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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Damndelicious
This is amazing! I was looking for an easy and delicious hot quinoa dish and this fit the bill. I did add ground turkey to incorporate some meat, used chicken broth instead of vegetable, and cheated with a taco seasoning packet. But sooo good!
Oh my goodness, yum! This can eaten alone, with chips, on nachos, in a burrito (a juicy burrito)…Thank you!! Totally enjoying my lunch right now!
Made this immediately after reading the recipe!!! Looks delicious! Still cooling off, but I tasted and is delicious!!! Thanks for such a healthy recipe! I’ll try more 🙂
Yummy! Love this recipe.
I made this tonight with a few modifications:
Added linguica, cayenne pepper, onions, green bell peppers, and green chiles. It was amazing!
I keep trying quinoa but just haven’t found a way I’ve enjoyed it until your recipe – its so yummy! My husband and I love it, I made it with veggie broth and topped it with some grilled chicken for an awesome weeknight meal. Thanks for making me like quinoa! 🙂
We had this for dinner tonight and it’s a HUGE hit!!! That’s saying a lot because my teenager doesn’t eat any veggies or anything that doesn’t include bacon. And it was soooo easy – love love love!
Oh. My. Wow! Made this today for my vegetarian daughter to take to school for lunch. At first glance I didn’t think the recipe was going to work; I had everything needed for it and decided to give it a try. Flavors are perfect together, and I think even my meat-loving boys will enjoy it. My kitchen is still filled with the wonderful aroma. I tried the recipe as stated. I did add a handful of green onions because my daughter loves those. And I used dried black beans that had been soaked, cooked, and kept in my freezer. What a great dish…so glad I saw it on Pinterest! Thank you.
I just made this last night when I needed something quick for dinner. I didn’t have any cilantro, avocado or jalapenos on hand, so I added a small tin of chopped green chilies and sauted 1/2 small red onion with the garlic to start. Had one ear of fresh corn in the fridge so used that. This was so good! I can’t wait to try it as written next time! Thanks for the great recipe:-)
(by the way, I find it odd that other people have said they have to add some kind of meat to make this a complete meal. Quinoa and beans are loaded with protein people, without saturated fat- love it!)
I love, love this simple and easy to fix recipe! I make it all the time and leftovers are used for lunch at work! So flavorful and perfect for vegetarians! So glad I found this recipe!!!
I love this recipe!!! I added chopped onions, bell peppers, and extra garlic. SO YUMMY! Thank you for this! I’m making it for a family who just lost 2 people within a week. Hopefully it’ll nourish their soul like mine.
Made this last night – so yummy! I’m a vegan but my friends loved it. It was pretty easy, although I doubled it and the quinoa didn’t cook evenly. Half of it was cooked after 20 minutes and half wasn’t. I guess I should have been stirring much more frequently. But yum, yum, yum. Great recipe! Will definitely make again.
Thank you for this recipe! I made it for myself to munch on for the 2 weeks my fiance was working up north in Canada and I FINALLY started to drop that dreaded “last 10 pounds” that seems nearly impossible to ever make happen.
I am finally reaching those goals and I have you to thank! Plus this tastes sinfully delicious (I, too, have a huge Mexican weakness!) I felt like I was getting away with something while eating it. I will make this over and over again!
We made this for dinner last night and it exceeded my expectations!! Included some fresh corn we just picked yesterday, and man – this was quick, economical, and tasted great. Will be adding this to the list of regular meals in my household. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi! I am new to making quinoa. I’ve been pinning your recipes all night and can’t wait to try them! Especially this one! I have a question about quinoa. In your recipes for the ingredients most of them just state quinoa. (Except for your Caprese Quinoa Salad, that states Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa). What type of quinoa is best to use? Doesn’t it come in different colors? Is there any flavor difference? Thanks so much! And thanks for sharing all your yummy recipes!
The type of quinoa to use is really based on personal preference. Sometimes I use the tri-colored one if I find it on sale and if that’s what I have on hand. It’s really up to you!
I just stumbled upon your recipe and made it for dinner last night. YUM!! Husband had TWO helpings and didn’t once complain that there was no meat. (We are trying to do one meatless dinner/week.) The only thing I did different was to saute some diced onion with the garlic and jals. I happened to have fresh corn frozen, but if I didn’t I think I would throw in some frozen bell peppers. This recipe is so versatile! Thanks for an awesome recipe and I can’t wait to explore your website more.
This has become a family favorite–even the boys come back for seconds, which is really a compliment/success!! We’ve been playing around with a few variations, based partly on choice and partly on necessity: every time we make it, we add a fresh diced orange or red pepper, and this time we also added a small yellow onion. The skillet I have on the stove right now has a few shakes of Vindaloo seasoning in with the cumin and chili powder. Also, we “toast” the spices slightly with the onion, garlic, and pepper before adding the rest of the ingredients. Lastly, we didn’t have a jalepeno tonight, so we just threw in a whole serrano from the garden that we’ll pull out before we serve. We always eat this dish with a side of salsa, avocado, and good-quality organic corn chips. Love this dish! It’s so fun to play around with.
I did make this and served it along with 10″ flour tortilla’s – “Awesome Flavors” – Damn delicious! – Next I’m going to work out a a cocktail to pair it with.-
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