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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Thank you thank you thank you for the damn delicious recipes! Made last night and shared at work today with people who have never eaten quinoa. They loved it! Keep the recipes coming! 🙂
Oh my this would be soooo good with ground Italian sausage, served over a bed of mashed potatoes, and topped with stove top stuffing. Maybe even melt some Velvetta or melted queso over the top and sprinkle with pancetta. Good stuff there! Thanks.
Made this last night and it is amazingly delicious and easy! A new family favorite for sure!!! We actually put this in corn tortillas with spinach and salsa and bam: easy awesome healthy tacos! Thank you!
This recipe was GREAT! I have been getting so bored with quinoa and kind of hit a brick wall as far as how to spice it up a little.
And this dish is very easy to throw together, I did not have a skillet with a cover so I just used aluminum foil and it worked fine. Also, I could not find canned fire-roasted tomatoes that were plain, so I just grabbed the one that had garlic already in it and omitted the fresh garlic (something I don’t like doing!)
Highly recommend this one, the lime and avocado really finishes it off well.
=)
I make this once a week. However I did not have all ingredients so I used a can of Mexican style stewed tomatoes, 1/2 C med salsa and several dashes of Chipotle hot pepper sauce. For using what I had in my food storage, it was amazing!
This is wonderful! It is very easy and fast to fix! Yum Yum!! I have made it quite a few times since I got the recipe. It is my new “go to” recipe for a quick vegan dish.
Thanks!!
Made this a few weeks back for the boyfriend and I and we loved it! Super flavourful, easy to make, and had lots of left overs for lunch!
Wow. This is one flavor-packed dish! I’d like to tell you a story.
This morning, I was hanging at my boyfriend’s house and we were making plans to get groceries and make dinner together later. Then came the inevitable “What should we make?” conversation. So I browsed through my Pinterest food board and discovered this, which I had pinned a few weeks ago.
“Babe. How about “One-Pan Mexican Quinoa? Check it out.”
The boyf looks at the picture. His eyes get wide.
“Oh my god yes that looks amazing!”
Needless to say, it was a HUGE success! The flavors are outstanding (I followed the recipe to a T and I think it’s perfect), it was fast and simple to get the groceries and cook it, and we both loved the texture. So warming and tasty, but lighter than chili because of the lime and cilantro. It was also our first time cooking quinoa in a savory dish. Major win. Thanks so much for posting this!
Looks delicious and perfect for fall. I’m making this tonight!
Made this last night. Loved it and it fiilled the bill for a TexMex recipe here in Texas! The hubs and I are bariatric patients, so I’m always looking for a good recipe with good protein. Although these servings are way too much for us and the recipe is going to yield probably 6 servings instead of 4 ( just guessing at this point ) it is a keeper in my book. Will be taking this to work for lunches. The only thing I did was to wash the quinoa before adding it to my skillet. Great photo!
Amazing! My ultra-picky 3 and 4 year old ate it with a minimum of complaint and the hubby and I loved it. This is definitely going to become a regular dinner for us. Seriously delicious!
Great recipe!! We love Quinoa and I enjoy finding new dishes to make with it. Quick and Easy. This will be made again.
Thanks for a great recipe! It meets all three requirements:
Tasty
Healthy
Easy
Yayy!
This was so yummy! I didn’t have a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, so I used fresh tomatoes, some dried chipotle powder, and some liquid-y jarred salsa to make up for the lack of extra juice. It turned out well. I had fixed this as a side for shredded flank steak tacos, but I ended up eating this instead. I ate it wrapped in lettuce leaves with a bit of extra salsa and a dollop of light sour cream. Can’t wait for leftovers today!
this was absolutely delish! i appreciated that it took such a short time to make and that everything was in one pan. i added onions, bell pepper, and a pinch of cayenne to give it an extra kick
Although I had never tried this before, I made a double batch, because seriously, after reading the ingredients, how could it be bad?
Unfortunately, I’m allergic to raw fruits and vegetables. Avocado, in particular, is a bad one for me. However, if you cook them, I have no problem. Most recipes calling for avocado I have to either pass altogether or omit the avocado. In this case, I threw the avocados in towards the end. I didn’t want them to turn to mush while I stirred. OMG I’m a genius (unfortunately, I’m also really slow since I didn’t think of this until now)! Not only was I able to eat the avocados, but the avocados don’t turn brown.
So thank you for the recipe. It’s now my gateway drug to avocado nirvana.
This was delicious! I have recently discovered quinoa and this recipe was too good to pass up. My family LOVED it!!! I doubled the recipe because quinoa reheats so well and we are always looking for good lunch choices. My son (13 years old) went back for a HUGE 2nd helping. This goes into my FAVORITES! Thanks so much!
Made this tonight – DELISH!!! Even my 2 year old loved it.
Do you need to stir occasionally while it’s simmering? *yes I’m asking because I’m in the middle of cooking it but maybe someone else is wondering too
No, you do not need to stir.
I made this tonight and my family LOVED it! Even my picky 7 year old son. 🙂 thanks so much for sharing it! The flavors were great and it was very filling. One of our new favorites for sure! 🙂