How to Cook Quinoa, and Tasty Recipes

Here's a basic guide on how to cook quinoa, along with an array of easy recipes for this tasty, quick-cooking grain. Nutritious and versatile, quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa) is an ancient food indigenous to the South American Andes. Considered a “superfood” for its superior nutritional profile, it was revived for the American natural foods market in the 1980s. Your basic quinoa grain is a kind of yellowish-tan, but red and black varieties are now available as well. They cook up the same way and taste pretty much the same as well; their appeal is mainly visual.

Quinoa has more and higher quality protein than any other grain aside from amaranth. It’s also rich in minerals, B-vitamins, and vitamin E. Best of all, I appreciate the fact that quinoa cooks in a mere 15 minutes, and its fluffy texture and nutty flavor and aroma make it extremely versatile. If you'd like more quinoa in your life, you might also enjoy having one of VegKitchen's affordable pdf e-books, We Love Quinoa, right on your desktop (or printed out) for easy access to our most popular quinoa recipes.

Here are some basic uses for quinoa:

• Use it as a bed of grain for bean or vegetable dishes in place of rice.
• Use it to make pilafs with nuts and dried fruits.
• It’s great for stuffing vegetables.
• Make tabbouleh-style salads with it. Add diced crisp vegetables, fresh tomatoes, and minced herbs. Toasted nuts or seeds add a delicious touch.
• Just use it simply, as a nutrition-boosting side dish.

Basic cooking tips:

1. Rinse the quinoa in a very fine sieve.
2. Combine with water in a 2 to 1 ratio in a small saucepan (I usually do either 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa, or 3 cups water to 1 ½ cups quinoa, depending on how much I want to have at a given meal). Add a bouillon cube (I like Rapunzel salt-free vegan bouillon) for added flavor, if you’d like.
3. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat and cover. Simmer gently until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
4. Add Earth Balance margarine or a fragrant nut oil as desired and salt gently.

To this basic formula, I have sometimes added finely chopped steamed broccoli; toasted pine nuts; minced scallion; steamed frozen green peas; steamed frozen corn kernels; sautéed garlic; or any combination of two or three of these items.

Here are some quinoa recipes you'll find on VegKitchen:

Quinoa Salads

• Composed Quinoa Salad Platter
• Tabbouli-Style Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
• Mexican-Style Quinoa Salad
• Summery Quinoa Salad
• Summer Quinoa Salad 
• Tabbouli with a Twist
• Tropical Quinoa with Black Beans
• Quinoa, Corn, and Bean Salad
• Quinoa with Corn and Scallions

Quinoa Pilafs

• Simple Quinoa Pilaf with Peas and Almonds
• Quinoa and Corn Pilaf with Pine Nuts
• Red Quinoa Pilaf with Kale and Corn
• Simple Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
• Quinoa Pilaf
• Salsa Grain-and-Bean Pilaf
• Quinoa and Seashell Noodle Pilaf

Heartier Quiona Dishes

• Quinoa with Wild Mushrooms and Mixed Squashes
• Quinoa with Cauliflower, Cranberries, and Pine Nuts
• Smoky Quinoa with Mushrooms
• Quinoa with Edamame and Oranges
• Quinoa with Cabbage and Green Beans
• Miso-Ginger Red Beans with Quinoa and Broccoli 
• Pink Bean, Quinoa, and Spinach Soup
• Quinoa Paella
• Quinoa and Mushroom Stuffed Peppers
• Chickpea and Quinoa Salad in Sweet Pepper Boats

Wraps and Such

• Asian-Flavored Quinoa Wraps
• Pinto Bean and Quinoa Sloppy Joes
• Quinoa Tacos
• Hummus and Quinoa Wrap
• Quinoa Scallion Fritters
• Quinoa, Lentil, and Mushroom Burgers

Sweets and Such

• Quinoa, Apricot and Oat Muffin Clusters

Kañiwa

• Kañiwa 
• Kañiwa Confetti Salad

For lots more features on healthy lifestyle, explore VegKitchen’s Healthy Vegan Kitchen page.
Here are more of VegKitchen’s Natural Food Guides.