Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa
May 15, 2018, Updated Sep 07, 2019
Mexican Quinoa flavored with cumin, smoked paprika and chili powder. This easy one pot meal is made in the Instant Pot and is the perfect meal for those busy days. Vegan & gluten-free.
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Do you have only 30 minutes to put dinner on the table? Then try this Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa!
One pot, vegan, gluten-free and it gets done in 30 minutes or less! Perfect for those busy nights!
If you love all the Instant Pot vegetarian/vegan recipes that I share on the blog, please join me on this Facebook Group – Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes. The group would share/feature vegetarian instant pot recipes and ideas from all around the web!
Last week I was in Salt Lake City to attend a blogging conference. I really enjoyed it! The thing is that blogging can get really lonely, the human interaction is minimal plus not many people understand the work that goes behind it.
So it was great to be among like minded people who get what you do and in general it was just nice to catch up with my virtual blogging friends.
I shared a lot from the conference on my Instagram stories, so if you want to keep up with what goes in my kitchen and life beyond blogging, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram.
The first thing I did after coming back was to go grocery shopping and then make this Mexican Quinoa. This is one of my favorite things to make in the Instant Pot!
This Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa
✓ is one pot meal
✓ gets done in 30 minutes or less!
✓ is vegan and gluten-free
✓ flavored with cumin, smoked paprika and chili powder
✓ leftovers makes great lunch and also perfect for lunch-box
I love easy meals and I am sure you love them too. You guys have been loving the Thai Peanut Noodles that I shared on the blog recently and so I thought of sharing more easy dinner recipes with you guys.
When it comes to easy dinner, I always go back to my trusted Instant Pot. It never disappoints me!
How to Make Mexican Quinoa
To make this mexican quinoa is really easy. The prep work is minimal and the result is so good. I really love recipes which require less prep work, I am not a fan of chopping and peeling.
All you have to do is to saute the onion, garlic and jalapeno in little oil and then add the tomato, beans, corn and quinoa along with the spices to the pot.
Add water and let it cook on high pressure. Finish off with cilantro and lime juice! I also like to add some diced avocados before serving.
Helpful Tips
- I have used fire roasted crushed tomatoes here, you may use plain crushed tomatoes too.
- De-seed the jalapeño to make the dish less hot.
- Adjust spices levels to taste. Add more of the chili powder if you like it hot.
- I added 1.25 cups water to this recipe and it results in a softer quinoa (more like rice as you can see in pictures). If you want quinoa seeds to be more separated and be more like the way it looks in salads, use 1 cup water.
- Some of the newer Instant Pot models get the BURN message frequently. If you face similar problems with your IP, add the crushed tomatoes at the end (on top of everything) and DO NOT stir after adding the tomatoes. Close the pot and cook as usual.
Hope you guys like easy one pot Mexican Quinoa recipe. It’s healthy, flavorful and the best part is that it is so easy to put together!
Method
Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add oil to it and then add the chopped onion, garlic and jalapeño. Saute for 2 minutes until onion is softened.
Add the black beans, fire-roasted crushed tomatoes and corn kernels. Mix well. I used frozen corn kernels and put them in warm water for 5 minutes before adding to the pot.
Please note if your IP has the problems of getting BURN message, do not add tomatoes at this point. Add everything else and add tomatoes at the very end. Do not stir after adding the tomatoes.
Add the spices – cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder. Also add the salt and black pepper and mix.
Add the quinoa and toss until well combined.
Add water or vegetable broth and mix.
Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 1 minute with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
Let the pressure release naturally.
Open the pot, fluff the quinoa with a fork. Add cilantro and lime juice.
Add in the diced avocados and serve Mexican Quinoa immediately. You may also top it with guacamole, salsa or some sour cream!
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small red onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 jalapeno chopped, de-seed for less heat
- 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
- 3/4 cup corn kernels I used frozen and added them to warm water for 5 minutes
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked, 180 grams, rinsed well, I usually rinse quinoa for 1-2 minutes
- 1-1.25 cups water or vegetable broth use 1 cup if you want quinoa grains more separated
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 lime juice of 1 lime
- 1 avocado diced
Instructions
- Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add oil to it and then add the chopped onion, garlic and jalapeño. Saute for 2 minutes until the onion is softened.
- Add the black beans, fire-roasted crushed tomatoes and corn kernels. Mix well. I used frozen corn kernels and put them in warm water for 5 minutes before adding to the pot. [Please note if your IP has the problems of getting BURN message, do not add tomatoes at this point. Add everything else and add tomatoes at the very end. Do not stir after adding the tomatoes].
- Add the spices – cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder. Also add the salt and black pepper and mix.
- Add the quinoa and toss until well combined. Then add the water or vegetable broth and mix.
- Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 1 minute with the pressure valve in the sealing position. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the pot, fluff the quinoa with a fork. Add cilantro and lime juice.
- Add in the diced avocados and serve Mexican Quinoa immediately. You may also top it with guacamole, salsa or some sour cream!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! I also added 1 shredded parsnip, subbed a whole diced red pepper for the jalapeño as I didn’t have one. Used the kernels of 1 fresh cob of corn, & 1 leek. Everything else as the recipe was written. So good, thanks!
This is very very good! We used it for stuffed peppers and it was great!
This is a regular in the rotation, and a great framework for switching it up and creating my own quinoa instant pot dishes. I usually use a can of diced green chilis for the jalapeno, but didn’t have any the other night, so I diced up a red bell pepper. After natural release, I stirred in some chopped up rotissary chicken. My husband, who’s not a big quinoa fan, ate it up. Last night I made him a burrito with the leftovers and he was wishing for another 🙂 Great recipe!! Thanks.
welcome thanks!
Wow! I just made this for a taco bar potluck and it was a huge hit! I seeded the jalapeño’s and halved the chili powder since it was for a group. Still delicious but I wanted a little more heat. Like other commenters, 3 minutes was the right cook time – most of the quinoa was not fullly cooked at one minute. But instant pots can be fussy and inconsistent, so I’d recommend starting at one minute. Really delicious and healthy. It’ll be a regular go-to option for dinner. Thanks!
thanks for trying
Would it be feasible to substitute in brown or white rice for the quinoa in this recipe? Has anyone tried? If so, how did you adjust the recipe?
You can make the recipe will white rice, cook time with be 4 minutes. You can also do brown rice with cook time of 22 minutes.
I like the taste of this recipe but I have so much trouble getting it to cook properly. Either my instant pot doesn’t seal, because it keeps expelling steam but without enough pressure to seal the valve. Or it does seal because I poke and jiggle the valve to try to get it to seal, but the quinoa doesn’t cook correctly. Some of the quinoa is fine, but some of it is still undercooked and crunchy despite my having stirred it well. Is this something that can be fixed by adding more liquid? (Slightly more liquid doesn’t help—tried that already.) I do lay the tomatoes on top and follow the other directions. Why do I seem to be the only person having this problem? How can I fix it? I’d like to make this more frequently but instead am about to take it out of rotation because of the frustration. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. (Note I use my Instant Pot frequently and don’t have this problem with other recipes, though they generally do have more liquid.)
Hi Patricia, have you tried cooking quinoa alone in your Instant Pot? Quinoa typically required 1 & 1/4 to 1 & 1/2 times in the liquid. So for every cup of raw quinoa, I use 1 & 1/4 cups and it cooks fine. I am not sure why is this happening and the quinoa is not cooking. You said you have already tried adding extra water, so maybe around 1/4 cup extra? Try with 1/2 cup more water but I am afraid that will make this very mushy. It is also possible that your sealing ring is faulty, maybe try replacing the sealing ring since you said that the instant pot doesn’t seal.
Thanks for your reply, Minali! I have no problem cooking quinoa alone in the IP, nor cooking anything else, actually. I am not sure why I have a problem with this recipe. I tried a lot more liquid and it did indeed work fine, sealing well and cooking well, but made it mushy, as you suspected. I’ll keep experimenting. Thanks again!
Can this recipe be doubled in a 6 l instapot?
I think it will be okay
This was so good and easy! I made it as directed the first time and loved it. The next time I added one large peeled and diced sweet potato and we loved it even more! Thanks for this great recipe!
This was my first time making quinoa and I used this recipe for a dinner we were hosting. Everyone enjoyed it and it tasted great the next day too. Thank you!
Has anyone tried freezing leftovers from this recipe? I’ve never tried freezing quinoa before. I’m trying to cook some meals to freeze before I have surgery. Thank you!
Hi Manali, my quinoa didn’t cook as per the recipe, I usually cook quinoa separately but thought of following your recipe and it didn’t work. 🙁
Hi Yashita, I am not sure what happened. The natural pressure release takes lot of time and that’s more than enough for the quinoa to cook. I make this recipe often and never had a problem.
My comment was supposed to read dry beans, not black beans!
I love this recipe. 1 minute doesn’t cook the quinoa for me though. 4 minutes cooks it for me 🙂
How does it change things to use black beans? We’re brand new to the instant pot world. I’d think cook beans first in instant pot then follow the recipe you’ve provided? Thanks!
you mean raw beans? yes in that case you will have to cook them first separately and then use them in this recipe. I have used canned beans here which are already cooked so I could use them directly in this recipe.
Yes, sorry! Realized too late that I put black instead of dry! Thanks!
I have been using this recipe for a few years now! I keep coming back to it to where it’s become a family favorite!!!
so glad to hear that Joy! 🙂
Could this recipe be doubled, or even tripled? I’m looking at making a big batch for a potluck. Thanks!
maybe I have never tried actually? Please let me know if you give it a shot. If it’s a newer model of IP, I would probably add little more water.
Absolutely no need to soak the frozen corn. It is about to get pressure cooked. 🤪