This Vegan Buffalo Chicken bowl hits that buffalo & ranch craving
with plenty of veggies and whole grain goodness too :)
Today’s recipe is just a simple one that I made for dinner and shared to Instagram. So many people from Instagram requested the recipe that I made sure to retest with proper measurements so I could share the recipe with you! Reminds me of the bowls I used to make all the time like this chili spiced chickpeas and pear one that I used to make a lot back in the day. This requires a bit less in terms of cooking or prep, but you can prep the components for this recipe in advance and use it as a prepared work lunch!
Eddie likes to use the buffalo chicken soy curls on his sandwiches for work, and I think if I liked sandwiches more I’d totally eat this too. I’m always more inclined to eat out of a bowl anyway, and while I love bread, sandwiches tend to always be too much bread for me personally. I’ve always been a bit more of an open-faced sandwich personally–honestly I’d rather eat two open-faced sandwiches than one single sandwich with two pieces of bread.
But alas, my body is changing and I can’t eat the way I used to anymore (granted sometimes I still eat that way but my body responds appropriately as a 28 year old’s body does lol). So I have to make some changes, although I still will go a little overboard with butter, mayo, and salt because hello, it’s me. I like flavour! Although I will say, I think my recipes use significantly less salt than a lot of others.
Anyway, no large diatribe today. Aside from exterminating some rather pesky, unwanted bugs in my home, there’s not much from me and my life to update you on! Just know that Eddie and I are doing well, we’re spending way too much money on our wedding and house, but we’ll be fine in a couple years XD
I hope you all are doing well too.
Happy spring :)
Vegan Buffalo Chicken Bowl
Ingredients
For the soy curls*
- 227 g Butler soy curls (one whole bag of them)
- 750 mL (3 cups) warm water
- 4.5 g (1 tbsp) mushroom broth powder (or just use vegetable broth instead of water + MBP)
- 45 g (3 tbsp) vegan butter (I used vegan Becel)
- 60 g (6 tbsp) Frank's hot sauce**
- 1 tsp garlic powder
For the quinoa
- 180 g (1 cup) dry quinoa (I used tri-colour quinoa but any would work)
- 500 mL (2 cups) water
- 1 tsp mushroom broth powder
"Ranchy" sauce
- 125 mL (1/2 cup) vegan mayo
- 1 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 1/2 tsp dried rubbed thyme
- 125 mL (1/2 cup) lemon juice
For the bowl
- Diced tomatoes (about 3 tomatoes for 6 servings)
- Diced cucumber (about 1 large English cucumber for 6 servings)
- Washed and torn romaine lettuce (or leafy green of choice) (approx 1 large head of romaine)
Instructions
For the buffalo soy curls
- In a large bowl, hydrate dried soy curls with mushroom broth powder + water OR vegetable broth. Let hydrate for 10-15 minutes, stirring to make sure all curls are hydrated well.
- Drain and lightly press to drain out excess liquid. You don't need to squeeze thoroughly, a little extra liquid is fine.
- In a large pan, melt vegan butter and combine with Frank's hot sauce and garlic powder. Stir to cook for about 30 seconds until bubbling, then add hydrated soy curls (or protein of choice).
- Cook for about 10-15 minutes until sauce is absorbed, stirring well, until curls are lightly browned.
Quinoa
- If cooking in a rice cooker, combine water, quinoa, and broth powder (or just use vegetable broth as your liquid), and cook as per manufacturer's instructions. My rice cooker is automatic so it just turns off when it's ready.
- If cooking in a pot over the stove, combine same amount of quinoa + liquid and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cover with a lid and let simmer for 12 minutes, without disturbing. Turn off the heat after 12 mins, then fluff with fork.
Ranchy sauce
- In a small bowl, combine mayo, herbs, garlic powder, and lemon juice and stir well to combine. It's quite herby, so if you don't like herbs as much as I do, just add a little less of everything. Or dilute with an extra tbsp of mayo + lemon juice.
For the bowl:
- Fill 1/3 of bowl with romaine lettuce, add 1/2 of a diced tomato, 1/2 cup diced cucumber, and 1 cup quinoa per portion. Add 1/2 cup soy curls and top with as much sauce as you like.
- Makes for great work lunches or a light dinner.
Notes
*You can use cooked chickpeas, Gardein chicken strips, torn pan-fried tofu or your protein of choice here
**Frank's doesn't have gluten in it, but it is not certified gluten-free, so if you are gluten-sensitive, swap for your favourite GF hot sauce.
Salim Patel says
Hi Lisa,
I am struggling to find the Butler Soy Curls here in Mississauga. Where do you get yours?
Lisa Le says
Hi Salim! I either get mine in bulk from Zero Waste Bulk in Waterloo, Coven in Hamilton (Also in KW), and Good Rebel in Toronto. I kind of have to stock up in order to get them haha.
mary says
Wow this looks SO good! I won’t go hungry after this!
Salim says
Thank you. Will try to stock them up soon!
Keep up the recipe blog – love it!
Christine says
I’ve made the soy curls and the ranch sauce a bunch of times and they are sooo good!!! I made a homemade buffalo chicken pizza with roasted mushrooms, buffalo soy curls and drizzled with the ranch sauce once out of the oven then some fresh chopped dill…Heaven!!!! I’ve also used the ranch and soy curls for buffalo chicken tacos….thanks for the inspiration!!!