This Copy Cat Mediterranean grain bowl is one of my all-time favorite things to eat. Have you been to Cava? The grain bowl I had there in the DC airport a few months ago had me wanting to turn around and hop a plane right back. I could NOT STOP DREAMING ABOUT IT. I still can NOT stop dreaming about it.
If you’ve never been, Cava is like the Chipotle of Mediterranean food. You go through the line and pick whether you want a bowl atop grains or greens or both. Or you pile it all inside of pitas. They’ve got yummy brown rice, lentils, or basmati rice… a variety of greens (obviously I chose arugula). Cava bowls are already low in calories (on average, they’ll contain about 600 calories), but you can really keep things on the slim side if you choose their greens.
You can choose between the most delicious marinated chopped chicken, pork, or meatballs… all the yummy hummus, tzatziki, the most finely diced heavenly Greek salsas and feta, and ALL THE PICKLED ONIONS and cabbage… there’s more. I’m sure there was more. But you get it. If you’re into Mediterranean flavors and you’re into amazing and maybe EVEN into healthy food, you’ll be into this Cava Mediterranean grain bowl. SO GOOD.
I’ve been determined to create a copycat Cava bowl ever since. I just needed to throw together a couple of things.
What you’ll want for this Copy Cat Cava Mediterranean Grain Bowl
- These Greek-marinated chicken skewers
- My favorite Greek salsa from this Greek pita recipe. It’s like it was made to be used in a Cava bowl. Anytime I’m feeling Greek, I whip it up…. I’ll think for a second of being lazy and just chopping some cucumber, tomato, and onion to throw in the meal… but the few extra minutes for this salsa is ALWAYS WORTH IT. Once I’m tossing a giant bowl, I’m so glad I took the time to chop small and add a few more ingredients. It just makes everything else SO MUCH BETTER. And don’t skip the mint. The mint is KEY! I swear even if you think you might not love mint… I dare you.
ALSO:
- The quickest easiest pickled onions that you should just keep in your fridge from here on out. I put them on EVERYTHING. You will not regret it. They take five minutes and improve all of the meals forever and ever!
- Some pickled cabbage by just throwing some sliced cabbage in the same liquid as your onions!
- This super light and easy Tzatziki- also wrapped up in the Greek Pork Pita post– or if you want to skip a step? Trader Joe’s has a great one! Their classic or avocado tzatziki are both SO good– with great macros.
- Some brown rice, arugula, feta, hummus, and more herbs– ALWAYS MORE HERBS. As far as I’m concerned, the more herbs you use, the more mouth-watering your Cava bowl will be.
Squeeze plenty of lemon over the top of your copycat Cava Mediterranean grain bowl and dive in! It took me right back I tell you. All that was missing was their fried pita wedges which pretty much killed my macros the first time I went because I COULD NOT STOP so we’re gonna call it a win.
But YUUUUUM.
Copy Cat Cava Mediterranean Grain Bowl
I could eat this heavenly bowl every day! This is like a salad, do whatever amounts you like! But if you want to build the same bowl with the same macros, my amounts are below.
PrintPinRate
5 from 2 votes
Author Lillie
Course Bowl
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes minutes
Total Time 15 minutes minutes
Servings 1
Calories 478 kcal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown rice 70 g- (I always use the frozen brown rice from Trader Joe’s)
- 75 g arugula favorite bagged arugula is Trader Joe’s
- 100 g grilled Greek Chicken
- 100 Greek Salsa
- 30 g tzatziki or use Trader Joe’s tzatziki or avocado tzatziki!
- 40 g hummus I used Hope brand jalapeno cilantro- only 2.5 fat for 2 tbs so if you want the macros to match, try and find one similar! The Trader Joe’s eggplant hummus is great for only 2 fat.
- 25 g easy pickled red onion
- 25 g quick pickled cabbage After referencing the pickled onion recipe, just pour some of the same pickling juice over sliced purple cabbage for about an hour. Or however minutes you have! Even a litle helps.
- 14 g of fat-free feta Trader Joe’s sells one!
- Extra mint
- Squeeze of lemon
Instructions
Toss brown rice and arugula in a large bowl.
Top with leftover grilled Greek Chicken, Greek Salsa, tzatziki, hummus, pickled onion and cabbage.
Add extra feta, mint, and a squeeze of lemon and close your eyes and dream that you’re at Cava.
Notes
- This is the perfect meal to make with your Greek leftovers. I love to make a big batch of the chicken, greek salsa, and tzatziki… and use it for pitas one night, and a bowl a night or two later. I’ve usually got pickled onions already in my fridge so it’s easy to pour some of the liquid over my cabbage and let it sit while I prep anything else.
- If you track your macros, and you want to simplify your life and log this as is, just follow the recipe and search My Fitness Pal for “Lillie Eats and Tells Copycat Cava Bowl”
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl as describedCalories: 478kcalCarbohydrates: 45.7gProtein: 46.7gFat: 13.3gSaturated Fat: 1.8g
Keywords arugula, brown rice, Cava, chicken, grain bowl, Greek, greek salsa, hummus, mediterranean, tzatziki
Tried this recipe?
Tag @LillieEatsAndTells on Instagram with #LillieEatsandTells! We’d love to see your creations!
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Originally Posted
Last updated
Categories
- All Recipes
- Bowls
- Lunch
- Salads
Tags
- arugula
- bowl
- brown rice
- Cava
- Cava bowl
- feta
- grain
- greek
- greek salsa
- hummus
- lemon
- Mediterranean
- mint
- tzatziki
About the Author
Hello. My name is Lillie. I’m not a registered dietitian, or a macro coach, or a public figure or culinary genius. I’m a mommy of four who FOUND macro-counting and fell in love with this balanced approach to food...
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