My roasted sweet potato veggie bowl is loaded with delicious veggies and grains for a tasty contrast in flavors and textures. Mix and match your favorites for a filling meal anytime of day.

large photo with text depicting how to make a sweet potato vegetable bowl

Fall flavors are a hit in Buddha Bowls

For this bowl I chose a combination of seasoned sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and chickpeas over a bed of mixed rice and quinoa. The veggies were roasted in my new Ninja Digital Air Fry Oven which allows me to air roast enough vegetables for 4 generous servings.

This type of plant forward bowl with grains and roasted vegetables is very popular. You may have seen them called Buddha Bowls. They’re a favorite because of their versatility. Plan a certain combination as we’ve done here OR improvise based on whatever’s on hand.

The Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fry Oven may be a game changing appliance

I was excited to experiment with my new toy when making my sweet potato bowl. It’s shaped like a toaster oven, but has the ability to air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, toast bread and bagels, dehydrate and keep food warm all in one appliance. AND it folds up out of the way when not in use. So far, I love it! Once I learn how to use it, I have a feeling I won’t have to use my regular oven except during the holidays.

photo of ninja foodi digital oven roasting vegetables

Don’t worry, though. This recipe can be prepared in a conventional oven as well. I’ll provide instructions for both.

How to Roast Several Different Vegetables at the Same Time

There’s really no set temperature for roasting vegetables. Instead, consider the time you have available, whether you will be cooking some sort of protein at the same time and your desired end result.

A hot oven — 400° to 450° F/200° to 230° C — will crisp and char the outside of the veggies while leaving the centers more firm. Tender veggies may overcook while more hardy ones may be underdone for some people. Personally, I prefer this method. Most things are cooked to my liking around 30 minutes or so.

While a medium oven — 350° to 375° F/180° to 190° C — will take longer to cook, you can also roast many proteins at the same time and everything will be edible if not perfectly roasted.

Then there are the proponents of slow roasting at temperatures of 250° F/120° C for about an hour. The results remind me of the vegetables braised with a pot roast. Kinda shriveled outside but fall apart tender. To be honest, if I have an hour or longer to roast, I’m probably going to braise with some sort of liquid instead.

large photo of vegetables before roasting with text

In roasting, and cooking in general, size matters. Try to cut consistently sized pieces and remember large bits take longer to cook through. Bite sized pieces tend to cook more quickly and evenly with the added bonus of finishing at the same time.

Finally, you want to take into account the tenderness of the vegetable. Things like asparagus, tomatoes and green beans will take less time to roast than wedges of potato, cabbage and winter squash at the same temperature.

Roasting scenarios

So there are a couple ways you can solve the competing needs of various vegetables to have them all finish at the same time.

In a conventional oven, place vegetables on separate trays (or baking dishes) and add or remove the trays as necessary. Start the longer cooking veg first, then add the second tray later. This also works if you’re making a quick cooking protein like chicken or fish. Start the veggies first, then slide in the tray with the meat at the appropriate time.
Similar to Item 1 except the veggies are cooked on the same tray. Just make room for the quicker cooking vegetable and add it after some time has elapsed. This is the method I used to make this bowl.
Start everything at the same time and remove items as they have cooked through. To me, this is least desirable, but it’s definitely an option, especially when things don’t go as planned.

photo of sweet potatoes, chickpeas, brussels sprouts and grains in a bowl

In summary…

In Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen we prefer to cut our vegetables into bite sized pieces (somewhere between an inch and and one and a half inch cubes) and roast them at 400° F/200° C. Start checking after 10 or 15 minutes and every 5 minutes or so after. When checking, give the vegetables a stir. After a while you build sort of a mental table as to the times that best suit a particular veg in your oven.

Type of Vegetable	Approximate Time to Roast at 400° F/200° C
– thin veggies like asparagus and green beans	10 – 15 min
– soft veggies like tomatoes, summer squash, mushrooms – cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, Brussels sprouts – sliced onions and peppers	15 – 25 min
– winter squash, sweet potatoes, sliced cabbage	20 – 30 min
– root veggies like potatoes, beets, carrots cabbage wedges	30 – 45 min

Now of course, if you’ve cut your potatoes and carrots into very small pieces you’ll want to check on them sooner than 30 min. Likewise, if your zucchini squash is cut into large chunks, it may take longer than 15 minutes to attain the desired doneness. That’s why my habit is to check the vegetables at regular intervals and stir them.

How to make a Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprouts Veggie Bowl

I made my sweet potato bowl with a microwaveable mixed grain product, frozen brussels sprouts and canned garbanzo beans. You may have other choices available to you. It’s really not that important as this “recipe” is more about the method.

Earlier in the post I talked about my new favorite kitchen gadget the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fryer. In addition to the air fryer I also used my microwave oven.

The brussels sprouts were par cooked in the microwave and crisped up in the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fryer Oven. The rice and grain mix was one of those microwavable grain medleys. Between the two appliances I was able to make a meal with four generous servings while keeping my kitchen cool at the same time.