Grilling season is here.
But no, I don’t grill my quinoa.
I make quinoa as a side to complement grilled meat because it cooks up quickly on the stovetop without turning on my oven in the summer heat.
Plus it’s really healthy and has great texture and flavor.
Quinoa is very nutritious. It is high in fiber & protein, gluten free, contains all essential amino acids, and is loaded with antioxidants, to name a few of its benefits. Read about 11 proven health benefits of quinoa here.
This is the most basic way I make it, although I do a couple things the package directions won’t tell you to that boost its nutrition. If you want a fancier quinoa side dish check out my Soaked Quinoa with Bacon, Almonds, and Herbs recipe. It’s really good for when you have some extra time or people over for dinner.
The first thing I do is soak my quinoa before cooking it. Grains can be hard for our body to break down, which makes them hard on our digestive system and hard for our body to absorb all of the vitamins and nutrients they have to offer. Soaking grains takes them out of their preservation state to a state where they’re preparing to sprout. They become softer and are already partially broken down. Read more about the benefits of soaking your grains here.
The second thing I do is cook my quinoa in homemade chicken bone broth. Cooking it in broth rather than water adds healthy fats, minerals, and nutrients to your quinoa. And it adds additional flavor.
I like to use truRoots Organic Quinoa that you can buy at Costco or on Amazon. I also like to use unrefined sea salt like Real Salt. Make sure to add enough salt to your quinoa or it will be bland and flavorless. Besides salt and pepper, I like to add sage to my quinoa sometimes too.
Enjoy this superfood side dish!
- 1 cup organic quinoa
- water
- 1 Tbsp of an acidic medium such as whey, yogurt, lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup soaked quinoa
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ½ tsp unrefined sea salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- Put dry quinoa in a glass bowl and add water until it covers the quinoa by a couple inches. Add the acidic medium and stir to combine. Cover and let it sit for 2 hours or more. Drain the quinoa into a fine mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly.
- Add the soaked quinoa, stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the stock has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
- Remove the quinoa from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork and serve.
*My homemade chicken stock isn’t salty. If using store-bought bouillon in this recipe, you may want to add less salt.
Disclaimer: Some of the above links are Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on them and purchase a product I will earn a commission on that product with no extra cost to you. I have used all of the products listed and I highly recommend them.
Shelby says
I’ve been cooking with quinoa for years but THIS is a new discovery! I just made a batch now, and I’ll never go back to the cooking-when-dry method. It’s so fluffy and delicious! I added a couple sprigs of thyme I had in my fridge and it was perfect. Thanks!! ?
Hi Shelby. I’m so glad it worked out well for you. I’ll try adding thyme to mine when I make it next!
Katie recently posted…Basic soaked quinoa
Many different information in internet, how to sprout quinoa. So how many hours do I need to get quinoa sprouts? On my bag from store is note about 35 minutes, but it seems to me kind of strange. That is not what I reed in internet.
Hi Irina. Quinoa does sprout more quickly than other grains. It seems like mine usually takes longer than 35 minutes to sprout though. I let mine soak for about 2 hours.
Try yours for 35 minutes and check to see if there’s a little sprout showing up. The longer you let it soak the bigger the sprout will be!
Katie recently posted…Banana, Pecan, Cinnamon Oatmeal
Pam says
Sprouted foods are ALIVE! (until you cook them) so when you are eating sprouted quinoa, it is so much better for your body! (Check out Raw Food blogs for RAW Sprouted Quinoa recipes and info) Raw Sprouted Quinoa makes great salads, side dishes and breakfast food ? Sprouted Quinoa will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks!
I love your idea of using broth to cook it, especially our own home made bone broth! Making your recipe right now!
Tori B says
I messed up reading a recipe and I put (triple) rinsed UNCOOKED quinoa in my turkey meatball recipe to act as a binder. Then after I made the meat mixture and scooped the meatballs I reread the recipe and saw my mistake. Do you have any suggestions? Could I let the meat mixture sit in the fridge for several hours and then bake? Do you think that will work? It would be one thing if this was just a pound of turkey. I made four pound to pre-cook a bunch to freeze. Ugh! When I make a mistake I go all out!
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WinfredX recently posted…WinfredX
Vicki Monis says
SOS
I just used uncooked Quinoa instead of Chia for Chia Pudding
Added Chia in hopes they will all get alongany hope or should I toss☹️