Enjoy an Autumn Harvest Bowl during this fall and winter season! Dive into this sweet green salad bowl made with grains, chicken, sweet potatoes, and more, making it a perfect recipe.
Topped with a homemade balsamic dressing, you'll love this copycat bowl. Whether it’s for a cozy weeknight dinner or a crowd-pleasing holiday side, this harvest bowl is a perfect way to enjoy the taste of autumn!
What's in a Harvest Bowl? This bowl is the best because it's a green based bowl packed with grains like wild rice and quinoa, sweet potatoes, chicken, apples, goat cheese, and candied almonds. Your favorite fall flavors all in one bite!
For more bowl ideas try our bang bang shrimp bowl, sweet potato bowl, and our winter salad. Both of these meals make for a great feel-good lunch or dinner.
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Why we love this recipe!
This Autumn Harvest Bowl is everything we crave this time of year—warm, cozy, and packed with hearty, wholesome ingredients that satisfy.
- Tasty- Each bite is a perfect mix of seasonal favorites, from roasted vegetables to hearty grains, all topped with creamy goat cheese for a hint of tangy richness.
- Nutritious- Loaded with nutrients to keep us feeling our best through the colder months. The seasonal ingredients bring together the best of fall flavors, making this dish as nutritious as it is comforting.
What is a Harvest Bowl?
You'll fall in love with this copycat bowl made with homemade roasted vegetables dressing, and tasty greens. The dressing is the perfect sauce that brings all the flavors together!
- Greens- The base of this bowl uses kale, but you can use your favorite lettuce or other greens. We like the kale because it compliments the sweet components of the bowl.
- Grilled Chicken- Our favorite grilled chicken recipe to use is our Blackened chicken.
- Roasted Vegetables- Pack in the flavor with roasted Brussels Sprouts, and sweet potatoes. Make them quick by roasting them in the air fryer.
- Candied Almonds- To add that perfect crunch and sweet flavor, top with your favorite candied almonds. Make sure to chop them up before serving.
- Grains- Make this bowl hardy by adding grains like wild rice and quinoa. It's the perfect pair.
- Apples- It wouldn't be a fall harvest without apples. Add your favorite chopped apples to the recipe. We prefer honey crisp or gala. You can also use pears!
- Goat Cheese- You'll love adding this cheese because it adds a creamy, tangy flavor to the bowl, balances sweetness in fruits, and adds richness to the greens and vegetables. You can substitute for feta cheese as well.
- Homemade Balsamic Vinegar- You'll love this DIY dressing made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, dijon mustard, garlic, and salt and pepper.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Autumn Harvest Bowl
Learn how to prepare and assemble this tasty Harvest Bowl. You can prepare the ingredients in advance to make for quick assembly when ready to serve.
- Begin by preparing the Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and grilled chicken.
- Be sure to roast the vegetables until tender with a fork so that it adds the right texture to the bowl.
- While you are cooking the grains, vegetables, and chicken, cut the apples, chop the almonds, and prepare the balsamic vinegar dressing.
- Assemble the bowl right before serving. Add the Kale to a large bowl and top with the grains, chicken, roasted vegetables, goat cheese, and apples. Top with the homemade dressing right before serving.
Hint: Make this a meal prep by roasting and cooking the ingredients in advance. This makes for quick assembly!
Substitutions and Variations
Try some of our favorite substitutions and variations for different fun flavors!
- Mediterranean- To give this bowl a Mediterranean twist, add some hummus, cherry tomatoes, and pita bread on the side.
- Protein- While this already has great sources of protein like chicken and grains, and root vegetables, you can also add your favorite proteins like bacon crumbles, or sliced steak.
- Pesto- For a different flavor profile, you can add a spoonful of pesto.
- Buddha- Make this Buddha style by adding tahini dressing instead of our homemade balsamic sauce.
- Butternut squash- Another great fall vegetable that would go great with this recipe is Roasted Butternut Squash. We have a great air fryer recipe for that!
- Drizzle this bowl with our Tahini Dressing.
Meal Prep
Meal prep makes this Autumn Harvest Bowl even easier and more convenient. The chicken, rice, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and vinaigrette can all be made ahead, so when it's time to eat, all that’s left is a quick assembly.
You can also double up on the chicken and rice, freezing extras for future meals, or enjoy this bowl twice in the same week. It’s the perfect way to save time while also having a delicious, nutritious meal daily.
Storage
This bowl is best eaten the day of once it's assembled and the dressing has been added. The best way to store the harvest bowl is to store each ingredient separately.
This bowl doesn't freeze well but you can freeze some of the ingredients, like the rice and chicken, for another time.
Top tip
While we love all the ingredients in this hardy bowl, you can make this your own by adding roasted butternut squash, fresh corn cut off the cob, asparagus, pears, sunflower seeds and more.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe
Autumn Harvest Bowl
Ingredients
For the Bowl:
- 1 lb chicken cooked according to preference, we recommend blackened chicken
- 1 lb sweet potatoes we recomend cooking the sweet potatoes in the air fryer
- 8 cups kale washed and shredded, not packed
- ½ cup chopped roasted almonds I used honey roasted
- 4 oz goat cheese crumbled, see note 1
- 2 medium apples Honey crisp, or gala work great with this recipe. Or you can substitute for pears.
For the Rice:
- 1 cup wild rice uncooked
- 1 ¾ cup water
For the Brussels Sprouts:
- 1 lb brussels sprouts
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- a few twists black pepper
- 1 ½ Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 ½ Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoons maple syrup or honey, see note 2
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ garlic clove minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- a few twists black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
Rice:
- Rinse wild rice then place in a pot with the 1 ¾ cup water. Place lid on top and bring to a boil. Turn down to low and simmer for 35 minutes, keeping the lid on. Then remove from heat, and keep the lid on an additional 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve!
- While the rice cooks, prepare your chicken and sweet potatoes.
Brussels Sprouts:
- While the rice cooks also make the maple roasted brussels sprouts. Trim the ends and cut in half lengthwise. Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil. Add the salt and pepper and toss again to combine. Add the maple syrup and balsamic vinegar and toss one last time to combine. Place brussels sprouts cut side down on a baking sheet and drizzle any extra sauce over the top. Bake for 22 minutes or until tender and starting to crisp on the top.
Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- Place olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, dijon, garlic, salt and pepper together in a jar. Screw the lid on tightly and shake vigorously until emulsified, at least 30 seconds.
Assemble the Autumn Harvest Bowl:
- Place 2 cups of kale at the bottom of a large bowl. Add cooked chicken, sweet potatoes, wild rice, brussels sprouts, roasted almond and goat cheese. Top the whole thing with balsamic vinaigrette and toss to combine. Enjoy!!
Notes
- You can buy crumbled goat cheese or use a fork to crumble it yourself. Just make sure it's nice and cold or it melts more than crumbles.
- I personally like my balsamic vinaigrette to be less sweet. For a sweeter vinaigrette, add up to 1 ½ Tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste.
- Feel free to add less syrup to the brussels sprouts for a lower sugar dish. My kids like how to syrup cuts the bitterness of the sprouts.
- The chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, brussels sprouts and balsamic vinaigrette can all be made ahead of time, making this amazing for meal prep. The only thing you'd need to do before serving is assemble.
- Other delicious things to try on the bowl: butter nut squash, fresh corn cut off the cob, asparagus, pears, sunflower seeds and more.
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