Healthy Quinoa Veggie Bowl

This Healthy Quinoa Veggie Bowl is the perfect wholesome lunch or dinner bowl. Fluffy quinoa simmered with hearty mushrooms, aromatic leeks, and then served with a hearty side of roasted vegetables. It’s the perfect recipe for seasonable produce any time of year. 

Quinoa has been a popular super food for several years now, but for good reason! It’s not only packed with nutrition, but hearty and versatile. In addition to using it in these veggie bowls, it can also be used to make a breakfast bowl, tater tots, stuffed peppers, chili, even burritos!

Why You’ll Love This Healthy Quinoa Veggie Bowl

• Perfect for the beginner cook. Learning how to cook a pot of quinoa from scratch is much easier and full-proof than it seems. If you’re a new chef or new to cooking plant-based recipes, this quinoa bowl is the perfect easy recipe. 
• Ideal for healthy lunches. ​Make yourself lunch bowls for the entire week in just 35 minutes! Simply cook and divide into individual lunch containers that are easy to grab on the go. 
• Very customizable. Just like this Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl and this Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Lime, this harvest bowl can be made with practically any veggies of choice. 

The Ingredients

Quinoa Medley

• Leeks: Use fresh leeks (and reserve additional leeks for the roasted veggies!).
• Mushrooms: Any type of mushrooms will work. I used cremini, but you can also use portobello, baby bella, shiitake, or white button mushrooms for a milder flavor. 
• Quinoa: I typically use white, red, or tri-color quinoa. Black quinoa will work, but is more difficult to find. 
• Spices: This quinoa bowl is simply spiced with paprika, turmeric, and black pepper. 
• Balsamic vinegar: A drizzle of balsamic vinegar adds depth of flavor and bold sweetness. Use additional balsamic vinegar drizzled on top of the final dish! 

Roasted Veggies

• Beets: Use a large, thinly sliced red beet or golden beet. Pickled Beets would also be great. 
• Asparagus: This recipe uses fresh asparagus, but can be a great recipe to make when repurposing Sautéed Asparagus. 
• Leeks: Freshly sautéed leeks add a sweet and mild onion flavor. 

Veggie Substitutions

This quinoa veggie bowl can be made with virtually any veggies of choice. Here are a few additional roasted vegetables to consider adding:

• Sweet potatoes
• Brussels sprouts
• Red peppers or green peppers
• Roasted cherry tomatoes
• Fresh spinach or other leafy greens
• Fresh herbs

Additional Add-ins

• Add a crunch: Try adding slivered almonds, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds.
• Add vegan cheese: Vegan feta cheese would be delicious! And if you like vegan cheese, make sure to try this Cheesy Quinoa Bowl.
• Drizzle with dressing: Change up the flavor with this Easy Miso Tahini Dressing or this Basil Salad Dressing.

How to Make This Healthy Quinoa Veggie Bowl

• 1) In a medium-sized pot, heat a tablespoon of oil until warmed through. Add the chopped leeks and sauté until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes more. 

• 2) Next, add the quinoa and water and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is fluffy and the water has been absorbed. 

• 3) While the quinoa simmers, prepare the additional veggies. In a cast iron skillet, heat a teaspoon of oil. Once warm, add your beet slices. Sprinkle them with sea salt and let cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until tender. Once cooked, transfer the beets to a plate and set aside. 

• 4) Next, snap the bottom 2-3″ off of the asparagus stalks and discard. Add the asparagus tops to the skillet and sprinkle with sea salt. Cover the pan, and let cook for 2-3 minutes, or until bright green and tender. Remove from the pan and set aside. 

• 5) Lastly, sauté additional leeks with a sprinkle of sea salt, cover, and let cook for 2-3 minutes, or until bright and fragrant.

• 6) Once the quinoa is fluffy, season with balsamic vinegar, sea salt, paprika, turmeric, and black pepper. Stir to combine, then serve immediately while warm with the pan-seared veggies. Drizzle with extra balsamic vinegar, if desired and enjoy! 

Recipe FAQs

Top Recipe Tips 

• Rinse the quinoa before cooking. If you’ve read my Guide to Quinoa, you may already know this tip. But if you’ve tried cooking quinoa before and found it bitter, it’s possible the saponins on the quinoa wasn’t fully removed before cooking. To help, make sure to wash the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer until it’s no longer foaming. This is a sign that the saponins have been removed! 
• Fluff the quinoa with a fork. ​Once the quinoa has absorbed all of the liquid and the grains are tender, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit, covered, for a few minutes. Then, fluff it with a fork to separate the grains. 
• Avoid opening the lid as the quinoa cooks. This will allow the steam to escape and can disrupt the cooking process. 

More Healthy Quinoa Recipes 

• Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl
• Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
• Southwest Quinoa Salad
• Vegan Lemon-Garlic Mediterranean Quinoa
• Quinoa Tater Tots
• Cozy Quinoa and Sweet Potato Chili

Photos by Alfonso Revilla