One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan}

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This one pot southwest quinoa and black beans dish is a super easy and flavorful Mexican style side dish. Made with quinoa, sautéed onions and peppers, a simple southwest spice blend, and inexpensive black beans. The perfect accompaniment to your next Mexican dinner night! Pantry friendly, gluten free and vegan.

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan} - nyssa's kitchen (1)

This one pot southwest quinoa and black beans is:

Nutritious
Filling
SO flavorful
Easy to make
Pantry friendly
Inexpensive to make
Gluten free
Vegan

We’ve been making it alongside our Mexican themed dinners and basically every Taco Tuesday for the past month or so and it’s such a hit! Filling and flavorful, and also makes great leftovers.

Seriously easy to make and ready in just about 30 minutes – which conveniently is just about enough time to whip up a healthy protein, a salad, and a large serving of guacamole 🎉 Because at home, guacamole is NOT extra 😉

This southwest quinoa is great as a simple side dish, but could also be used in a salad, or topped with chicken or another protein for a complete meal.

Let’s make it!

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan} - nyssa's kitchen (2)

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan} - nyssa's kitchen (3)

One pot southwest quinoa and black beans ingredients

Quinoa:White or multi-colored both work, the only different will be the way it looks when it’s done cooking. I love this brand, and as a bonus it’s already pre-washed which saves a step when it comes time to cook!
Olive oil:Because the cooking temperature isn’t super high in this recipe, olive oil is my oil of choice, but you could substitute coconut oil, ghee, or avocado oil instead.
Onion
Red bell pepper
Chili powder
Cumin powder
Paprika
Sea salt
Black pepper
Good tasting broth:To keep this recipe vegan / vegetarian, choose a vegetable broth, otherwise any type of tasty broth works great! I love using bone broth in my meals whenever I have a chance.Kettle & Fireis my go to for a high quality store bought bone broth when I don’t have any homemade on hand. Use the code NYSSA15 for 15% off your order if you wanna stock up!
Canned black beans
Cilantro:To garnish and finish the dish before serving – feel free to skip it if you don’t have it on hand or don’t like the flavor of cilantro!

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan} - nyssa's kitchen (4)

How to make perfect quinoa

Okay, so I’ve talked about this before on NK but we’re going to go over it again, because I feel so passionately about perfect fluffy quinoa!

I feel like this section could almost be titled, “How to make quinoa that’s not mushy and gross”, because this is something I’ve struggled with for maaaany years of my life and I FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE FIX 💯💯💯 And for quinoa lovers, I can promise you it’s nothing short of life changing.

Here are the key points of what I’ve learned from my experimenting:

Rinse your quinoa

Some packaged quinoa that you buy at the store or online (like this one) will be labeled as “pre-rinsed”. If that’s the case for the quinoa you have on hand, skip this step. But if your package doesn’t say that, or you’re not sure, you want to give it a good rinse before cooking.

Quinoa grows with a natural coating called saponin. This is sort of a defense mechanism for quinoa to prevent birds and other animals from eating it because it tastes bitter. If you don’t rinse it off before cooking, likely your quinoa will taste bitter and a bit unpleasant.

Because quinoa grains are so small the easiest way to rinse your quinoa is with afine mesh strainer like this one. These little strainers are so handy not only for rinsing quinoa, but also SO many other kitchen tasks. They work great for rinsing berries, draining beans, or washing veggies. I use mine all the time.

Quinoa to water ratio

The most important tip out of all of these? Use way less water than most package instructions will tell you to.

My recommended ratio is 1 part quinoa : 1 part water

Most recipes and package instructions will tell you to use a ratio of 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water, but I have found that an equal ratio of quinoa to water works SO much better.

This is fairly contradictory to a lot of the information out there, but based on my experience of testing this ratio combined with a certain cooking techniqueis where the magic happens.

How long to cook quinoa

For the best results, I like to cook quinoa on relatively low heat for 25 minutes, and then remove it from the heat to steam with a cover on the pan.

This allows the grain to fully cook and “pop” open, and then steam to finish absorbing any remaining liquid which will keep the quinoa light and fluffy.

Because this is a spiced up recipe the cooking process is a little different than if you were cooking up plain old quinoa. But it’s nothing too difficult.

How to make one pot southwest quinoa and black beans

If not pre-rinsed, rinse quinoa in afine mesh straineruntil water runs clear. Set strainer over a bowl to finish draining.
Heat oil in a medium sized pot over medium high heat. Add diced onion and bell pepper and saute until quite soft and starting to caramelize – about 4-5 minutes.
Add quinoa with spices, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to coat quinoa with spices and lightly toast the quinoa. Cook until quinoa is starting to appear more dry and sticking to the bottom of the pan a little bit.
Add broth, scraping up any stuck on bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring up to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, stir, cover, and set a timer for 25 minutes.
Cook, covered, for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered to steam for about 5 minutes. Remove the cover, fluff the quinoa, and allow steam to release for another 5 minutes or so.
Add the black beans and stir gently to combine. Put the cover back on the pan and allow beans to warm slightly before serving.
Serve topped with cilantro and any other favorite Mexican toppings.

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan} - nyssa's kitchen (5)

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan} - nyssa's kitchen (6)

Is quinoa gluten free?

Yes! Quinoa is a 100% gluten free grain. It also falls into the category of “ancient grains” – and provides whole grain nutrition that contains a lot of plant protein, fiber, essential minerals, and anti-oxidants!

I often substitute rice for quinoa in recipes for a little extra nutrient density.

What to serve with this one pot southwest quinoa and black beans

You could serve this curried quinoa with so many different types of dishes.

Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

Sweet and Spicy Mexican Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Healthy Mexican Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Cashew Lime Crema
Mexican Roasted Cauliflower
Easy Marinated Steak and Avocado Tacos
Creamy Cashew Queso Dip

A few notes on the recipe

This southwest quinoa can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. This makes it perfect for meal prep to enjoy throughout the week!
If your quinoa is not labeled as pre-rinsed, make sure you rinse it well using afine mesh strainerto keep it from tasting bitter.
For an added shortcut substitute 2 teaspoons taco seasoning for the spices.
No black beans? You can absolutely skip them!
Want to add more veggies? Roasted corn, green peppers, and zucchini would all be delicious!

One Pot Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans {gluten free + vegan}

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5 from 1 review

Author: Nyssa Tanner
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

Ingredients

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3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 a red bell pepper, diced
1 cup quinoa
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
black pepper
1 cup broth or water
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
cilantro for serving

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Instructions

Carefully rinse quinoa using a fine mesh strainer. Drain well and set aside.
In a medium sized pot heat olive oil over medium high heat until hot and shimmering. Add diced onion and bell pepper and saute until quite soft and starting to caramelize – about 4-5 minutes.
Add quinoa with spices, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to coat quinoa with spices and lightly toast the quinoa. Cook until quinoa is starting to appear more dry and sticking to the bottom of the pan a little bit.
Pour in broth or water and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low.
Cook, covered, for 25 minutes. turn off the heat and leave covered to steam for about 5 minutes. Remove the cover, fluff the quinoa, and allow steam to release for another 5 minutes or so. Add the black beans and stir gently to combine. Put the cover back on the pan and allow beans to warm slightly before serving.
Serve topped with cilantro and your favorite Mexican garnishes.