food

Slop Bowl Speculation

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

It was only in the fall of 2025 that I became acquainted with the term “Slop Bowl” – references to the “bowl meals” from Chipotle, SweetGreen, and a huge amount of fast casual dining. I’d not heard of it, I’m guessing it was a regional thing, and I also found it a bit insulting for the food. So as a break from my usual deeper speculations, I want to talk food, namely I dislike the insulting term and reference “Slop Bowl.”

Do I have opinions on food? Of course. I love to make food and cook, and I also like to be efficient and effective. So I have opinions on “Slop Bowls.”

Namely, I say, don’t go insulting them.

First, the average Slop Bowl is usually a damn sight healthier than your average fast food. I mean most Slop Bowls are basically salads, burrito bowls, or just reasonably nutritious stuff. Hell, Poki Bowls are Slop Bowls by some definition. If people are getting their “Green, a bean, a grain” for a meal? Good. It beats most of the other options.

Secondly, Slop Bowls are convenient. People don’t need to unwrap three boxes of food or a sandwich that may fall apart. You got a bowl. That’s it. One stop shop for a meal, easily portable, easy to stack, easy to clean up after.

Fourth, Slop Bowls are historical. Isn’t a stir-fry essentially a Slop Bowl? How many soups, stews, and meals through history were just “a container of stuff” that was a meal? Single-serving casserole meals are just a slightly more structurally sound slop bowl – a slop plate? Humans have always found ways to toss stuff into one meal.

Fifth, and finally, Slop Bowls are easy to make. Before I heard the term, before I ate fast casual bowls, I made them. I still make them albeit I called and call them something different. This has included:

  • Brown rice, shredded spinach, mashed tofu, mixed with Korean fermented peppers and soybeans.
  • Salads of beans or tofu, steamed broccoli or “refrigerator slaw”, some pickled vegetables, and a dressing (usually a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili paste).
  • Full-service stews that are basically filled with veggies and beans (garbanzo is a favorite).
  • Nachos that are covered in stir-fried cabbage and refried beans with salsa. Yeah, aren’t Nachos just a slop bowl in a way?
  • Assorted curries – c’mon, slop bowl.

As much as I like different foods, as much as I like different forms of food, I keep returning to “bowl meals” again and again when I want to keep things simple and healthy. And why not? We humans have always wanted to earth healthy, reduce cleanup, and do it fast.

So let’s not insult the Slop Bowl. Let’s salute it as a part of human history for very good reasons.

Steven Savage

Why I Wrote It: Food, Culture, and Worldbuilding

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

The third of my “Worldbooks,” my 50 question coaching guides for worldbuilding, was on food. So why did I do this? Oh, I had reasons because I cook, and cooking is a gateway to the rest of the human experience.

Food is far more than food.

Food fuels humanity. It’s vitally important to us, obviously, but because it is so important, we miss how important it is to us. We need food to be fueled, to be healthy, and if you’re aware of how people have battled over diets and how famines affected history, you realize how much food matters. Food must be in your worldbuilding.

Food is about experience. We have sensations we associate with food, we have meanings we attribute to it, we have food that has meaning to us. Food is personal. It is part of your characters and culture.

Food is about history. Humans have been seeking food and how to get more of it for the extent of our existence on earth. We have fought wars to survive, tilled land, found what is edible, and tried new things we thought would kill us. Every meal you have bears the impact of ages. Food is the result of your entire setting’s history.

Food ties into many other things – health, religious symbolism, traditions, and more. Every holiday meal, every religious law about food you follow, is just a sign of how deep food connects to our lives. Food is one of the places in culture where everything very visibly comes together – which is so obvious we miss.

It shocked me there wasn’t more worldbuilding books on food because of these items, but I think it’s because food is an intimate part of our lives, and thus we miss it. We’re too close to it, and thus we miss it.

So I wrote one. I won’t lie, I was looking forward to it because of all those above issues, and because I thought it’d get people to think.

If anything, I could have probably gotten a much larger book out of it. But on reflection, had I made a larger book, it would only appeal to serious foodie writers. Better it be left some coaching questions to let people find their own paths.

A lesson here is that just because something is common doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about it – the commonality is why a deeper analysis is warranted. You may have a book in mind that seems as if it’s “just common sense,” then it probably needs to be written, if only as a reminder.

Steven Savage

Vegan Nachos/Burrito Bowl

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Time for another recipe from Steve to help you eat healthy, fast, efficiently – so you can get back to your creative works! This is a Nacho or Burrito bowl recipe depending on what you want – one mix served in two forms!

Makes 2 servings.

First, the basic mix!

  • 1 14.5 oz cans black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed.
  • 1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, drained (or about 2-3 good-sized diced tomatoes).
  • Optional: About 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno slices.
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp crushed garlic (or about 1 tsp garlic powder)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder

Take all of these ingredients, mix them, and microwave them until hot, stirring it.  You can also dry-saute it without oil for a better taste.

Now how to serve them?  You can do the following:

NACHOS: Just drop the mix on a pile of nachos and serve!   Serve with a salad for a complete meal!

BURRITO BOWL: Make two bowls, and in each place 1 cup or so cooked rice,  mixed with 1 to 1/2 cups shredded spinach or cabbage.  Ladle the mix over the rice/spinach mixture and serve.  It’s a complete meal!

This meal is a great, fast, tasty one I’ve grown very fond of.  I originally invented the burrito bowl, and the nachos came as a later experiment – but now they’re popular in my household.

Oh, and keep in mind you can freeze the mixture for later . . .

Steven Savage