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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Chili is an amazing ‘diet’ food where you can eat a lot of it and it’s not horrible for you. I keep telling my dieting friends to try making some!
I made this last night and it was AWESOME! A huge hit with my husband – he who thinks chili should be all meat and no beans. This will definitely be incorporated into our rotation. THANKS!
This is the best chili recipe! I didn’t really like chili until I ate this. I don’t like kidney beans, so I used two cans of black beans, and it was delicious. I took this as a meal to my friend’s house after she had a baby, and her (non-vegetarian) family loved it, too. They said they didn’t even miss the meat. Thanks for sharing this.
Amazing chili and the directions and pictures were a lifesaver! I can barely make cereal and I made this and it was so yummy I went out and got more ingredients to make another batch! Thank you!!!!
This looks almost identical to a recipe posted on Cooking Classy on 7/31/13. Are you aware that you have a reputation for plagiarizing recipes?
Lauren, if you take a closer look, there is a link back to the original recipe to Cooking Classy who is actually a dear friend of mine. And yes, I adapt quite a few recipes but I always add my own personal spin to it and make quite a bit of changes sometimes. It is also important to note that ideas alone cannot be copyrighted (or plagiarized in your words) but again, I credit the idea of the blogger out of respect for my fellow food bloggers.
I’m thinking that Lauren woke up on the wrong side of the bed…imagine stealing a recipe a recipe…’tis the end of the world!! All the chili cook-offs in the world would be cancelled!!!
This was the first time for me to try this. I used a homemade chili sauce that my mom had made and homemade canned black beans. Phenomenal! I will definitely make this again no doubt about it!
Made this today and it was delicious. I also will use left overs to make it in to your enchalada recipe instead of buying canned salsa. Love your recipes and photos
This chili was delicious! I’ll be making this again and again and I love how it’s healthy. I did only use 1/2 of the quinoa since it seemed like it would of been too much if I used it all. I had to add an extra cup of water due to the thickness.
I’ve made chicken soup with quinoa and have frozen it. When heating it up it still tasted great, But some people have different preferences. 🙂
Would throwing all of this in the crock pot without precooking the quinoa work as well?
Danica, please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to the slow cooker method without further recipe testing. I recommend using your own judgement to convert this recipe to utilize a slow cooker.
I am super excited to cook this recipe again!! I am cooking it for a Chili Contest for work tomorrow. The Men I work with say ” That Chili is not Chili without Meat”. I told them they weren’t the judges!!
Either way, this Chili will Rock!! I decided after reading the posts. That I will wait to put in my Quinoa 30 mins before serving. I do not want the Quinoa soaking the juice up to much.
this recipe looks delish! I love making different types of chili this time of year. Very excited to try this recipe!
LOVE this chili! Just made it and can’t wait to eat it again! 🙂 If this recipe makes 6 servings, do anyone know the amount per serving? Thanks!!
I’m so glad you gave this a try! And I would estimate about 1-2 cups per standard serving.
Does anyone know the calorie count for 1 cup?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Ah, I am scrolling through all of the comments looking for the answer to my question – so many comments, this is a popular recipe! I am curious – I plan to make and have a diabetic in the family – where is the 10g of sugar coming from? Do you know? Is it due to the high carb content… from the Quinoa??? Looking forward to giving his a try regardless… thanks!
tasted just like the chili mixes you buy at the store, but better! I’m going to try and get my parents to try this dish. I have a feeling they’ll love it.
I just saw this recipe on Pinterest! It’s been pouring out all morning, so I think I’m going to modify this for the crock pot right now! Thanks for the great vegetarian option 🙂
Mimi
http://thisdomesticateddiva.com
I made this last week and it was awesome! So many great flavors and textures! I love how the quiona gives it the meaty texture. This one is definitely a keeper!
Even though it’s August 1st… and we live in Southern California-I’m making this! Crank up the a/c!
I have been liking and sharing and repinning this recipe and FINALLY made it today!!! I added lean turkey instead of quinoa, and it was AMAZING!!! I also added fresh green peppers instead of can and of course made some corn bread! My two year old LOVED it!!!!!! Ok…nap time…food coma!
Sorry – I meant Bulgar Wheat instead of Barley in the chili.
Am making this chili today! My husband, a non-lover of most meats, and like a picky two-year-old about eating will be the test, I will let you know how he likes it. I am a big meat-chili aficionado, but just the spices in this (I use all of them in my home made enchilada sauce) have my mouth watering. I will have to substitute Barley for the Quinoa since I have none on hand.