Fast, Easy, Healthy Chicken Quinoa Recipe
Easy meal to throw together out of pantry staples. You can forget about it while it's cooking and come back to a complete meal.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Onion diced
- 2 cloves Garlic finely diced
- 1/4 cup Celery diced - about 1 stalk
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 1/2 lb Chicken breasts or Chicken Tenderloins
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- Couple Handfuls Baby Carrots (about 15 - or another vegetable your family likes that takes awhile to boil)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Stir together first 7 ingredients (prior to chicken breasts) in a 9x13 baking pan. You could also put them in an instantpot.
- Add Chicken and push it into the liquid.
- Season the chicken with the salt and pepper.
- Add the baby carrots around the chicken to the top of the liquid.
- Bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes. If your chicken is thawed, it might only take 30 minutes, if it was frozen, it could take about 50. I cook it until the chicken is 180 degrees in the thickest point, and the quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid. If using the instantpot, I cook chicken breasts on the poultry setting for 12 minutes. 10 minutes for tenderloins.
- Let it rest about 5 minutes on the counter to finish absorbing the liquid
- I also sprinkle a bit of Hymilayan Pink Salt on it as I am serving it. I found that it draws a bit of extra flavor out of it.
Notes
You can also make this recipe with rice instead of the quinoa. I prefer Jasmine, but whatever rice you use, adjust the amount of Chicken broth to the amount of liquid the rice needs to cook 1 cup.
If you want to make it in the InstantPot, follow the directions above and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes for Chicken Breasts or 10 minutes for Chicken Tenderloins. Let sit 5 minutes when done before releasing the pressure. (If in a time crunch, can release pressure right away and it is fine. Waiting helps it to be a little more tender.)