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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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!
This has always been my go to meal prep dish! So tasty and reheats perfectly!
So great to hear!
I recently went vegan and can say its made me enjoy cooking. It seems like the dishes aren’t overly complicated and but are tasty. This meal was so easy to make but incredibly delicious. I can’t get over how simple this was to make. I just sent it to several of my friends. Thank you! Looking forward to looking through the rest of your recipes.
That’s awesome! Thank you!
I know this is an old recipe but I have to say: I’ve tried a few recipes on the site and thought they were okay but this one really blew me away! So much flavor and so simple to make. I was very pleasantly surprised when I took the first bite and will absolutely be adding this to my usual rotation. Thanks for sharing such an easy but incredibly tasty meal! This definitely makes me want to explore more of the other recipes now 🙂
Thank you so much Lidia! So happy you enjoyed it!
This is one of my go to favs! One question though. You say it serves 4. What do you consider a serving size? Thanks!
Unfortunately we don’t have exact serving sizes, but looking at the ingredient list, I would assume one serving should come out to about 1 cup. I hope that helps!
How many does this serve? I’ve never made it, and I want to make it for my family of 4 plus take it to small meeting, approximately 7 ladies. I probably should double, right?
This recipe yields 4 servings.
I made this in my instant pot. 1 min on high-pressure and natural release 10 min. Then I used it as filing for tacos instead of meat. Wow! I was very impressed. I will make it again for sure.
I love that you made this in the Instant Pot!