Food and Recipes Dinner 20 Incredible One-Bowl Meals For Dinner Tonight By Mary Shannon Wells Mary Shannon Wells Mary Shannon is an Associate Digital Editor and has been on the Southern Living team since 2017. She helps run the brand's social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok, where she's happily behind the scenes. When she's not ruffling feathers with an etiquette poll via Instagram Stories, she's writing content for the website and assisting in various print projects like gift guides and home stories. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on December 2, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely One bowl meals seem to be on every menu now, and we understand why. Filled with grains or noodles, veggies, and protein, one bowl meals are healthy and filling, which is a winning weeknight combo. If you're looking for a rice bowl recipe, we've got plenty, like Blackened Shrimp Rice bowls and low-carb Cauliflower Rice Bowl with Tahini-Herb Chicken. Going meatless? Try veggie bowl recipes like Cuban Black Bean-and-Yellow Rice Bowls or Burrito Bowls. We could never forget about ramen and noodle bowl recipes, though. If you think you can't make Asian cuisine at home, think again. With easy recipes like Pork Noodle Bowls and Chicken Noodle Bowls with Peanut-Ginger Sauce, you can throw that takeout menu in the trash. Get a healthy, well-rounded meal all in one bowl with these recipes. Your weeknights just got jam-packed with one-bowl goodness. 01 of 20 Meal Inspiration in a Bowl 02 of 20 Cuban Black Bean-and-Yellow Rice Bowls Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox This colorful, meatless bowl manages to pack in a little sweet, salty, and spicy. A tip from the Test Kitchen: Plantains are ready to cook when their peels turn black on the outside, so buy them black or let them ripen before cooking. Many grocery stores sell heat-and-serve frozen plantains too. 03 of 20 Soba Noodle-and-Shrimp Bowls Photo: Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox Craving Asian flavor? This bright bowl is the healthiest way to get it. It's got a hint of heat and a whole lot of goodness. A tip from the Test Kitchen: Don't ignore the instruction about patting the shrimp dry before putting them in the skillet. This step keeps the shrimp from becoming soggy while cooking and ensures they'll brown more nicely for the best flavor. 04 of 20 Burrito Bowls Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Turn taco Tuesday around this week and make burrito bowls instead. This healthy option is full of customizable ingredients, so every family member gets exactly what they like. With premade ingredients like microwaveable brown rice, this is the fastest recipe you'll make all week. 05 of 20 Greek Meatballs with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce and Rice Greg DuPree Bring the Mediterranean home with this quick, easy recipe. If you have leftovers, Greek meatball pitas with cucumber-yogurt sauce would make a delicious lunch the next day. And we all know meatballs freeze beautifully, so make several batches to save for hectic weeks. 06 of 20 Quick Chicken Noodle Bowls Jennifer Davick Cozy up with these chicken noodle bowls when you need a quick comfort meal. Adding fresh lime juice just before serving adds bright flavor to this healthy bowl. Throw in suggested toppings at the end of cooking, such as sugar snap peas, fresh cilantro and mint, green onions, and red chile peppers. A squeeze of fresh lime juice just before serving adds bright flavor to this healthy bowl. 07 of 20 Chalupa Dinner Bowl Charles Walton IV When the schedule is full, the slow cooker is there to help with dinner. With fall-off-the-bone roast and all the toppings you could want, these dinner bowls are filling and kid-friendly. The fun part is eating the edible taco salad shell bowl at the end. 08 of 20 Buttermilk Grits with Country Ham and Shrimp Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Stelling; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall If your family loves classic shrimp and grits, imagine how much they'll love it when it's made with buttermilk (and parmesan) grits, country ham, and creole seasoning. Yes, yes, and yes. 09 of 20 Southwest Chicken Cutlet Rice Bowl Greg Dupree This Tex-Mex bowl is bursting with color and healthy ingredients. For a flavor boost, marinate the chicken in spices for 1 to 24 hours ahead of cooking, but hands-on time is just 25 minutes. Top with freshly sliced avocado and pair with a margarita or Mexican beer because you'll want to toast to this delicious recipe. 10 of 20 Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce Greg DuPree Can't stop thinking about that Thai peanut sauce you love? Make a healthy version at home and drizzle it over colorful veggies and filling chicken (all ready in just 20 minutes). Craving, satisfied. 11 of 20 Seared Scallops with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce and Orzo Linda Pugliese; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Anna Hampton This 30-minute recipe is company-worthy but easy enough to serve on a casual weeknight. A tip from the Test Kitchen: Look for dry-packed scallops, which are packed without extra water or preservatives. This helps them brown nicely when cooked. Dry-packed scallops have a shorter shelf life than wet-packed scallops, so cook them the day you buy them. 12 of 20 Pork and Bok Choy Stir-Fry Hector Manuel Sanchez There's a chance you have a pork tenderloin sitting in your refrigerator or freezer that you plan on cooking this week. Instead of going the usual route, make a flavorful stir-fry with it. If you've never made bok choy before, it's time to start. It's full of healthy benefits like vitamins, potassium, calcium, iron, folate, fiber, and antioxidants. 13 of 20 Blackened Shrimp Rice Bowls Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely Grilled poblano pepper, corn, and blackened shrimp accompany black beans, rice, and avocado and topped with a tangy yogurt dressing. Shrimp gets coated with spices before it gets lightly charred on a hot grill for a few minutes. Swap out the rice with quinoa for more fiber or greens to make it a salad. 14 of 20 Shrimp Boil Vegetable Bowls Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos Recreate a favorite seaside recipe at home with this fast and easy shrimp boil bowl. Microwaved potatoes and green beans get blanched and tossed with corn, cooked shrimp, and an Old Bay-spiced vinaigrette. This bowl just may satisfy your longing to be near the sea until you can get to the beach again. 15 of 20 Sweet-and-Spicy Salmon Rice Bowl Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Sambal olek sauce, Siracha sauce, rice vinegar, and honey provide the sweet, sour, and spicy kick to this salmon bowl. Brown rice, vegetables, and salmon gets cooked in one skillet in just 30 minutes. Cucumbers and radishes add a crunchy topping. 16 of 20 Vietnamese-Style Shrimp Noodle Bowls Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis The Vietnamese flavors in the dressing from sweet chili sauce, lime juice, and fish sauce has addicting sweet, sour, and salty qualities. The shrimp is coated with spices and cooked on high heat to achieve a dry, crispy crust. The toppings may be the best part: carrots, cucumber, lettuce, cilantro, mint, and peanuts pack these noodle bowls with even more texture and flavor. 17 of 20 Mojo Chicken Bowls Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Add mojo to your weeknight menu these flavor-packed bowls. Chicken thighs marinate in a classic Cuban mojo sauce made from orange, lemon, and lime juice, oregano, garlic, and jalapeno. For more flavor, chicken and red onions are grilled and then served with yellow rice, avocado, cilantro, and lime. 18 of 20 Pork Noodle Bowls Photo: Iain Bagwell Meal planning is so easy when you can use a batch of pulled pork for several meals. Here pork from our 5 Ingredient Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork recipe provides an easy, fast dinner for four. Mushrooms, cabbage, green onion, cilantro are added to a rice noodle and broth base. Top with soy sauce, dried red pepper, dry-roasted peanuts, and lime juice for the finishing touch. 19 of 20 Teriyaki Salmon Bowls with Crispy Brussels Sprouts Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke Salmon is infused with lemon grass, fennel, green onions, and wine in the slow cooker and then glazed under the broiler with teriyaki sauce. In just 1 to 2 hours, the poached salmon should be moist and tender. The fillets are balanced with Brussel sprouts, mushrooms, and carrots atop brown rice, and drizzled with the remaining teriyaki sauce. 20 of 20 Cauliflower Rice Bowl with Tahini-Herb Chicken Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely This low-carb, Mediterranean-inspired bowl combines grilled chicken and vegetables with chickpeas and fresh toppings, all dressed with a Greek yogurt-tahini dressing. The dressing doubles as a marinade that tenderizes and flavors the chicken thighs with fresh herbs, lemon, and garlic before they hit the grill. This healthy bowl comes together in under an hour (not including the marinate time) and serves four. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit