High-Volume Beef and Rice Power Bowls
Lean beef, a proper mountain of rice, and a heap of veg in one big bowl — about 62 grams of protein and 780 honest calories. This is the bowl I build when I want to eat a lot, recover hard, and not feel like I’m forcing it. Easy to make, easier to eat.
Plate 01 / Finished
This bowl got me through my first proper off-season, the winter I finally accepted I was too small for the classic-physique class I wanted. I’d come off a long cut, I was tired of weighing every gram of broccoli, and I needed a meal I could make half-asleep that still put real food and real calories in front of me. So I started building these bowls: a pan of lean beef browned hard, a generous scoop of rice, and whatever veg was in the fridge piled on top. Big, warm, filling. The kind of plate you sit down to after a long session and feel genuinely looked after.
What I love about it is the honesty of the numbers. You get 62 grams of protein and a real load of carbs to refill the tank, all from food you can buy anywhere. No powders standing in for a meal, no sad little portion you have to talk yourself into. Just beef and rice doing what they’ve done for lifters for a hundred years, with enough veg to keep your gut happy through a high-calorie phase.
I eat this most when I’m building — post-training, when my body’s asking for fuel and I want to give it plenty. But I’ve also handed this recipe to friends who just want one good, balanced bowl that fills them up and keeps them full till morning. It does both. Cook it once, learn the rhythm of it, and you’ll have it in your back pocket forever. I’ve got you on this one.
01Who it’s for & when to eat it
This is a high-calorie, high-protein base that flexes to your goal. The beef and the seasoning stay the same; you change the size of the rice scoop and the splash of oil. Here’s how I steer it.
The default plate
Full rice portion, a teaspoon of oil in the pan, beef and veg piled high. Big, calorie-dense, easy to eat a lot of. My go-to post-training meal when I’m trying to put size on through the winter.
Pull it back
Drop the rice to a fist, cook the beef dry, and double the veg. You keep all the protein and most of the satisfaction for far fewer calories. See the variations below for exact numbers.
Steady fuel
A moderate rice scoop, lean beef, a real handful of veg. Balanced carbs and protein that keep you full and support recovery without overshooting. A solid main meal any day of the week.
Timing: this is a post-training bowl through and through — protein to recover, carbs to refill what you emptied. It also reheats beautifully, so I’ll happily eat it for a midday meal straight from a prep box.
02Ingredients
Makes 2 big bowls. Scale every line in proportion if you’re feeding more — the beef-to-rice ratio is what makes the macros work, so keep them moving together.
Servings 2 · adjust on the live recipe card- Lean beef mince 5% fat400 g · 14 oz
- Jasmine rice dry weight150 g · 5.3 oz
- Broccoli, in florets200 g · 7 oz
- Red bell pepper, sliced1 medium
- Garlic, grated3 cloves
- Soy sauce low-sodium2 tbsp · 30 ml
- Olive oil1 tbsp · 15 ml
- Smoked paprika1 tsp
- Black pepperto taste
- Saltto taste (go light)
Swaps I actually use: if you’re chasing more size, step up to 10% beef and add another tablespoon of oil — easy extra calories without more bulk on your plate. Want it leaner for a cut? Use 5% beef, cook it dry, and skip the oil. No jasmine? Basmati, long-grain, or even white rice all work; the macros barely move. Swap the broccoli for green beans, courgette, or whatever’s in the drawer.
03Step by step
Get the rice going first
Rinse the jasmine rice until the water runs nearly clear, then cook it the way you trust — pan, rice cooker, whatever. It needs the longest, so start it before anything else and let it sit covered while you handle the beef.
Magnus says: rinsing washes off surface starch so the rice comes out fluffy, not gluey. Worth the extra minute.
Cut everything before the pan gets hot
Break the broccoli into even florets and slice the pepper. Grate the garlic so it melts into the beef instead of leaving raw bites. Steam or boil the broccoli for three to four minutes so it stays bright and has a little bite left.
Sear it hard, don’t stew it
Heat the oil in a wide pan over a high heat. Add the beef and press it flat — leave it alone for a minute so it browns rather than steams, then break it up. You want colour on the meat; that’s where the flavour lives.
Magnus says: a crowded, cold pan stews the mince grey. Hot pan, leave it be, then stir.
Garlic, paprika, soy go in
Once the beef is browned through, drop the heat a touch and stir in the grated garlic and smoked paprika. Give it thirty seconds until it smells good, then pour in the soy sauce and let it bubble down so it coats every bit of the meat.
Fold the pepper through
Tip the sliced pepper into the pan and toss for a minute or two — you want it warmed and a little softened but still with snap. Taste, add black pepper and the lightest pinch of salt; the soy is already doing most of the seasoning work.
Rice down, beef and veg on top
Scoop the rice into two big bowls, pile the beef and pepper over it, and tuck the broccoli in alongside. A little extra splash of soy or a squeeze of lime over the top finishes it. Sit down and eat it warm.
Magnus says: stir the bottom of the pan into the rice — all that browned flavour is too good to leave behind.
04The spec sheet
Real numbers, calculated — not guessed. The recipe makes 2 big bowls, around 1040g of cooked food total. Here’s what one bowl (about 520g) and a flat 100g actually give you.
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 780 kcal | 150 kcal |
| Protein | 62.0 g | 11.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 78.0 g | 15.0 g |
| — of which sugars | 5.5 g | 1.1 g |
| Fat | 20.0 g | 3.8 g |
| — of which saturates | 6.5 g | 1.3 g |
| Fibre | 5.5 g | 1.1 g |
| Sodium | ~0.85 g | ~0.16 g |
Moderate, and that’s deliberate. On a bulk you want food dense enough to hit big calories without a bowl the size of your head — the rice does that quietly.
A lifter’s metric. Lower than a cut meal, as it should be — you’re carrying carbs here for a reason — but still a serious protein hit in every bowl.
- Vitamin C~130 mg · 144% DV
- Zinc~10 mg · 91% DV
- Vitamin B12~4.5 µg · 188% DV
- Iron~5 mg · 28% DV
- Selenium~30 µg · 55% DV
- Vitamin B6~1.1 mg · 65% DV
Macros are calculated from standard food-composition data and will shift a little with your exact ingredients and brands. Micronutrient figures are estimates against general adult Daily Values. Numbers are for guidance, not medical advice — see our Nutrition Disclaimer.
05Bulk / Cut / TRT variations
One base, three jobs. The beef stays the same — you move the rice, the oil, and the veg. Macros below are for a full serving (one bowl built as described).
Build it up
Full 75g dry rice per bowl, 10% beef, and an extra tablespoon of olive oil through the meat. Finish with a spoon of crushed peanuts for crunch and calories. Easy size, all real food.
The lean version
Drop the rice to a fist (about 40g dry), cook the 5% beef dry with no oil, and double the broccoli. You keep the full protein hit and the volume while the calories come right down.
Steady & balanced
A moderate 60g dry rice, lean beef with a teaspoon of oil, a real handful of veg. Balanced carbs and protein that keep you full and recovering without overshooting your day.
06Meal prep & storage
These bowls were made for a Sunday cook-up. I’ll brown a kilo of beef and cook a big pot of rice at once, then box them off for the week. The beef holds its flavour better than almost any prep protein I know.
Box the rice and beef together once fully cooled. Keep the broccoli a touch underdone so it doesn’t go to mush when you reheat.
Beef and rice freeze well together. Cool fully, bag flat, and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Microwave covered with a splash of water over the rice to bring back the steam. On the hob, a hot pan with a little water revives it nicely too.
For meal prep I box one full portion of beef and rice per container and keep the broccoli in a corner so it reheats evenly. Five minutes of cooking on a Sunday buys you a week of proper post-training food.
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07Common questions
Can I use a leaner or fattier beef? +
Both work; just know the trade. 5% mince keeps the bowl leaner and is my pick for a cut or a balanced plate. 10% gives you more flavour and easy extra calories, which is handy when you’re bulking and trying to eat enough. The protein stays high either way — only the fat and total calories move.
How do I push this higher for a hard bulk? +
Add carbs and fat around the edges. Step the rice up to 90g dry, add a second tablespoon of oil, and finish with crushed peanuts or a drizzle of tahini. That’ll carry one bowl past 950 calories while keeping it real food. See the Bulk variation above for the numbers.
Can I swap the rice for something else? +
Of course. Basmati, long-grain, brown rice, even quinoa all slot straight in. Brown rice and quinoa add a little fibre and protein; the calories barely change. Use what you’ve got and what your gut likes.
Is this too much sodium with the soy sauce? +
It’s moderate, and I use low-sodium soy to keep it sensible. If you’re watching water before a shoot, cut the soy to one tablespoon and lean on garlic, paprika and a squeeze of lime instead. The flavour holds up fine.
Can I make it without a wide pan? +
Yes, but brown the beef in two batches so the pan stays hot — a crowded small pan steams the mince grey instead of searing it. Take your time, get colour on it, then combine. That browning is most of the flavour.
This bowl lives inside a full week of meals.
This power bowl is one plate in my 7-day bulking plan — seven days of high-protein, calorie-dense meals with the macros counted and the grocery list written. You pick the goal; I do the maths.
See the bulking meal plan →
08Pairs well with
Magnus Olafsson
I’m Magnus — twenty years under the iron, from a cold gym in Stockholm to the classic-physique stage, and now mostly in my kitchen in a pink apron. I’ve cut for shows, bulked through winters, and I’ve been on TRT since I was thirty-five. I know what it takes to eat for the body you’re chasing, and I know it shouldn’t come with a side of shame.
Everything here is food I actually cook and macros I actually count. I don’t diagnose, I don’t promise, and I never make a number up. I just feed you well and tell you the truth.
Slim Diet Era shares recipes and general nutrition information. It is not medical or dietetic advice, and we do not provide guidance on obtaining or using any controlled substance. See our Medical Disclaimer and Nutrition Disclaimer.