You’ve heard of rice bowls, and you’ve certainly had bowls of soup before. Now put both of those together, and you have FoodTok’s current fixation: broth bowls.
Broth bowls are popular for a multitude of reasons, primarily because of the simplicity of the dish. To make them, you just place rice, protein, and sometimes vegetables into a bowl. Then, you pour your liquid broth of choice on top of everything. Mix it together, and you get something like a thin soup with a ton of mix-ins.
The versatility of broth bowls is another thing to love, lending itself well to go-to dinner when you want to clear out your fridge. You can use ground beef, chicken, seafood, or even tofu for the main source of protein. Rice is usually the base of a broth bowl, but switching up the type of rice and the aromatics used for seasoning can make the dish more interesting. And of course, you can use as many and whichever toppings you personally prefer. Some of the most common toppings include cucumbers, broccoli, bok choy, and soft-boiled eggs for extra nutritional value.
One creator, @eliyaeats on TikTok, made a creamy gochujang beef broth bowl, topped with bok choy, scallions, sesame seeds, and chili oil. When making this dish, she cooked her ground beef, bok choy, and broth in the same pan for the maximum amount of flavor. “Honestly, broth and rice are an elite combo,” she said in her video.
Some people like making a simple broth bowl with ground beef, bone broth, rice, and cucumber. Others, like @chelseasmessyapron on TikTok, like to get more creative, especially with the broth, which is the main flavor of the bowl.
In her first broth bowl video, she uses caramelized ground beef and a mound of white rice as her base, then pours coconut curry broth all around it, topping the broth bowl with some fresh cucumbers and herbs. The result is an aromatic, delicious broth bowl.
In the age where people are constantly trying to incorporate as much protein into their daily meals as possible, broth bowls are easily high in protein without having the nasty aftertaste that most protein powders carry with them. By incorporating single servings of lean ground beef or chicken and rice into these dishes, a broth bowl dinner easily offers 30+ grams of protein in one meal. Plus, you can add even more protein by using chicken broth, beef broth, or bone broth.
The broth bowl is a balanced meal that is almost too simple to put together, and there’s so many ways to customize the dish to your personal taste preferences. It’s definitely worth a try the next time you want a simple, yet warm and comforting dinner.