17 Bowl Recipes To Make Your Fall More Enjoyable
Fall is a wonderful time of the year. When you've had your fill of al fresco summer cookouts and light meals, it's time to dig into a scrummy bowlful of food that feels and tastes warming and nourishing. You don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, but want to instead sit down with a cozy comfort food that's easy to make and leaves you feeling satisfied.
Autumnal delights include classic recipes turned into bowls brimming with flavor, as well as spicy dishes that give you a little heat on a cold night. You can even enjoy a salad if you use the right ingredients, with Mexican or Asian meals that bring their own individual flavor profiles to the table. From quick weekday dinners and suppers to lunches that will see you through a chilly day, grab a bowl and serve something different. Savor making these bowl recipes to make your fall enjoyable.
1. Homemade Bread Bowls
Everyone knows how amazing a freshly baked bread roll is with soup. It's such a simple meal that warms your whole being after coming into your cozy home after a chilly day, or getting home from work tired on a mid-week fall day.
Even better, why not make your own fresh bread, hollow out some of the doughy center, and use the rest as an actual soup bowl? Not only does this mean you can eat your bowl afterward, but you can also dip the bread that you removed in the soup.
Recipe: Homemade Bread Bowls
2. Spicy Buffalo Chicken Chili
You know when you kind of wish two comfort food favorites were combined so that you could enjoy them at the same time? Make a bowl of this spicy, creamy, tangy dish then. When you want the taste of Buffalo chicken wings and also a chili, then boom, you got it. This combo is fire.
Grab a rotisserie chicken from the store as it always tastes better, and makes your life easier. When the nights draw in, you've got one of those moreish bowl recipes to make your fall more enjoyable.
Recipe: Spicy Buffalo Chicken Chili
3. Sourdough Panzanella
You probably don't hanker after salads when the seasons change and the autumnal winds roll in. But a Tuscan bread salad is a whole different story. The combination of crunchy, chewy sourdough croutons with the freshness of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions creates a carb and veggie bowl that's both comforting and light.
You can even brown the bread by popping it in your toaster, so it's super easy. Fresh herbs add Mediterranean flavor, and a red wine vinegar dressing adds warmth. Boost the taste with some anchovies, grilled chicken, or air-dried beef.
Recipe: Sourdough Panzanella
4. Fire-Roasted Chili Mac
When the sun goes down and it's raining outside, curling up with a bowl of pasta is sometimes exactly what you need. Smoked paprika, chili powder, and fire-roasted tomatoes inspire the smoky flavors you expect after summer has been and gone. When you're looking for some warming bowl recipes to make your fall more enjoyable and cozier, then this is one to remember.
Kidney beans, carrots, red bell pepper, and spinach add nutritious roughage to make this dish heartier, and Italian sausage is so flavorful, whether meaty or plant-based.
Recipe: 20-Minute Fire-Roasted Chili Mac
5. Pho
When you want to sit down to a bowl that's packed with fall flavors, then there's really nothing better than pho. You make it with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and star anise, plus cardamom pods, fresh ginger, turmeric, and coriander seeds.
There are a lot of ingredients, including chicken and noodles, but this Asian-style broth is easy to make. Aside from the aroma and complex layers of flavor, it's also an enjoyable dish to serve with lots of bowls of toppings. These include bean sprouts and lime wedges, as well as cilantro, Sriracha, hoisin sauce, and sliced jalapeño.
Recipe: Pho
6. Chicken Pot Pie
There's something so nourishing about enjoying a classic dish that leaves you feeling warm and satisfied inside. Close the door to the fall wind and rain, and dig into a chicken pot pie. You only need a half hour to make this traditional recipe and serve it up in a bowl.
The key is to use rotisserie chicken, thawed-out puff pastry, and frozen veg. Make the filling on the stovetop using a Dutch oven, with milk and chicken stock. Serve in a bowl with a hot pastry square on top.
Recipe: 30-Minute Chicken Pot Pie
7. Best Beer Chili
Dishes that are the culinary equivalent of a windbreaker when it's blowing out have to include a chili. When it comes to bowl recipes to make your fall more enjoyable, surely it can't get better than this, can it? Only if it's chili made with beer, and only if it combines the meaty dream team of ground beef and Italian sausage.
Serve it in a bowl with grated cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and tortilla chips. Or spoon some on a big bowl of nachos or on top of a baked potato.
Recipe: Best Beer Chili
8. Soba Noodle Bowl With Mushrooms And Broccolini
It's easy to keep rustling up bowls of pasta for a quick meal on nights that are getting colder by the week. For a hearty change, make some nutritious buckwheat soba noodles. If you add soy sauce and sesame oil, you can eat them cold and they are just as tasty.
Keep it simple with sautéed mushrooms and broccolini or broccoli. Add crispy tofu or chicken to bulk it up, or sesame seeds and green onions to boost the Asian flavors.
Recipe: 5-Ingredient Soba Noodle Bowl With Mushrooms And Broccolini
9. One-Pot Vegetarian Mushroom Goulash
When it gets cold in Hungary, the temperature plummets. It's not surprising that one of the classic dishes from here is a meaty, spicy goulash. If you prefer a meat-free diet or want a vegetarian comfort-food dish in your recipe repertoire this fall, then this mushroom stew is it.
Before you start being fancy and adding expensive mushrooms, remember this recipe comes from humble origins. It's supposed to be simple and affordable. Other veggie goodies include carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. Thyme, sweet paprika, and tomato paste enhance the aroma and taste.
10. One-Pot Stovetop Enchiladas
The season for al fresco dining is over. It's a cold Tuesday night and all you want to do is stay in and eat some carbs. How does the taste of Mexican-style enchiladas made on your stovetop and served in a bowl in 15 minutes sound? This has to be one of the best bowl recipes to make your fall more enjoyable.
You add chopped-up corn tortillas and cooked rice to a spicy skillet of black beans, corn, and peppers. Ladle it out and top with cilantro, avocado slices, and salsa.
11. Chicken And Sweet Potato Burrito Bowl
Rather than being simply a deconstructed burrito in a bowl, this tasty bowl adds to the flavors with extra ingredients. The result is a delicious Mexican-style bowl recipe, without the tortilla wrap.
The sweet potatoes, quinoa, and chicken are hearty with kidney beans and corn. Slices of avocado give this nourishing dish some creaminess as does the tahini and lime dressing, and lettuce adds crunch. When it's fall you may want a flavorful dish that's also got a fresh taste so that it's not too stodgy.
12. Fish Taco Salad Bowl
A salad that's topped with fish fillets fried in taco seasoning has a warming quality to it. This bowl is packed with lively flavors that make your fall more enjoyable. It lifts you up when the skies are darkening above with another cloudy day. Dijon mustard and honey add a tangy, sweetness to a zesty dressing, too.
Just as the season brings all types of weather, this dish offers many flavors with black beans, salsa, and mixed greens, plus avocado and sour cream. It's spicy, citrusy, and creamy.
Recipe: Fish Taco Salad Bowl
13. Copycat KFC Famous Bowl
The season for al fresco nights is well and truly over and you're in hermit mode. Before you dip your head into a weekend bucket of KFC, what about serving up a copycat recipe of the KFC Famous Bowl? You can make enough for a few servings to see you through a wet couple of fall days or for a family feast without opening the door to a takeout.
Layer homemade mashed potato first made with love and butter, followed by popcorn chicken, corn, gravy, and shredded cheese to finish.
Recipe: Copycat KFC Famous Bowl
14. Copycat Panera Bread Baja Bowl
You know the dilemma — you really want a Panera Bread Baja Bowl, but it's cold and you don't want to venture out. Make a copycat version in the comfort of your own home instead with a bowl recipe to make your fall more enjoyable.
You might want a big bowl for this. Lemon pepper chicken baked in the oven on brown rice, red quinoa, and black beans, with a corn salsa is enough right there. Feta, tomatoes, avocado, salsa verde, and Greek yogurt transform the other ingredients.
Recipe: Copycat Panera Bread Baja Bowl
15. Easy Oyakodon Bowl
In Asia, the combination of eggs and rice is a joy. This translates into comforting food in other parts of the world, too, especially when the days get shorter and the sun gets lower in the sky sooner. Before you batten up the hatches, make sure you've got dashi powder, soy sauce, sake, and mirin for this chicken oyakodon recipe.
Add a steaming cup of rice to your bowl before spooning on the chicken and sauce, with the eggs only just cooked. The powerful flavors, juicy meat, and velvety eggs are sublime.
Recipe: Easy Oyakodon Bowl
16. Katsudon (Japanese Pork Cutlet And Omelet Rice Bowl)
Bowl recipes you'll want to enjoy in the fall don't all have to be soups, stews, and pasta dishes. In Asia, many other types of entrées are served in big shallow bowls, too. This casual-style dish has it all with panko-crusted pork cutlets, a caramelized onion omelet with an umami broth that's so flavorful with its sweet and savory notes.
Don't worry about the crumbed meat getting a little soggy on top of the other ingredients, this only adds to its comfort-food quality.
Recipe: Katsudon (Japanese Pork Cutlet And Omelet Rice Bowl)
17. Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Bowl
You eat with your eyes first and this bright and beautiful Japanese-style dish adds color to even the dullest of fall days. And the sweet, spicy, nutty, sour, and citrusy sauce is vibrant and flavorful.
Add whatever veggies you like with red peppers, carrots, mushrooms, and broccoli delicious with coated soba noodles. Bulk up your bowl with sautéed shrimp or grilled chicken. Add a garnish of cilantro and peanuts for an herby, crunchy finish. There's so much to enjoy in this bountiful bowl.