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What Is A Nourish Bowl?
Nourish bowls became a huge part of my routine when I first started focusing on improving my gut health. At the time, I was trying to find realistic ways to eat more plants, include more fibre and add gut-friendly foods into my meals.
For me, nourish bowls were the answer because they gave me flexibility, unlike a more “fixed” lunch like a sandwich, wrap or pasta dish where you are often thinking about ingredients that would work well within that meal.
Nourish bowls let me build meals around colour, creativity and good nutrition instead, and became an easy way to create balanced meals that included protein, healthy fats, fibre-rich carbohydrates and a huge variety of plants, all in one bowl. Instead of feeling repetitive, I could mix and match ingredients, experiment with flavours and create meals that genuinely kept me full and satisfied.
When people think of gut health, they often think they need to follow complicated food rules, but one of the most effective things I did was simply start building more balanced meals with greater plant diversity and nourish bowls became my easiest way to do that consistently.
How I Build A Nourish Bowl
One of the reasons I love nourish bowls so much is because there’s no strict recipe! I follow the same simple structure each time and build around whatever ingredients I already have at home or whatever I fancy that week.
1. A Base
I usually start with a base of mixed salad leaves. I love using a variety of leaves rather than just plain lettuce because it’s such an easy way to increase plant diversity - think rocket, spinach, kale, purple leaves and those richer green and purple colours are often favoured more by your gut.
2. A Protein
Protein is a non-negotiable because it’s what helps make them filling and satisfying enough to keep me going through the afternoon. I’ll usually use shredded chicken, salmon, tofu, eggs, halloumi, ground beef or cottage cheese, and will sometimes combine two of these.
3. Whole Food Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are another really important part of this meal. I think there’s still a lot of unnecessary fear around carbs online, but including them is a huge part of creating balanced meals that actually give you energy.
I love using things like sweet potato, butternut squash, quinoa, and don’t forget beans and lentils (which are often thought of as just a veggie ‘protein’ source) which work so well too and offer both carbohydrates and lot’s of fibre.
4. Extra Plants
This is the part I switch up the most, but think broccoli, roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes, edamame beans, sliced apple, pickled onions or any dinner leftovers! Colourful and flavourful additions which keep my nourish bowls feeling fresh.
5. Fermented Foods
I almost always include fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, miso or kefir (see dressing section) in my nourish bowls because they can help introduce beneficial microbes that support gut health. I used to find it tricky to include fermented foods consistently, so building them into these meals became an easy win for me — and it also adds a lot of extra flavour.
6. Healthy Fats & Dressing
Healthy fats make such a difference to both flavour and satiety. I’ll often add avocado, mixed seeds, hummus or nuts, but even if one of those isn’t included, you’ll always find extra virgin olive oil in my dressing because of its gut health benefits.
The dressing to me is a key part and really brings everything together - I never skip it! I will pack in other healthy fats like tahini or nut butters, but I also have recipes that include fermented foods like kefir and miso paste.
My Favourite Nourish Bowl Recipe
- 1 roasted salmon fillet
- 200g roasted sweet potato
- 2 tbsp roasted peppers (mixed colours!)
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 1tbsp beetroot sauerkraut
- 1 spring onion
- 2 large handfuls mixed salad leaves
- 1.5 tbsp of my homemade lemon tahini dressing
How I Meal Prep Nourish Bowls
One of the reasons nourish bowls work so well for me is because I prep the parts that take the longest in advance. I’m usually balancing my online coaching clients, content creation and busy work days from the office, so I need lunches to feel convenient. If every ingredient had to be prepped each day, realistically I probably wouldn’t make them as often and that is when we naturally turn to less gut-friendly convenience foods.
Every Sunday I prep my carb source, like roasted sweet potato or cooked quinoa, as well as my protein and any extra veg such as edamame beans from the freezer, crispy chickpea croutons or roasted peppers. I also shake up a dressing for the week so it’s ready to pour when I need it.
I will put my prepped food in separate containers in the fridge, then construct my bowl in 5 mins at lunch time, or in the morning before heading to the office by adding in any fresh ingredients too.
I think that meal prep is such an important part of healthy eating in general. Meals only become sustainable when they fit into your real life, and having ingredients prepped in advance removes so much friction.
Closing Thoughts
Nourish bowls are undoubtedly my favourite meal to support my gut health, but also keep me feeling full with sustained energy and most importantly taste amazing. Gut-friendly eating doesn’t need to be restrictive or complicated, and sometimes it’s simply about finding realistic ways to build more balance, variety and nourishment into your everyday routine.
