This hearty air fried halloumi bowl is an incredible mix of flavours and textures. It makes a fabulous lunch or dinner and you can prep most of the ingredients to enjoy throughout the week.
Last summer while camping in Jasper, Alberta, we had lunch at Jasper Brewing Co. I ordered their Seared Halloumi Bowl, and it was one of the best lunches I've ever tasted! This fried halloumi cheese bowl is similar to the Jasper Brewing Co bowl, but I've put my own spin on it by air frying the halloumi and changing up a few of the ingredients. It features the cheese, chickpeas, quinoa, sweet potato, spinach, almonds and tomatoes with a tahini sauce. It's similar to the classic Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl that I often make for lunch, but with the cheese addition. Yum!
If you've never tried halloumi cheese, it's a "squeaky" textured cheese with a mild but salty flavour. It's firm enough to grill, to fry, or to air fry like I did here. Halloumi cheese is a delicious protein addition to your lunch bowls!
Ingredients
- halloumi cheese
- olive oil
- lemon tahini sauce
- sweet potato
- chickpeas
- almonds
- quinoa
- spinach
- salt, pepper, granulated garlic
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Peel the sweet potato, and then chop it into ½" cubes. Toss the cubes in olive oil, salt, pepper & granulated garlic and then air fry them until browned.
Slice the halloumi cheese into ½" thick slices, brush the slices with olive oil, and then air fry them until golden brown.
Cook quinoa. Place some baby spinach in the bottom of a bowl, and then layer chick peas, the air fried sweet potato and cooked quinoa on top.
Finally, add some sliced cherry tomatoes, slivered almonds and the air fried halloumi cheese. Drizzle the bowl with lemon tahini sauce and enjoy.
Hint: The sweet potatoes & quinoa can be cooked in advance and stored in the fridge until you want to use them for this bowl - it makes for a quick lunch!
Substitutions
If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.
- Spinach - instead of ice berg lettuce, you can use mixed spring greens or arugula
- Halloumi - swap the air fried halloumi for your protein of choice like chicken or shrimp
Equipment
I like to use my favourite XL air fryer to fry the sweet potato & the halloumi, but you can also use a regular oven.
Storage
Store the cooked ingredients separately in air tight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Top tip
Don't over-fry the cheese! You want the halloumi to be lightly browned.
Fried Halloumi Bowl
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked
- 1 block halloumi cheese
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup chick peas
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup almonds slivered
- ¼ cup lemon tahini sauce
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
Instructions
- Peel and then chop the sweet potato into ½" cubes. Toss it in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil, sea salt, black pepper & granulated garlic.
- Cook the sweet potato in an air fryer for 20 minutes at 390 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to the package directions.
- Slice the halloumi into ½" thick slices, and brush each slice with the remaining olive oil.
- Fry the halloumi slices in an air fryer for about 10 minutes at 380 degrees F or until lightly golden brown.
- Divide the baby spinach into 4 bowls, then divide the quinoa, cooked sweet potato cubes and chick peas into the bowls.
- Divide the fried halloumi slices, cherry tomatoes and slivered almonds among the 4 bowls, and drizzle each with the lemon tahini sauce.
What do you think?