Sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions
Bowls have emerged as a growing opportunity for operators to innovate year-round with flavors and ingredients from around the world.
These dishes can satisfy customers on multiple levels, offering on-trend, customizable recipes in a form that is highly portable for eating on the go or for delivery to home or office.
For operators, bowls also tend to be relatively simple to assemble, which helps streamline labor costs, and they can often incorporate leftover ingredients and leverage cross-utilization of existing stock, which can minimize waste and inventory costs, respectively. They also lend themselves to the use of seasonal ingredients, making them ideal for traffic-driving LTOs and promotions throughout the year.
According to research firm Datassential, bowls appear on 24.5% of foodservice menus, and are on the rise. Restaurants that carry them increased the number of bowls on their menus to an average of 5.3 items in 2022, vs. 4.1 in 2021.
Entire restaurant concepts have emerged centered around bowl dishes, and many other restaurants, from Hard Rock Café to Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, have added bowls to their menus. Smokey Bones even created its own virtual concept based around bowl dishes, called Bowl Market.
Bowls provide a range of culinary and operational advantages for operators, says Peter Farrand, chief food and beverage innovation officer at Smokey Bones. On the culinary side, bowls make it easy to create satisfying combinations of flavors and textures.
“When you have all those great items in that bowl format, it’s easy to get a lot of those perfect bites,” he says.
Bowls also allow operators to showcase great value to customers by offering large portions at relatively low price points, Farrand says.
Ross Evans, director of culinary at Hard Rock Café, says consumers find bowls very approachable, while at the same time they give chefs a lot of room for culinary creativity.
“The number of variations you can have from bowl to bowl is endless,” he says.
One of the most popular bowls at the Hard Rock Café is the Grilled Salmon Noodle Bowl, which features ramen noodles tossed with a sesame soy vinaigrette, combined with colors and textures of edamame, cabbage, red peppers, and carrots, and topped with a mouth-watering piece of grilled Norwegian salmon.
At Smokey Bones, Farrand says the company strives to create comfort-food dishes that align with its classic barbecue menu. One of its most popular bowls is the Ultimate BBQ Bowl, which begins with mac-and-cheese made with Unilever’s LeGoût Cream Soup Base, topped with house-smoked pulled pork or chicken, baked beans, Carolina BBQ sauce, green onions, and creamy coleslaw on the side.
“To me, it’s a combination of all the things people love in the barbecue world, all in one dish,” he says.
Smokey Bones also does and OG Bowl that is popular with customers, featuring red-skinned mashed potatoes, fried chicken, gravy, roasted corn, crumbled bacon, cheddar Jack cheese, and green onions.
Seasonal innovation
Bowls lend themselves to seasonal innovation, perfect for operators seeking to create limited time offers or items to rotate onto their main menu throughout the year.
Certain ingredients have particular appeal during specific seasons, according to the Datassential Seasonality Report 2023. For the upcoming fall and winter seasons, for example, consider proteins such as chicken, turkey, pork belly, and applewood-smoked bacon, along with seasonal vegetables and hearty grains such as quinoa, farro, hominy, freekeh, and red rice. Popular fall garnishes include pistachio, goat cheese, cornbread croutons, pumpkin seeds, tortilla strips, and sunflower seeds.
In the winter, consider popular proteins such as crispy chicken, smoked turkey, brisket, egg, tofu, and beef, with grains such as black beans, lentils, or wild or black rice. Winter vegetables range from the ever-popular root vegetables and beets to more unique options such as dinosaur kale and pickled jalapeños. Consider garnishes such as smoked cheddar, pomegranate, roasted pepper, and fried onions, or perhaps some more culinarily sophisticated toppings like kimchi or pancetta.
Some hearty, flavorful recipe ideas from Unilever for the colder months include:
- Five Spice Duck with Chile Mango and Asian Greens, a sweet-and-spicy salad that promises to take the chill off with its blend of warm seasonings and on-trend ingredients. It features Hellmann’s® Classics Raspberry Vinaigrette combined with sliced bok choy and seasoned mango ribbons, sliced radish, edamame, cilantro, scallions, mint, and greens, with additional dressing drizzled on top for a visually stunning presentation.
- Spice Roasted Cauliflower Salad, which features a colorful blend of fall and winter vegetables including not only cauliflower but also Brussels sprouts, radicchio, roasted red pepper, pickled onion, and sunflower seeds, along with wild rice. It gets a flavorful kick from a blend of spices on the roasted cauliflower as well as a sesame honey dressing made with tahini and Hellmann’s® Classics Honey Mustard Dressing.
- Roasted Asparagus and Prosciutto Salad with Candied Beets and Burrata, a hearty bowl that combines several of the flavors of fall and winter. In addition to the ingredients in the title of the dish, this bowl also includes red onion, tomatoes, olives, roasted Marcona almonds, focaccia croutons, and watercress. They are all tied together with the sunny Italian taste of Hellmann's® Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette.
- Red Lentil Pasta Bowl with Lemony Roasted Brussels Sprouts, which features a colorful combination of shredded Brussels sprouts, candied lemon peel, and red lentil pasta, along with radicchio, red butter lettuce, English cucumbers, yellow peppers, farmer’s cheese, hemp seeds, and pancetta. This distinctive flavor combination is made even more interesting with the use of Hellmann’s® Lemon Za'atar Dressing.
Dependable, high-quality ingredients such as Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise and Knorr sauces and mixes can help operators build sales and profitability when incorporated into flavorful, on-trend bowls. Visit UFS.com/standout for more bowl recipe inspiration. You can also follow Chef Dana and the UFS culinary team on Instagram for more menu ideas and support.