Since making the Spinach & Lemon Quinoa Bake in December, I’ve been inspired to create more oven-cooked quinoa dishes. And today I’m pleased to share my latest: this vegan oven-baked Mexican quinoa casserole.
Recipe featured on
February 23, 2014 — 22 Easy One-Pot Meals With No Meat
Why I love this Mexican quinoa casserole
- It comes together easily from every day pantry staples
- It can be made in one-pot
- It’s freezer-friendly
- It’s naturally gluten-free
If you have a stove-top-to-oven dish (like this gorgeous Le Creuset one), then this is a one-pot meal. If you’re working with a limited kitchen (like me), then you’ll have to fry up the onion and garlic in a frying pan before tossing them into to your casserole dish.
Don’t worry about pre-cooking the quinoa. Simply fry-up the onion and garlic, and toss everything (including the dry quinoa) into the oven.
To make it more colorful (and even healthier), I like to stir a few handfuls of baby spinach into the casserole when it comes out of the oven. Pretty + healthy for the win!
I’m so excited by the prospect of just tossing everything into one pot and letting it cook-up in the oven. My next step will be to reconfigure my Quinoa Chili recipe so that it uses the same technique!
This is good straight-up, but pretty darn amazing topped with a dollop of vegan sour cream, diced avocado, and fresh cilantro. You could also melt some vegan cheese (such as Daiya) on top. Mmm!
Recipe Updates – Oven-Baked Mexican Quinoa Casserole
September 16, 2013 – A kind reader who runs N=1 Lifestyle just reminded me that this recipe is in fact, freezer-friendly! I had actually discovered this a few weeks ago myself, but had forgotten to update the post. So feel-free to freeze this baby BEFORE adding the spinach and other toppings, and then just defrost and reheat it when you’re ready to eat it.
February 23, 2014 – This recipe made Buzzfeed’s roundup: 22 Easy One-Pot Meals With No Meat!
More Mexican recipes you’ll love:
- Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Vegan Taco Salad with Homemade Tortilla Bowls
- Broccoli Guacamole
- Avocado Mango Black Bean Salad / Dip
- All my vegan Mexican recipes
Vegan Oven-Baked Mexican Quinoa Casserole
Fry up the onion and garlic, then toss everything in a casserole dish and let it cook in the oven for 1 hour. Too easy! Vegan / Gluten-Free / Nut-Free / Low-Carb
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 70 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main, Side
- Cuisine: Mexican, Southwest, Tex-Mex
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 15oz/400g cans diced tomatoes, with liquid
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp chilli powder (more if you like things spicy)
- Salt & freshly ground pepper
- 1 15oz/400g can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 311 g (11 oz) can corn kernels, with liquid
- 3 cups baby spinach
- Toppings of choice: vegan sour cream, avocado, cilantro, vegan cheese, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium frying pan (or stove-top-safe 2.8 litre/3 quart casserole dish). Add onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; and transfer to oven-safe casserole dish if not already using one.
- Add quinoa, diced tomatoes (with juice), water, nutritional yeast, tomato paste (or ketchup), and spices. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- COVER and place in oven and set timer for 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove casserole from oven and stir in drained beans and corn (with liquid). If the mixture looks dry, add a half cup of water.
- Return to oven WITH LID and set timer for another 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove casserole from oven and stir in spinach. It will wilt from the heat.
- Top with sour cream, diced avocado and/or cilantro and serve.
- IF FREEZING: Make full recipe but leave-out the spinach and toppings. Let cool and freeze in airtight container(s). To serve: defrost fully, lightly reheat (in microwave or on stovetop), stir in spinach and add toppings of choice.
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