Healthy Quinoa Stew recipe filled with all your cozy favorites like tender beef, vegetables, protein rich quinoa, and savory spices. Sprinkle with fresh dill for a flavorful comfort meal!
We also love chicken chickpea stew and Mediterranean ground turkey stew during the cooler months.
Table of Contents
I grew up with grandma’s steaming bowl of homemade beef stew. It is an Eastern European traditional dish that fills your house and clothes with a stew smell.
I had all intentions to make traditional beef stew with potatoes, just to find out I was out of potatoes. Quinoa stew it is and it was amazing! Originally posted in 2015, this recipe is even easier now. Updated with new photos, tips and tricks as well.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One pot meal: Quinoa stew with beef is easy to make, ready in 1 hour, and made in one pot!
- Gluten free: All ingredients are naturally gluten-free making this quinoa dinner recipe perfect for the entire family and guests.
- Healthy: Beef and potatoes are often found together in many soup and stew recipes, but I loved swapping in quinoa. It adds plant-based protein, all nine essential amino acids, and fiber, keeping you full longer.
- Flavorful: I carefully selected spices, herbs, and vegetables to make this an unforgettable healthy dinner that does not skimp on flavor. Your house will smell amazing too!
Ingredients for Beef Quinoa Stew
This quinoa stew will be your newest winter staple packed with simple ingredients, protein, and cozy flavors.
- Beef: Use any beef stew meat such as beef chuck roast or rump roast cut into 1″ cubes. Or if you’d like you can use pre-cut stew meat.
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic cloves add cozy flavor and aroma.
- Vegetables: Onion, carrots, and peas. Feel free to use fresh or frozen peas.
- Olive oil: Sautéing with extra-virgin olive oil also enhances the dish with extra flavor.
- Cornstarch: We’ll coat the beef in cornstarch to help thicken the stew and deepen the flavor.
- Broth: I was out of beef broth so pictured is chicken broth. Of course, low sodium beef broth would be the best.
- Quinoa: Uncooked, rinsed, and drained quinoa. I had white quinoa but you can use whichever color you have. Note red quinoa stew will be more hearty and chewy.
- Spices: A blend of salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
- Fresh herbs: I stirred in some fresh dill but fresh parsley is good too.
How to Make Beef Quinoa Stew
Here’s a quick and easy overview of how to make homemade quinoa stew in one pot.
There’s a full recipe card below.
- Sauté vegetables: Heat a Dutch oven or heavy bottom pot on medium heat and coat it with oil. Sauté onion, garlic and carrots for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a medium bowl.
- Sear beef: Add remaining oil to the large pot, then add beef and sprinkle with cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring a few times.
- Add broth: Pour in broth and deglaze the pot by bringing mixture to a boil. Scrape the bottom to remove any stuck bits and cook for a few minutes.
- Add veggies: Mix in previously cooked veggies, remaining salt and pepper, and bay leaves. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cook quinoa: Add quinoa, stir, cover and cook for15 minutes. Turn off heat and let stew sit covered for 5 minutes.
- Add peas and herbs: Add peas and dill, gently stir and enjoy a delicious bowl of quinoa stew.
Tips for Best Results
Make this one of the most tastiest quinoa recipes by following these tips and tricks.
- Adjust the thickness: The ingredients in this stew are absorbing. After a few hours or next day, feel free to add more beef broth, chicken broth or vegetable broth. Or if you like a more soupy stew in general.
- Beef doesn’t have to be very brown: Saute the beef but do not expect it to have charred, caramelized edges mostly because we use a high-walled pot which doesn’t allow moisture to evaporate. So, don’t wait for that and overcook the meat.
- Deglaze the pot: All those caramelized bits on the bottom of the pot hold so much flavor, you don’t want to leave them behind.
- If you love garlic: I love adding a bit of freshly grated garlic at the end. It adds a depth of flavor, different from cooked garlic. But you don’t have to, if you prefer very mild garlic taste.
What to Serve Quinoa Stew with?
This is the best time of year for beef quinoa stew! I like serving it as is sprinkled with more fresh dill or parsley. You can also add freshly grated Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese.
Make it a meal and serve with a simple salad like brussels sprouts salad, arugula salad, or a healthy Caesar salad. Sometimes I’ll keep it extra simple and have diced avocado on the side.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Transfer any leftover stew to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Allow stew to cool completely, store in an airtight container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat for a healthy lunch.
Make a healthy freezer meal: Sauté vegetables and beef stew meat and transfer to a large resealable Ziploc bag or airtight container. Add quinoa and freeze for up to 3 months. When you want to make it, just defrost the freezer meal in the fridge overnight and combine in a pot with broth. Cook as per recipe. At the end add peas and dill.
Reheat: Add to a pot along with a splash of broth or water, cover, and simmer on low heat until warmed through.
FAQs
Yes. To make quinoa stew in a crock pot, sauté vegetables and beef in stages in a skillet on the stove top. Then transfer to a slow cooker along with quinoa and cook on low heat for 6 hours or on high heat for 3 hours. Add peas and dill at the end.
Yes, to make Instant Pot quinoa stew sauté vegetables and beef in stages right in your Instant Pot. Then add quinoa and 1 1/2 cups broth (reduced from 3 cups in original recipe), close the lid, set pressure valve to Sealing and pressure cook on low pressure for 12 minutes or high pressure for 3 minutes. Release pressure and add peas and dill.
Yes, if you have leftover cooked quinoa or Instant Pot quinoa, you can add it to the stew. You will need about 4-5 cups of it. Reduce broth in the recipe to 1 cup, then after cooking the beef add cooked quinoa, peas and dill.
Chopped kale or baby spinach, sautéed mushrooms and red bell pepper, chopped broccoli or cauliflower, tomatoes, cabbage, or celery. You can also test out different flavors with thyme, coriander, or cumin.
More Beef Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot beef stew
- Korean ground beef and rice bowls
- Beef stir fry
- Instant Pot beef barley soup
- Healthy beef and broccoli
More Quinoa Recipes to Try
- Black bean quinoa casserole
- Ground turkey quinoa casserole
- Instant Pot ground turkey quinoa bowls
- Chicken quinoa skillet
- One pot chicken quinoa
- Quinoa chili
Beef Quinoa Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 3 large carrots sliced
- 1.5-2 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1″ cubes
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 3/4 teaspoon salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper divided
- 3 cups beef broth or chicken broth low sodium
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 1/4 cups quinoa uncooked, rinsed & drained
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
- 1/3 cup dill or parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat Dutch oven or heavy bottom pot on medium heat and swirl 1 tablespoon of oil to coat. Add onion, garlic and carrots, cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
- Return pot to the stove and add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add beef and sprinkle it with cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.
- Add broth and deglaze the pot by bringing mixture to a boil and cooking for a few minutes, scraping the bottom. Then add previously cooked veggies, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bay leaves. Stir, cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add quinoa, stir, cover and cook stew for another 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit covered for 5 minutes.
- Add peas and dill, gently stir and serve stew hot.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheat: On a stovetop with a splash of broth or water, covered, on low heat.
Made this tonight. Although I didn’t have chicken stock, I substituted for beef! So yummy, even my stepson licked the plate! Haha.
Haha. Awesome!
We have just started eating healthy and love your recipes. For this quinoa beef stew, would it be possible to cook the stew in an instant pot?
Good for you, Carolyn! You can do it easy-peasy.:) As for the stew, if you follow this recipe with liquid and quinoa ratios, you should be good to convert this stew to IP.
Absolutely delicious! I left out the peppercorn (simply because I didn’t have any and it still tasted amazing, I can only imagine how much better it would be with…if that is even possible! This is not the first recipe I tried, and just to say that my entire family loves every dish! They have been made well aware of this site…as I cannot take the credit for it, and trust me when I say that I’ve been telling my entourage about these tasty dishes too…I love the fact that you use real, whole foods! <3
All this to say: Thank you so much for sharing your amazing creations!
Peppercorns just add a bit of flavor. You can use more ground black pepper.:) Awe, you are so welcome, Christine! So happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes!
Yummy yummy !!!!!!
So happy to hear you enjoyed my non-traditional beef stew.:)
I love this recipe! I make mine with corn, just because I don’t like peas. My 11 years also loves this meal and gets excited when I make it!
This looks fab! We hear a lot about quinoa but we’ve falled in love with Farro. Can I use Farro in place of quinoa?
Hi Robin. Yes, for sure. I love farro too! I think I love all grains and seeds.
YUM. Another delicious recipe! I don’t know how you do it, but your recipes have SO much flavor! I had plenty of liquid, so next time I’m going to add the quinoa to the stew directly. But so yummy!!!
Hi Deb. Haha thank you. I’m just as natural in the kitchen as much as I suck in accounting. I love cooking!!! Glad you enjoyed it. Just a note adding quinoa to stew directly to cook you will need to add more water. That liquid is on purpose to put over quinoa to make it super saucy.
I’m excited to try this tonight! My family is from Poland and stew has always been a staple in our diets. My earliest memories of my grandmother was of her making stew. I’m recovering from a surgery, so this might just be the comfort food I need!
I hope you feel better soon!!! True, stew is such an Eastern European dish. My grandma made it every other week if we had meat. With no peas though because they were scarce. Enjoy!
OMG this was so good, made for dinner tonight and was so tasty. I just started eating healthy so foods for me have been hits and misses lately this was a major hit.
That is amazing to hear!
Yum, this looks amazing. I bought some beef stew meat the other day and have been needing some inspiration! The quinoa looks like such a great addition.