If you've followed along here for a while, you'll know we're borderline obsessed with a good poke bowl, and a Butternut Squash Buddha Bowl is its cosier, colder-weather cousin. Sweet caramelised squash against sharp roasted peppers, a jammy soft-boiled egg against crisp cucumber and tomato, and a nutty tahini-lemon drizzle holding it all together. Warm and cold in the same mouthful, and properly filling rather than just a pile of roast veg on rice.
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We grow butternut squash every year in our raised beds here in North Wales, with wildly varying luck. This year, finally, a proper win: three plants gave us seven decent-sized squashes, no slug carnage, no rot. When we've got squash to get through, this is where we turn first.
Recipe Highlights
TASTE: Caramelised squash, creamy tahini, nutty brown rice and lots of fresh veggies
TOP TIP: Whisk the water in slowly when making the dressing
PERFECT FOR: Squash gluts and proper meal prep
SEB'S RATING: Always looks forward to leftovers for lunch the next day
What's in this butternut squash buddha bowl
- Brown rice is the base here, but feel free to use white rice, quinoa or other grains (even green lentils work beautifully).
- Squash and peppers are the roast. Two vegetables, two different cook times, roasted together but staggered (more on that below).
- Soft-boiled egg is the protein. Jammy yolk instead of a hard-boiled disc, and it does something genuinely useful with the tahini sauce.
- Spinach, cucumber, tomato and avocado bring the freshness and crunch that stops the bowl feeling like a stew.
- Tahini, lemon, maple and soy make the drizzle. The soy is doing more work than you'd think.
Find the full ingredient quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
Recipe Tips
This Butternut Squash Buddha Bowl comes together without much skill or effort, but here are a few things to pay attention to:
Roasting squash and peppers so neither one overcooks
Squash and peppers don't cook at the same speed. Get the squash in first, tossed with olive oil, cumin, chilli flakes and seasoning, and give it a 15-minute head start on its own tray. Then toss the peppers separately and add them in for the final 18 to 20 minutes, turning everything once.
You're looking for caramelised, slightly blackened edges on the squash and peppers that have softened and charred a little without turning to mush. If the squash still feels firm in the centre after 20 minutes total, give it another five. Ovens vary more than recipe cards ever admit.
The tahini sauce seizes up before it loosens
Whisk tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup and soy sauce together and for a moment it will look like a mistake: thick, claggy, nothing like a sauce. This is completely normal and every batch does it. Keep whisking and add the water a tablespoon at a time. It will loosen suddenly, almost all at once, into something smooth and pourable.
Read more about the method in our Easy Maple Tahini Dressing Recipe.
Soft-boiling the egg
Lower the eggs gently into boiling water and cook for six and a half minutes, then straight into a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking further. Peel carefully once cool. This timing gives you a set white and a yolk that's still soft enough to run into the rice when you cut into it.
Egg and tahini isn't a random pairing. It shows up across Middle Eastern cooking, where a runny yolk and a sesame-based sauce are a familiar combination, so this bowl leans on a pairing that's been working for a lot longer than the buddha bowl trend has existed.
Swaps if your fridge looks different to mine
- No peppers? Carrots, red onion, broccoli or cauliflower, roasted alongside the squash, work well.
- Want it vegan? Swap the egg for a tin of drained chickpeas, tossed in a little of the same cumin and chilli mix before roasting.
Make-ahead and next-day lunch
The roast veg and rice both keep well in the fridge for three to four days in separate containers, which makes this a genuinely good meal-prep option if you assemble a fresh bowl each day rather than storing it fully made up.
Recipe FAQs
It's good served warm, at room temperature or cold. If you're eating it cold or as a next-day lunch, add the tahini drizzle just before eating rather than in advance, as it thickens further in the fridge.
This tahini-lemon sauce also works well over roasted cauliflower, grilled chicken or a simple green salad. Make a double batch and keep it in the fridge for up to five days.
This almost always means the water was added too quickly. Add it a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously, and it will loosen into a smooth sauce. If it still looks grainy, a squeeze more lemon juice usually brings it back together.
Chickpeas for a vegan option, or grilled chicken or halloumi if you'd rather skip the egg but still want protein. Any of these work with the same tahini-lemon drizzle.
More Rice Bowl Recipes
If you like this kind of roasted-veg-and-grain combination, our Warm Moroccan Aubergine Salad and Halloumi Couscous Bowl both work on the same principle, and if it's a poke bowl you're after instead, the Teriyaki Salmon Poke Bowl is worth a look too.
Butternut Squash Buddha Bowl
Equipment
Ingredients
For the base:
- 120 g (¾ cup) brown rice
For the roasted veg:
- ½ butternut squash (~400g/14oz) peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
- 1 bell pepper deseeded and cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- a pinch of chilli flakes
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the toppings:
- 2 eggs soft-boiled
- a handful baby spinach
- ½ avocado sliced
- 6-8 cherry tomatoes halved
- ¼ cucumber sliced
- ½ red chilli sliced (to taste)
For the tahini-lemon drizzle:
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- juice of ½-1 lemon (~1½ tbsp)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Cook the rice. While the veg roasts, rinse the rice and cook according to the packet instructions (about 25-30 minutes simmering). Drain if needed and keep covered off the heat.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400℉). Line a large baking tray.
- Roast the squash. Toss the squash cubes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the cumin, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Spread on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for 10 minutes.
- Add the peppers. Toss the pepper chunks with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Add to the tray and roast for a further 10-15 minutes, turning once, until the squash is caramelised at the edges and the peppers are lightly charred.
- Soft-boil the eggs. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Lower the eggs in gently and cook for 6½-7 minutes. Transfer immediately to a bowl of cold water, then peel carefully and halve.
- Make the drizzle. Whisk the tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup and soy sauce together. It will seize up and turn thick and claggy at first. Keep whisking and add the water a tablespoon at a time until it loosens into a smooth, pourable sauce.
- Assemble. Divide the rice between two bowls. Add spinach to one side of each. Pile on the roasted squash and peppers, then arrange the tomatoes, cucumber and avocado around the bowl. Top with the egg halves.
- Finish. Drizzle generously with the tahini-lemon sauce and scatter over the sliced chilli. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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