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Mexican Quinoa Casserole! Made with black beans, chicken and array of vegetables, this is tasty dish is one the entire family will love!
This post is sponsored by S&W Beans as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Look no further for your favorite healthy Mexican recipe because I’m handing it to you today in the form of Mexican Quinoa Casserole!
If there’s one food I truly love, it’s Mexican. Actually, I worked in Mexico for two years crossing the border between Texas and Mexico. That was during 9/11 timeframe when border crossing was insane. Seriously, a two hour wait to get home at night. But those were the two best years of my life. So much fun and I experienced many new things included good food!
Instead of dealing with the insane border crossing line every night, we ate out in Mexico after work, and did other things to this day I have no idea how I survived. Haha! That’s a story for another day. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time eating delicious Mexican food!
But that food wasn’t always healthy. Tortillas, chips, fried. Oh, my! Good things in moderation but not all every night.
So today I’m showing you how Mexican can be done healthy and incredible flavor with this Mexican Quinoa Casserole. A dish the whole family is sure to love!
Even better, this Mexican dish is a nutrition powerhouse! It’s loaded with a rainbow of fresh vegetables because I don’t know about you, but I can always use more of those snuck into my food. Ground chicken for lean protein, quinoa for a healthy carbohydrate, and black beans!
The real star of the show are the black beans though. Not only are they high in protein, but also carbohydrates which are made up with a high amount of fiber. Why is fiber important? Well…let me tell you.
When I work with one-on-one weight loss clients, I have many of them track their food. When I review their food, I notice most people aren’t eating enough fiber. High fiber diets are shown to help with weight loss and improve overall health. They’re an tasty, healthy and versatile addition to meals that we often forget about.
Mexican Quinoa Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken, turkey or ground beef
- 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
- 15 oz black beans, 1 can
- 15 oz diced tomatoes, with juices (1 can)
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 tablespoons red onion, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional toppings
- Mexican cheese blend, avocado, cabbage or shredded lettuce, salsa, Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bring a large skillet to medium heat. Add ground chicken, bell peppers, red onion, salt and seasonings. Stir to combine, breaking up the meat as it browns.
- Once browned, turn off the heat. Stir in the tomatoes with juices. Then stir in the black beans and uncooked quinoa. Not you will not need to add water for the quinoa as the juices from the meat, vegetables & tomatoes will be enough to cook it.
- Transfer the contents from the skillet into a 8×8 casserole dish.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, serve immediately topping with cabbage, avocado, salsa, cheese and Greek yogurt as desired.
Notes
- 1 serving is ~ 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my nutrition clients.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What I Used For The Recipe
Have you tried this with rice instead of quinoa?
I haven’t, but I’m sure it could be done.
This recipe is really good, and filling!
Hope you like it!
I used to do something like this ALL the time. It was great for meal prep. I need to bring it back. Quinoa is one of the few healthier carbs I can get Vegas to eat. HA!
It’s one of the few I like to eat too. I can’t do too many why my thyroid problems, but I love them! I’ll eat Vegas’ quinoa anytime. 🙂
Looks delicious! I actually way over the recommended act. of fiber and had to cut down as it was causing some issues. I love Mexican flavored dishes!
Yikes! Yes fiber’s good, but has consequences when you get too much. Glad you got that under control!
Looks beautiful, and you can never go wrong with this combination of Mexican flavors. Love finding new ways to enjoy quinoa and beans, too!
Thanks! It’s not a combo I usually think of doing, but you know what? I’m going to be doing it a lot more. It was so good!