One Pot Chicken Quinoa is loaded with broccoli, wholesome quinoa, juicy chicken and delicious flavours. Nothing is “boring” about this one pot meal perfect for a weeknight dinner!
Our other family favorite one pot dinners are these skillet enchiladas and Instant Pot quinoa bowls.
One Pot Chicken and Quinoa
One pot chicken quinoa gives you healthy dinner with tender chicken breast, crispy broccoli and sweet bell peppers. Perfectly combined with the blend of garlic, olive oil and cumin. These chunky bites give amazing texture to the flavourful quinoa grains that are simmering in a delicious chicken broth.
Quinoa is actually a seed and not a grain. Its soft texture is perfect to soak up flavors of the sauce like in this black bean quinoa casserole and ground turkey quinoa bake.
This quinoa recipe with chicken is the cross-cultural sharing and honouring of flavours and ingredients. Plov in Ukraine and Middle Eastern Pilaf are both made with meat like chicken or lamb, rice and various spices. Both my dad and my sister-in-law make their own versions that are both incredibly delicious.
You may also love these 65 clean eating chicken recipes!
Ingredients for One Pot Chicken Quinoa
- Chicken: Use boneless and skinless chicken breast or thighs. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Quinoa: Uncooked. Readily available at bulk food stores, grocery stores and health food stores. Typically comes pre-rinsed, so no need to wash it as you would rice.
- Lots of veggies: Chopped broccoli. Chopped bell pepper. Diced onion. Shredded carrot.
- Olive oil: I enjoy the taste of olive oil, which is why I used it. But you can really use any oil that works for frying.
- Garlic: Minced cloves.
- Spices: Salt. Pepper. Cumin.
- Herbs: Dried oregano. Bay leaves. Finely chopped parsley.
- Broth: Low sodium chicken broth.
- Heat: Red pepper flakes.
On a hot summer day, try this Mediterranean quinoa salad that is chock full of veggies and similar flavors.
How to Make One Pot Chicken and Quinoa
- Broccoli and bell peppers prep: The broccoli and bell peppers are made separately from the chicken and quinoa at first. Both will use the same pot and all the ingredients will be combined in one harmonious bite at the end. So it’s still a one-pot meal! To begin, preheat a large deep skillet or dutch oven and add oil to coat.
- Add: To the oil, you’ll add the broccoli and bell peppers (you’ve washed and chopped them already, right?), cumin, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour this out into a medium bowl and set aside while you get the chicken and quinoa going.
- Cook chicken and quinoa: To the same pot the veggies were just cooked in, add more oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and carrot and saute for a few minutes. Stir occasionally, watching for the onion not to burn. Because the pot has been hot for a while and there may be burnt bits on the bottom. This may cause the onion to turn brown even faster. No big deal, just keep an eye out!
- Add: Stir in the quinoa, stock and bay leaves and bring to a boil.
- Boil and simmer: Once up to a boil, cover and reduce the heat and cook for the remaining time.
- Combine: Turn the heat off and add in the broccoli and red pepper mix you made earlier. Stir everything to combine and watch all of those bright colours infuse the quinoa. You want to let it sit covered for a few minutes for the flavours to marry each other and meld together nicely.
- Garnish and serve: Sprinkle in the chopped parsley, give it a good stir and serve hot!
This dish is a satisfying meal complete with protein, fibre, veggies among lots of other good-for-you ingredients. No need to serve it with anything else. Except maybe a nice glass of wine!
Tips and Variations
- Grains: Because quinoa is a grain, some people may have a harder time digesting it. If this is the case, although you don’t need to rinse it first, some people find soaking the quinoa overnight before using it, helps with digestion.
- Other veggies: This recipe is customizable in that you can add or omit any of the veggies. Cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms or zucchini would be a nice addition or substitution. Just note that if you add too many veggies it might start to overpower the dish and the taste of the chicken. This dish is a lovely balance of all 3 things, so our aim is to keep it that way!
- More heat: A dash of Frank’s red hot sauce or Sriracha sauce would add not only heat but even more flavour.
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Store: This recipe serves 6, which is a decent size for an average-sized family. You may have leftovers for your lunch the next day in which case, keep in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay good for up to 3 days.
Freeze: Once completely cooled, store for up to 3 months in an airtight container. When you’re ready to cook it, just thaw it in the fridge overnight.
Reheat: Reheating cooked quinoa (much like rice) can lead to burning pretty easily. Therefore, put it on low heat on the stove, but give it a splash of water or broth and stir a few times. This will help prevent burning and sticking to the bottom. It will also help put a little moisture back in the quinoa.
More Delicious Quinoa Recipes
- Quinoa and black bean salad
- Quinoa skillet
- Southwest quinoa salad
- Quinoa bread
- Broccoli quinoa salad
- Instant Pot quinoa
- Quinoa stew
- Quinoa chili
One Pot Chicken Quinoa
Ingredients
For Broccoli and Bell Peppers:
- 1 lb broccoli chopped
- 2 large red bell peppers cored, seeded & coarsely chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 tsp cumin ground
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Pinch red pepper flakes more to taste
For Chicken and Quinoa:
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 large carrot shredded
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into 1” pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp oregano dried
- 1/2 tsp cumin ground
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Pinch red pepper flakes more to taste
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa uncooked
- 3 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Broccoli and Bell Peppers: Preheat large deep skillet or a dutch oven on medium-high heat and swirl oil to coat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, stirring often.
- Add broccoli, bell pepper, cumin, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Chicken and Quinoa: Return pot to the stove and swirl oil to coat. Add onion and carrot; saute for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add chicken, oregano, cumin, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes; saute for 3 more minutes, stirring a few times.
- Add quinoa, stock and bay leaves; stir. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.
- Turn off heat. Add previously cooked broccoli and bell pepper, stir and let dish sit covered for 5 minutes for flavours to "marry" each other.
- Add parsley, stir and serve hot.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop with a splash of water or broth covered on low and stirring a few times to prevent burning.
- Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Oil: I particularly love the taste of olive oil in this dish but any oil for frying works.
- No need to rinse quinoa: 99% of times it comes pre-washed in a bag.
- Other veggies: I see how cauliflower, green beans or zucchini can work instead of broccoli. Bell pepper adds distinct flavour. So, do mushrooms if you use them.
- Add even more heat: With Frank’s red hot sauce or sriracha.
Made it in an Instant Pot; fast, delicious! Will make it again. Thank you for this healthful, easy, tasty recipe.
Great idea to adapt to the pressure cooker! Glad you enjoyed it!
I loved the flavors, it was a great healthy quick dinner.
So glad to hear, one pot dinners for the win!
Could I make it without the peppers, or would it affect the taste?
Sure, carrots, jicama, cauliflower or another firm vegetable would work. You could probably use zucchini or another soft vegetable and adjust cooking time. Taste will vary slightly based on the vegetable you choose.
This was great. Super easy and very tasty. I added some New Mexico chilis for some kick. We’ll definitely make this again.
BETTER than I expected, i did not have fresh parsley or cilantro, would be even better if I had added either one.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Julie!
Delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Excellent dish!
I made this for my family last week, leaving out the “heat”. We have a few tests to see if something new makes it to our meal rotation:
1. Is it eaten at dinner in a reasonable amount of time without complaints? Yep! Husband and son offered unprompted compliments.
2. Does the family say they want me to make it again? Again, yes.
3. The true test: leftovers. When given a choice on leftover nights, how likely is this to be chosen? FAIL! We’ve had 3 leftover nights and several lunches, and this has not been touched. Canned soup, instant ramen, and sandwiches have beat it out. I’m slowly making my way through it, putting it on top of my salads (try it, it’s good!).
Overall, it was tasty, healthy, and added some variety to our usuals. Everyone ate it and enjoyed it (once), but not enough to make a frequent appearance. I added in some chopped carrots with the broccoli, so they were only lightly cooked and still very crunchy. That was a nice addition we all liked!
It does sound like you are trying to eat healthier which is awesome! Quinoa like ground turkey might be an acquired taste for some. There is no “heat” in this recipe, a pinch of red pepper flakes add necessary punch of flavor. I also know some people do not like leftovers but I do not see how they can qualify as “a true test” to the recipe to be honest hmmm. Can’t envision myself eating canned soup over this pilaf ever. I guess all taste buds differ.:)
Super easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing. My husband who usually says quinoa “tastes like dirt” said this was good. Only made 2 changes: I didn’t have any onions on hand and I added finely chopped spinach.
Hi Rachael! So happy to hear this was a hit with your family 🙂
Sooo delicious. I used frozen peas and broccoli at the end and was so delicious! Amazing flavor and the chicken was fabulous. Not dry at all. Remember to let chicken get to room temp before cooking for juiciness.
Thanks for the positive feedback Sarah!
Thanks for a great recipe. I had tried quinoa only once or twice before and found it fairly unappealing. This recipe turned that around! The flavor is great. The only things I tweaked were using chicken broth instead of water and toasting the quinoa for a few minutes before I added it. Definitely agree this recipe is a keeper!
Yay! I am so glad that my recipe made you fall in love with quinoa!