This veggie fajita bowl recipe is easy and delicious! It is baked on a sheet pan for minimal hands-on time and easy clean-up, then served over cauliflower rice. Vegan, gluten-free, and low-carb!
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. ~Mary Oliver~
These fajita buddha bowls are bursting with flavor, low-carb, and gluten-free, and take only a few minutes of hands-on time before going into the oven to bake. If you are looking for classic fajitas, try our Vegan Fajitas or our Chicken Fajitas!
The veggies are bathed in the most delicious smoky fajita marinade and then roasted on a sheet pan in the oven. Instead of tortillas, we serve it over cilantro lime cauliflower rice to create a flavorful vegan fajita bowl. What I love about this fajita bowl recipe is how quick and easy it is to put together and how fast it is to clean up – the very best part!
If you missed it, we are “downsizing”. We sold our bigger house and moved into our little house. We got rid of so much accumulated “stuff,” and we still have too much stuff! Every day, I shed a little more, and each time, it feels better and better. Do I need this item? Do I use it? Does it add joy to my life or does it feel heavy?
My pantry is still a huge problem. I hate waste, so I hang on to things. Very old things. The thought of something like split peas not fulfilling their purpose in this life (like becoming delicious soup) seriously troubles me. So, I end up with 10-year-old split peas, and felt guilty about it. I have issues here, clearly! But through this whole process, my issues are at least getting clearer.
Like, for example, since when did it become my job to make sure something or someone other than myself was fulfilling their purpose? As I examine my attachment to “things,” I examine the thoughts surrounding these things. As understanding arises, I can shed the thoughts themselves. And this shedding of conditioned thoughts has been the real gold in this whole process for me.
My mantra lately: Let go of the ideas about how life should be because maybe what will arrive in the future is simply still inconceivable at this moment. And perhaps it’s even better than one could ever possibly imagine. Trust.
How to make Vegan FajitAS Bowls
Step 1: It starts with making the flavorful fajita marinade! Stir the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl to create a paste.
Step 2: Then cut the veggies into strips and place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Step 3: Toss the veggies with the marinade in a bowl.
Step 4: Bake the fajitas in the oven on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes, tossing halfway through.
Step 5: Make the optional cauliflower rice. Easy to do while the fajitas are roasting! What I love about cauliflower rice is it’s quite filling while remaining low in carbs and calories. It’s also really good for you, packed with healthy antioxidants. Saute the riced cauliflower with the onions. Season with salt, coriander, lime juice and zest. Top with cilantro.
Step 6: Once the fajitas are roasted, assemble the fajita bowls using the cilantro cauliflower rice as the base.
Fajita Bowl Variations
- Add pinto beans or black beans to the bowls
- Add crispy tofu or baked tofu.
Chef’s Tips
For an extra burst of flavor make a sauce like this smoky Chipotle Mayo (it’s GF and vegan-adaptable) and it’s a good thing to have on hand – I always keep a squirt bottle of it in the fridge for flavor emergencies and it keeps for weeks! Other sauces that would be great here are:
- Vegan Cilantro Crema
- Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Avocado Salsa
- Pico de Gallo
- Poblano Pumpkin Seed Sauce
- Guacamole
Drizzle the smoky Chipotle Mayo over the bowl for an added burst of flavor and enjoy!!!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Or freeze in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Favorite Mexican Recipes
Veggie Fajita Buddha Bowls
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 3
- Category: vegan, bowl, sheet pan dinner, gluten-free
- Method: sheet pan dinner
- Cuisine: mexican
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These veggie fajita bowls are easy to make on a sheet pan. Create a bowl with cilantro lime cauliflower rice!
Ingredients
Fajita Marinade:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic- finely minced ( use a garlic press)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Fajitas:
- 2 bell peppers ( red and yellow are nice)
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 large portobello mushrooms
Optional Garnishes: Chipotle Mayo, Avocado, cilantro, microgreens, pumpkin seeds, lime.
Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Mix the marinade ingredients together with a fork in a small bowl.
- Cut the bell peppers and portobello into 1-inch thick slices. Cut the onions into ½-inch thick wedges.
- Toss with the marinade.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, in a single layer not overlapping.
- Roast on the middle rack in the oven for 20 minutes, then toss, and continue baking until mushrooms are cooked through, another 15-20 minutes.
- While this is roasting, make the Cilantro Cauliflower Rice. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and saute 3-4 more minutes until tender and fragrant. Add riced cauliflower and salt. Saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add coriander, zest and lime juice. Adjust salt and lime. Turn heat off until ready to serve.
- Assemble the bowls, divide cauliflower rice among bowls, top with roasted veggies (or chicken). Garnish with cilantro, chipotle mayo, avocado, limes, etc.
Notes
If adding tofu, pat dry, cut into 3/4-inch strips, toss with any remaining marinade, season with salt and pepper, and bake alongside the veggies.
You can also roast the cauliflower rice in the oven on a sheet pan. Use the same ingredients, but add the lime juice and cilantro after it’s cooked.
Make the Chipotle Mayo here!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 313
- Sugar: 9.9 g
- Sodium: 497 mg
- Fat: 24.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.1 g
- Fiber: 7.6 g
- Protein: 6.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I’ve made this multiple times and it’s a huge hit with our family! Absolutely sensational! Also a great intro to vegan food (if you make the vegan chipotle mayo and serve with tofu). We serve with your Mexican purple cabbage slaw. YUM!
Great to hear Megan!
I made this last night, accompanied by your delish chipotle mayo. I followed the fajita recipe using portobello mushrooms for me and chick breast for my hubby (and also swapped one of the bell peppers for a poblano, which I had in the fridge). The fajitas were incredibly flavorful, but the chicken was incrediby over cooked (dry and hard). Any suggestions for next time? Also, my husband said this was the best cauli rice I’d ever made (first time using this particular recipe)!
Thanks, Susan, glad you enjoyed the flavors. I noted the recipe about the chicken breast option. I see my mistake here- sorry about that.
This recipe was delicious! I doubled it for lunches for my husband and I this week. Next time, I would mix together all the veggies and marinade in a bowl because it was really tedious to brush it on each individual piece. Additionally, I checked my veggies at 20 minutes and the peppers and onions black underneath. I would either reduce the heat or check them earlier next time. The veggies were soooo good and I will definitely be using this marinade again!!
Thanks Hayley- appreciate this, haven’t made it in a long time. Very helpful! I updated recipe 🙂
Another great recipe! So flavorful!! Thank you so much for all these awesome recipes!
Awe, thanks, Gabriella!
Delish! So fast and easy! I bet the veggies would also go well in a tortilla with some cheese. And next time I’ll try it with avocado as Stacey suggested. Sylvia, you are the best!
This looks delicious! Any thoughts on how to make it with no oil!
Bursting with flavor! The cauliflower rice is a perfect balance to the spicy veggies. I added tofu, doubled the cilantro and lime in the cauliflower, and it all sang a song of life. Thanks Sylvia!
Delish! Added some broccoli to the cauliflower rice. Quick and easy.
I made this dish for father’s day and it got rave reviews. Love the marinade and lime in the cauliflower. Thx so much for creating something so delish!
Great to hear Carolyn! Thanks for the comment and rating and gold you enjoyed!
Loved this so much, had several non vegan friends over and everyone loved it and had no idea we were cooking strictly vegan. Perfect flavors and totally satisfying.
This was very good–we will definitely be making this again!
I topped it with avacado ans fresh salsa. Riced cauliflower is going to be my go-to over rice now.
Sylvia,
I love your recipes and your thoughtful commentary. Believe it or not, I literally made split pea soup from 5+-year-old peas last week because I could not bear to throw them away. FWIW, it was delicious….
Mmmm this looks lovely!