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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This recipe was superb! We omitted the chiles and chile powder just because my toddler is sensitive to spicy stuff and it was still great.
Fixed a double batch of quinoa the other night so I went in search of recipes….found this recipe and had to try! Wow!! t won’t feed my army of 3 for days because my husband & 5 yr old son ate 3 bowls each!! I devored 2 myself!!!! Followed recipe exactly. Served with cheese on top and had Jiffy cornbread muffins! Yummo! This is a keeper for sure.
I’m so glad everyone managed to have 3 servings!
As a food blogger I rarely get the chance to try many other bloggers’ recipes (so little time in the day!), but I was stoked to try this one! Made this the other night for a dinner party and it was a big hit. Super delicious, flavorful and filling. I thought I had quinoa but it turned out it was millet. Used it instead and it worked just fine! I liked how the grains were deceptive in that they almost made it look like there was ground turkey or beef, which maybe made it “feel” more satisfying, if that makes sense. In any case, loved this recipe! 5 stars fo sho.
I’m so glad you had a chance to try this, Dana. You just reminded me that I need to make this again, maybe using millet instead! 🙂
I made this today with a little less chili powder and cayenne and my family went crazy for it. My meat loving husband said it was his favorite chili I’ve ever made and my picky 4 year old son ate two bowls. I served it with ff Greek yogurt on top and homemade cornbread on the side. Yum!! Will be a new staple – thanks!!
I’m new to using Quinoa. Do you take 2 cups of dry quinoa and cook it, or use 1 c dry and cook it so it makes 2 c when it’s done?
Melinda, you should use 1 cup uncooked quinoa to yield 2 cups cooked quinoa.
I have never had quinoa, and I really loved this recipe, and I seem to put in everything now. It is sooo good.
Tris ismthe fiesta time i almond madera a metal oit of cans. I can soy that it taste delicious and love the texture, lots of good flavors and aromas…. Great recipe and will do it again. Bone Aperite
I have this cooking in my crockpot right now and can’t wait to try it! Smells divine.
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it. A few people asked about making this in the slow cooker. I make a quinoa chili recipe similar to this one in the slow cooker and it works very well. All the ingredients are put into the slow cooker including uncooked quinoa and I cook on low for 5 – 7 hours. The quinoa doesn’t become soggy at all and comes out perfect everytime. The spices take a hit, so you will need to add more seasoning when it it comes time to serve.
Omgosh! Is it possible I never came back to let you know how insanely delicious this was?? My friends and I made this with some goat cheese biscuits on the side and it was just so. good. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!! This will definitely be a repeat meal.
Made this recipe last night for my family…added a bit more chili powder, cumin and sea salt. It was really delicious and best of all, really healthy. It was super easy and quick to make, too! Will add this to my recipe index for sure!
I have a quick question. Should I cook the quinoa before or does it cook with the chili?
As noted in the ingredients, this recipe calls for “2 cups cooked quinoa”.
Made this last night and it was AH-MAZING! I did cut down the amount of cayenne to 1/4 tsp. as I did not want it too spicy and it was perfect. Even my husband who normally shuns all things vegetarian liked it! Thank you for your wonderful recipe!
I saw this yesterday, made it last night. SO good! It’s the perfect food for the cold weather right now, and just enough spice for this Texas girl.
Fantastic! Makes a huge amount. Only used half a small lime.
Topped mine with avocado, low fat sour cream, and (gasp!) some Fritos (guilty pleasure).
Will definitely make again (after I work my way through my freezer full of leftovers).
I am making this on Sunday and will enjoy it for lunch all next week!! Perfect chili for our Iowa -20 degree days!!
There really is nothing better for such a cold, chilly night!
I just make this for dinner and it was awesome! Next time I’ll have to cook the quinoa in broth to see how it tastes!
Asking because I’m lazy and I want this RIGHT NOW…do you think uncooked quinoa would cook enough in the dutch oven along with everything else?
I would advise against it to avoid sogginess from the quinoa.
Hi! I’m not a vegetarian and have never made chili without some form of meat in it, BUT this recipe is sooooooo good! Made it tonight. I didn’t have any quinoa but had some orzo on hand and it seemed to work out just fine! Thank you. I will make this over and over again.
I love the idea of using orzo instead of the quinoa – will definitely have to try that next time!
Made this tonight. Hubby said it was kind of spicy for the kids. So maybe I’ll try a little less of the spices next time. But I’m going to serve it with some garlic bread and some sour cream on top. Hopefully that’ll help. And maybe only 1/2 a lime also. But I’m still excited I made it! Thanks for the recipe!