Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa – This healthy Mexican Quinoa cooks in just one Pot! Loaded with beans and veggies, this Tex Mex quinoa is flavorful and simply delicious! Perfect for lunch/ dinner or as a filling for your tacos or burritos. My daughter calls it the best quinoa lunch ever!
INSTANT POT MEXICAN QUINOA RECIPE
We are huge fans of Mexican inspired recipes. As much as we love Mexican rice, Instant pot refried beans and Mexican Mason Jar Salad, we love this quinoa recipe too.
It filling, hearty and so delicious. Being a Vegetarian / Vegan – making delicious work & school lunches can be tricky. But I am glad that this One Pot Quinoa bowl works great. You can make this quick and easy Vegan lunch in batches ahead of time, portion them in lunch boxes and refrigerate up to 5 days!
This super quick and easy recipe roughly takes about 30 minutes from scratch, with just 10 minutes hand on work. How easy can it be! I particularly love making them in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker as it is extremely convenient and easy.
I love the fact that with minimal effort, a delicious VEGAN & GLUTEN FREE MEAL can be made with ease.
Not only does this Mexican quinoa works as great side dish, it is a wonderful healthy one pot meal too.
WHY MAKE THIS ONE POT MEXICAN QUINOA?
- Its filling, delicious and hearty
- Vegan, naturally Gluten Free
- Under 30 minutes recipe with at-least 20 minutes hands off. No Baby sitting needed.
- Most of the ingredients are staple pantry ingredients
- Great for school lunches, work, picnic or potluck parties
- Make them ahead of time!
Toppings for Mexican Quinoa
This Mexican inspired Quinoa recipe is so good as it is, but we also love it with a variety of toppings too.
My daughter loves to added shredded cheese, while we love sliced avocado!
Some of the toppings that you can add to the quinoa burrito bowls are
- Homemade Salsa or Pico de Gallo
- Chunky Guacamole
- Diced Onion
- Lime
- Cilantro
- Sour Cream
Tips for the Best Mexican Quinoa
Rinse the Quinoa for at least 1 minutes before using it in the cooking.
Use canned Black Beans in the recipe to speed up the process. Don’t have black beans, use kidney beans or pinto beans instead. But bear in mind, the flavors will be different.
Use a combination of peppers or just a single colored pepper, they make a difference.
I like to use Taco Seasoning in the recipe. If you don’t have them handy use a combination of spices as a substitute. Detailed substitution is mentioned in the recipe card below.
Do not skip the Jalapenos in the recipe. They add the right punch of heat in the recipe. Alternatively use green chillies.
I do use Tomato Salsa or Canned Tomatoes in the recipe. Crushed tomatoes or Fire roasted tomatoes are not available easily in UK – so either of them are my best bet!
Make this Quinoa recipe ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. It stays fresh for up to 5 days. Add the toppings just before serving.
INSTANTPOT MEXICAN QUINOA Ingredients
This One Pot Quinoa recipe requires simple and easy pantry staple ingredients. All the elements of this recipe are naturally Vegan & Gluten free too! You will need
- Olive Oil
- Quinoa – I buy the Quinoa from Costco that are available in 2 Kg bag.
Veg Stock or Veg Broth or Water – Adding Veg Stock/ Broth enhances the flavors of the dish. However water also works just fine
Onion – Either Red or White onion, diced will work in the recipe. Depending upon whats handy, I would prefer to use them. - Garlic – I prefer to use Fresh garlic cloves, minced.
- Bell Pepper – Mixed peppers or just a single color like green or red will be fine. For adding a bit of vibrance, I would prefer mixed colorful peppers.
- Jalapeno – Adding fresh diced Jalapenos or Green Chilies will lend the perfect heat to the quinoa dish.
- Tomatoes or Salsa – I do use Canned Tomatoes with Juice for the recipe or Tomato Salsa. If you have Crushed tomatoes, they will be fine too.
- Black beans – Canned black beans are really convenient. If you would prefer to use dried beans, cook the beans ahead of time separately and add it to the cooking.
- Corn – Fresh or Frozen Sweet Corn Kernels work great. I do have frozen corn stocked in my refrigerator all the time.
- Spice Powders – I like to use Taco Seasoning in the recipe. If it is not available I like to use combination of Cumin, Paprika, Chilli Powder, Black Pepper and Salt.
- Lime Juice – Freshly squeezed Lime Juice uplifts the flavors a long way. So do not skip!
- Cilantro Leaves finely chopped for garnishing.
HOW TO MAKE MEXICAN QUINOA IN THE INSTANT POT?
- Rinse the creamy white quinoa well in a mesh sieve and set it aside.Dice the vegetables and set it aside too.Place the steel insert inside the Instant Pot.
- Press Saute and check if it’s in normal. When it’s hot, add onion, garlic, pepper, and jalapeno. Cook until it’s fragrant.Add the tomatoes, spices, salt, pepper and stir to combine. PRESS CANCEL.
- Stir in beans, corn, quinoa and vegetable stock. Secure the lid, seal the valve and pressure cook HIGH for 1 minute. NPR the steam. It takes about 8 minutes for pressure to build up and about 14 minutes to release the pressure naturally. So the total cooking time needed is 25 minutes. Remove the lid after the valve drops and carefully fluff the quinoa. Add the lime juice and cilantro leaves.Serve warm or cold.
EASY HOMEMADE MEXICAN QUINOA IN THE INSTANT POT RECIPE BELOW
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 Qt
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Quinoa rinsed
- 1 ½ Cup Veg Stock
- 1 medium size onion finely diced
- 3 Cloves Garlic minced
- 1 pepper diced
- 2 jalapeno diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes fire roasted or crushed or plain
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn frozen or fresh
- 1 Tsp Cumin Powder
- ¾ – 1 Tsp Chilli Powder
- 1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Juice of 1 Lime
- Avocado
- 2 Tbsp Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Press Sauté on your Instant Pot. Once it displays HOT, add oil and onion, garlic, green pepper, and jalapeno. Saute for 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes, cumin powder, chilli powder, paprika, salt, pepper and stir to combine. PRESS CANCEL.
- Stir in beans, corn, quinoa and vegetable stock.
- Secure the lid, seal the valve and pressure cook HIGH for 1 minutes. Natural Pressure release the steam, until the valve drops.
- Remove the lid after the valve drops and carefully fork through the quinoa to fluff them. There is a high possibility, there could be some water left. But they will get absorbed as the quinoa sits in the pot.
- Add the lime juice and cilantro leaves.Serve with sliced avocado or any of your favourite toppings.
- Serve warm or cold.
Delicious I added a cayenne pepper and used three different colored bell peppers. I used a can of low sodium beef broth and two bags of success brand book in a bag quinoa that I empty out of the bag and cooked it the instant pot as the directions listed in this recipe.
So pleased to know Margaret!! We love Cayenne pepper too in the mexican quinoa. Colorful bell pepper will jazz up the quinoa..
So quick and easy to make and is absolutely delicious. This will be one of my regular recipes to go to.
That’s fantastic Mary! Instant Pot Quinoa with Vegetables is super easy and so delicious. We love it too!