Bowls: Vibrant Recipes with Endless Possibilities

by America's Test Kitchen (editor)

A healthy, customizable way to cook every day with 75 complete bowl recipes and mix-and-match bases, toppings, and saucesWant to cook healthier low-stress dinners, improve your lunch game, and find meals that can be prepped mostly in advance? Bowls are for you! The beauty of building a meal in a bowl is its versatility, and this book helps you compose 75 interesting bowls that incorporate a multitude of flavors and textures, from a Harvest Bowl to a Pork Mojo Quinoa Bowl, all while streamlining prep work to keep them casual and fun. Where to start? Choose your base--we've got chapters based on grains, noodles, greens, and broths--and then peruse options as diverse as Seared Tuna Poke Bowl, Green Fried Rice Bowl, Indian-Spiced Chicken Zoodle Bowl, and Vietnamese Beef Pho. Components within recipes are frequently interchangeable, so if you've got pre-cooked grains on hand, or a rotisserie chicken, you can easily swap these foods in. (Lunch Most bowl components can also be made the day before and transported.)Feel like improvising? Turn to our Bowl Basics section which offers 100 components, from Quinoa Pilaf to Quick Pickled Carrot Ribbons. Our vibrant Beet Tzatziki sauce or crunchy Savory Seed Brittle might be just the ticket to transform your bowl improvisation into something special, and everything can be made in advance and stored. Looking to eat vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free? You'll find plenty of options here, plus full nutritional information for every recipe.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Health, Adult

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2019

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Sharon Mensing]

Bowls are the new thing in the culinary world, and America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) has done a great job of both providing the basics and expanding the definition. Bowls, in this book, include the standard grain, bean, and noodle dishes, as well as soups and salads, which are served in bowls but sometimes overlooked in bowl discussions. Bowls provide a healthy meal, including vegetables, protein, and usually a distinctive sauce in a one-dish meal. While providing many specific and delicious recipes, ATK takes the stance that once the basics are mastered, any cook can create innovative and satisfying bowls. Basics such as developing a pantry, kitchen equipment, arranging, serving, and storing are all included, with an eye toward the reader’s customization. The book includes instructions for preparing the basic ingredients of bowls: grains, noodles, proteins, vegetables, toppings, dressings and sauces. The specific bowl recipes span the globe, with Asian, Italian, African, and Mexican recipes sharing pages with various fusion approaches to bowls. Each recipe begins with a discussion of why the recipe works and ends with suggestions for customizing. Home cooks can either follow the recipes exactly or adjust them to suit their own tastes, allowing for both novice cooks and those with more experience to find something useful and delicious in this book.

This review first appeared in Library Journal.

[Stephanie]

I have cooked my way steadily through this book for about the last year and thought I had tried most recipes, but it really ended up being only about 15% of the almost 170 recipes, if you include the “bowl basics” at the end.

The portions were pretty much perfect because they gave me two full meals; anything longer than that would probably not have held up well since these are all fresh ingredients and of course, mixed in one bowl.

I really liked the grain and noodle bowls, didn’t do a lot of the salads or soups. But probably my favorites were the staples, I used some of the veggie and fish recipes as main dishes for a quick weeknight dinner when I didn’t have time to make a full bowl. These bowl recipes are labor intensive, make no mistake.

Some of my favorites include the Creamy Miso-Ginger Noodle Bowl, Pork & Eggplant Soba Noodle Bowl with Miso and the Indian Spiced Zoodle Bowl. I keep a batch of the Cajun-Style Rub in the pantry, it works on everything.

Overall, this is a great cookbook for an adventurous single cook or couple who like cooking with fresh ingredients and don’t need to feed a crowd. Highly recommend.

[Mama Cass aka Bookhugger]

Just had the best dinner I've had in a long time. It was called harvest bowl, and had mixed salad greens, roasted butternut squash, granny Smith apple, havarti cheese, brown rice and dried cranberries. Very nice dressing too. It was amazing. I was unsure how rice and roasted butternut squash would taste with salad greens, but wow, was this fabulous. I mean, I'm gushing here and I don't usually do that over a cookbook.

Healthy and low-fat!! I am beyond amazed at these recipes and how flexible they are.

[Alisa]

I am bored to death of my go-to dishes and these fast, colorful bowls are gonna punch up my lunch game. All the recipes have ideas for alternatives and substitutions, beautiful full-color photos, and there’s a good mix of cool and warm dishes. Since bowls are grain or pasta based, it’s easy to make them all gluten free. If you wanted to swap out the meat for tofu, that would also be a seamless switch for the majority of recipes (which often already have a secondary protein source like beans or edamame).

[Sarah]

This cookbook is A++++. Aaron and I have been cooking together, making different bowls each week for dinner, and every one has been incredible. The ingredients are so fresh and nutritious and tasty, and it’s easy to customize all of them with what you have on hand. Also easy to “vegetarianize” the proteins, but there are tons of vegetarian recipes as is in the book as well. Every recipe is vegetable forward. I feel like I’m killing cancer cells with every bite

[Brenda]

I love grain bowls, Love Core Life Eatery, and knew I'd love this cookbook as soon as I saw it :) Now I'm starving and can't wait to start creating! Lunches for the week will be from this book. Such a good book with so many delicious and healthy ideas!

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads)]

Pleasing to the eye and palate, all recipes have easily accessible ingredients and I love the customizing tips included with each.

[Kristi]

This one surprised me, I mean you see so many of these bowls, what could possibly be different? But there were a ton of recipes in this one I can’t wait to try out! Also veg and vegan options too! I loved how it was broken down into sections, souls, noodles, etc plus the sauces, protein pep and toppings at the end.

I should have known it would be good, America’s test kitchen rarely disappoints.

I might have to add this one to my cookbook stockpile.

[Jifu]

One usually can't go wrong with an ATK cookbook. Bowls provides an impressive array of bowl meals not only covering an array of taste and dietary preferences but what really makes this book shine is the customizations that are listed at the very end of each recipe, giving a nice little bit of wriggle room and adaptability for readers.

[Kris]

A fun, creative, versatile cookbook, with lots of different kinds of bowls (grain, noodle, salad, soup) from different cultures. Recipes have been thoroughly tested and substitutions are offered throughout. Great ideas. Created for a 2-person lunch or dinner but recipes can easily be doubled. I love throwing different ingredients together in a bowl (casseroles are also a fave), and keeping certain staples in the kitchen equals yummy meals.

[Lindsay Merrill]

4.5 stars. I’m really excited about this one. It’s very clever and useful.

[Sarah]

On the plus side, there are big gorgeous photos with every bowl recipe and helpful tips for making changes or substitutions. The recipes are broken up by general categories like salads, grains, zoodles, and soups. On the negative side, I just don't think I'll make any of these. I also am frequently annoyed by recipes in which the ingredients also have their own recipes. So really there are bowl recipes and at the end, bowl basics recipes too.
But as a general guide for the bowl-as-meal concept this is a good place to start and while I might not make any of these specifically, its nice to be reminded of presentation and construction.

[Dani]

Another quality publication from America's Test Kitchen. This time the focus is bowls: "vibrant recipes with endless possibilities". The recipes are scaled down to mostly serve two, (though some of the soups serve four), so individuals can consider each recipe as having one meal of built-in leftovers, or you can always double a recipe as you see fit. All recipes are designed to take and hour or less, and most recipes (and almost all the recipe components) can be made in advance. Each featured recipe has a full-page photograph, and each recipe is only one page long (though sometimes they will direct you to a separate recipe for a make-ahead sauce or the like). Additionally, all the recipes in this book have a short "customize it" section at the end, with tips for adding, substituting, enhancing, or sometimes simplifying. I think it is user-friendly while still being flexible.

The main chapters of the book are for salad bowls, grain & bean bowls, noodle bowls, and soup bowls. There's also a "getting started" section with an introduction, a guide to making bowls, the anatomy and construction of a good bowl, a pantry staple shopping guide, recommended kitchen equipment, storing and serving information, and a user-friendly guide to arranging an appealing bowl. The book ends with "bowl basics", which has the short recipes for the make-ahead and batch version of many bowl components, such as
big batches of grains and starches, proteins (and spices/rubs), vegetables (and quick pickles), toppings, and dressings and sauces. To wrap up the book, there is nutritional information for the recipes, conversions and equivalents, and an index.

I have to say, I was really won over by this book! I am a big America's Test Kitchen (ATK) fan, and I feel most if not all of their publications are quality, even if a specific book isn't something I'm personally interested in. So even though I'm not into the food trend of "bowls", I at least expected to find that this would be a good book for people who do consider themselves bowl-lovers.

But you know what? Bowls are great! Perhaps I shrugged it off because it was just another food trend and one that didn't seem to apply to me, but in retrospect, that was very silly of me! As ATK says in their own book, "Bowls promise the perfect solution for busy home cooks: a relatively fast, make-ahead-friendly meal that's great for lunch or dinner, the freedom to improvise, and the ability to capitalize on leftovers." It covers the food groups while encompassing a variety of tastes and textures. A complete bowl has a base, protein, vegetable(s), sauce/dressing, and crunch. I like cooking and making food, but sometimes I really struggle to pair a main dish with sides. Bowls, however, are complete meals all on their own. It's all the components rolled together in harmony, and it's great! I borrow cookbooks from the library all the time, but I found this book so useful that now I'm planning on buying my own copy.

I am still an omnivore who loves meat, but I have been becoming more mindful over the years of just how much meat I eat, so I like that this book has both meat and vegetarian/vegan options, and often has suggested substitutions. I personally find this book most useful for helping me make more balanced choices, and I plan on making more of these recipes to shake up quicker weeknight dinners and pull me out of the rut of sandwiches for work lunches. If you would like to shake up your lunches or dinners, or maybe you want the leftover-friendliness of a casserole without the heaviness, richness, or oven-heat of a casserole, you might like this book too. Take a peek, and with all the different flavors and styles in this book, maybe you'll find something you like!

[Abdullah Al]

**⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Ultimate Blueprint for Fresh, Flavorful, and Effortless Meal Prep!**

*Bowls: Vibrant Recipes with Endless Possibilities* completely transforms the way you approach everyday cooking. Instead of traditional heavy main-and-two-sides meals, this book breaks down meal building into a beautifully balanced formula: nourishing bases, crisp vegetables, bold proteins, dynamic textures, and irresistible sauces.

What makes this collection so exceptional is its modular, mix-and-match framework. Rather than forcing you into rigid dinner plans, it equips you with versatile templates that turn pantry staples and weeknight leftovers into restaurant-quality grain bowls, nourish bowls, and salad builds.

* **Masterful Flavor & Texture Balance:** Every bowl is built around intentional contrast—combining warm and cool, crunchy and smooth, and acid and savory elements for maximum satisfaction.
* **Seamless Customization & Flexibility:** Features clear formula guides, alternative protein suggestions, and sauce pairings that let you swap ingredients based on what is in your fridge.
* **Built for Practical Meal Prep:** The structured component approach makes prepping ingredients in bulk effortless, ensuring quick assembly for healthy weekday lunches and dinners.
* **Global Culinary Variety:** Showcases an incredible range of flavor profiles, from Mediterranean quinoa bowls and hearty grain dishes to Asian-inspired noodle bowls and fresh poke variations.
* **Clear, Visual Blueprint:** Step-by-step layering guides and stunning, full-page photography make presentation intuitive and visually appealing.

Whether you are looking to simplify meal prep, eat a more nutrient-dense diet, or break out of a weeknight dinner rut, this cookbook delivers endless practical inspiration. An absolute staple for any modern, efficiency-minded kitchen.

[Alyssa]

Love this cookbook!

I thought I came across a pretty good substitution implementation in Cookish, but this book is just better than others. The substitutions were not just in the ingredients lists but in little sections after each recipe. I don't even mind that every single recipe didn't have a vegetarian or vegan option. I feel like each recipe having its own suggestions conveyed the point of playing with each dish within itself. I feel sufficiently inspired to adjust recipes to my dietary preferences if there isn't a suggestion already. I love how versatile and inspiring the meat dishes are. I usually get kind of grosses out and just skip certain meats, but I liked the explanations and ideas. I was never quite sure when a bowl would have vegetarian modifications already. It just felt balanced. I've found this book helpful, clear and so much fun. I'd only say that some ingredients were head scratchers for me. For example, I understand ramen to really feature a rich broth. So even for the ramen zoodles, I'd expect a couple broth recipes or upgrades. I may have missed those if they were included. Recipes being inauthentic didn't bother me enough to take off stars, but it is worth a note. I see this as spicing up meal prep and just delivering so hard on the title. Highly recommend.

[Valerie Reid]

This is a beautifully photographed book with extensive recipes for various "bowl" dishes. The chapters include: Salad Bowls, Grain & Bean Bowls, Noodle Bowls, and Soup Bowls. There's also a final chapter with recipes categorized as "Bowl Basics." All-in-all a very comprehensive book with many incredible recipes.

Most of the recipes serve 2. And each recipe includes "Why This Recipe Works" and "Customize It" which has additional ingredients or substitutions. We have been trying to increase the amount of grains in our diet, and also eat a healthier lunch, so this was the perfect book for us. As the sub-title indicates, there are "endless possibilities."

My only quibble was the fact that I got the Kindle version of the book from my library. The page formatting was a little skewed for much of the book. Rather than having the color photo after the recipe, it was usually included at the bottom of the previous recipe. However, that didn't stop my enjoyment in finding wonderful recipes!

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

[Md Reza]

★★★★★

Bowls is a fantastic cookbook for anyone who loves colorful, wholesome, and satisfying meals. The recipes are creative without feeling intimidating, and the idea of combining different ingredients into one balanced bowl makes everyday cooking feel both simple and exciting.

I really enjoyed the variety of flavors, textures, and ingredients throughout the collection. There are plenty of inspiring combinations to try, whether you are looking for a quick lunch, a nourishing dinner, or something fresh and different for the week. The recipes also encourage creativity, making it easy to adapt ingredients to personal tastes and what is already available in the kitchen.

What makes this cookbook stand out is its versatility. It proves that bowl meals can be incredibly flavorful while still being practical for busy home cooks. The recipes feel approachable, modern, and genuinely enjoyable to make.

A beautiful source of inspiration for anyone wanting more variety in their meals. Five stars for creativity, flavor, and endless possibilities!

[Carm]

Almost all except 1 recipe is for 2 people. I find this an act of hostility I mean why are so many recipes for 2? What about the rest of us. The recipes are interesting with a small amount of room for creating one’s own or using cheaper ingredients. The book falls short misses expectations and doesn’t deliver based on reviews. I find the idea of everyday eating from bowls is nothing new for families or people living with fine motor challenges. The black bean soup calls for 4 cans of black beans for example. It would be nice to have the option to use dried beans instead. The fattoush salad is idiotic as many identical recipes abound on the internet and if you’re making it for 4 you’ll put it in a salad bowl. I do appreciate the calories counts but this nutrition information isn’t enough for many, who might have dietary restrictions. Yes the pictures are nice but that’s because a lot of ingredients which are pricey most of the year.

[Camie]

I'm so sad to return this book to the library and am considering buying this one. Tons of delicious recipes, each one with a picture. And a section on each part of what makes a good bowl (base, proteins, sauce, toppings, etc.)

MADE:
p. 143 Roasted Cauliflower & Brown Butter Noodle Bowl - yummy!
TO TRY:
p. 17 Green Goodness Salad Bowl
p. 20 Harvest Bowl
p. 24 Qunioa Taco Salad Bowl
p.30 Seared Tuna Poke Bowl
p. 32 Mediterranean Tuna Salad Bowl
p. 48 Kale Cobb Salad Bowl
p. 68 Tofu Sushi Bowl
p. 78 Chimichurri Couscous Bowl
p. 113 Summer Ramen Bowl
p. 118 Bun Cha Noodle Bowl
p. 130 Indian-Spiced Chicken Zoodle Bowl
p. 134 Mediterranean Carrot Noodle Bowl
p. 137 Lemony Linguine Bowl
p. 139 Spinach Pesto Noodle Bowl
p. 140 Creamy Corn Bucatini Bowl

p. 195 Proteins - roast pork tenderloin & pan-seared flank steak
p. 199 Easy-Peel Hard-Cooked Eggs
p. 205 Roasted Cauliflower

[Brittany]

Sriracha-Lime Tofu Salad Bowl
Quinoa Taco Salad Bowl
Thai Steak Salad Bowl
Moroccan Chicken Salad Bowl
Steakhouse Salad Bowl
Mediterranean Chopped Salad Bowl
Fattoush Salad Bowl
Steak Fajita Salad Bowl
Bistro Salad Bowl
Skillet Burrito Bowl
Weeknight Bibimbap
Chimichurri Couscous Bowl
Pork Mojo Quinoa Bowl
Shakshuka Bowl
Indian-Spiced Chicken Zoodle Bowl
Mexican Street-Corn Chowder
Turkey Chili Bowl
Caldo Verde Bowl
Black Bean Soup
Quinoa and Vegetable Stew
North African Vegetable and Bean Stew
Spicy Avocado-Sour Cream Sauce

[Wolana]

These calorie counts do not seem accurate to me. The dressing for a recipe I tried definitely was about 300 calories alone and the book claimed it was like 298 for all the whole salad. Sneaky sneaky! Otherwise these do look pretty good and easy but if you're dieting make sure you figure out the calories in their dressings because they don't count those and they are probably the most calorie dense portion of the meal. I've been using this for my lunches at work.

[Marieke]

Always appreciate a cookbook with photos for every recipe! Good balance and variety within this book. Appreciated the adjustment and swap recs for each recipe, especially for adding protein. Their overall protein recipes seem very basic and not too flavorful, wish they provided variations that would pair alongside specific bowls - for instance, soy sauce marinated tofu to add to some of the Asian noodle dishes.

[Raihan Siam]

The most beautiful, healthy meals I've ever made.
I am obsessed with this book! It taught me how to build a meal in a bowl that is not only nutritionally balanced but visually stunning. The flavor combinations are vibrant and exciting—nothing feels bland or repetitive. It’s become my favorite lunch-prep guide for the week. Even my picky kids love picking their toppings and building their own bowls. A total game-changer.

[Sarah]

I love this book. I read through it all the time. I have made a lot of the recipes in here and they all turn out great! I love this series and how they explain some of the science about it. I recommend this book to everyone. Especially if you want to branch out into vegan and vegetarian options too this is a great place to start if you don't want to fully commit yet!

[Ifffat Ara]

Bowls is a beautiful and inspiring cookbook filled with creative combinations and fresh ideas. The recipes make it easy to build satisfying meals with colorful ingredients, flavorful toppings, and appealing textures. I love the variety and flexibility throughout the collection. It is a wonderful choice for anyone seeking simple, wholesome, and delicious meals.

[Rhonda Hicks]

The possibilities in this book are truly endless. I've fixed several of the bowl recipes and thoroughly enjoyed them. And sometimes, I want something simple that's still good for me and filling without having to fix some elaborate meal.

[Barbara]

Excellent cookbook for my tastes. It focuses on foods I want to eat, with interesting food combinations, and hallelujah the recipes are for 2 servings!

Great photos.

I'm so smitten with this book! I bought it right away after I requested the book from the library and saw how great it is for me.

[Meredith]

Always appreciate ATK and I love bowls! Unique recipes that I’ve been enjoying and have also used as a starting point to build my own bowls. Some ingredients are tough to find for those of us living in more rural areas, however.

[tin_foil_tinnu]

If you like food in bowls, this is the cookbook for you. I liked the index of smaller recipes in the back (dressings, toppings, etc). Made a couple of the recipes and they turned out well, but I was only interested in making a few of them. Also, including soup recipes feels like cheating.

[Lou]

Informed

Having to ho on a gluten free diet due to health issues wheat caused I'm having to learn a new way of eating. These recipes help take the sting out of not having having to go to more of a " clean diet".