These vegetarian Yumm Sauce Bowls are loaded up with all the toppings and drizzled with a creamy curry & cumin spiced chickpea sauce inspired by Cafe Yumm! in Eugene, Oregon.
It’s almost been six months since I quit my corporate job and started blogging full time. It’s definitely the best decision I ever made and I haven’t looked back, but there are a few things I miss about it…
- I miss my parking spot in downtown Portland.
- I miss my co-workers.
- I miss my favorite lunch spots.
Lunch was always the highlight of my day.
Obviously… Everyday I dream about food… all day.
The spots that I really miss the most are Quickfish Poke, The Whole Bowl, and Cafe Yumm. And, if you’re not native to Portland, or haven’t visited before, you probably have no idea what the last two places I named are all about.
The Whole Bowl is a food cart with a few locations around Portland. It serves up bowls of rice & beans topped with a “Tali sauce” and then loaded up with lots of toppings like sour cream, cilantro, cheese, salsa, avocado & black olives.
Cafe Yumm is essentially the same thing… but the sauces from The Whole Bowl and Cafe Yumm taste just a little bit different… I’d say that the Tali sauce at The Whole Bowl is a bit more curry forward while the Cafe Yumm sauce is a bit more smoky. Plus, the Cafe Yumm sauce comes in a few different versions – Roasted Garlic, Chipotle and Original. I’m a huge fan of their chipotle Yumm sauce! It’s got a hint of smokiness with a little bit of heat.
I’ve been working on mastering this Yumm sauce recipe for years… Many, many years… That’s because I’ve been eating it since college. Cafe Yumm! originated in my college hometown of Eugene, Oregon and I think I ate there like once a week. Seeing as I’m now in my last year of my 30’s… you can imagine I’ve eaten my fair share of Yumm bowls!
That’s why I’m so excited to share this recipe for Yumm sauce with you today! This is for all my readers who haven’t yet had the chance to experience this amazing sauce. It’s also for all my local readers who are obsessed with this sauce as I am.
But let me warn you, it’s totally addictive…
It’s creamy, lemony, and garlicky with the most amazing blend of spices. But there are two special ingredients that give this sauce it’s great texture and an almost cheese-sauce like quality – almond flour and nutritional yeast. You can grab both of these products from my favorite local-producer, Bob’s Red Mill. Pouches of their almond flour and nutritional yeast are easy to find in your local store, or online.
The good thing is, this recipe makes a big batch of Yumm sauce, enough for about 8 “yummy” bowls, and it will keep in the fridge for about a week.
How Do You Make Yumm Sauce?
It’s super simple to make this sauce. Just add all the ingredients to a blender and process until smooth.
Can You Freeze Yumm Sauce?
You can freeze Yumm sauce though it may separate when thawed. Just give it a good stir, or pop it back into your blender or use an immersion blender to it process again.
How Do You Assemble Yumm Bowls?
- Start with a base of brown rice, white rice or quinoa. I love making my grains in the Instant Pot. Here’s my recipe for Instant Pot Quinoa and Instant Pot Rice.
- Add some beans. I generally heat up a can of drained and rinsed red beans, but you could also top these bowls with black beans or chickpeas. You could even add some sliced chicken.
- Pile on the toppings – Tomatoes, olives, avocado, salsa, cheese, cilantro, sesame seeds.
- Drizzle on the Yumm sauce to your liking. I like a lot of sauce on my bowl.
- Enjoy!
Yumm Sauce Bowls
These vegetarian Yumm Sauce Bowls are loaded up with all the toppings and drizzled with a creamy curry & cumin spiced chickpea sauce inspired by Cafe Yumm!
Ingredients
Yumm Sauce:
- 3/4 cup canned garbanzo beans drained & rinsed
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup water plus additional as needed to thin
- 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill almond flour
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 3-4 lemons
- 1/3 cup silken tofu
- 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill nutritional yeast
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried cilantro
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder optional
Bowls:
- Rice or Quinoa
- Beans
- Avocado sliced
- Tomatoes chopped
- Black olives sliced
- Cheddar cheese shredded
- Cilantro
- Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream
- Sesame Seeds for topping
Instructions
- Add ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving.
To assemble place about 1 cup rice in bowl, drizzle on Yumm Sauce, then top with 1/2 cup beans, avocado, tomatoes, olives, cheese, cilantro and top with greek yogurt or sour cream. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Recipe Notes
Yumm sauce will store in the fridge for up to one week. It can also be frozen, but may separate. Just give it a good stir, or pop it back into your blender or use an immersion blender to process again.
I hope you love these Yumm Sauce Bowls as much as I do! If you do, I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.
I teamed up with Bob’s Red Mill to bring you this post. I love their products and I think you will to! As always, all opinions are my own.
Bowl Recipes:
- Quinoa Taco Bowls
- Chicken Gyro Bowls with Quinoa
- Shrimp Spring Roll Noodle Bowls
- Fish Taco Bowls with Mango Salsa & Avocado Cream Sauce
- Slow Cooker Steak Carnitas Bowls
This is so great – I’m definitely going to try this. My aunt raves about Cafe Yumm! and the sauce in particular. I’ll have to pass this on to her.
I hope she enjoys it Meg!
I grew up in Eugene so naturally am Cafe Yumm’s #1 fan, haha! I eat there as often as I possibly can—and I buy a giant bottle of their Yumm Sauce to have in the fridge at all times. I’ve made another version of this sauce at home once, but I’d love to try your version too!
Thanks Catherine! I hope you like it!!!
My wife and I moved to Massachusetts from Corvallis, Oregon almost 8 years ago. She still regularly remarks about how much she misses Cafe Yumm! And the Yumm sauce in particular! Every time we go back to visit Oregon, Cafe Yumm is one of the first places we have to go. I can’t wait to make this for her as a surprise next week!
One quick question- the recipe calls for “cooked” garbanzo beans. Are the garbanzo beans that come in the can already cooked? Or will I need to boil them?
Thanks!
I hope she loves it! Yes, I use canned garbanzo beans in this recipe.
Thank you for the delicious bowl recipes! I love them all. I also enjoyed your video.
Thanks again.
From my first bite of chipotle Yumm sauce I was hooked and, since it’s not readily available where I live, I set out to make it myself. I have made many variations of my master recipe and with each batch I get closer to the authentic Cafe Yumm taste. Even though my own recipe is pretty darn good I still continue to look for others and I was delighted to find Erin’s version. I just finished my first batch and had to immediately leave a review even though I know the flavor of the sauce improves after it’s “aged” a few hours. All I can say is YUMM!!! This is a great recipe, made even better by Erin’s stunning photography – I wanted to lick my monitor! Erin – you were so smart to leave your corporate life because you were born to be a food blogger and I am very impressed.
Thank you so much for the kind words Teri!
Thanks for the recipe, I’ve been looking for a version! I’ll be testing it out this weekend. Any chance their jalapeño sesame salsa is also on your recipe radar? 🙂
I LOVE their jalapeno salsa so much! I tried it out once with not much luck… I’ll try to work on it some more to get it just right 🙂
Hi, Catherine!
I cannot tell you how truly stoked I am on your recipe. It sounds too spot-on (to the original Cafe Yumm recipe) to NOT be perfect. Ugh! I’m literally at the store getting all the imgrwdients right now, then going back home to drown my face in a bowl of Yumminess. Hahahah! 😍😋🤤
I’m from Oregon, but moved deep out in Washington state last year and I don’t readily have direct access to these amazing treats anymore….
& It. Has. Killed me. Lol. 😭
You and your work are much appreciated, as I’m sure you must know at this point! 😉 Hahaha.
A few questions though, for a very literal person like myself: (If you wouldn’t mind helping a sister out….🙏🏻) Lol.
When recipe calls for curry powder, is it referring to simple “curry powder” or is it “curry madras”??? I assumed the normal curry powder, but from what I see in your pictures of combined ingredients before blending together, it looks closer in color to the madras. So just want to be sure before I attempt this….. 😬🤔
Also, when it calls for dried oregano, is it referring to “Oregano Leaf (cut & sifted)”? Because that’s all I found for oregano in the spice section at my local Fred Meyers.
Also, when it calls for mustard powder, is it referring to what I have located, labeled as “Yellow Mustard Seed Powder”? That’s all I’ve found here for mustard anything, but am pretty sure there’s a few different kinds of (mustard)/ seeds, so just want to make sure… (If you cant tell by now, I don’t cook much, and this is mainly why- I stress too much over the “little details” and end up getting overwhelmed before I even start! 🙄)
& Last, (….If you’re still with me! 😂)
When it calls for dried cilantro,
Is that something found in a spice bottle, typically? Because I’ve found everything else in the natural foods isle, where bulk spices are, but there’s nothing for cilantro of any variety. Maybe it would be found with the small bottles of spices & seasonings?
…..Please help??!! 🤷🏻♀️🙏🏻🙇🏻♀️ Hahaha.
Thank you for your recipes!
Hoping to hear back from you as soon as you may have a moment, but know you have a life and I’m patient.
Hehe. 😌🤞🏻
Much thanks, appreciation, and respect,
Ashley from Oregon. 🖤
Hi Ashley – Curry powder is the curry powder in the store (not Madras). Dried oregano can definitely mean the oregano leaf. Mustard powder is the yellow mustard seed powder. And, the dried cilantro is definitely harder to find, but you can always leave it out, or use twice the amount of fresh cilantro. Hope that helps!
Will it alter the taste if I leave out the yeast?
Hi Aimee – It will be missing the nutty, cheesy taste, but will still be delicious I think!
What would you recommend for a replacement of the soy?
You could use tamari or liquid aminos!
I was in Oregon a few months agai visiting and became absolutely hooked on Cafe Yumm! I am now home in South Carolina left with a craving I can fix.
I had a quick question for your recipe. Is there anything you think I could use other than Lemon juice? Im not allowed to have anything acidic which is very sad. Thank you for posting this recipe I cant wait to try it out!
Hi Kidda – If you’re unable to have anything acidic, I would just leave it out. It shouldn’t be too much of a difference and I think it will still be delicious. Hope that helps and thank you so much for stopping by!
I think she was referring to the tofu as well
This was absolutely yummy!
My version came out thick, more like hummus than dressing (which some prefer to the bottled restaurant version)… and my family asked for loads more garlic, but I thought this was an excellent addition to my favorite rice bowls.
Tonight’s was Caprese based, so not vegan, but delicious and I’m ready to make another batch to get us through the week.
I’m so happy to hear that you liked it Grace. I like the idea to add in more garlic. I’m definitely going to give that a try next time! Or maybe try adding in some chipotle for a hot & smoky version. I think that if you’d like the sauce a bit more thin, you could always add in a bit of water. Hope that helps and thanks so much for stopping by!
I am in Oregon visiting now and my mom and I were discussing Cafe Yumm and their sauce. I miss it so much. I always looked forward to going there to eat. I will definitely try your recipe, after I grab me some cafe yumm to eat now, lol. I would also recommend trying, instead of the smoked chili powder, try using chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Try using a tablespoon of the adobo sauce in the yumm sauce. I use it when I’m making chili or my chicken tortilla soup and it’s amazing.
Love the idea to add in some chipotles in adobo Stacey!