Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl Recipe – Easy Copycat Version

This Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl recipe brings one of the restaurant’s most popular warm bowls into your own kitchen. Tender roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, crisp apple, creamy goat cheese, almonds and wild rice are piled over kale and finished with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

What makes this bowl particularly good isn’t one individual ingredient. It’s the combination. You get warm and cool, sweet and savory, creamy and crunchy in almost every bite.

I’ve kept this copycat Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl close to the original while making the ingredients and preparation practical for a home kitchen. It’s also a great meal-prep recipe because most of the components can be prepared ahead and assembled when you’re ready to eat.

What’s Actually in a Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl?

The Harvest Bowl currently served by Sweetgreen includes shredded kale, wild rice, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted almonds, apples, goat cheese, roasted chicken and balsamic vinaigrette.

That’s a surprisingly simple ingredient list, which makes the Harvest Bowl one of the easier Sweetgreen recipes to recreate at home.

The secret is getting the proportions right. You don’t want so much rice that it becomes a rice bowl or so much kale that it feels like an ordinary salad. A little of everything in each forkful is what makes it work.

Ingredients

For the bowls:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 4 cups shredded kale
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1 crisp apple, thinly sliced or diced
• 1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1/3 cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped

For the balsamic vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 small garlic clove, finely grated or minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper, to taste

How to Make a Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl

1. Roast the sweet potatoes

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

Place the cubed sweet potato on a baking sheet. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Spread the pieces into a single layer and roast for about 20–25 minutes, turning once, until tender inside with lightly caramelized edges.

2. Cook the chicken

While the sweet potatoes roast, pat the chicken dry.

Coat with olive oil and season both sides with garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper.

Cook in a skillet over medium heat for approximately 5–7 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until cooked through. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).

Transfer to a plate and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

3. Make the balsamic vinaigrette

Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper to a small jar.

Close the lid and shake vigorously until the dressing becomes smooth and emulsified.

Taste and adjust with additional honey for sweetness or balsamic vinegar for a sharper dressing.

4. Prepare the kale

Place the shredded kale in a large bowl.

Add about a teaspoon of olive oil or a small spoonful of the balsamic dressing. Massage the kale with clean hands for 30–60 seconds.

This softens the leaves and makes the kale much more pleasant in the finished bowl.

5. Build your Harvest Bowls

Divide the kale and warm wild rice between four bowls.

Add roasted sweet potato, sliced chicken and fresh apple. Sprinkle each serving with goat cheese and roasted almonds.

Drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette over the top just before serving.

The Warm-and-Cold Trick Makes a Difference

One thing worth paying attention to with this Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl copycat recipe is temperature.

Don’t wait until every ingredient is cold before assembling it.

The warm wild rice, roasted sweet potatoes and freshly cooked chicken slightly soften the kale and goat cheese, while the apple stays cool and crunchy. That contrast makes the homemade bowl feel much closer to something you’d order from a restaurant.

For that reason, I like assembling the bowls as soon as the chicken has rested and the sweet potatoes come out of the oven.

The Best Apple to Use

Choose an apple that stays crisp after slicing.

Honeycrisp is an excellent option because it’s sweet, juicy and crunchy. Pink Lady works particularly well too, while Granny Smith gives the bowl a noticeably more tart flavor.

I wouldn’t use a very soft or floury apple here. The apple isn’t just adding sweetness — its crunch is part of the texture of the bowl.

If you’re preparing the ingredients ahead, toss the apple pieces with a little lemon juice to slow browning.

Homemade Sweetgreen-Style Balsamic Vinaigrette

The dressing is what pulls together the earthy kale and wild rice, sweet potato, tangy goat cheese and apple.

For this homemade version, balsamic vinegar provides the acidity, Dijon helps emulsify the dressing and honey adds just enough sweetness to balance everything.

You can make the vinaigrette up to several days ahead and keep it refrigerated in a sealed jar. The oil may firm up in the refrigerator, so allow the dressing to sit at room temperature briefly and shake it again before serving.

Easy Ingredient Swaps

You don’t have to abandon the idea of the Harvest Bowl if you’re missing one ingredient.

Wild rice: Try a wild-rice blend, brown rice or quinoa.

Goat cheese: Feta has a stronger salty flavor but works well with the apple and sweet potato.

Almonds: Pecans or walnuts give you a similar crunch.

Chicken: Leftover roasted chicken is an easy shortcut.

Honey: Maple syrup works well in the balsamic dressing and complements the sweet potato particularly nicely.

These changes won’t produce an exact copycat, but they keep the sweet, savory, creamy and crunchy balance that makes the bowl so good.

Make It Ahead for Lunch

This is one of those copycat recipes that actually works extremely well for meal prep.

Cook the chicken, wild rice and sweet potatoes ahead of time and refrigerate them in airtight containers. The dressing should be stored separately.

You can also wash and shred the kale in advance.

Wait until you’re ready to eat before adding the sliced apple, almonds, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. This prevents the crunchy ingredients from becoming soft.

For a warm Harvest Bowl, briefly reheat the rice, chicken and sweet potato before adding them to the kale.

More Restaurant-Inspired Meals to Make at Home

If recreating restaurant favorites is your thing, there are plenty of other bowls and meals you can make without ordering takeout.

For another fresh restaurant-inspired option, try our Chipotle Fajita Veggies and use them to build your own Chipotle-style bowl at home.

You can also try our Chicken Salad Chick Sassy Scotty Recipe for another chicken-based copycat, or our BJ’s Avocado Egg Rolls when you want something a little more indulgent.

And if you’re looking for a homemade dressing to keep in the refrigerator, our Texas Roadhouse Ranch Recipe is another easy restaurant copycat worth making.

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Copycat Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl Recipe is an easy homemade version of the popular restaurant bowl, made with juicy chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, wild rice, kale, crisp apple, goat cheese and crunchy almonds. Finish it with homemade balsamic vinaigrette for a fresh, filling and flavorful lunch or dinner.

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Ingredients

Harvest Bowl

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• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups shredded kale
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1 crisp apple, sliced or diced
• 1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/3 cup roasted almonds, chopped

Balsamic Vinaigrette

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• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Toss the sweet potato with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20–25 minutes, turning halfway through, until tender and lightly caramelized.
3. Coat the chicken with olive oil and season with garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
4. Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium heat for approximately 5–7 minutes per side, or until the center reaches 165°F (74°C). Rest for 5 minutes and slice.
5. Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper in a jar. Shake until emulsified.
6. Massage the shredded kale with a small amount of dressing for about 30–60 seconds.
7. Divide the kale and cooked wild rice between four bowls.
8. Top with roasted sweet potato, sliced chicken, apple, goat cheese and roasted almonds.
9. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and serve.

Notes

For meal prep, store the cooked chicken, rice and sweet potatoes separately from the apple, almonds, cheese and dressing.

For the closest flavor and texture, assemble the bowl while the rice, chicken and sweet potatoes are still slightly warm.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 Harvest Bowl
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 650 kcalCholesterol: 75 mgmgSodium: 520 mgmgCarbohydrates: 59 ggFiber: 8 ggProtein: 36 gg