This easy vegan One Pan Mexican Quinoa Casserole is made in the crock pot and loaded with flavor! Healthy & perfect for a weeknight dinner!
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If you came here looking for the most perfect crock pot meal prep recipe, then today is your lucky day.
Because this Mexican Quinoa is pretty much the EPITOME of that.
It’s super easy to make, loaded with flavor and has all kinds of healthy goodness that even the pickiest of eaters will love.
It’s the south of the border version of my healthy bbq chicken quinoa casserole and, if you dig Mexican flavors (who doesn’t) I am willing to bet it’s going to make many appearances at your dinner table…
Or lunch bag because HELLO perfect for dinner OR meal prep!
Why you will LOVE This Recipe
I am such a sucker for ethnic, delicious food that allows me to experiment and taste different flavors from around the world, and one of my FAVORITE cuisines to explore is MEXICAN! I absolutely love Mexican Breakfast Casserole in the morning and cooking up some easy mexican meatballs with zucchini noodles for dinner! There are so many delicious dishes to serve at your Mexican fiesta, and now this one pan mexican quinoa is also on the scene! I am all about all-in-one meals because all the magic happens in one pan, which results in less dishes and are SO much easier to make. You are going to LOVE the bold Mexican flavors, healthy fresh ingredients, and the fact that it will keep you full and energized until your next meal!
Is Quinoa Good for you?
Quinoa is an amazing food to incorporate into your daily meals, because it is SO nutritious, versatile AND tasty, too! Quinoa is gluten free, rich in minerals, antioxidants, and fiber to keep everything working well in your digestive system. It is also rich in 9 essential amino acids, and is also high in protein to give your body energy and keep you full. All that to say, you should MOST DEFINITELY cook up some of this mexican quinoa casserole for dinner tonight!
Ingredients Needed
For this recipe, it’s time to raid your fridge and pantry to round up all the ingredients you will need. The result of this recipe is a flavorful, delicious Mexican casserole that everyone will love and you may be surprised to learn that it uses healthy ingredients to make it! Here’s what you’ll need to make a mexican quinoa bowl:
- Quinoa
- Frozen Corn
- Reduced Sodium Chickpeas
- Black Beans
- Red Pepper
- Roma Tomatoes
- Onion
- Cumin
- Garlic
- Salt
- Chili Peppers in Adobo Sauce
- Reduced Sodium Vegetable Broth
- Cheddar Cheese
- Fresh Cilantro
How to make Mexican Quinoa
Prepare
Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Inside the slow cooker, place the uncooked quinoa, corn, chickpeas, black beans, red peppers, tomatoes, onion, cumin, garlic, salt, pepper and adobo sauce and stir to combine.
Cook
Add in the vegetable broth and stir until everything is mixed well. Turn the crockpot on high and cook, covered, for about 3 hours. Make sure to check often near the end to ensure the quinoa does not burn.
Serve
Season the quinoa casserole to taste with salt and then serve, garnishing with shredded cheddar cheese and cilantro. DEVOUR and enjoy!
Mexican Quinoa Storage
If you want to store leftovers of this delicious Mexican casserole, I recommend keeping it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, place it in a microwave safe bowl along with a little bit of broth and heat it up or heat it up in a skillet with broth until warm. To freeze this casserole, store it in an airtight, freezer safe container and pop it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Serving Suggestions
A bowl of this quinoa casserole would be delicious on its own, but it would also be perfect as a side dish served with grilled Mexican quesadillas! It would be fabulous wrapped up as a vegetarian burrito, too, or served with a fried egg on top to create a breakfast bowl!
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More Gluten Free Recipes
We have TONS of gluten free recipes on Food Faith Fitness! Explore them all in our gluten free Library!
After this I even started actually eating them in my everyday life. Like in that Quinoa Chickpea Avocado Salad with Black Beans! CRAZY.
This one pan Mexican Quinoa casserole is a veggie fiesta up in here folks.
And, you’re on the VIP invite list.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get crock-in’.
Sorry, had to.
I also shared the Mexican Crockpot Quinoa recipe over on Food Fanatic, so be sure to check it out there!
Similar recipes you might like
Mexican Tuna Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Healthy BBQ Chicken Quinoa casserole
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Quinoa, Uncooked
- 1 Cup Frozen corn
- 2/3 Cup Reduced Sodium Chickpeas, Drained and rinsed
- 1/2 Cup Black Beans, Drained and rinsed
- 1 Cup Red Pepper, Chopped
- 1 Cup Roma Tomato, Chopped,
- 1/2 Cup Onion, Roughly chopped
- 1/2 Tbsp Cumin
- 1 Tbsp Garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1-1 1/2 Tbsp sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 Cups Reduced Sodium Vegetable Broth
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese, For garnish (optional)
- Fresh Cilantro, For garnish
Instructions
- Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray and place the uncooked quinoa, corn, chickpeas, black beans, red pepper, tomato, onion cumin powder, garlic, salt, pepper and adobe sauce inside, stirring until well combined.
- Pour in in the vegetable broth, stir well, and cover the pot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Mine was perfect at 3 hours, so check it and make sure the quinoa isn’t burning.
- Once cooked, season to taste with additional salt and pepper and garnish with cheese and cilantro.
Tips & Notes:
- I preferred the quinoa with 1 ½ tablespoons of adobo sauce, because I like a little bit of kick. If you’re very sensitive to spice, I would go with one tablespoon.
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
*For vegan option, leave off the cheese as a garnish.
I made this Mexican quinoa slow cooker recipe for a co workers birthday. She is vegan buy choice and gluten free due to having celiac disease. I happened to have peppadew peppers at lunch and had some left over that I chopped and added to the recipe. Other than that, I made it exactly as you wrote. As it cooked in our breakroom everybody commented on how great it smelled. Upon trying it. We all agreed it was probably one of the best crock pot dishes any of us have ever had!!! No body else in our office is vegan or gluten free but we all will be making this dish again!! We topped it with cilantro and vegan cheese.
Sooooo good!! I’m going to try a bunch of your other recipes.
Thank you so much for this wonderful dish! Now I know where to turn when we have gatherings that include gluten free people and not be concerned about meat eaters not liking it.
I am SO happy to read this Regina, thanks SO much and looking forward to your other comments!