and great leftover.
- Calories: 330
- Protein: 23g
- Carbs: 35g
- Fat: 9g
Recipe: Teriyaki Ground Beef Stir Fry
4. Turkey and Kale Power Bowls
Another high volume meal, these protein bowls combine ground turkey with quinoa, kale, onions, and peppers. And they’re served with a sriracha lime mayo and pickled onions for punchy flavors.
- Calories: 575
- Protein: 40g
- Carbs: 36g
- Fat: 30g
Recipe: Turkey and Kale Power Bowls
5. Korean Ground Turkey Rice Bowls
The cucumber crunch in this recipe is worth the price of admission on its own. It’s SO flavorful and adds a ton of texture and volume to your meals. Serve this combo over rice or cauliflower rice for awesome power bowls with minimal effort.
- Calories: 385
- Protein: 34g
- Carbs: 48g
- Fat: 8g
Recipe: Korean Ground Turkey Rice Bowls
6. Garlic Ginger Soba Noodle Bowls
Did you know soba noodles are one of the highest protein options available? This stir fry pairs them with chicken, mushrooms, carrots, and an aromatic sauce to make very macro friendly bowls.
- Calories: 360
- Protein: 33g
- Carbs: 41g
- Fat: 7g
Recipe: Garlic Ginger Soba Noodle Stir Fry
7. Spicy Sesame Ground Beef and Quinoa Bowls
One of the more simple protein bowls on the list, this is a simple combo of super flavorful beef over cooked quinoa. You can easily add your favorite roasted veggies to make higher volume bowls or add veggies to the beef for an easy stir fry.
- Calories: 375
- Protein: 25g
- Carbs: 38g
- Fat: 10g
Recipe: Spicy Sesame Ground Beef and Quinoa Bowls
8. Blackened Fish Protein Bowls
These bowls require a bit more prep ahead of time, but look at the final product and tell me it’s not worth it. Air fried blackened mahi mahi is served over cilantro zucchini rice, corn and peach salad, roasted sweet potato, arugula, and all kinds of other goodies.
Restaurant quality meals at home, with way better macros!
- Calories: 345
- Protein: 29g
- Carbs: 36g
- Fat: 9g
Recipe: Blackened Fish Bowls with Cilantro Pepita Sauce
9. High Volume Taco Meal Prep Bowls
I always like to point out that each one of these high protein bowls weighs nearly one pound! They’re made with a simple taco beef over a blend of cauliflower rice, black beans, corn, peppers, and topped with a creamy yogurt sauce.
- Calories: 380
- Protein: 35g
- Carbs: 38g
- Fat: 9g
Recipe: High Volume Taco Meal Prep Bowls
10. High Protein Egg Roll Bowls
Egg roll in a bowl is a deconstructed classic. This spin from Jordan of Jordo’s World pairs a simple coleslaw mix and carrots with ground beef and a ginger, garlic, and soy sauce.
- Calories: 315
- Protein: 37g
- Carbs: 8g
- Fat: 14g
Recipe: Egg Roll in a Bowl
11. Firecracker Ground Beef Protein Bowls
If you’ve never tried firecracker sauce, you’re in for a treat. This recipe pairs it with a ground beef, green bean, and bell pepper stir fry.
- Calories: 220
- Protein: 18g
- Carbs: 20g
- Fat: 7g
Recipe: Firecracker Ground Beef Stir Fry
12. Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken and Veggies
I couldn’t put together a roundup of ways to make protein bowls without including at least one sheet pan recipe. This recipe is a classic, with your favorite teriyaki chicken, zucchini, carrots, and broccoli.
- Calories: 360
- Protein: 21g
- Carbs: 33g
- Fat: 17g
Recipe: Easy Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken
13. Greek Chicken and Rice Bowls
Unlike the harissa chicken power bowls at the top of this list, this recipe cooks everything together in one skillet. That makes prep much easier, and is great for those that prefer cooked veggies an entirely warm meals. It’s also great for those that don’t want to prep multiple dishes or customize fixin’s.
- Calories: 280
- Protein: 28g
- Carbs: 22g
- Fat: 11g
Recipe: Mediterranean Ground Chicken and Rice
14. Double Steak Chipotle Bowl
The creator of this recipe, Ethan Chlebowski, is an excellent resource for learning all about food and cooking. And after playing squash with him around Austin (with Josh from The Meal Prep Manual fame above), I can tell you he likes to keep in shape. So you’ll find a ton of recipes on his site and YouTube channel that work great for healthy eating and meal prep.
These steak bowls are a great example.
- Calories: 850
- Protein: 73g
- Carbs: 26g
- Fat: 46g
Recipe: Double Steak Chipotle Bowl
15. Creamy Ground Turkey and Mushroom Orzo
Another one-pan meal that’s great for whipping up and portioning into bowls or meal prep containers, this mushroom orzo starts with brown butter sage. Which, if you’ve never made, makes your house smell like a wonderland (the flavor closely resembles that as well).
Ground turkey or chicken gives the dish a big protein boost, and the lower fat parmegiano reggiano and milk based cream sauce keeps the calories in check.
Don’t like mushrooms? Make it with broccoli.
- Calories: 405
- Protein: 29g
- Carbs: 32g
- Fat: 17g
Recipe: Creamy Ground Turkey and Mushroom Orzo
16. Creamy Thai Curry Ground Chicken and Rice
This makes the third (I’m losing count?) appearance of Right Rice on the list, which should affirm its excellency as a protein bowl staple. The Thai Curry flavor is perfect for cooking with ground chicken or turkey, chili garlic sauce, and coconut milk for an awesome one-skillet meal prep option.
- Calories: 415
- Protein: 36g
- Carbs: 37g
- Fat: 14g
Recipe: Thai Curry Ground Chicken and Rice
17. Ground Beef Fried Rice
This recipe uses two pivotal things for making protein bowls. One, Tattooed Chef’s frozen riced cauliflower stir fry. And two, a blend of cauliflower rice and regular rice so you forget there’s any cauliflower in the dish.
Extra lean ground beef is pan fried with a honey garlic sauce before joining forces with a blend of cauliflower and brown rice to make protein packed power bowls. And cauliflower lovers can make this an even lower carb affair by using all cauliflower rice.
- Calories: 410
- Protein: 26g
- Carbs: 42g
- Fat: 15g
Recipe: Ground Beef Fried Rice
18. Chili Lime Shrimp Power Bowls
Zesty shrimp bowls with rice, black beans, snap peas, avocado, mango, scallions, and spicy mayo. These bowls would be the perfect post-workout meal this summer.
- Calories: 610
- Protein: 26g
- Carbs: 96g
- Fat: 15g
Recipe: Chili Lime Shrimp Bowls
19. Tangy Tex-Mex Beef and Brussels Sprouts
Have you ever used shaved brussels sprouts before? They’re a high volume meal superstar. If you love the crispy fried bits when ordering brussels sprouts appetizers at restaurants, you’ll love this dish.
The brussels sprouts team up with extra lean ground beef, a honey lime vinaigrette, and a spicy yogurt crema. Serve the meat and veg combo with your choice of starch and go nuts.
- Calories: 285
- Protein: 25g
- Carbs: 18g
- Fat: 12g
Recipe: Mexican Beef and Brussels Sprouts
20. Blackened Chicken Protein Bowls
It’s the KFC Famous Bowl, but better. Air fried blackened chicken is paired with low fat Greek yogurt mashed potatoes, corn, and a simple gravy to make extra hearty bowls that are absolutely loaded with protein.
- Calories: 375
- Protein: 48g
- Carbs: 38g
- Fat: 7g
Recipe: KFC Copycat Chicken Bowls
21. Chipotle Chicken Bowls
This recipe comes your way via Joe Duff, a low carb extraordinaire. If you’re a fan of Chipotle’s chicken burrito bowls, you’ll love this homemade spin.
- Calories: 230
- Protein: 37g
- Carbs: 5g
- Fat: 7g
Recipe: Keto Chipotle Bowl
22. Sweet Chili Chicken and Cucumber Crunch Protein Bowls
The return of the cucumber crunch, with a slight difference (tahini for a creamier, nuttier crunch). If you’re a fan of Thai flavors, you’ll love this simple chicken protein bowl recipe.
- Calories: 205
- Protein: 30g
- Carbs: 7g
- Fat: 5g
Recipe: Sweet Chili Chicken Bites with Cucumber Crunch
23. Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta
I couldn’t publish a recipe roundup without including at least one mac and cheese recipe. This recipe cooks bacon and extra lean ground beef in the same skillet with chickpea pasta and is finished with a cheesy burger sauce.
Think: cheeseburger helper with better macros!
- Calories: 365
- Protein: 26g
- Carbs: 25g
- Fat: 16g
Recipe: Bacon Cheeseburger Ground Beef Pasta
24. Orange Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
Love orange chicken but don’t want to take the time to make it? This shortcut recipe made with ground chicken comes together in about 20 minutes and is perfect for pairing with air fried broccoli and rice.
- Calories: 350
- Protein: 33g
- Carbs: 42g
- Fat: 8g
Recipe: Easy Orange Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
25. Teriyaki Ground Bison and Rice Bowls
There’s plenty of beef, chicken, and turkey on this list. But let’s not sleep on ground bison. It has a bit more fat than the other lean varieties, but that fat contains big flavors.
This simple 4-ingredient recipe makes great rice bowls that are perfect for meal prep.
- Calories: 400
- Protein: 27g
- Carbs: 25g
- Fat: 21g
Recipe: Teriyaki Ground Bison and Rice
Wrapping Up
I hope this list has given you plenty of inspiration for making homemade protein bowls! Remember, you can easily customize components.
Proteins
Proteins like lean ground chicken, turkey, beef all work great and reheat really well. But classic proteins like chicken breast or thighs, pork tenderloin, and even leaner cuts of beef work great in power bowls.
I really like using things like Mexican pulled chicken or slow cooked pulled beef in meal prep bowls, since they reheat better than their larger counterparts. If you do go the grilled chicken or steak route, I like to chop them into small pieces. Again, to make reheating easier.
Carbohydrate Base
Rice is the most classic choice, and you can find things like chickpea or veggie rice, cauliflower rice, and hearts of palm rice to greatly reduce the carb load of your protein bowls. Like I mentioned in the recipe roundup above, I like to use a blend of veggie rice and “real” rice to appease picky eaters.
Other than rice, there are tons of macro balanced options for pasta, noodles and ramen, potato substitutes, and even things like tortilla chips. I didn’t include any enchilada skillets, but a protein tortilla works great in something like my beef enchilada casserole. And that makes excellent meal prep bowls.
Veggies for Volume
Of course vegetables can be a primary component of protein bowls like in stir fry or casseroles, but I like to point out ways to add even more volume to bowls with garnishes.
Things like pickled onions and peppers, kimchi and other fermented vegetables, sliced radishes and tomatoes, and other fresh ingredients like cucumbers and fruits add a ton of texture and brightness to dishes without many calories.
All right, time to get cooking. Have fun and be sure to let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about making protein bowls at home!
And if you enjoyed this roundup, you’ll definitely want to check out my roundups for the most popular macro friendly recipes, ground chicken, and high protein meal prep.
