Have you noticed that, lately, every new trendy meal idea comes in a bowl? They are becoming inescapable. Whether you want Mexican food, Japanese food, or Mediterranean food, there is a place where you can get all these flavors in a bowl. Bowls are everywhere, not just in restaurants either. Recipes all across TikTok or Instagram Reels are full of balanced bowl recipes that are seemingly endless. And it really makes me want to ask why. What is it about preparing a meal in a bowl, as opposed to a plate or even different plates with different parts of your meal, that is so attractive that we cannot escape it?
The trend of bowl food has been apparent for a while now. An article from Aramark all the way back in 2019 noted that bowls were here to stay with the 2020s just the beginning of this growing trend. Chains like Cava or Sweetgreen have expanded massively, going from about 100 locations before the 2020s to doubling or tripling their locations nationwide, and independent businesses with similar menus started popping up everywhere. And by the looks of it, bowls are here to stay.
What exactly makes a meal a real “bowl?”
Honestly, you could put anything in a bowl and sell it as a new trend, and it would probably work. Notably though, a good bowl meal has to include at least one of each of the following categories: a source of protein, a supporting grain or carb, heaping amounts of veggies, and a sauce or dressing to bring it all together. You could even say that at least one or two garnishes are usually a part of this, but these don’t seem to be as necessary.
Because of the nature of bowls, they give off vibes of being healthier, due to their nature as incredibly balanced meals. Because they are built around adding a little bit of each food group, the bowls feel like a natural choice when wanting to make something that hits all of your nutrition goals.
Bowls work as good meals because you get everything you need in a single platter. Ideally, if you get a bowl, you wouldn’t need to get a side or an appetizer — the bowl has everything you want to eat. They are a filling alternative to having to get three sides with your main course, just because you know that a single platter will just not be enough.
What makes a bowl so good?
But there are definitely other defining factors as to why bowls keep getting more and more popular as time goes on:
Insta-ready looks
If we’re being honest, a big part of why bowls keep getting more popular is that they look good. A good bowl is an incredibly social media-ready dish. There is usually some pretty garnish to make sure that the bowl looks appealing to everyone who looks at it, not just the person who is going to eat it. Every element of the meal is organized in a way that looks pleasing to the eye, even if, most of the time, you probably just mix everything immediately.
All the goodies in just one bite
There is also no denying that if you’re someone who likes a little bite of everything on your plate at once, a bowl is just the perfect way to get that. When you’re eating a bowl meal, it is almost guaranteed that you’ll get a little bit of the protein, with some carbs and maybe some veggies, and it will be drenched in dressing — it’s literally the perfect bite.
There are endless possibilities for what you can do with bowls as well. There are breakfast yogurts with fruit, or steak and eggs for a really good, energetic morning. For lunch, you could have an acai smoothie bowl or a fresh poke bowl to carry you on for the rest of the day. And even for dinner, a pasta salad and chicken combo or some grilled veggies with rice and meat—the combinations are literally endless.
Customization
Almost every spot that sells a meal in a bowl makes the substance entirely customizable. There is no worrying about having this one ingredient that you just detest coming in something you’re otherwise really craving. And if you feel like adding so much extra stuff, you can. The best part about bowls, as opposed to different types of meals, is that regardless of whatever you change, it will still be exactly what you want.
What makes bowls so easy to make at home?
When you make your meal at home, you no longer have to do an endless amount of dishes, because it was all combined into one. They are also a budget-friendly way to make different, interesting meals throughout the week. If you prepare all of the elements of your bowls separately, you could meal-prep them at the beginning of the week and mix-and-match them during the next few days, so it doesn’t feel like you’re eating the same thing every single day, but you are still using up all of your fresh produce.
Bowls are convenient in your everyday life. As college students or young adults running around, every day feels like you just want to catch up and get a little bit of time to eat. A bowl is a quick way to get a nutritious meal that doesn’t take hours to prepare—or at least it shouldn’t. Bowls can be packed up in a single container for on-the-go meals, so you don’t need to cart around your entire kitchen just to have a good lunch.
So to answer the question of why bowls seem inescapable, you just have to think to yourself: why would I ever want to escape them? Bowls are nutritious, convenient, and even photogenic ways to just get a really good meal. The bowl trend is not going anywhere, and it will probably just keep growing, so just make sure that next time you have a bowl, you get a bit of everything with each bite.