One Pan Mexican Quinoa
Wonderfully light, healthy and nutritious. And it’s so easy to make – even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan!
Despite my daily 3-mile runs, all the morning donuts have finally caught up with me. So Jason and I made a pact to lighten up our diet before our Cabo trip in 6 weeks. But instead of eating bland, boring salads, I decided to make a fun, healthy quinoa dish that we would both really enjoy.
And that’s exactly what this quinoa dish is. With a fun Mexican twist, this dish is chockfull of so many amazing flavors, from the tangy lime juice to the hint of spiciness from the chili powder and jalapeno. And not only is this healthy and nutritious but it’s also unbelievably easy to make. Simply throw everything into the skillet and that’s it. Even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan, really letting the flavors soak in.
Now who said healthy food has to be boring?
One Pan Mexican Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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ware you sure it’s only 1 cup of water and 1 cup of quinoa? Usually when you make quinoa it is 2 cups water 1 cup quinoa.
It is 1 cup quinoa and 1 cup vegetable broth. Please note that the tomatoes should not be drained – the liquid from the tomatoes are also needed for this one pot meal. 🙂
Can you add fresh tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes?
You can, but they do have a higher water content than canned tomatoes and less tomato juice, so it might end up more watery and less flavorful. As always, please use your best judgement when making modifications and substitutions.
This dish is super easy, budget-friendly and a family favorite! It’s full of flavor. We serve it with chips and Mexican shredded cheese topped with sour cream too. It’s a keeper in my recipe book!
I’ve made this about a dozen times now as an easy, delicious weeknight dinner. I’ve also started adding some chrizo sausage, right at the beginning, and it gives the whole dish an extra bit of savoury flavor.
One thing I want to flag for others is that both my wife and I don’t love adding the avocado right at the end. The pot and all the ingredients are so hot that it ends up cooking the avocado a bit and you lose that nice cool creaminess and get more of a mushy quality. I’d recommend keeping the diced avocado at the table and almost treating it like garnish. That way everyone can add them at the perfect time to their own bowl.
This is ABSOLUTELY one of my favorites! I make it every couple of weeks and take it to lunch in my mini-crockpot and life is good. 🙂
Oh that’s awesome!
I’ve made this recipe so many times, I love it! One question. What is the serving size? It doesn’t actually say what the serving size is.
Hi Caitlin! You would have to divide the full amount by 4 servings to get the serving size. Hope that helps!
One of my favorite dishes. Easy to make, not much chopping involved and simply delicious- thanks
I made this las night and it was wonderful. Lately I’m trying to switch to a plant-based diet. Would love to see more plant-based / vegan recipes. This is my favorite cooking website.
Thanks for your feedback, Ann Marie! Most of our recipes are also easily adaptable to a veggie version.
I have all ingredients except cumin. Can you suggest a substitute or will just omitting it change taste much??
So many great comments…..I really want to try this tonight and I can’t go to store.
You can omit the cumin if you don’t have it.
I’ve made this before and always love it. But I’m making it for someone who is gluten free. Is this recipe gluten free?
Lizette, this recipe is not specifically tailored to be gluten-free.
Lizette, quinoa is naturally gluten free but you can check the package to make sure. All other ingredients in this recipe are also gluten free unless they have been affected by cross contamination.
Looks great ! I haven’t had quinoa in a while ! 🙂
It’s a good one!
made this, it was great.
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Great food photos. It looks so good.
Is this vegan? I see that it’s posted in vegetarian, but it doesn’t say anything about being vegan, and I don’t see any obvious non vegan ingredients. I just want to be absolutely sure.
Yes, it is vegan. 🙂
Just came across this randomly, and made it this evening.
It was delicious!
Thank you so much
Awesome!
I love this recipe and make it all the time it’s my favourite I normally freeze some for later as well but today I was wondering if I could bottle it instead off freeze anyone else so this.
Is it really 400 calories a serving? And 20g of fat? It seems high when looking through the ingredients!
Wow!!!! No way one of my favorite Mexican dishes!!! I was nervous about it because I have never made def quinoa before. But MAN…. it’s awesome!!!!!!
Awesome!
Can this be done ib the Instant Pot?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
This one is really good. Unlike other posters who haven’t actually tried it yet still leave a comment (never understood that one), I have tried it many times and love it. It’s a great one dish meal and is on my list of regular dinners I make for the family. I like to to top it with a little grated cheddar cheese as well. Thanks for a great recipe!
This is seriously damn delicious and that lime juice really sets it all off!! I was looking for something vegetarian I could make with quinoa that didn’t require me running to the store, and am so glad I found this!
I made some substitutions and doubled it, but still is a killer dish that I can’t wait to have for lunch every day this week. I didn’t have fire roasted tomatoes, so instead used a giant fresh heirloom tomato I had just picked up at the farmer’s market. I also didn’t have fresh garlic, so improvised with garlic salt, and used bell pepper instead of jalapeno. I finished it off with shredded cheese and some Tabasco—YUM. I kept the avocado out and will add each time I eat a portion. I think next time I’ll sprinkle in some raw red onion after heating for a crunch.
Thank you so much for putting this on the internet!!!
Thank you so much, Tyler!
I love, love this recipe! We eat it often and I love that it makes a great freezer meal. I make this for new parents all the time. We eat it as a burrito filling. Thanks for the great recipe!
So versatile! Love it!