Quinoa and chicken with sautéed zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli and tomato inspired by my Ukrainian roots that takes less than 40 minutes to make. The whole family will love this easy quinoa skillet and you will have plenty of leftovers. In Ukrainian cooking, garlic and onion make a base for stews, sauces and gravies. And that’s what I did here. So easy, you will be like “Whaaaaat?!”.
If you are looking for more healthy easy dinners, check out my Tex Mex chicken and zucchini, garlic chicken, zucchini and corn or vast collection of clean eating dinner recipes.
How to Make Quinoa Skillet
- Chop vegetables and herbs, cut chicken.
- Preheat large deep skillet on medium-high heat. Add olive oil, onion, garlic and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add bell peppers and sauté for 3 more minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper, add quinoa, water, bay leaves and stir. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, reduce heat to lower medium and cook for 12 minutes.
3. Now it’s time to add vegetables. At this point quinoa should be cooked al dente. Add zucchini and broccoli. Stir, cover with a lid and cook on low-medium for 15 more minutes. Add grape tomatoes and parsley, stir and remove from heat. Serve hot.
Like I said, play around with veggies and use what your family likes. Fresh herb ideas are dill, parsley, basil or green onion. Anything you got in your garden, if you have one. Enjoy!
Quinoa Skillet with Chicken and Garden Veggies
Quinoa Skillet Recipe with chicken breast and vegetables like zucchini, tomato and corn. Healthy chicken and quinoa dinner in less than 40 minutes with leftovers the whole family will love.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or coconut oil
- 2 large bell peppers, finely chopped
- 2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium zucchini, quartered
- 1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped
- 10 oz grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 bunch parsley, dill or basil, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat large deep skillet on medium-high heat. Add olive oil, onion, garlic and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add bell peppers and saute for 3 more minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper, add quinoa, water, bay leaves and stir. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, reduce heat to lower medium and cook for 12 minutes.
- Now it’s time to add vegetables. At this point quinoa should be cooked al dente. Add zucchini and broccoli. Stir, cover with a lid and cook on low-medium for 15 more minutes. Add grape tomatoes and parsley, stir and remove from heat. Serve hot.
Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 3 days.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
I use this all of the time! I lost the recipe because my computer failed me and I had no way to retrieve bookmarks. So I started cooking by memory, and finally, added Ukrainian to the search and it finally came upi!!! I had most everything correct! I looooooove this recipe. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made it!
★★★★★
ARen’t you smart and creative! Good for you! So happy to hear! I love quinoa + chicken combo too!
This quinoa skillet is super yummy.
★★★★★
Why do you recommend using avocado or coconut oil over olive oil? Thanks!
For frying, because these two oils are high heat oils where as olive oil is best consumed raw like in salads. When heated to a smoke point it releases carcinogens, as they say…
Spasibo Olena! I went and bought coconut oil today. I am excited to try this recipe tonight for dinner!!
🙂 You are welcome, Jessie! Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a recipe must have olive oil in it, like pasta with zucchini and tomatoes. But generally I use avocado and coconut oils for frying.
Can you freeze this?
I wouldn’t. Soft veggies like zucchini and tomatoes do not taste good thawed to me. But technically you can but I wouldn’t and I’m not picky.
Hi! I really want to try this.. two questions- can I substitute the chicken for ground meat? and could i substitute the bay leaves for fresh thyme? Thank you!
Hi Sophie. Yes and yes.
Olena, thank you very much for sharing your recipe! I just had this for dinner and had to leave you a comment (something I usually wouldn’t do). This was such a hit with the family, it has now been added to small list of favourites. It was so flavorful, I added chicken stock as one of the comments on the thread suggested and it came out perfect! Much appreciated
Hi Claire. You are welcome! Please leave me any more comments. Don;t be shy. I love hearing back. Any stock makes any dish more flavourful for sure. I don’t always have it on hand.
So plz give me instructions on doing this with my slow cooker.
Add everything to a slow cooker and cook on Low for about 4 -5 hours. Veggies and chicken would have to be pre-browned for best results.
Can I substitute brown rice for quinoa?
Only if you pre-cook rice. Rice takes 40 minutes vs quinoa 15 minutes to cook.
FANTASTIC! We don’t eat chicken so made it with turkey – SO yummy! Everyone loved it, even the kids. I will be making this often!! AND easy!
Must have been good if you took time to capitalize certain words.:) Glad you liked it.
Sorry new to this fresh cooking stuff, does the recipe call for one bunch of all three listed or choose from one of them? Parsley/basil/dill?
Also is a yellow, white, or red onion better?
Thanks
Just one of the herbs. Whatever you have. Same with onions. I usually use broiler onions, yellow shell ones. 2 thumbs up for fresh cooking!!!:)
Would this still be flavorful without the bell peppers? I am allergic…
I’m trying to think of alternatives. Do you think green chile would be weird?
Yes, no peppers is fine. Just add a bit more onion and garlic to make up for lost flavour. Mushrooms would be good too.
This makes a ton of food! I’ve been adding different things with all the leftoves. One day, I added coconut aminos and it was like “fried rice”. Another day I added in parmesean cheese and another day squeezed fresh lemon juice.
Will this work without quinoa, say I just wanted a chicken and vegetable recipe?
Yes, just skip quinoa and water.
OK. Tried hard to stay on recipe, but strayed for the flavor. Subbed lite chicken stock for the water & added fresh grated parmesan cheese at plating. A little less healthy but much more flavor…
Same! I subbed chicken stock for water and added crushed red pepper flakes for spice.
Hi, I would like to try this recipe for dinner tonight and was just wondering. Do I put uncooked quinoa in the skillet or do I boil and cook it before hand before adding?
Yes, uncooked. Quinoa cooks right in the skillet.:)
My husband and I absolutely loved this dish! Thank you so much for sharing!
You are very welcome!!!:)
Just cooked it for dinner, very delicious!!! I am from Ukraine as well 🙂 Thank you for the recipe, from now on one of my favourite 🙂
Oh, one more Ukrainian liking quinoa.:) This dish is very Ukrainian like. Glad you liked it and welcome.:)
I just love it when you can prove that healthy food doesn’t have to taste, hmmmm, all that healthy! Lovin’ all the ingredients in this one and big bonus is the leftovers!
I’ll trade ya, you do the cooking and I’ll do the gardening! I dred cooking each night, it really bogs me down. Have to get myself a pep talk every time to start dinner. Always tell myself…. hmm, can’t we just go to McDonalds every night?
But I must confess, I must have fresh herbs! Must! Dried ones just one do when fresh ones are an option!!
Oh, really?! That must be hard! I love cooking but I do get tired of it everyday. So, I understand it’s even harder for you. Currently I dream of an all-inclusive. Just not to think about anything for a week or two: what’s for dinner, what snacks are we packing, what’s for lunch.:) I love fresh herbs from my local store LOL. I stock up but I can’t stand watering the garden every night. I’d rather go work out LOL.
The looks delicious! It reminds me a lot of a summer meal my Ukrainian grandmother used to make. She used pasta instead of quinoa, but it was always onion, garlic, chicken, dill, and whatever veggies were around. It always ended up tasting so good! Ukrainians seem to know how to make some of the tastiest food 🙂
Thank you, Kristin. Ukrainian cooking involves a lot of fresh herbs and veggies. Very simple but fragrant, therefore delicious. Just like Latin or any Mediterranean cuisine, just different flavours. Anything fresh tastes good and doesn’t have to be complicated.:)
I’ve never tried adding the quinoa right into a pot of veggies like that. I’ll have to try it! I am like you with gardening- I want the fresh herbs and produce, but I can’t be bothered to water them on a regular schedule!
I was nervous about quinoa in skillets before but not after I experimented it in a slowcooker. It will be fine. Very tender and delicious. Yes, I cook it in my slowcooker a lot. Yeah, I have too many responsibilities besides plants. So much easier to pay a buck for some parsley or cilantro. I know. Unless gardening is a hobby and you love it.