Who else loves a bowl meal?
Pile a bunch of stuff into a bowl: protein, veggies, grains, and a sauce or dressing of some kind and you’re done. I LOVE bowls, and I think they make for a fantastic meal prep dinner.
I make them all the time. I’ll spend time on a Sunday or Monday to prep all the components ahead of time, store them in separate containers, and have them in the fridge ready to go for bowl-building time. The little bit of effort it takes ahead of time is SO worth it once our weeknights get busy with homework and sports. It’s one less thing for me to worry about.
Today, I’m sharing Our Favorite At-Home Cava Bowls! I am pumped.
Have you been to Cava? I must admit, I just discovered it recently. We don’t have one super local to us, so when I was visiting my sister a few months back, she took me to a Cava. I’d been hearing about it for months and months from my sister and lots of people on the internet. I was so excited to try it.
It did NOT disappoint.
If you don’t have a Cava near you, think of it as a Chipotle-style buffet where you pick and choose what you want in your meal but with Mediterranean foods. AKA, my favorite type of food.
Give me all the olives and feta and tzatziki, please!
I went for a “greens and grains” bowl, which means that you select a mix of a green and grain as the base of your bowl. I did mixed greens and black lentils as my base.
Then I added in some honey harissa chicken, falafel, tomato-cucumber salad, roasted sweet potatoes, pickled red onions, kalamata olives, tzatziki, and their INCREDIBLE crazy feta sauce. I topped everything off with the lemon-tahini dressing.
You guys. It was heaven. So many textures, flavors, freshness, and heartiness in one bowl. THIS is my kind of meal.
So, because the closest Cava is about 35 minutes away from us, I was determined to figure out a way to replicate my favorite bowl at home. I love a good bowl meal, as I said.
This is how I constructed our Cava Bowls at home:
- Mixed baby greens
- Cooked black lentils
- My version of honey harissa chicken
- Roasted and spiced sweet potato
- Tomato-cucumber-red onion salad
- Kalamata olives
- Tzatziki
- Homemade “crazy feta” sauce
- Homemade lemon-tahini dressing
The results were FANTASTIC. I definitely missed the falafel, but I didn’t have any on hand or feel like adding them to the list of components. If you have them (or find a food freezer version), I highly recommend adding them!
The best part about bowls like this is that everyone can make their own exactly how they want them. For instance, Dan doesn’t love sweet potatoes, so he skips that and adds extra honey harissa chicken to his. I love extra olives in mine, so I pile them on. You do you!
For my homemade renditions of the Cava classics, I sort of made things up and hoped for the best. And I think things turned out pretty darn good!
For the honey harissa chicken, I tossed diced chicken breasts with red harissa paste, honey, salt, pepper, and a touch of cumin for some smokiness. I roasted it in the oven so the honey-harissa coating could caramelize on the chicken. It was DELISH. I could eat this chicken in and on so many things! It’s a little spicy and a little sweet. So addicting.
Next up was the homemade crazy feta. If you’ve had Cava’s version, you know how flippin’ fantastic it is. I looked up their ingredients online to figure out what was in it, and went to town. I used good-quality Greek feta, garlic, fresh jalapeno, and olive oil. Whir it up in a food processor to your desired consistency and adjust the seasonings as needed. You could add more garlic or jalapeno to yours, too. Whatever you prefer!
All I know is that it is hard to stop eating. OMG. It’s like a spicy, creamy feta spread that I want to eat on everything.
And finally, for the star of the show (in my opinion), a homemade lemon tahini dressing. This came out SO MUCH BETTER than I was expecting, and I think I like my version even better than Cava’s. GASP. It’s seriously heavenly.
I did lots of fresh lemon juice and zest, a touch of vinegar, lots of parsley, garlic, a drizzle of honey for balance, tahini, and extra-virgin olive oil. I blended everything together in my food processor and then added some cold water to thin it out to my desired consistency. I like it drizzly so it coats everything really well in the bowls.
This dressing is so fresh and bright with a luxurious nuttiness to it. I LOVE it. Like I said, it was the unexpected star of the show for me.
These At-Home Cava Bowls are not only SO much fun, but they’re hearty and healthy, too!
Everything tastes better in a bowl!
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Our Favorite At-Home Cava Bowls
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
These At-Home Cava Bowls are a copycat take on the greens and grains bowls your can get at the Mediterranean chain. We LOVE adding homemade honey harissa chicken, lots of greens, lentils, roasted sweet potatoes, crazy feta sauce, and lots of lemon-tahini dressing to ours. This is a fun meal prep options that will leave you satisfied with fresh and hearty ingredients!
Ingredients
For the Honey Harissa Chicken:
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons spicy red harissa paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
- 2 large sweet potatoes, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
For the Crazy Feta Sauce:
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 12 oz feta cheese (I recommend a good-quality Greek feta here)
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing:
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons (roughly 1/2 cup of juice and 2 tablespoons zest)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup very cold water - Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Onion-Tomato-Cucumber Salad:
- 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
- 1 cup finely diced cucumber
- 1 cup halved or quartered grape tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For Serving (any combination of these ingredients to make up your perfect bowl):
- The honey harissa chicken
- The sweet potatoes
- The onion-tomato-cucumber salad
- The crazy feta sauce
- The lemon tahini dressing
- Mixed baby greens (a few handfuls per bowl)
- Cooked black lentils (1/2 cup per bowl)
- Pitted kalamata olives (to taste)
- Tzatziki (to taste)
- Fresh parsley
- Lemon wedges
- Additional feta cheese
Instructions
For the Honey Harissa Chicken:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cumin, salt, pepper, honey, harissa, and olive oil.
- Add in the cubed chicken and toss to coat. Allow to marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or in the fridge for up to 8 hours.
For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the cubed sweet potatoes to the tray and drizzle with the oil. Sprinkle over the chili powder, salt, and pepper and toss with your hands to evenly coat.
- Bake for 15 minutes, tossing the potatoes once or twice, or until they are beginning to soften and caramelize in spots.
- Push all the potatoes to one side of the tray and add the honey harissa chicken, along with any residual marinade, to the other side of the tray. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and both the chicken and potatoes are caramelized in spots.
- Transfer the potatoes to one bowl and the chicken to another (or transfer to airtight containers for later use). Set aside until you are ready to build the bowls.
For the Crazy Feta Sauce:
- While the chicken and potatoes are roasting, heat a small skillet over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil.
- Add the shallot, jalapeno, and garlic and cook for a few minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- To a food processor, add the feta, the shallot/jalapeno mixture, and olive oil. Pulse a few times to begin to incorporate the ingredients. Scrape down the sides and then run the machine again until the mixture is creamed together and fluffy. Add more olive oil, as needed, to achieve your desired consistency. I like it to be thick and fluffy, but the Cava version has more olive oil in it to make it more like a sauce. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a serving dish or an airtight container.
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing:
- Wipe out the food processor used for the crazy feta sauce.
- Add the lemon juice and zest, honey, parsley, garlic clove, tahini, and olive oil.
- Run the machine until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Add a few tablespoons of water at a time to thin the dressing to your desired consistency.
- Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a serving dish or an airtight container.
For the Onion-Tomato-Cucumber Salad:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the red onion, tomatoes, and cucumber and toss to combine.
- Add the vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper and toss to combine. Adjust the seasoning, as necessary.
- This gets better as it sits. Transfer to an airtight container or serving dish.
To Build the Bowls:
- This portion of the recipe is completely customizable, similar to ordering at Cava. This is how I like to build my bowl.
- First, I layer in a couple handfuls of mixed baby greens and some cooked and cooled black lentils.
- Then I top with some of the honey harissa chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, the onion-tomato-cucumber salad, some kalamata olives, a couple dollops of the crazy feta sauce and some tzatziki, a drizzle of the lemon tahini dressing, and garnish with some fresh parsley and a lemon wedge.
- If possible, I love when the chicken and potatoes are still warm and everything else is room temperature.
Notes
- This is a great meal prep idea. I will prep all the components ahead, transfer them to airtight containers, and store everything in the fridge. I pull everything out, reheat as needed, and build the bowls just before we eat them. This type of bowl recipe is so much fun because all the ingredients can be set out buffet style and everyone can make them exactly how they like.
- All the components will keep in the fridge for several days. I do recommend storing them separately in individual containers.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: dinner
Hi There. I'm Molly. I'm a food-obsessed, self-taught cook and I can't wait to share my passion for all things culinary with you. My love for egg yolks is just the tip of the iceberg!
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