BBQ Grilled Sweet Potato Bowls with Cottage Cheese, Crispy Tempeh & Pickled Onion
This grilled sweet potato bowl is the kind of dinner that feels indulgent but is quietly doing a lot of nutritional heavy lifting. Sweet potatoes get tossed in a smoky, maple-sweetened BBQ spice rub, sealed into foil packets, and grilled until tender and caramelized, then everything gets piled into a bowl with cool cottage cheese, crispy pan-fried tempeh, creamy avocado, and a handful of quick-pickled red onion for brightness.
Why This Grilled Sweet Potato Bowl Works
Grilling the sweet potatoes in foil packets instead of roasting them in the oven adds a layer of smoky flavor you just can’t replicate indoors, while keeping the small cubes from falling through the grates the way they would on open grates or a skewer. The maple syrup in the spice rub caramelizes beautifully inside the packet, giving the potatoes a sticky, slightly charred edge once you open things up for the last few minutes of cook time. Instead of steamed, uniformly soft potato cubes, this grilled sweet potato bowl delivers pockets of caramelization mixed in with tender bites, closer to what you’d get roasting in the oven but with genuine grill flavor layered on top.
The bowl comes together in about 30 minutes total, and most of that time is hands-off while the packets do their thing on the grill. Between the tempeh and the cottage cheese, you’re looking at somewhere north of 30 grams of protein per serving, which makes this grilled sweet potato bowl a legitimately filling meal rather than a side dish dressed up as dinner. If you’re tracking macros closely, the USDA FoodData Central database is a solid reference point for verifying protein counts on tempeh and cottage cheese, since values can shift a fair bit between brands.
A Simple Way to Cook Tempeh for This Bowl
If you haven’t cooked with tempeh before, this grilled sweet potato bowl is a good low-stakes way to try it. A quick pan-fry in a little oil and tamari gives it a firm, savory, almost bacon-like crust that holds its own texturally against the softness of the sweet potatoes and avocado. Tempeh can taste slightly bitter or overly “beany” if it’s simmered or steamed first, but a straightforward hot pan-fry sidesteps that entirely and gives you a much better result for very little extra effort.
Cottage cheese is doing double duty here as both a protein boost and a cooling, creamy base that balances out the smoky-sweet potatoes and salty tempeh. If you’re someone who’s only ever eaten cottage cheese on its own, using it as a savory bowl base is worth trying — it acts almost like a tangier, higher-protein stand-in for sour cream or a dairy-based sauce.
Tips for Grilling the Perfect Sweet Potato Foil Packet
A few notes on execution: cutting the sweet potatoes into a consistent ½-inch dice matters more than it might seem. Larger, uneven pieces will cook unevenly inside the foil packet, leaving you with a mix of underdone and overdone cubes. Keeping the dice small and consistent means every cube in this grilled sweet potato bowl finishes in the same 18-to-20-minute window.
Double-wrapping the foil, or using heavy-duty foil, is also worth doing if your grill runs hot, since thin foil can tear on the grates and let the potatoes fall straight into the coals. If you only have standard foil on hand, wrap each packet twice for extra insurance. Leaving a little extra room inside the packet for steam to circulate helps the potatoes cook more evenly too — packing them in too tightly can leave the center undercooked while the edges caramelize.
Storing and Reheating This Grilled Sweet Potato Bowl
For another naturally vegetarian option to pair with your weekly rotation, the chilled red lentil soup makes a good warm-weather starter alongside this bowl — silky, protein-packed, and ready to grab straight from the fridge.
This recipe is fully plant-based as written, which makes it an easy option to throw into a weekly grilling rotation, especially if you’re already firing up the kettle for something else and want a vegetarian option on hand. It also reheats reasonably well if you keep the components separate. Grill extra sweet potatoes and tempeh, store them in separate containers apart from the cottage cheese and avocado, and you’ve got a fast lunch ready to assemble for the next couple of days. Avocado is best sliced fresh right before serving rather than stored ahead, since it browns quickly once cut.
BBQ Grilled Sweet Potato Bowls with Cottage Cheese, Crispy Tempeh & Pickled Onion
Ingredients
- Quick-Pickled Onion
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- BBQ Grilled Sweet Potatoes
- 2 medium sweet potatoes cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Pinch cayenne optional
- Fried Tempeh
- 8 oz tempeh cubed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- To Assemble
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 avocado sliced
- Fresh cilantro or green onion for garnish
- Hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Pickle the onion
- Combine red wine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small jar or bowl. Add sliced red onion, stir, and set aside — it just needs 15–20 minutes but improves the longer it sits.
- Prep the grill
- Preheat your grill to medium-high (around 400–425°F). If using a charcoal kettle, set up for direct heat.
- Make the foil packets
- Toss sweet potato cubes with olive oil, maple syrup, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne if using. Divide between two large sheets of heavy-duty foil, fold up the edges, and seal into packets, leaving a little room inside for steam to circulate.
- Grill the packets
- Place packets over direct heat and grill 18–20 minutes, flipping once halfway, until the cubes are fork-tender. Carefully open one packet to check doneness — watch for escaping steam. For extra caramelization, open the packets fully for the last 3–4 minutes and let the potatoes char slightly against the grates.
- Fry the tempeh
- While the potatoes grill, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (can be done on a side burner or inside). Add tempeh cubes and cook 6–8 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden and crisp on most sides. Add tamari and smoked paprika in the last minute, tossing to coat.
- Assemble
- Divide cottage cheese between two bowls. Top with grilled sweet potatoes, fried tempeh, sliced avocado, and a generous scoop of pickled red onion. Garnish with cilantro or green onion and a drizzle of hot sauce if you like heat.
Notes
Nutrition
Have leftover sweet potatoes? Use them the next day in this delicious High Protein Tofu Black Bean Bowl — it comes together in about 15 minutes and needs almost no stovetop time.
