I have a wonderful quinoa and black beans recipe to share today from SkinnyMs.com! Quinoa is a perfect substitute for traditional ‘Rice & Beans’ and it cooks much faster too. If you’ve been skeptical of trying quinoa in the past and are not sure just what to pair it with, this is a great recipe for you to try as seasoned quinoa is very tasty and better than a bland and boring side. I love how quick this one pot meal is to throw together and it’s a perfect lunch or mid week dinner recipe.
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If you are a quinoa hold out but love Mexican food, this dish will convince to make quinoa a regular part of your dinner menu. Skinny Quinoa with Black Beans is gluten free and vegetarian friendly.
Skinny Quinoa with Black Beans
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup quinoa (uncooked), rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Kosher or sea salt to taste
- 1 (4.5 ounce) can diced green chiles
- 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth, low sodium
Directions:
Heat a large skillet to medium-low heat and sauté diced onions until tender (add water or broth if needed to prevent sticking), about 4 minutes, add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed above. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and cook 15-20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and allow it to sit 5 minutes covered before serving. Fluff quinoa with a large spoon and serve.
Nutritional Data
Serving size: 1 cup | Calories: 201 | Total Fat: 4 g | Saturated Fats: 0 g | Trans Fats: 0 g | Cholesterol: 0 mg |Sodium: 204 mg | Carbohydrates: 33 g | Dietary fiber: 7 g | Sugars: 3 g | Protein: 7 g
This recipe was edited to omit the 1 TBSP of olive oil originally present in order to be in line with my reader’s interests.
Thanks to SkinnyMs.com for sharing this recipe with my readers!
Hi, I was wondering if the amount of broth needed in this recipe is 3/4 cup or 1 3/4 cup.
Thank you for your help!
1 and 3/4 cup broth as stated in recipe.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, Veronica. I made the recipe and I’d recommend a few changes for those making this dish: only use 1/2 an onion, an entire onion is way too much for this recipe. I’d recommend a 2nd can of black beans. Watch the spices; I added only a tiny shake of chili powder and no red pepper flakes and it was still very spicy. I have a 15 month old and there’s no way he can eat this. There’s already enough heat in this dish with the green chili’s so if you have kids eating this or if you’re sensitive to spice you may want to skip the hot spices.
I always adjust the spiciness level in recipes to my liking, feel free to adjust as everyone has a different preference.
How many hungry people would this serve? 🙂
My guess is 2-3. It really depends what you think hungry means!
Hello Veronica, these recipes taste yummy!! Keep up the good work 🙂
hello Veronica, help! I always have such a hard time with quinoa. The rinsing part is what I struggle with. If I just swish it around in water than it is too soggy. If I use a mesh strainer, a lot of it goes down the drain. What would you suggest? Love your blog. Thanks!
Hi Marge,
PLEASE check out my photos on my how to cook quinoa link right here. I show a photo of me rinsing my quinoa in a mesh strainer. I’m not sure what you mean if you swish it in water it’s too soggy, i bet you are cooking it in too much water and that’s why it’s soggy. When I use a mesh strainer I make sure to not over fill it with quinoa so it does not go down the drain. I cook my quinoa in a ratio of 1:1 for quinoa to water and it’s never soggy. 😉
Marge,
I actually place a mesh strainer filled with raw quinoa over a bowl, then run water through the quinoa until the water level in the bowl has covered the quinoa. Then I let it sit for about 15 minutes. If there’s a lot of quinoa in the bowl (there usually isn’t) I pour the water back through the strainer. I then GENTLY use the spray nozzle on the kitchen sink to rinse the quinoa in the strainer and it’s ready to cook. I great tip I got once that makes perfect quinoa is to use a 1:1 ratio of quinoa and water instead of using twice as much water as quinoa. Good luck.
I changed it up slightly by adding fresh green chili pepers and mushrooms, but stuck to the recipe. And wow was this tasty!!! Definitely an addition to my recipe list!
Hi Veronica
Thank you for the Quinoa based recipe.
It looks very tasty and I will try this when
next I have hungry mouths to feed.
Great for a Pot Luck meal too.
Warmest wishes,
Margaret (NZ)