Quinoa Chili
This vegetarian, protein-packed chili is the perfect bowl of comfort food that you can eat guilt-free!
It’s been a bit warm here in San Francisco but I’ve been wanting to make chili for weeks now. Chili gives me the perfect excuse to have oh-so-crumbly cornbread on the side, except I overdo it and make it a main course. Either way, I still wanted a piping hot bowl of chili. Desperately. But this time, I tried something very different with my batch of chili – I added quinoa, and lots of it!
The quinoa added such a fun texture, soaking up all the flavors and goodness of this chili. It’s also loaded with kidney beans, black beans, tons of veggies and just enough lime juice to give you a subtle kick in the pants. Plus, this batch will make enough to feed an army so it’ll keep you and your family well fed for days!
Quinoa Chili
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 4.5-ounce can diced green chiles
- 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder, or more, to taste
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 ½ cups corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- Juice of 1 lime, optional
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in quinoa, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and 1-2 cups water, making sure to cover most of the ingredients; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in beans, corn, cilantro and lime juice, if using, until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately with avocado, if desired.
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Amazing recipe!
Delicious recipe! My kids are not quinoa fans but this dish may have won them over. Tasty with a kick is how my kids described it. I served it with cornbread and will definitely make again. Great recipe to use as part of a pantry challenge recipe.
One of my favorite chili’s!!! So good and filled with flavor…I’ve been trying to look for healthy, vegetarian recipes and this was awesome! Thanks for a great recipe!:)
I love your recipes and this one is yet another winner. I make it all the time in large batches and freeze it. Even better after is is frozen. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
Eating this now. Best chili recipe ever. I think next time I will saute bell pepper with the onion and garlic. Also, I would recommend that users taste before adding any salt. Even using reduced sodium beans and tomato sauce, salt level was perfect. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Would this an okay meal to freeze and pull out for later?
Freezing sounds like an amazing idea but unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Do you think you could substitute and instead of water use a box of organic boxed vegetable broth instead? I’m having a hard time imagining a water base tasting good
Absolutely!
Loved! Loved! Loved it!!!! So good! My family enjoys it as well! Thank you sharing such a delicious recipe!
Quinoa chili was damn delicious. A nice change to using meat. Yummy.
Absolutely delicious!! Plus, it was easy to prepare. Whole family loved it, this is a definite keeper!
This was sooo good. Im eating it for lunch today and it tastes even better. Thank you for your tasty recipes.
This is my favorite, I’ve been making it all the time for about 3 years now. I use fresh tomatoes and Serrano peppers, and sometimes add zucchini. It’s good with cheese and pickled jalapeños on top. My husband loves it too! ^-^
I just made this recipe and I must say….. its damn delicious! I was pleasantly surprised by just how good it was. So simple. So easy. Thanks!
This chili is fabulous! It is my new favorite because it has great flavor, and I love that it’s packed with fiber and protein, too! Thank you for sharing this.
Made this for dinner tonight. Used all salt free tomato products and beans I had cooked from dry with out salt. Very tasty, easy to make and healthy, couldn’t ask for more. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
I am an omnivore but cook vegan for my spouse….this did not disappoint!!!! It is a keeper and will be made again very soon!
One of my favorites as well. Glad you enjoyed it!
This looks great.
This chili is so fantastic! We aren’t vegetarians but have eliminated red meat from our diet for health issues. It’s hard to find a chicken chili recipe that’s as good as a traditional chili, so when I saw this I just had to try it! SOOO good! My two teenage girls went back for seconds. That never happens! Thanks so much for another awesome recipe!
I made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! Chili is one of my favorite things to make – one pot, feeds a crowd – and I am always looking for a new one to add to my repertoire. I added a couple of chopped jalapeños in with the garlic and onions and I used a box of vegetable stock instead of the water and used all low or no sodium canned goods. Turned out great – highly recommend this recipe!
My daughter and I just made this for dinner and it was delicious! We added ground turkey because we are meat lovers. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.