One Pot Quinoa and Black Beans has been a favorite fast, easy, and healthy weeknight recipe for me for years. It’s packed with nutrient-dense ingredients and tons of flavor from sweet corn, bell peppers, garlic, onions, and spices. It’s a perfect weeknight plant-based side or light meal that’s hearty and filling, packed with 16 grams of fiber and 18 grams of protein per serving!
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This is “one of those recipes.” I’ve been making it for years- for myself, for friends, for potlucks, for meal prep… I come back to this recipe again and again because it’s a) easy; b) delicious, and c) so nutritious and healthy!
Spicy quinoa and black beans is the ultimate healthy yet satisfying (and scrumptious!) dish. And it’s a really easy, one-pot meal!
It’s vegan but will appeal to meat-eaters in its heartiness, and it’s packed with nutrient-rich quinoa, vegetables, beans, and tons of flavor. It’s also naturally gluten-free.
And it’s high in protein and fiber, since quinoa is high in both compared to other grains like rice. There’s 18 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber per serving here!
This recipe is great on its own, but it’s also delicious rolled into a burrito or topped with fixings such as avocado and sour cream. If you want more substance to your meal, Mexican Shredded Chicken is the perfect accompaniment.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Quinoa – I like using white quinoa because it has a lighter, fluffier texture and cooks faster. You can use tri-color or another color quinoa if you like. You can also substitute the quinoa with rice or orzo- just keep an eye on how much you should adjust the time and liquid.
- Black beans – two small cans or one large can, or about 3 cups cooked beans total. You can use pinto beans or a combo as a substitute.
- Red bell pepper – the flavor of red is the sweetest, but any color can be used. You can also add a jalapeño in addition to the bell pepper to make the recipe spicier.
- Garlic and Onion – add 1 teaspoon garlic powder with the other spices if you don’t have fresh.
- Cumin
- Cayenne pepper – this recipe isn’t too spicy, but you can still omit this for a very mild version. You can also use a fresh jalapeño instead if you want.
- Vegetable broth – water can be used in a pinch, or chicken broth if you don’t need it to be vegan/vegetarian.
- Frozen corn – or fresh, if you prefer.
- Fresh cilantro – can be omitted if you don’t like cilantro.
- Pantry basics: oil, salt, and black pepper
How to make quinoa with black beans
- First, sauté onions and peppers in olive oil. Use a large deep skillet with a lid or a pot for this.
- Then, add the garlic and spices and sauté for just about 30 seconds, until it’s fragrant (garlic burns easily so you don’t want to cook for too long at a high heat).
- Add the quinoa and stir to coat everything. Make sure you rinse the quinoa first in a mesh sieve, as it will improve the flavor and remove some bitterness (more on this below!)
- Pour in the broth and stir, then bring to a boil.
- Cover and simmer on low until quinoa is cooked (about 20 minutes).
- Stir in the frozen corn, black beans, and cilantro and keep cooking on low until everything is heated through.
- Finally, turn off the heat and squeeze lime juice in.
- Serve!
Can I store leftovers/make ahead?
This recipe stays great as leftovers in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container! This makes it great for meal prep. You can also double the recipe and eat it for dinner, then save leftovers to wrap in burritos or take for lunches later in the week.
Why you should always rinse quinoa!
Rinsing the quinoa removes dirt and debris from the harvesting process. But did you know it also improves the flavor? Quinoa has bitter compounds on its surface, and rinsing it really well removes that bitter flavor. If you’ve ever had quinoa before and not liked it because it was bitter, it probably means it wasn’t rinsed properly!
Here’s what I suggest. Add it to a mesh sieve and rinse for a full minute under running water. Or, add to a bowl with clean water and stir to agitate, drain, and repeat a couple more times.
Suggested fixings for topping
This black beans and quinoa is delicious on its own. I also like serving quinoa and black bean bowls topped with fixings, such as:
- Sour cream
- Hot sauce
- Diced avocado
- Extra cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Shredded cheese
Other easy black bean recipes
Other easy one-pot recipes
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Spicy Quinoa and Black Beans
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Equipment
- Large, deep skillet or pot with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or other oil of choice
- 1 onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup quinoa rinsed (see notes)
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth, or water in a pinch
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 3 cups cooked black beans drained and rinsed (or two 15-oz. cans)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus more for serving
- juice of 1 lime
- sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, hot sauce, lime wedges, etc. optional (for serving)
Instructions
- In a large pot or deep skillet, sauté the diced 1 onion and 1 red bell pepper in 2 tablespoons avocado oil over medium-high heat until softened and browned (about 5-10 minutes).
- Add minced 2 cloves garlicm 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper and stir. Sauté for thirty seconds (or until fragrant).
- Add rinsed 3/4 cup quinoa and stir to coat.
- Add 1.5 cups vegetable broth, stir, and bring to a boil.
- Turn heat to low and simmer covered for approximately 20 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked.
- Stir in 1 cup frozen corn, 3 cups cooked black beans (two 15-oz. cans), and 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro. Continue cooking on low heat until beans and corn are heated through (about 5 minutes). Stir in the juice of 1 lime. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Serve, and top with optional fixings (sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, hot sauce, lime wedges, etc.) in a bowl or in a wrap as a burrito if desired.
Notes
- You can use any kind of quinoa you want, but I prefer white colored quinoa because I think it cooks a little faster, and the texture is lighter and fluffier. Rinsing it first in a mesh sieve will take away some of the bitter flavor. Using another color or tri-color quinoa may mean you need to cook it for longer.
- Rinsing the quinoa is important because not only does it remove dirt and debris from the harvesting process, it also helps remove bitter flavor. Give it a thorough 1-minute rinse in a mesh sieve.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. They will stay good for 3-5 days.
- Ingredient substitutions: use rice or orzo in place of the quinoa (adjust liquid accordingly), pinto beans or a combo instead of black beans.
- Make it extra spicy by adding a diced jalapeño pepper with the bell pepper and/or adding more cayenne pepper. Make it mild by omitting the cayenne pepper.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
This post originally appeared on Bowl of Delicious on September 13, 2014. It has been republished with new photos, improved recipe instructions, and more pertinent information.
Linda
Nice flavor, easy to make and healthy. Thank you for sharing.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Rob Duncan
My friend said it’s as good as any dish she has had , served it with BBQ chicken drumsticks
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it, and that sounds like a delicious meal!
Taylor
This is probably the only go to recipe I have! Great veggie dinner and it’s easy to the use leftovers for tacos and burritos.
Here’s my notes from making this a whole bunch of times… I always cook the corn along with the quinoa. If I don’t have corn, I throw in more beans! If I don’t have veggie stock, just water works fine! I do 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups liquid. Sometimes I use a jalapeño, usually just bell peppers though. Love it!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing all these notes, it all sounds great!
Carla G
This recipe for quinoa is amazing! So delicious and easy to make!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Devon Hoch
Can you make this recipe in a rice cooker?
Elizabeth Lindemann
I imagine you can, but I’m unfamiliar with cooking things in a rice cooker (aside from plain rice!), so I’m afraid I won’t be much help here. If you try it, I’d love to know how it comes out!
KP
Needed to try something new for work lunches and this is absolutely perfect. Great both cold and reheated for pre-packed lunches and tastes delicious!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Ken
Fast and easy. I added some roasted sweet potatoes at the end that were seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. I also only hand on hand half of the amount of onion so I also added in some diced celery.
This is a versatile recipe that can be modified easily. My daughter is OK with cumin but does not like it to be the overriding spice. I did a half teaspoon of cumin, a half teaspoon of chili powder and just a bit of smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, and crushed coriander. Hearty enough for a main but can also be used as a side for tacos or whatever.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jana Christian
This is excellent. How many servings is this referring to in the Nutrition section? Thanks!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! The nutrition information is estimated for one serving, and the batch makes 4 servings (indicated at the top of the recipe card). Hope that helps!
lori c
Exceptional!!!!Thank you for such a tremendous recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Cindy Kuhns
Loved this! I added a can of hot Rotel tomatoes (and cut the broth to 1 cup) and it gave just the right amount of kick without too much spice. Do you think you can freeze this? It made a lot more than I anticipated!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I’ve never tried to freeze this, but I think it will freeze ok, as long as you try to get as much air out as possible. Maybe in a zip top bag with as much air smushed out as possible. Hope that helps!
TomD
Delicious! And filling.
Never been a big quinoa fan but had an unopened bag so decided to give it a try. Glad I did.
A keeper I’ll make again
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Tonda
Wonderful dish..I made it and ate of it for two days. I tell you the more it set the better it taste. I will make this dish again. PS..I add eggplant cubes..yummy!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Love that you added eggplant.
Lori
A huge hit! Delicious!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
judith
This was sooo good! I am trying to eat less meat so I am looking for more recipes like this one. The balance of flavors was spot on and very filling! This will be on my recipe rotation, Thank you
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Karen
Just made this tonight! Very good! Great for my meal prep! My question is how much is a serving? 1cup? 1 1/2 cups??
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! This recipe makes 4 servings, and by my estimation adding up all the amounts of all the ingredients, a serving size is approximately 2 cups.
Debby
Loved this. Just the right amount of heat. Converted measurements to UK / metric
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Slaxmi
Love love love this one pot quinoa.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Robert
We throughly enjoyed this. Doubled it for some lunches. We’re going to try more of your recipes. Look healthy
and tasty. Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Sayeed Hasan
I like this recipe. I would have given 5 star rating, but this recipe is missing one important item. There no measurements of any of the ingredients. Without knowing How much quinoa and other ingredients, it is difficult to make the dish outstanding.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Looks like you missed the recipe card at the bottom of the post, which has everything you asked about. Scroll down for it, or click the “jump to recipe” at the top of the page to go directly to it.
Peter
Very tasty
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Carrie
Yum! I added jalapeño and the exact amount of cayenne and its pretty darn hot! Its also really good. I topped it with sliced avocado and some raspberry lime salsa. I will definitely make this again but omit the jalapeño next time!
✌❤
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!