This easy quinoa and kale recipe is perfect for a quick and healthy vegan lunch or a side dish to go with any meal! You can whip up this dish in just 1 pot in about 15 minutes. It tastes great warm or served cold as a quinoa salad!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's super quick and easy!
- It's Gluten-free, vegan, and soy-free clean eating!
- This dish is packed with healthy mushrooms, kale, and quinoa of course.
- It's Great for meal prep, easy weeknight meals, or packed lunches.
- This is delicious warm or cold!
Quinoa just seems to go well with kale, and adding mushrooms to the mix makes the combo even more delicious. Quinoa can be a little boring on its own, but it has a delicious nutty flavor and interesting texture that you don't get from other grains.
This is one of my family's favorites! We add tofu or vegan chicken strips to make it a meal or simply serve it as a side. It keeps well in the fridge and can be served hot or cold as a quinoa kale salad, so it's perfect for meal prep too!
❔How to cook quinoa
There are plenty of recipes out there for cooking quinoa, but I find many of them to be too wet. Especially for recipes like this one where you fry the quinoa in a skillet after it has cooked, you want a light and fluffy quinoa. I cook my quinoa with a 1:1.25 ratio - so, add 1 cup of quinoa to 1 1/4 cup water or broth. This recipe from The Pioneer Woman always comes out with the dryer fluffy texture that is ideal for skillet quinoa recipes.
✨ Make this easier
If you don't have the time or don't want to cook the quinoa yourself, many grocery stores sell pre-cooked quinoa in the frozen food section, usually near the frozen vegetables. Aldi sells frozen pre-cooked quinoa and kale made by Season's Choice that is delicious! Costco also sells a similar frozen quinoa and kale mix too. This will allow you to skip the quinoa and kale prep and make this in just minutes!
🥄 Instructions
- Pre-cook quinoa by adding 1 cup of washed quinoa to 1 1/4 cup salted water or vegetable broth. Heat until boiling, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to sit for another 20 minutes. (This will yield 2 cups cooked quinoa).
- Slice mushrooms and wash and chop kale into small pieces.
- Saute mushrooms in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 3 minutes over medium heat.
- Wash and chop kale into small pieces. Rub the chopped kale with your hands until it becomes bright green and shiny.
- Toss in the kale and stir fry the kale with the mushrooms for another 2-3 minutes. (Omit this step if you are using frozen quinoa with kale already in it).
- Add the pre-cooked quinoa or a bag of frozen quinoa. (If using frozen quinoa and kale, omit the steps of cooking the quinoa and preparing the kale).
- Fry for another 5 minutes until the quinoa is fairly dry and gets slightly crispy.
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Make sure to use quinoa that is light and fluffy.
- Some recipes call for a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water when cooking. This will make quinoa that is very wet. This may be good in other recipes, but not when frying quinoa.
- Some frozen quinoa gets very wet when thawed. You can thaw it first and then squeeze out the water before adding it to the skillet.
📖 Variations
- Saute vegan chicken strips along with the mushrooms and kale for a more filling meal.
- Toss in some vegan pesto and cherry tomatoes towards the end of cooking for a burst of flavor and pretty color.
- Add crispy tofu on top for a delicious protein-packed meal.
- Top with green onions and/or toasted pine nuts for extra flavor
🍴 More easy weeknight meals
- Vegan Goulash
- Southwest Spicy Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Risotto
- Easy Vegan Stroganoff
- 15 Bean Soup
- Simple Vegan Tomato Pasta
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
Sauteed quinoa and kale with mushrooms.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup mushrooms washed and sliced
- 1 cup kale finely chopped
- 2 cups quinoa cooked (or replace with frozen pre-cooked quinoa)
- 2 tablespoons green onions chopped (optional for garnish)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
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Pre-cook quinoa by adding 1 cup of washed quinoa to 1 1/4 cup salted water or vegetable broth. Heat until boiling, then cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to sit for another 20 minutes. (This will yield 2 cups cooked quinoa).
-
Slice mushrooms and wash and chop kale into small pieces.
-
Saute mushrooms in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 3 minutes over medium heat.
-
Wash and chop kale into small pieces. Rub the chopped kale with your hands until it becomes bright green and shiny.
-
Toss in the kale and stir fry with the mushrooms for another 2-3 minutes.
-
Add the pre-cooked quinoa or a bag of frozen quinoa. (If using frozen quinoa and kale, omit the steps of cooking the quinoa and preparing the kale).
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Fry for another 5 minutes until the quinoa is fairly dry and slightly crispy. Salt to taste.
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Garnish with green onions and serve either hot or cold.
- Make sure to use quinoa that is light and fluffy.
- Some recipes call for a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water when cooking. This will make quinoa that is very wet. This may be good in other recipes, but not when frying.
- Some frozen quinoa gets very wet when thawed. You can thaw it first and then squeeze out the water.
Variations:
- Saute vegan chicken strips along with the mushrooms and kale for a more filling meal.
- Toss in some vegan pesto and cherry tomatoes towards the end of cooking for a burst of flavor.
- Add crispy tofu on top for a delicious protein-packed meal.
- Top with green onions and/or toasted pine nuts for extra flavor.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Leave a comment and starred review! I would love to hear from you!
I was so excited when I got your email and had all of the ingredients on hand to make this! I have made it 3 more times in the last week. I'm obsessed! Thanks so much for the recipe!
You're welcome Sarah! So happy that you like it! 🙂
Oh yes! This is right up my alley 🙂 Def giving this a try soon!
Oh how I love this recipe! Maybe it's because I love every single ingredient and it looks so easy. I will be pinning this and making it WITH TOFU!
Thanks Jules! It's delicious with tofu and can be a main meal that way and not just a side. Hope you love it as much as we do! 🙂