grain bowl

noun

plural grain bowls

: a dish typically consisting of an individual portion of a cooked grain (such as rice, quinoa, or farro) served in a bowl with accompaniments such as vegetables, beans, meat or fish, and sauce

Like many cooks I know, I don't always follow recipes for grain bowls at home. Instead, I tend to use up what I have in the fridge and pantry, mixing and matching, figuring out how to make odds and ends delicious.

—Tejal Rao

Arrange, don't mix. Part of a grain bowl's appeal is the visual distinctiveness of its various parts—toss it all together, and it's no longer eye candy.

—Carrie Dennett

Examples of grain bowl in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Roast a batch on Sunday and use them through the week in salads, grain bowls or blended into smoothies. —Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 8 Apr. 2026

Rize's menu features staples like omelets ($15 to $17), Eggs Benedict ($17) and breakfast sandwiches ($15 to $18), plus salads and grain bowls ($14 to $18). —Bradley Hohulin, IndyStar, 31 Mar. 2026

Use whole grains like millet, farro, or bulgur as a base in your grain bowl or as a side dish, rather than using refined grains like white rice. —Caitlin Beale, Health, 31 Mar. 2026

Greens and grain bowls are on the menu alongside sandwiches, fruit smoothies and organic lemonades. —Tanasia Kenney, Charlotte Observer, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

2000, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for grain bowl

• bankroll
• bedroll
• borehole
• cajole
• catchpole
• charcoal
• condole
• control
• dipole
• downhole
• enroll
• extol