One Pan Mexican Quinoa
Wonderfully light, healthy and nutritious. And it’s so easy to make – even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan!
Despite my daily 3-mile runs, all the morning donuts have finally caught up with me. So Jason and I made a pact to lighten up our diet before our Cabo trip in 6 weeks. But instead of eating bland, boring salads, I decided to make a fun, healthy quinoa dish that we would both really enjoy.
And that’s exactly what this quinoa dish is. With a fun Mexican twist, this dish is chockfull of so many amazing flavors, from the tangy lime juice to the hint of spiciness from the chili powder and jalapeno. And not only is this healthy and nutritious but it’s also unbelievably easy to make. Simply throw everything into the skillet and that’s it. Even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan, really letting the flavors soak in.
Now who said healthy food has to be boring?

One Pan Mexican Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Thanks for the recipe! Made this, couldn’t find black beans so I used a 5-bean mix instead. It was delicious! Very creative way of using quinoa 🙂
I’m extremely excited to try out this recipe! I was just curious if anyone tried making this recipe in a crockpot or if it would even be possible and how’d you go about doing it?
This dish smelled delicious! Unfortunately we’re not quinoa experts yet and the bulk quinoa we bought had no reminder to rinse the quinoa before cooking. So guess what? The quinoa failed to open and we had to throw it out. We’re on a cleanse and now the mood is pretty intense in the kitchen, to say the least, as we try to figure out something else to eat for dinner.
Is there a way you can add “rinse quinoa before adding” in your recipe? That might help others like us. Thanks!
Hi Tony – what a bummer! Yes, rinsing the quinoa is a must but even without rinsing, the quinoa actually should have cooked just fine and still “open up”. It would have had a bitter taste to it instead. I just wonder if something else might have gone wrong here.
I’ve made this recipe 3-4 times now, and it always takes more than 20 minutes for the quinoa to be cooked — closer to 35. I do make it in a pot, not a skillet, so that may be the reason. Maybe this is what happened to Tony?
Is this 401 calories per serving or 401 calories for the entire dish? Thanks! 🙂
The calories listed are for each serving.
Thank you very much! Do you know what the serving size is? It was not mentioned on the nutrition label.
I would roughly estimate about 1-2 cups per serving.
Okay! Awesome! Thank you so much! I have made this dish so many times now and it is sooooooo good! 🙂
i just made this…soooo good….i didnt have jalapeno so i used banana peppers…also my son hates tomato chunks so i used tomato sauce….love the colors and a different side dish…thanks so much !!!!
Just made this and have enough to last me for about 4 lunches. This stuff is DELICIOUS! I omitted the jalapeno because I used chunky rotel tomatoes instead which already have some spice in it, but man was it delicious. Definitely saving it for my recipe book!
Does this recipe freeze well?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
This was as good as it looked. I added chicken so I can have some protein and it was so delicious and filling! More recipes like this please! This was amazing.
I just made this and I love it! I didn’t have chili powder so I substituted with Sriracha hot chili sauce and it gave it that kick! I will definitely make this again! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Thanks for sharing!~
Just made this and it’s delicious! New to your blog and loving your recipes!
Thank you!!
We made this last night and were blown away. I woke up this morning already excited for lunch when I’m going to heat up the leftovers!
Made this according to your instructions exactly and for me it’s a hit!! Thanks for another way to use and eat quinoa!! YUM!
I tried this last night with the exception that I added onions. My hubby grumps if there’s no meat so he had left over fajitas & the quinoa beside it. It was very good, very flavorful & I’ll use it more often. This was my first try with quinoa & I enjoyed it. Family liked it but couldn’t get past the idea that it was a main course! LOL, so I guess it’ll be a side dish. Bet it’ll be good chilled today for lunch as a salad! Thanks!
oh by the way, you’re part of my new year resolution! I’m trying one of your recipes weekly…so far we tried the quinoa (yum) & the Salmon with sriracha cream sauce…ooooo!
This was delicious! I baked a couple haddock fillets and served this on the side. Love a nice, easy, healthy meal! I’m not a huge fan of the larger diced tomatoes, so I’ll probably chop them for 3-4 seconds with my immersion blender next time before adding them to the pan. But there WILL be a next time. Thanks for the recipe!
AMAZING! I’m really inexperienced in the kitchen and am shocked at how well this turned out. It’s definitely one of my new go-to meals!
Yum! I added an onion and chorizo at the beginning with the garlic. Delicious!
This recipe is amazing!! I added some shredded chicken breast. Not needed, but 100% damn delicious (: Hubby loved it and asked if I would make more lol
Thanks for posting!
Loved this! I didn’t have jalapenos so I just used more garlic, I also didn’t have lime or cilantro but I did have rotel with lime and cilantro so I just added a can of that, I think the extra tomatoes made it a little runny but it was delicious I crumbed up tortilla chips(multigrain) as well and my roommate added some low fat Mexican cheese, it was so good!
Quick, easy, damn delicious!
this was a massive hit with myself and my boys…… I just omitted the jalapenos (didn’t have any in) and put a pinch of chilli flakes in instead