I could eat quinoa til the cows come home. And I don’t just eat it plain—I make it into salads, granola, or burgers and eat it alongside chicken, fish, veggie dishes…the possibilities are endless. For those of you who don’t know, quinoa is a seed-like grain that has been used for thousands of years and can be used in place of rice in many dishes. Quinoa is also a great source of iron, protein, and fiber.
I’m going to show you how to cook quinoa at home the easy way. It only takes a few minutes, two ingredients, and one pan. So let’s get started!
The proportions for quinoa are this: 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. You can add 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of quinoa (to flavor it), but if you’re on a low-sodium diet, you can easily omit it.
The first thing you’re going to want to do is rinse the quinoa because quinoa has a coating called “saponin” that makes it very bitter. A vigorous rinse through a fine sieve can get rid of the saponin easily though.
Once you rinse the quinoa, plop it into a saucepan, pour the water over the top (look for proportions below), and put it on the stove. Turn the heat to medium-high and wait for it to boil. Once it starts boiling, cover it with a lid, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for about 12 minutes or until the quinoa is fully cooked and fluffy.
Here’s a quick reference for quinoa proportions:
1 cup quinoa + 2 cups water = 3 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups quinoa + 4 cups water = 6 cups cooked quinoa
4 cups quinoa + 8 cups water = 12 cups cooked quinoa
Here’s the recipe:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
- Rinse the quinoa vigorously in a fine sieve until the water goes clear (this gets rid of the bitter taste that occurs naturally in quinoa).
- Put the rinsed quinoa in a small saucepan, add the water, and put it on the stove. Turn the heat to medium-high and wait for it to boil. Once it starts boiling, cover it with a lid, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for about 12 minutes or until the quinoa is fully cooked and fluffy.
This is awesome! I am a quinoa newbie and I really don’t know how to cook it. Thanks for linking up at Natural living Monday!
Our family has found that cooking it in some chicken stock (you can get organic, regular, low sodium… whatever your family needs) instead of water is a great, tasty and low calorie way to add some pizazz and taste to a grain that can sometimes be a little boring.
The other trick/tip is to put some baby carrots and broccoli florets in with the quinoa you’re cooking it. It steams the vegetables and adds flavor and nutritious vegetables, and for people watching calories, they can take a bigger serving of the quinoa when it’s been pumped up/space has been filled by lower calorie vegetables. My boys (6 and 3) will both happily eat their vegetables and quinoa when we mix them like this. Hope this helps!
I needed this post! Pinned. Thanks for being a part of our party. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls
Thanks Margaret Anne for linking up this delicious quinoa recipe at the Teach Me Tuesday Linky Party! Hope you join us again tonight:)
I needed this!!! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Quinoa in a rice cooker is the best!
Just getting into quinoa..this is great! I was hesitant, but now I know I’ll be ale to do this…thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the instructions. I’ve never made quinoa before but I like barley and buckwheat (kasha), and I like it when I’ve had it out. I’m pinning this recipe for the future. I guess I also need to get a fine mess strainer too.
I picked some quinoa up at the store this weekend so this is perfect timing. Now I just need to work out what to serve it with.
Quinoa is a fantastic grain isn’t it!?
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Thanks again for linking up! I make quinoa in big batches and just freeze it so that I always have some on hand. I hate the rinsing part so if I only have to cook it once a month then that’s a good thing. But I love quinoa too. It’s such a great substitute for rice.
That’s a fantastic idea Adrienne! I’m going to have to give that a try.
When I was a nanny the mom I worked for loved when I’d make quinoa for her little. We’d add in olive oil, cranberries, peppers, etc but we could never agree on how long to cook it for. I thought it was supposed to have a slight texture to it but she said it was supposed to be fully soft like rice. Can you settle our bet??
I like quinoa prepared both ways. It really just depends on what dish I making with it though. Like if were adding it to a salad, I would want it to be soft and fluffy. But if I was adding it to a baked dish, I might want it to be a little less cooked (more al dente). Hope this helps, Meaghan!
Thanks for linking this up to Homestead Blog Hop. This is a great tutorial. Your pictures on your blog are so beautiful! I subscribed to your newsletter.
Jen
Thanks so much Jen!