One Pot Mexican Quinoa
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Take dinner south of the border with this One Pot Mexican Quinoa! It’s a healthy, satisfying vegetarian dinner that’s on the table in 40 minutes!
I’m in the fall spirit, but the weather isn’t cooperating. It’s been in the 90’s with barely a cool-down in the evening, and to boot, my air conditioning broke for the second time in 2 weeks.
That won’t stop me from eating my soups and chilis, however — I’ll eat them no matter what the temperature is outside. All I can say is, thank goodness they don’t require an oven!
I’ve got a fall meal for you today that’s reminiscent of chili but a whole lot heartier. This one pot Mexican quinoa is a simple meal that you can get on the table in under 40 minutes, and you only have one pot to wash!
It’s a one pot stop. 🙂
Not too many people have the time or energy to make an elaborate dinner on busy weeknights…I know I don’t. I’m often carting my 2 boys around to and from practice or sporting events in the evening, so I need fast meals. That’s why I’ve been striving to create meals that are quick and easy, but still full of flavor and satisfying.
And I’ve told you that I hate to do dishes, hence the one pot thing. 🙂
You know what really makes meals easier? Hunts and RO*TEL canned tomatoes They have plenty of fresh tomato flavor without the effort, and you just can’t beat that.
I used Hunt’s No Salt Added Petite Diced Tomatoes and RO*TEL Mild Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies for this recipe, which I picked up at my local Walmart store.
Since this meal is vegetarian, I also headed to Walmart’s fresh produce section and grabbed some red and yellow bell peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime, and sweet potato. With the quinoa, all these delicious veggies, canned tomatoes, and warm spices, I knew this meal would satisfy.
How to make this recipe
As I mentioned, this meal is ready in under 40 minutes, and it’s very easy to make!
Simply heat some olive oil in a large skillet, and saute the onion for about 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and saute 3-5 minutes more, or until the onion is nice and tender.
Add the garlic and bell peppers, and saute 2 minutes, then add the spices and saute 30 seconds.
Next, add the canned tomatoes, vegetable stock, quinoa, and black beans to the pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook about 20 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro, and serve.
It’s really that simple!
How to serve this recipe
Serve the Mexican quinoa topped with the following:
- avocado
- extra lime wedges
- fresh cilantro
- cheese
- sour cream or Greek yogurt
See all of my One Pot meals.
More quinoa recipes you’ll love:
- Butternut squash quinoa salad
- Ratatouille casserole
- Roasted vegetable quinoa bowls
- Quinoa oatmeal
- Quinoa porridge
- Quinoa bowls
- Quinoa salad by Cookie + Kate
- Quinoa vegetable soup
- Vegan quinoa chili
If you make this recipe I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag me @flavorthemoments on Instagram!
One Pot Mexican Quinoa
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 small sweet potato peeled and chopped into 1/2″ chunks
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa rinsed
- 14.5 ounces Hunt's No Salt Added Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 10 ounces RO*TEL Mild Diced Tomatoes and Chilies
- 15 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable stock or water
- 1 lime juiced
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- Extra cilantro and lime wedges avocado, or cheese for serving, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and saute until the onion is softened, 3-4 minutes longer. Add the garlic and bell peppers, and saute 2 minutes, then add the spices and saute 30 seconds longer.
- Add the quinoa, both cans of diced tomatoes, black beans, and vegetable stock and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid. Add the lime juice, cilantro, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with the extra cilantro, lime, avocado, or cheese, if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
31 Comments on “One Pot Mexican Quinoa”
I’m all about quick and easy meals like this one ! Love quinoa! Great flavors, pinning!
Thanks for the pin, Mira!
I’ve been hearing about your crazy hot weather out there. Sounds brutal! Kind of makes me glad I don’t live in California anymore. But don’t quote me on that come January. Ha! This skillet meal looks amazing, Marcie! Love all the gorgeous colors!
The weather has been brutal…I’m done with it, frankly! And I won’t quote you. 🙂 Thanks, Liz, and hope you’re having a great weekend! 🙂
This quinoa meal looks so delicious and I love all the protein from the sweet potatoes/black beans!
Thank you, Medha! 🙂
Hi Marcie, I bet this is delicious, great idea to add the quinoa.
It’s like you wrote this recipe exactly for me!! I could seriously eat this for every single meal and be happy girl!
I wish you could come over and help me eat this! Nobody else in the house is very crazy about quinoa, soooo…..that means a lot of leftovers for me. 🙂
We are in the 30’s today so this is PERFECT for us! I love one pot meals!
Thanks, Nancy!
We are in the 30’s today so this is perfect for us! Love the one pot meal!
The 30’s??? WOW…we are off by about 50 degrees! 🙂
I always love your one-pot meals and this one has my favorite – quinoa!
The older the girls get, and the more activities they’re involved in, the less time I have to make dinner. I think we would LOVE this quinoa, though! It looks so flavorful!
Am I missing something? I don’t see the black beans in the list of ingredients or the instructions!
My apologies, Donna! I inadvertently left the black beans out of the ingredients and instructions. I updated the recipe now to include them, and thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
I love everything about this dish, Marcie! The sweet potatoes, black beans and quinoa sound perfect together with all those zesty flavors! Plus one pot too? Sign me up please 🙂
I am such a fan of one pot meals! This looks great, Marcie!
Thanks, Jamie! One pot meals are the best!
Easy & delicious! Bookmarked for future reference. Thanks!!
Thank you Ella and I hope you love it! 🙂
This took way more than 10 minutes to prepare. Peeling and chopping an onion, sweet potato, peppers and cilantro took at least 20 minutes. It is very flavorful. I added a little bit of warm spices like cinnamon and ginger for another layer of flavor. I’m sure it will be really good tomorrow after everything has a chance to marry.
I’m sorry that you found the prep to be more labor intensive Patty, but I’m glad that you enjoyed the dish! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback!