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One Pot Moroccan Quinoa is as easy and flavorful as it gets for streamlined weeknight cooking. Gluten free, vegan, and sure to become a family favorite.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Moroccan Quinoa:
Friends, I am SO excited to share this super simple, yet wildly flavorful, dish with you. It all comes together in ONE PAN (therefore minimal cleanup) in right around 35 minutes.
I’m a sucker for Moroccan flavors (as evidenced by this Moroccan Couscous Salad), so this ingredient lineup really speaks to me.
Plus, it’s gluten-free and vegan, yet protein-packed thanks to my favorite pseudo-grain, quinoa.
Additionally, this moroccan quinoa is make-ahead friendly and perfect to pack for weekday lunches.
You can enjoy it warm, chilled, or at room temperature, either as an entree or side dish!
If you love quinoa recipes like this, also check out my Thai Peanut Chicken, Thai Quinoa Salad, and Chickpea Quinoa Bowls.
The Ingredients
- Quinoa: Quinoa is a quick-cooking pseudo-grain with a neutral flavor that takes well to just about any spice combination. Look for quinoa in the bulk bin section of natural grocery stores to save up to $2.00 per pound. Alternatively, you can purchase it in bags in the grains aisle of most grocery stores. Purchase white, tri-colored, or red quinoa for this recipe—they all taste relatively similar!
- Aromatics: I love using a combination of shallots and garlic, however you can also use yellow or sweet onion.
- Spices: This recipe calls for standard spices like cumin and paprika.
- Harissa: Harissa is a North African spice paste that looks like a mix between tomato paste and tomato sauce. It has a slightly smoky spiciness with bright acidity and earthy undertones, and is a great shortcut ingredient to achieving big flavor.
- Fire-Roasted Tomatoes: Fire-roasted is key for extra brightness and depth of flavor.
- Broth: Use vegetable or chicken broth!
- Spinach: I love slipping in a green leafy vegetable like spinach for extra nutrients.
- Lemon: Caramelized slices of lemon create a beautiful garnish for this dish.
- Garnishes: In addition to the caramelized lemon garnish, I love adding castelvetrano olives and fresh parsley or cilantro. The olives add a buttery, briny bite while the herb element lends a layer of freshness.
Substitutions and Additions:
- Add Chickpeas: For further pump up the protein, stir 1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas in at the end of cooking. (You may also need another splash of broth!)
- Use a Different Green: In lieu of spinach, you can also use kale or collard greens.
- Make Spicy: Either add a pinch of cayenne, or opt for a spicy harissa sauce.
- Use Fresh Tomatoes: During the summer months, you can absolutely use fresh tomatoes over canned. I suggest 1 1/2 cups of diced fresh tomatoes.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Sauté Onion and Garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until aromatic. Next, stir in spices, harissa, and quinoa.
Step 2: Add Broth and Tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and gently simmer until the quinoa is fluffy, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3: Stir in Spinach, and garnish with olives, parsley, almonds, and lemon slices.
Recipe FAQs
Here are some tips for cooking the BEST quinoa:
1. Prior to cooking, give the quinoa a quick rinse in a mesh strainer to remove its natural coating, called saponin, which can make it taste bitter.
2. I love to toast quinoa in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes prior to cooking to enhance its natural nutty flavor.
3. Boil quinoa in vegetable for extra flavor. Or, make sure to generously salt the cooking water.
4. Once the quinoa cooks, allow it steam in the pot (covered) for about 10 minutes. This makes the grains even fluffier.
Quinoa is one of the few plant sources of a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids.
One serving of quinoa (about 1/4 cup of dry) has about 6 grams of protein.
Quinoa is also gluten free and extremely versatile.
Giving lemon slices a quick sear in butter brings out their sweetness and adds layers of complexity. Pro tip (if you want extra caramelized goodness): sprinkle the lemon slices with a little granulated sugar before searing them in either butter or olive oil.
How to Store and Reheat:
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Reheat: Rewarm individual portions in the microwave, stopping to stir every 30 seconds, until hot.
- Freeze: Freeze leftovers in a ziptop freezer bag or freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
More Healthy One Pot Meals:
If you give this recipe a try, be sure to snap a pic and tag #dishingouthealth on Instagram so I can see your creations. Also, follow along on Facebook and Pinterest for the latest recipe updates!
One Pot Moroccan Quinoa
Equipment
- Large skillet with fitted lid
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. unsalted butter (sub olive oil if making vegan)
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots (from 1 medium shallot)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tbsp. mild harissa (such as Mina brand)
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1 (14.5-oz.) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt (or more to taste)
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds (toasted for more flavor)
- 1/4 cup sliced green olives (I suggest Castelvetrano olives)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat butter in a large skillet with a fitted lid over medium-high heat. Once melted, add lemon slices. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until golden-brown; flip and cook 1 to 2 additional minutes. Transfer to a plate and reduce heat to medium.
- Add oil, shallots, and garlic to pan; cook 3 minutes, until softened. Stir in harissa, cumin, paprika, and quinoa; stir to coat. Cook 1 to 2 minutes in order to lightly toast quinoa.Stir in diced tomatoes, broth, and salt; increase heat to bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until quinoa absorbs most liquid and plumps up, about 15 to 20 minutes.Uncover, and stir in spinach until greens wilt into mixture, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in almonds. Top with olives, fresh herbs, and caramelized lemon slices.
Notes
Nutrition
I calculate these values by hand to ensure accuracy, however expect up to a 10% variable depending on food brands.
Delicious, I added capers, garbanzo beans, and date syrup….yummy!
Brilliant recipe. I forgot to add the spinach! but it was still very good without. Will add spinach next time as there will be a next time. This recipe will be on rotation at my house.
I just discovered your website. I am a retired dietitian so I trust that with your background you have the skills I look for in a food blogger. Knowledge of food, nutrition, substitutes, clear measurements etc…
This recipe makes great use of quinoa. The grilled lemon slices give it such an elegant look. I will serve this to guests.
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Thank you
It was alright. The flavor was good. Mine turned out kind of like a stew. Liked the lemon.
I live in a state in Nigeria. To be precise -Akwaibom state. I need it as a permenent food. How can I get it in Nigeria
I left a comment before that in need it permenent. How do I get it
This was the first Moroccan recipe I’ve tried. Loved it! As it has a bunch of quinoa, which is a whole protein, you really don’t need to add anything else for extra protein.
I have literally never commented on a recipe blog before but I just wanted to let you know I enjoyed this so much, I’ve made it four times since discovering it last month! Thank you! Made it for my mom as well, and she loved it so much she has also made it several times now. Thank you for sharing!
It was a good recipe, and I would make it again, but even though I love spicy food, this was almost intolerable. It may be the brand and type of Harissa I used (I used Organic Tunisian Baklouti Harissa by Les Moulins Mahjoub). I also substituted regular diced tomatoes rather than the recommended fire-roasted tomatoes. Still super spicy. I’ll reduce the amount of Harissa by half next time.
The spice blend of cumin, paprika and harissa made the quinoa appealing to eat. Very healthy and delicious. I will make this dish again.
This recipe sounds great! I was wondering if I could use couscous instead of quinoa. Would I alter the cook time or precook and add at the end? Maybe Israeli would be same cook time?