Healthy Quinoa Spanish Rice Recipe

People always assume that Andalusian cuisine is just chorizo and seafood recipes, but thankfully, there are some amazing Spanish vegetable dishes too.

In this article, we will talk about quinoa Spanish rice, a modern twist in one of the most traditional Spanish recipes.

Keep scrolling to learn how to make this tasty Spanish lunch, with some extra tips on storing, serving, and ingredient replacements.

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Background of the Dish

The quinoa Spanish rice was created to be a healthier alternative to the traditional rice recipe.

Quinoa is the perfect substitution for white rice, and the best thing is that all the good flavors of the beloved recipe are still there.

Other vegetarian recipes you can try are the Keto Spanish rice and the fried cauliflower recipe.

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Things You’ll Need for Quinoa Spanish Rice

To prepare the quinoa Spanish rice you need quinoa, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, and vegetable broth as the main ingredients.

As well as other vegan Spanish recipes, there is some room for ingredient changes, but we will talk about that later in the article.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (400 gr) quinoa 
• 4 cups (960ml) vegetable broth
• 2 onions
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 2 carrots
• 5 tablespoons Olive oil 
• Salt and ground black pepper (to taste)

How to Make Quinoa Spanish Rice – Step by Step Guide

1. To start with this tasty quinoa recipe, you have to wash the quinoa very well before cooking it (it will prevent it from having a bitter taste).

2. For that, place the quinoa in a large strainer and rinse it several times, stirring with your hand, until the water that comes out is clear.

3. Now you can put the quinoa and the vegetable broth in a casserole. Season with salt and pepper, and you can use other spices if you like.

4. Heat the Spanish quinoa and when the liquid starts to boil, cover it and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. If there is liquid remaining, drain the water. Set aside.

5. In the meantime, chop the onion, garlic, peppers, carrot, and tomatoes into small cubes (also known as “brunoise” style). You can mince the garlic if you’d rather.

6. After that, grab a pan and pour some olive oil to fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until golden.

7. Then, add the chopped peppers and carrots. Continue cooking for 10 more minutes.

8. Now you can add the tomato and continue cooking the vegetables for 15 minutes.

9. For the final step, you just have to add the quinoa and stir. If necessary add more salt to the dish. You can now serve the Quinoa Spanish rice while hot.

Substitution of Ingredients

You can make multiple changes to the ingredients for this quinoa Spanish rice.

This quinoa Spanish rice recipe is for savory quinoa, but you turn this into a sweet dish too.

In that case, you should follow other flavorful quinoa recipes (with sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder) and skip salt and pepper.

In the case of going for a sweet low calorie quinoa recipe, you can add different fruits and nuts to it, instead of vegetables.

Now when it comes to the savory recipe, you can do it like other vegetarian Spanish recipes and use any vegetable of your choice.

Tips on Serving Quinoa Spanish Rice

One of the reasons why this dish stands out from other easy Spanish recipes is because of how simple it is to serve.

The quinoa Spanish rice works perfectly as the main dish for lunch or dinner, but it can also work as a side dish.

For turning it into a full Spanish meal you can add some protein like eggs, chicken, or more vegetables.

If you want to serve it specially, you can follow the Spanish vegetable paella way of serving and cut some strings of bell peppers to place on top.

The Spanish saffron rice and Spanish vegan rice are also delicious rice recipes from Spain that must be in your cookbook.

How to Store Quinoa Spanish Rice

The quinoa Spanish rice is one of our favorite Spanish vegetable recipes because you can store it in two ways: freeze it or in the fridge.

In the fridge it can last for up to 4 days, just let it cool to room temperature before storing and then place it in a covered container.

You can also freeze the quinoa Spanish rice for up to 30 days, following the same process, and thaw it overnight before serving it.

In both cases, you should heat it before serving (in a microwave or the stove), and you can add a few tablespoons of water while heating so you don’t end up with a dry quinoa dish.

Recipe Card: Quinoa Spanish Rice

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