If you’re looking for some of the quickest quinoa you’ve ever cooked, make this foolproof Instant Pot Quinoa! It results in perfect and fluffy quinoa every time and only takes minutes to cook.
Effortlessly prepare delicious quinoa as a base for other dishes or as a healthy side for your dinner. The Instant Pot does all of the work, making this a life-saver for weeknight dinners!
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💚 Why You'll Love This Recipe
The next time you want a fast and super easy side dish, make this simple 3-ingredient pressure cooker quinoa! It's so easy to combine everything in the Instant Pot, turn it on, and have foolproof results every time.
This recipe is great to customize to your own tastes. Feel free to add your own favorite spices and seasonings to switch things up, or keep it super simple and serve something yummy and flavorful on top of your quinoa!
Pair it with something like Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken for a delicious and healthy meal that's so filling and bursting with flavor!
🧂 Ingredients Needed
- quinoa - this delicious seed (sometimes classified as a grain) is packed with nutrition and great as a base for a main course or a simple but satisfying side.
- broth - using chicken broth or vegetable broth ensures that the quinoa has lots of flavor and doesn't dry out.
- salt - for just a little bit of extra flavor.
🔪 Instructions
- Pour your quinoa into the instant pot.
- Add your broth of choice.
- Add the salt and stir to combine.
- Set pressure cooker to manual/high pressure and set cook time to one minute. Once cooked, allow to pressure release for 15 minutes.
❔ FAQs
Quinoa is a flowering plant that's in the amaranth family. What we eat is technically the seed, though quinoa is typically classified as a whole grain for its similarities to other grains.
Yes! A single cup of cooked quinoa has about 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, and also contains B vitamins and other dietary minerals in relatively high amounts compared to other grains.
Quinoa and rice are fairly similar in regards to things like fiber content and amount of calories, but quinoa could be considered healthier as it is a complete protein whereas rice only contains a few essential amino acids. Quinoa also contains more iron and magnesium.
If you have the time, I do recommend rinsing your quinoa, especially if it isn't a boxed/instant quinoa. The seeds have a natural coating called saponin which can cause your quinoa to taste bitter or even soapy if not removed, but a good rinse should clean away the saponin and leave you with a tasty side!
💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- Quinoa comes in varieties, but this recipe will work with any quinoa of your choosing.
- Though it only takes 1 minute to cook the quinoa, the pressure cooker's process to pressurize and release will take about 25 minutes altogether.
- This recipe will produce about 4 cups of cooked quinoa.
📌 Learning how to cook quinoa in the instant pot will be a game changer for weeknight meals! Make this super easy and healthy side to serve alongside all your favorite main courses.
💡 Substitutions and Variations
- This pressure cooker quinoa is great as a base for other recipes. It has a very mild but pleasing flavor and pairs well with just about anything.
- You can also add other spices and ingredients like proteins to your quinoa and turn it into a main course all on its own!
- Vegetable broth and chicken broth are great options for the cooking liquid, but any kind of broth will work.
- You can also use just water, but be aware that your instant pot quinoa will have very little flavor without some kind of broth.
🥫 Storage and Reheating
Once cool, transfer your quinoa to an airtight container. You can store it in the fridge for up to a week, or in your freezer for 8-10 months!
To reheat, simple microwave until heated through. From frozen, let the quinoa sit in the fridge overnight to thaw, then microwave.
🍴 What To Serve With This Dish
For some delicious main courses to pair with your instant pot quinoa, make this delicious Instant Pot Chicken Curry or Easy Chicken Fricassee and serve right over top! Other yummy combinations could be this Vegan Baked Hummus Casserole or a hearty Roasted Red Pepper Soup.
✔️ More Instant Pot Recipes You'll Love
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice - Another simple and easy grain that you can whip up in the instant pot and then serve with a wide variety of your favorite dishes.
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup - This classic and comforting soup is so quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker!
- Instant Pot Chicken Mac and Cheese - A delicious and cheesy main course with extra protein from added chicken.
- Instant Pot Apple Crisp - If you're looking for a sweet recipe to make in your pressure cooker, try this tasty apple crisp from Tastes Better From Scratch!
Pressure Cooker Quinoa
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📋 Recipe Card
Instant Pot Quinoa
Equipment
Instructions
- Pour the quinoa into the instant pot.1 ½ cups quinoa
- Add the broth and salt and stir to combine.18 ounces vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon salt
- Place your pot on manual/high pressure and set the cook time to 1 minute. (Note that the pot will take 5-10 minutes to pressurize before the cook time starts.)
- Let it naturally release for 15 minutes before removing the quinoa from the pot.
Notes
- Use whatever type of quinoa you prefer.
- Swap out the vegetable broth for any broth or even just plain water, if you prefer. Note that changing the liquid used will alter the taste of the finished quinoa.
- The actual cooking time is 1 minute, but the entire process takes about 25 minutes with the pressurizing time and the pressure release time.
- This is great for a base recipe when making any kind of dish with quinoa. Add more spices, protein, etc. to make it a full meal, or just use it as a side.
- This recipe yields about 4 cups of cooked quinoa.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
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Happy cooking!
Shadi
Love how easy this recipe is. It’s perfect for our family!
Jess
This is the only way I make quinoa now. I love how affordable it is too!
Nancy
This method to cook quinoa always comes out perfectly. Thanks for the easy tips.
Emily
This method of cooking quinoa is perfect for busy weeknight dinners! This is my new go-to for a tasty and quick side dish. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Diana Reis
Great method! This comes out really fluffy.