Incredibly flavorful Peruvian style quinoa fried rice. A healthy stir-fry filled with fresh vegetables, chicken, eggs and delicious quinoa. It’s the perfect recipe for meal prep!
The ingredients
Most ingredients:
Quinoa – my favorite way to cook quinoa is in the Instant Pot but if you don’t have one I have a complete tutorial on How to cook quinoa in all the different methods.
Chicken – to make your quinoa fried rice vegetarian you can simply replace the chicken with cooked chickpeas. Equally delicious.
Egg – the egg pancake cut into pieces is an absolute must. It’s the best part of the recipe! Do not substitute or omit it.
Vegetables – I love using carrot and bell pepper for this recipe, but the sky is the limit here. You can safely use celery, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower…
Flavor donors:
Spring onion – if you can’t find nice green and fresh spring onions you can also use 2 tablespoons of any other onion you have on hand. To sprinkle some greenery at the end, you can use cilantro instead if you like.
Garlic & Ginger – these MUST be in the recipe. They are the ones that give more flavor to the recipe. Fresh will always be better than dried.
Aji Amarillo Paste – this is a slightly spicy Peruvian yellow pepper and what makes this recipe unique and amazing. It’s not always easy to get your hands on it but if you live in the US you can find it here (affiliate link): Yellow pepper.
I am willow – for a gluten-free alternative you can use Tamari or Coconut Aminos.
And that’s how you want to chop everything up for your quinoa fried rice. Since quinoa is quite small, you’ll want to really take your time cutting it up. You want to end up taking a full spoon or fork and have a little bit of everything in there.
Frequent questions
Can you substitute quinoa for rice in any recipe?
In most recipes, you can easily substitute quinoa for rice. I’m not one of those people who believe that rice is the devil. I love rice and think it can be part of a healthy diet. This is my favorite rice cooking method.
However, it’s impossible to deny that a cup of quinoa is more nutritious than a cup of white rice. So if you’re looking to add more nutrients to your diet, using quinoa instead of white rice in a “fried rice” recipe is always a good idea.
If you want to make this low-carb recipe, check out this Cauliflower Fried Rice.
How long can I keep quinoa fried rice?
This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It is also suitable for freezing although best only refrigerated due to the egg.
That means it’s perfect for meal prep! Divide the entire recipe among 4 meal prep containers and pack lunch for most of the workweek.
Quinoa fried rice
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ingredients
- 1.5 cup Quinoa
- 0.5 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon avocado oil
- 10 ounce boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 4 egg
- 1 Red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 2 carrots
- 2 spring onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 Tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 Tablespoon Yellow pepper
- sea salt
- pepper
- I am willow
Instructions
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Add 1.5 cups quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and 1.5 cups water to the Instant Pot and stir until all the seeds are submerged in the water. Add lid, turn valve to seal position and set to 1 minute on high pressure. Then let the pressure release naturally.
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Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet over medium heat and while heating, cut the chicken thighs into cubes. Once the pan is hot, add a drizzle of avocado oil and then fry the cubed chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Season with sea salt and pepper right after adding the chicken to the pan.
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While the chicken is cooking, you can cut the vegetables into small cubes and then set them aside. And slice the spring onion and finely chop the garlic and ginger. Set aside the dark green part of the spring onion for garnish and add the white and light green part to the garlic and ginger.
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Add 4 eggs to a bowl, season lightly with sea salt and pepper, and beat until well blended.
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The chicken should now be cooked through. Remove it from the pan and set it aside. Add the beaten eggs to the pan with all the pan juices from the chicken and cook as if you were cooking a pancake. 2-3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook another minute or two on the other.
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Remove the egg pancake from the pan and set it aside. Add some of the chicken juice accumulated in the bowl where you set aside the chicken to the pan, then add the sliced white part of the spring onion, the minced garlic and ginger to the pan, as well as the ají amarillo and mix – fry for about 1 minute. Then add the rest of the chopped vegetables and stir-fry until bright in color.
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Cut the egg pancake into small pieces and add it to the cooked quinoa. Add the chicken and vegetables as well. Season with soy sauce and mix well.
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Sprinkle with the sliced dark green part of the spring onion and enjoy!
