These tempeh bowls are a true fall favorite! Massaged kale, sweet potatoes, roasty marinated maple-mustard tempeh, crunchy apple, and an unexpected pile of briney sauerkraut.
Fall Favorite Maple-Mustard Tempeh Bowls
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SO SO YUMMY! I actually used a can of chick peas instead of the tempeh because I had them on hand and I haven’t explored tempeh yet. Added apple and used baby kale. OUT OF THIS WORLD. 10 out of 10. Making again asap! 🙂 Thanks for the easy and DELICIOUS recipe!
Whitney B
Hello lover. Like, wow, really, HELLO.
This salad is my absolute fall favorite, but also summer favorite, and winter favorite, and every season favorite.
It’s a bowl of feel-goodness that starts with kale massaged with avocado to make it nice and tender and delicious, a high pile of roasted sweet potato and roasty marinated maple-mustard tempeh, some sweet crunch and color from an apple, and a little something unexpected, salty, and briney from the sauerkraut.
I KNOW, I know, I know you – you think the sauerkraut is such a weird idea. I texted my sister excitedly about this recipe after I made it (she is vegan) and she was like, okay but um… no to the sauerkraut. People are not going to like the idea of it. I shall be ridiculed. I understand this.
But please at least try it before you vote me off the island – it adds saltiness and a little bit of that yummy funk that makes every bite that much more zippy and exciting.
Tempeh All The Way
I am fairly new to tempeh (you too?) and do you know what? It is fabulous. Affordable, intriguing, sturdy, nutty, and chewy in a much more interesting way than tofu, and keeps me full all day long.
The Ingredient Details
Here’s what we have going on for our short ingredient list:
- marinated tempeh
- kale
- sweet potato
- apple
- sauerkraut – yes, seriously
- avocado
The marinade for the tempeh is so simple and so basic and yet so NEXT LEVEL for the sweet, slightly punchy, tangy flavor it gives to the entire bowl.
Make These Bowls Come Together
Your sweet potatoes and tempeh get roasted up, your kale gets a nice massage with the avocado to really break it down and make it into something you’re actually excited to eat, and the crunchy apple and sauerkraut round out the flavor and crunch factor to make this bowl just a beautiful cornucopia of wholesome fall eating.
And – did I say this? – the tempeh lasts amazingly well as leftovers, so it works beautifully as an SOS meal because you can save the roasted sweet potatoes and tempeh and build yourself a nice lunch or dinner salad all week long.
Did I crown the whole thing with a little bit of a crunchy onion sprinkling? Yes I did, because that’s how I like to live my life, okay? Crunchy onion toppings are just a way of being for me right now.
If it’s possible to be obsessed with a salad / bowl / wholesome gang of vegan goodness, I am 100% there with this thing.
God bless food for being so wonderful. ♡
Maple-Mustard Tempeh Bowls: FAQs
I can’t find tempeh. Will this work with tofu instead?
Absolutely! It would be delicious with tofu.
Will this keep as leftovers?
Definitely! This is actually a great recipe to meal prep and save for lunches throughout the week. Just keep your bowl ingredients separate from the dressing and drizzle on the maple-mustard goodness right before eating.
What kind of kale did you use here?
Curly kale, but dino (lacinato) kale would also work.
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
Click here to watch Lindsay make this recipe on stories!
Source notes: I’ve been on a YouTube recipe video bender lately, and Sweet Potato Soul has long been one of my favorite sources for fun vegan recipes and lifestyle videos. ♡ This recipe from Jenné was the one that inspired this recipe! Her salad includes a few more ingredients, and cooks the tempeh and the sweet potato separately. It’s gorgeous. In an effort to make this as doable and SOS-friendly as possible, I just scaled back on the ingredient list and roasted the tempeh and sweet potato together on the same pan.
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Fall Favorite Maple-Mustard Tempeh Bowls
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
These tempeh bowls are a true fall favorite! Massaged kale, sweet potatoes, roasty marinated maple-mustard tempeh, crunchy apple, and an unexpected pile of briney sauerkraut.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
The Maple-Mustard Dressing:
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup stone ground mustard
- 2–3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
The Bowl Stuff:
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 blocks tempeh, cubed
- 3–4 cups kale, cut into small pieces
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 cup sauerkraut
- other toppings / add-ins: quinoa, crispy onions, pecans, apples, dried cranberries
Instructions
- Make the dressing and marinate tempeh: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Shake dressing ingredients in a jar. Marinate the tempeh in about half of the dressing for about 30 minutes, or just while the oven heats up.
- Roast tempeh and sweet potato: Place marinated tempeh (with marinade) on a baking sheet. Add sweet potatoes to the other half of the baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast for 25-30 minutes. When both are browned and roasted, toss the tempeh with a little more dressing so it soaks up lots of mapley-mustardy flavor.
- Get the kale all yummy: Pro tip: place the kale in the same bowl that the marinated tempeh was in so it can grab onto all the leftover marinade in the bowl. Massage the kale with a little bit more dressing and the avocado, so the avocado kind of smashes into the dressing and makes it tender and a little bit creamy.
- Toss and serve: Toss up the roasted tempeh, sweet potato, kale, sauerkraut, in a big bowl with any other extras that you like. I mean, RIGHT?! It’s shockingly good.
Notes
Dressing: If you love dressing (I do), you may want to double up on the dressing amounts just to make sure you have enough for your leftovers.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Bowl
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: tempeh recipe, tempeh bowl, vegan bowl recipe
Check Out More Plant-Based Yum
- Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato and Kale (cozy, comforting, and super nutritious)
- Quinoa Sweet Potato Salad (a sheet pan meal prep salad…yep, you read that right)
- Vegan Sheet Pan Fajitas with Chipotle Queso (roasted veggies forever!)
- Instant Pot Red Curry Lentils (creamy, spicy, and delicious)
Time To Show You Off!
Filed Under: All Recipes Avocado Bowls Dairy-Free Dinner Fall Healthy Kale Lunch Main Dishes Sheet Pan SOS Series Sweet Potato Tofu Vegan Vegetarian
September 7, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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What type/brand of sauerkraut do you use?
We used Cleveland Kraut and Frank’s Kraut when developing the recipe!
If I’m not a big fan of avocado, would you… use it anyway, because you can’t really taste it? Or use olive oil, or something else, instead? Thanks!
I don’t think you can really taste it, but you may come across some avocado chunks when eating. If that doesn’t appeal to you, a drizzle of olive oil will work instead!
Wow! In my 65 years I would have never thought of combining maple syrup and sauerkraut in the same recipe. What a great contrast, along with the sweet potato, kale etc. I used extra firm tofu as I always have that on hand and made enough extra dressing to use tomorrow (have requests for more dressing) for my air fryer garlic roasted chickpeas. Thanks for encouraging the reader to move through the sauerkraut bias 😉 may substitute kimchi instead next time! You made my day?
Love hearing this, Diana! Would love to hear how the kimchi goes if you give it a try!
Looks delicious! I don’t think the sauerkraut is weird – I’ve made a dish with pork loin, apples, and sauerkraut, and this recipe reminds me of that a little bit!
We used that exact combo to inspire this dish!
Making this for dinner tonight, I’m super pumped. Love it when I have all the ingredients on hand, ever the sauerkraut!
Awesome! We hope you enjoy the recipe!
What brand/type of tempeh did you use? I’ve wanted to try tempeh but wasn’t sure what brand to buy. Thanks.
We’ve used Lightlife brand, and have also purchased tempeh from Trader Joes!
Oh. My. Yummy. Goodness! I made this for lunch, well a slight variation since I had no tempeh, and I cannot tell you that how delicious this unique mixing of flavors is! It’s savory, slightly sweet, and the zippy yet subtle tang of sauerkraut just wraps it up perfectly. I also threw on some Thai chili cashews which was a nice addition. Soooooo good! I’m thinking this will also be dinner!
Love Thai chili cashews! Great idea to add those in! So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Abby!
These bowls were absolutely delicious. I added garlic and lemon to the dressing plus honeycrisp apple and pumpkin seeds to the mix for a meal that was enjoyed by all!
Love your additions! Thanks for the comment, Allison!
These were absolutely awesome! WHAT A WONDERFUL SMASH UP of flavors that worked beautifully together. Happy tummies, even from the 8 and 10 year old! Thanks for another great one!
We love hearing this, Kari! Glad the recipe was a hit!
Perfect meal prep, so yummy! Even big meat-eaters thought it looked delicious. Thank you!
So glad your family enjoyed it, Jocelyn!
SO SO YUMMY! I actually used a can of chick peas instead of the tempeh because I had them on hand and I haven’t explored tempeh yet. Added apple and used baby kale. OUT OF THIS WORLD. 10 out of 10. Making again asap! 🙂 Thanks for the easy and DELICIOUS recipe!
Great substitute, Whitney! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I feel so conflicted about this recipe! We decided we most likely wouldn’t make it again, but it isn’t that it doesn’t taste good… There are so many tasty components in this bowl, but we didn’t feel we could pick up on any of them when eating. The dressing just kind of takes over and that’s the only thing we could taste. But all that being said, I’m not sad to have it for lunch leftovers today. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, Ashley!
Is there any other type of mustard that I can replace stone ground mustard with?
Yes, dijon mustard would be a great substitute!
Wow, very delicious! I was hesitant thinking the sweet maple or the mustard would overpower this but it came together nicely. I topped it w apple, pumpkin seeds and some ricotta salata. Would make again!
Great additions, Tim! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This recipe was perfect for first day of fall. I followed the recipe and added the apples, quinoa and pecans suggested. Sweet but not too much, savory and healthy!
Yum! I’m not a huge fan of sauerkraut but always looking for ways to add more fermented foods to my diet and this was great!
This was so, so good. I followed the recipe exactly. You were not lying, the sauerkraut is a must to cut through the sweet flavors. I enjoyed it for lunch several days in a row. Thank you!
This bowl is great! I made extra sweet potatoes and had tons for leftovers. That marinade/dressing is addictive. I subbed the kale for some fresh chopped rainbow chard, stems in, and added the apple, quinoa, and pumpkin seeds. I will definitely make this again!
Glad to hear it, Sera!
Amazing fall-inspired salad! Loved that every bite was a little different. Will be making this salad a lot and I’m already looking forward to eating leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!
This is everything I want in a bowl!! If you are skeptical about the sauerkraut, just do it! It balances perfectly with the other flavors. I’m all about the kale with the avocado massaged in. It was so creamy, again perfectly balanced with the rest of the bowl. With the addition of quinoa, I felt this was such a complete, happy, healthy meal that will definitely be on repeat! Thanks for another winner 💙
So glad you enjoyed it, Jessa!
TBH I’m not sure why I even tried this. I have never had a tempeh I enjoyed, I’m not a fan of raw kale and avocado gags me BUT here I am making this recipe AGAIN! This small ingredient list comes together so beautifully and I’m hooked. Thanks for helping me push my food limits 🙂
This was so good! Not only was it really flavorful and balanced, but texturally it was really satisfying to eat. The sauerkraut was unexpected and really makes it!
Thanks so much for the review, Megan! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
This was so good and so easy! I support doubling the dressing – that sweet salty maple mustardy goodness is where it’s at. Great easy meal prep recipe for fall. Thanks!
This is becoming one of my favorite recipes, especially when I feel like I need to add in more veggies to my meals! I love that I can throw whatever add-ins/toppings I have on hand, but the sauerkraut is always a must! Absolutely delicious 🙂
This may be the weirdest mash-up of ingredients ever, but it totally works! I am so glad I tried it.
This was REALLY good. It’s hard to come up with a meal with a unique flavor profile these days, but you nailed it. It’s such a delicious and healthy (and somewhat odd) mix of foods, but it’s AWESOME. Thanks!