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.
Did you make this recipe?
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Are green chilies spicy? I wonder if this is toddler friendly…
They are not spicy at all but you can always omit to be on the safe side!
I made this totally vegan. I made the quinoa with veggie broth and omitted the sour cream and cheese. This was so good! I will do it again.
What is the serving size? I entered the information into Weight Watchers recipe builder, but I know I have more than 6 1-cup servings.
Made this on a cold snowy day and it was perfect! Can’t wait to finish off the leftovers! Thank you….I’ll definitely be coming back to this recipe!
About 1-2 cups.
Made this on a cold snowy day and it was perfect! Can’t wait to finish off the leftovers! Thank you….I’ll definitely be coming back to this recipe!
You do NOT have a reputation for “plagiarizing” recipes (Lauren, 2013)!! There isn’t an original recipe in any cookbook today – they are all take-offs/adaptions from other recipes, starting with possibly scrambled eggs!! What a ridiculous accusation to make. LOVE the quinoa chili – thanks!!!
Made this yesterday and it is 100% one of my favorite meals I have ever had! I had mine topped with avocado and half a lime and it’s amazing! Thank you for this!!
Made this last month and I’m making it again today and I absolutely love it! Easy, vegetarian and delicious!
I made this today and put it in the crock pot. I cooked the quinoa separately and added it. It soaked up a lot of liquid but this was still delicious. I would have never thought to put quinoa in chili. Topped mine with tapatio hot sauce, sour cream and green onions.
You do NOT have a reputation for “plagiarizing” recipes (Lauren, 2013)!! There isn’t an original recipe in any cookbook today – they are all take-offs/adaptions from other recipes, starting with possibly scrambled eggs!! What a ridiculous accusation to make. LOVE the quinoa chili – thanks!!!
What is the serving size? I entered the information into Weight Watchers recipe builder, but I know I have more than 6 1-cup servings.
Made this on a cold snowy day and it was perfect! Can’t wait to finish off the leftovers! Thank you….I’ll definitely be coming back to this recipe!
About 1-2 cups. 🙂
You do NOT have a reputation for “plagiarizing” recipes (Lauren, 2013)!! There isn’t an original recipe in any cookbook today – they are all take-offs/adaptions from other recipes, starting with possibly scrambled eggs!! What a ridiculous accusation to make. LOVE the quinoa chili – thanks!!!
I am so excited to try this recipe! Can you save the leftovers and eat later?
Yes, absolutely.
Made this on a cold snowy day and it was perfect! Can’t wait to finish off the leftovers! Thank you….I’ll definitely be coming back to this recipe!
What is the serving size? I entered the information into Weight Watchers recipe builder, but I know I have more than 6 1-cup servings.
About 1-2 cups.
I made this today and put it in the crock pot. I cooked the quinoa separately and added it. It soaked up a lot of liquid but this was still delicious. I would have never thought to put quinoa in chili. Topped mine with tapatio hot sauce, sour cream and green onions.
Made this last month and I’m making it again today and I absolutely love it! Easy, vegetarian and delicious!
Made this yesterday and it is 100% one of my favorite meals I have ever had! I had mine topped with avocado and half a lime and it’s amazing! 🙂 Thank you for this!!
Yum!
This looks so good, but I’m trying to figure out if I should drain the diced tomatoes? Is it assumed that you do not, unless otherwise noted? Thanks for your help!
Yes, there is no need to drain the tomatoes.
I have never made Chili in my entire life, so when I started cooking this I was verify hesitant about how it would turn out. I can honestly say that it was the best quinoa chili I have ever tasted and now the best and only one I will ever make. Thank you for creating this masterpiece. The ingredients and instructions were very easy to follow. I left out the avocado since I used it all up for my guac and added ground turkey.
thanks again!
Not just vegetarian, it’s VEGAN ! Even better !!
This was SO GOOD! Had it with homemade tortilla chips. It’s wholesome and nutritious while being delicious to boot!
Is this recipe vegan if you dont add cheese on top?
Yes!
Just made this tonight for dinner, it was fabulous! I did omit the avocado and cilantro as I am not a fan of them myself, but otherwise I followed the recipe and it turned out great. Will definitely be adding this to my meal rotation 🙂