Farro Meal Bowls with Roasted Beets
These flavorful farro meal bowls make for a delicious meatless dinner! With chewy farro, roasted sweet potatoes + beets and a maple mustard vinaigrette for drizzling, they’re healthy and delicious. Dairy free and vegan.
Let’s talk farro!
I’ve been on the farro train for quite some time but realized it had been far far too long since I used it for a recipe here on the blog. So it was time to remedy that.
{For those of you who haven’t tried farro, it’s a delicious whole grain that is slightly nutty and has a tiny bit of chew when cooked. It’s awesome.}
The farro forms the base of these meal bowls. It’s the awesome bed on which everything else sits.
About These Farro Bowls
And on top? We have roasted veggies. Most notably, red beets and sweet potatoes – which go just swimmingly together in my little opinion.
One word to the wise – be sure to use gloves when you are working with the beets – they stain like crazyyyy.
Or you can be like me and just say screw it and will look like you took part in a blood bath. Or dropped a jar of red food coloring and then rubbed your hands all up in it.
So we roast those veggies with a few spices, and then spoon them over the warm farro, a handful or two of arugula for a little bit of sort of spicy bite, and then top it all with a dusting of walnuts and a drizzle a slightly mustard-y vinaigrette.
Additional Farro Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Farro Fried Rice
- Fall Farro Salad
- Lemon Garlic Farro
- Greek Farro Salad
- Vegetarian Farro Sloppy Joes
- Crockpot Vegetarian Chili with Farro
Did you make this recipe? Rate and review it down below! I’d love to hear from you.

Farro Meal Bowls with Roasted Beets
These flavorful farro meal bowls make for a delicious meatless dinner! With chewy farro, roasted sweet potatoes + beets and a maple mustard vinaigrette for drizzling, they’re healthy and delicious. Dairy free and vegan.
Ingredients
For the farro:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cups pearled farro*
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 2 ½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth
For the veggies:
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- 3 medium red beets, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- pinch of cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
For the dressing:
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
For assembling:
- few handfuls arugula
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
For the farro:
- Set a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add in the olive oil. When hot, add in the farro and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add in the water and broth.
- Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and let simmer for about 30 to 35 minutes, until the farro is tender but still slightly chewy. Drain off any excess liquid if there is any and then set aside.
To make the veggies:
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Add the red onion, beets and sweet potato to a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Toss to combine and spread in an even layer.
- Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until tender.
For the dressing:
- Meanwhile, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, vinegar, salt and olive oil in a small bowl until well combined.
To assemble:
- Add some of the farro to a bowl. Top with a handful of the arugula, then spoon on some of the roasted veggies and sprinkle with some of the walnuts. Drizzle lightly with some of the dressing and serve!
Notes
*I use pearled farro since that’s the kind I can find at my local stores. If you use semi-pearled or whole farro, you’ll likely have to increase the cooking time. You want the farro to be nice and tender but still a little chewy.
There are a few components to these bowls but they all can be made in advance and just stored in separate containers in the fridge. Reheat as needed and assemble.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 335Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 512mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 5gSugar: 9gProtein: 6g
Nutrition data shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator and is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered a substitute for a medical professional’s advice.
A surprising exp;onion of flavors!
So glad you enjoyed it!
You can remove the “red” beet stains from your hands by rubbing them with salt.
I’ve never heard that before! Thanks for sharing Karen!
I love any sort of grain bowl (I’ve got one cooking right now!) and am a huge fan of farro. What I especially like about this dish is the earthy beets and sweet potatoes together. And you really can’t go wrong with a mustard maple vinaigrette! Great idea to pack in a few healthy meals before next Sunday 🙂
Thanks Julia! I’m with you – I love any sort of grain bowl too!
this looks good and really healthy! I’ve never tried making anything with beets!
I’ve never cooked with farro before, but I’m wondering if it has a similar texture to sorghum, which is one of my favorite new grains! I am obsessed with roasted vegetables and yummy bowls of food like this! I also can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve for game day 🙂
I still have yet to try sorghum! I always mean to look for it at the store and then forget!
This looks amazing! Gotta keep my body happy before I trash it with Superbowl food 🙂 I love farro!
haha exactly!!
The game day food storm. Sounds delicious. 😉 But also these farro meal bowls are definitely a good way to balance it all out! Love these!
Love this but definitely looking forward to the game day recipes – not gonna lie!
Good idea to fill up on healthy foods before football food consumes us — I’m with ya. I keep seeing beets at the store and mean to pick them up, but haven’t yet. I need to change that! Gorgeous!
That bowl with roasted beets looks really so yummy Ashley! I’ve never tried faro before! I know it is a shame! But you made me want to! Pinning it for later 😉
Try it try it!! haha I’m obsessed (clearly).
Oh, gosh. Don’t get me wrong, I love football food a lot. But really? A bowlful of gorgeous healthy stuff is the real way to my heart. 🙂 I absolutely love those pretty beets and all that good lookin’ farro! Pinned. 🙂
Oh, roasted beets. I love them. This has reminded me that I have some beets that need using up.
Going to pin this 🙂
That looks really good Ashley! I’ve never tried farro before but you made me want to! Although I imagine I’d have a hard time convincing my family to eat it – they still won’t touch quinoa. Oh well, more for me then! 🙂
haha yes more for you!!
Oh beets. How I love thee.
Sometimes I feel like beets are underrated, but they definitely make the salad with their color and flavor! That dressing sounds like it’s a perfect match for it too!
I agree – they are underrated!
It’s all about balance, right? I’m diggin’ the roasted beets in this salad. Can’t wait to see what you dish up for the big game. Pinned.
You had me at beets!! Stains or not – am in – as in IN this here bowl!
Thanks Shashi! haha that’s how I feel – the stains don’t really bother me 🙂
I inherited a bag of ferro and now I know what to do with it! This looks healthy AND delicious 🙂
Sounds delish except I am glutenfree so could I use quinoa in place of farro? I just bought some yellow beets at the health food store
Definitely! Quinoa, even rice or lentils … anything along those lines will work great as well.
Oh yes, this is calling my name! I love farro and everything else in this salad. Looks like pure perfection to me. And I’m excited to see all of those game day eats! I haven’t planned any recipes for that. Whoops. 🙂
Thanks friend! I wasn’t going to originally and then just kinda got the urge! haha
You made me realize it’s been ages since the last I ate red beet and oh my, how much I’m craving it right now! I love every single component of this salad and I love that it can be easily packed up for those days when I’m out for lunch!
xo, Elisa
Thank you! It definitely makes a great lunch!
I too am trying to eat healthier because I’ve been making Game Day food a lot this week! I saw your pretzel bites on IG and laughed cuz I did something pretzel-y too. 🙂 Anyway, yes, I won’t work with red beets unless I wear gloves anymore! They’re so good, though, it’s worth it, and I think the beets with sweet potatoes and farro sounds delicious. I’m so down with this!
Ha! I love it – totally on the same page!
I can eat beets all the time. Very clever dinner idea!
Haha loading up on veggies to prep for the big game sounds perfect! Yay and I finally tried farro too — and you are right – it’s amazing!! 🙂 Love how pretty it is together with the arugula, roasted veggies and beets!
Yay for farro!! 🙂 I’m glad you tried it!
We must be on the same wave length with the beets. I’m loving this recipe. Give me anything in a bowl and I’m a happy camper!
Yes! Beets for the win! 🙂
I still have to try farro, haven’t even bought it yet from the store. But that’s the first step, right! It was that way with quinoa and look at me now! And beets, they are just so good for you. Guess I can deal with the bloodbath. I like the walnuts and the sweet potato in this dish =)
You should definitely try farro – it may be my favorite whole grain!
haha, I don’t watch football, but I do like all the food!! And the football game day prep food like this. Totally awesome!
The perfect phrase to use! Definitely the calm before the unhealthy game food storm! And everything about these meal bowls are just gorgeous – love the roasted veggies and beets are one of my favorite veggies ever! 🙂
Thanks Chelsea! I’m with you – I’ve gotten so hooked on them lately!
What a great meal to prepare for the superbowl, Ashley! I love the roasted beets in here. Gives this dish such a pretty color. I could definitely devour a bowl or two of this in one sitting!