How To Cook Quinoa, Easy Quinoa Recipe

Quinoa: Delicious nutty flavor, quick & easy, nutritious, high protein

Quinoa Nutrition: The most protein of any grain, great source of vitamins & minerals - iron, magnesium, Vit E, potassium, amino acids, fiber - ideal for vegetarian or vegan diets.

Cooking Quinoa: Simple to cook, like rice. Cooked quinoa looks a bit like couscous, but is more substantial and slightly crunchy.

Prep & Cook Time: 5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cook time

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition Data, 1 cup cooked quinoa: 155 cal, 30g carb, 3g fat, 5.5g protein, 3g fiber, estimated glycemic load 18

Printable Recipe: Click the print button in your browser to print JUST the recipe

Basic Quinoa Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• Optional: 1/4 tsp salt

Quinoa Cooking Directions:

1. You'll need a 2 quart pot with a tight fitting lid, and a fine mesh strainer
2. Double the recipe if you want to have leftover quinoa for another meal or two
3. Optional: Soak the quinoa for 5 min in the cooking pot. Soaking helps quinoa to cook evenly, and loosens up any residue of saponin (usually removed in processing), which can give a bitter taste
4. Most quinoa sold in the US these days has been cleaned, and steamed to remove the saponin, so don't worry about that overly much
5. To Rinse: Stir the quinoa with your hand, and carefully pour off the rinsing water, using a fine mesh strainer at the last
6. Drain quinoa well in the strainer, transfer to the cooking pot, add 1 1/2 cups water & 1/2 tsp salt if desired
7. Bring to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and turn the heat down to simmer
8. Cook for 15 minutes
9. Remove quinoa from heat and allow to sit five minutes with the lid on
10. Fluff quinoa gently with a fork and serve
11. Quinoa is delicious by itself or with any of the recipes listed above

To Soak or Not to Soak: It usually works well either way. Most quinoa that you buy in stores has been pre-rinsed and dried, but I'm a bit anal, so I soak it 5 minutes just in case, to loosen up any residue of saponin, or dust or chaff that remains. Skip soaking if you like, but always rinse quinoa.

What To Do With Cooked Quinoa:

Use this basic quinoa recipe as a starting point, and substitute quinoa for couscous or rice in almost any meal. Just a few examples of easy quinoa recipes using cooked quinoa:

Great recipes to eat with quinoa:

Questions About Cooking Quinoa:

Question: Is quinoa a type of corn? I am trying to avoid corn based products and am wondering if quinoa falls into that category - Kathy P.

Answer: Quinoa isn't related to corn. It's actually related to pigweed and it should be safe for you to eat - Savvy Veg

Question: Does one get full nutritional benefit if quinoa is not cooked?? - Libby S.

Answer: Yes, if you do something to make it digestible, like soaking, sprouting, and grinding - which is what raw foodists usually do with grains. In that case, the nutritional value might even be higher - Savvy Veg

Question: How is the carbohydrate count on Quinoa? - Helen F.

Answer: 1 cup cooked quinoa has 155 calories, 30 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat, 3 g dietary fiber and 5.5 g protein - that's according to the bag of quinoa I have in my fridge - Savvy Veg

Question: Love your site but confused about the calories of quinoa. Is 1/4 c raw = to 260 calories? If I want to make one portion to = 150 calories would I use 1/8 of a cup raw? If so, how much water do I use? - Judy D.

Answer: 1 cup of raw quinoa makes about 3 cups of cooked quinoa with approximately 465 calories. So 1/4 cup raw quinoa would have about 116 calories. For one portion cooked quinoa, I'd use 1/4 cup raw quinoa and about 1/2 cup water - Savvy Veg

Question: Great recipes! Thanks. Looking for quinoa chili recipe - Lawrence F.

Answer: Here's our Quinoa Chili Recipe - Savvy Veg

Question: Are there any quinoa dessert recipes? - Donna D.

Answer: Try the Quinoa Breakfast Recipe as a pudding. Or substitute quinoa flour in a recipe such as Apple Crisp, or any cookie or muffin recipe. Since quinoa is gluten-free, balance it with some potato starch or tapioca flour - Savvy Veg

Question: I am trying to find a receipe for quinoa veggie stew for cold winter months...can you help?...I am so interested in Quinoa itself. love the taste and texture I use it for everything...thank you so much for this info - Diane C.

Answer: Check the Quinoa Recipes Index - you'll find lots of good quinoa recipes for winter e.g. quinoa sweet potato black bean stew, quinoa chili, crockpot quinoa red lentil stew - Savvy Veg

Question: My son has nut allergies and I was wondering if quinoa was safe for him to eat? - Joanne D.

Answer: Of course consult your health care provider before introducing any new food. However, quinoa is generally recommended for those with nut and gluten allergies. It's the seed of a plant that isn't technically a grain, isn't related to nuts, and is gluten free - Savvy Veg

Question: Can cooked quinoa be preserved for future use by freezing? - Carl P

Answer: Yes, cooked quinoa can be frozen. I recommend using it within a month, when freezing in a fridge freezer, 3 months in a deep freeze. Follow the usual recommendations for freezing food: air tight container, fully & tightly packed to exclude air - Savvy Veg

Question: I live in S.W. Ontario, Canada. Is quinoa available at any local supermarket or do Ii have to go to a bulk food store??? Or where is it available?? Thanks - Ana F.

Answer: If you have a bulk food or natural food store near you, that would be your best bet. Depending on demand, regular grocery stores might have it, but they tend not to. You can buy it online - there are quite a few suppliers. Sometimes you can get it through a buying club if there's one in your area - Savvy Veg

Answer: To the lady from SW Ontario - I just picked up a bag of quinoa at Costco - Beth C.

Question: I recently cooked quinoa for the first time and notice it has little white "fibers" in it. I see the same thing on pictures of the food on the web. Is this normal, and if so does anyone know what it is? I also wonder how long to soak the quinoa before cooking. There seems to be a lot of different times suggested - David W.

Answer: Those little white fibers are part of the quinoa seed. When you see them, it means that your quinoa is cooked. Soaking quinoa is good for removing the bitter saponin coating. But most quinoa that you buy in this country has been washed or steamed to remove that coating. So I don't bother soaking quinoa anymore. I just give it a quick rinse. If you want to soak it, 5 minutes in warm water is enough - Savvy Veg

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