Make quinoa in the Instant Pot in 1 minute making for a quick and delicious side dish or main dish for lunch or dinner!
Quinoa lovers unite. I’ll be honest I wasn’t a huge fan in the beginning but quinoa has definitely grown on me. Fun fact: quinoa is neither a grain nor a fruit. It’s actually a seed. Making this protein packed ingredient gluten free too. If your like me and wanted to start incorporating it more often in your diet but still haven’t acquired the taste for it yet try mixing it in with white or brown rice. I would suggest starting by subbing out ¼ cup of rice for quinoa and working your way up. It’s the way that I get my husband to eat it because he still isn’t big into it (yet–I’m convinced he will love it one day)! For the past year, I’ve been cooking my quinoa in my rice cooker. It comes out perfect every time. However, I finally tried making quinoa in my Instant Pot and I was just as happy with the results.
Is it quicker to cook quinoa in the Instant Pot? Technically, yes! It only cooks for 1 minute; however, you need to let the Instant Pot come up to pressure and then once it cooks for the 1-minute you need to let it sit for 10 minutes for a natural pressure release.
I typically only make 1 cup at a time since it’s just me eating it. However, you could make 2-3 cups of quinoa. The awesome thing about quinoa is that any leftovers you have you can place in a freezer bag and freeze for another meal! If I were to make a big batch of 2-3 cups I would probably divide the quinoa into smaller portions and freeze. Then to reheat, you can place the frozen quinoa in a glass dish with a wet paper towel on top and reheat in the microwave until hot. Typically this only takes 1-2 minutes.
So if you own an Instant Pot and like quinoa then I highly suggest you try making quinoa in your Instant Pot. It’s a game changer and an easy healthy side. If you need a few ideas on what to serve quinoa with, I have them for you? Just about anything you would with rice! Here are a few main dish recipe suggestions of other meals you can find on Katie’s Cucina:
- Sheet Pan Greek Shrimp Dinner
- Grilled Tandoori Beer Can Chicken & Vegetables
- Slow Cooker Sesame-Ginger Chicken
- Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango and Avocado Salsa
Disclaimer: There are affiliate links in this post. That means if you click on a link and purchase something I will receive a very small portion of the sale at no additional cost to you!
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Instant Pot Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 cup tri-colored quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place quinoa, water, and salt in an Instant Pot. Place lid on and seal. Make sure the valve is set to “sealing”. Select “manual” and set Instant Pot to 1 minute.
- Once the 1 minute is up let the quinoa sit in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes to do a natural pressure release. Then carefully, move the valve to “venting”. Once the pressure is released remove the lid, mix well and serve.
Notes
- You can make 2-3 cups of quinoa at a time.
- Any leftovers you have you can place in a freezer bag and freeze for another meal!
- If I were to make a big batch of 2-3 cups I would probably divide the quinoa into smaller portions and freeze.
- hen to reheat, you can place the frozen quinoa in a glass dish with a wet paper towel on top and reheat in the microwave until hot. Typically this only takes 1-2 minutes.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!