Incredibly flavorful Peruvian-Style Quinoa Fried “Rice”. A healthy stir-fry loaded with fresh vegetables, chicken, egg, and delicious quinoa. It’s the perfect meal prep recipe!
The ingredients
The bulk of the ingredients:
Quinoa – my favorite way to cook quinoa is in the Instant Pot but if you don’t have one I have a full tutorial on How To Cook Quinoa all different methods.
Chicken – to make your quinoa fried rice vegetarian you can simply replace the chicken by cooked chickpeas. Equally delicious.
Egg – the egg pancake cut up into pieces is an absolute must. It’s the best part of the recipe! Don’t replace or omit it.
Veggies – I love using carrot and bell pepper for this recipe but the sky is the limit here. You can easily use celery, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower…
The flavor givers:
Spring onion – if you can’t find beautifully green and fresh spring onions you can also use 2 Tbsp of any other onion you have on hand. To sprinkle some green on top at the end you can use cilantro instead if you like.
Garlic & Ginger – these MUST be in the recipe. They are what give the recipe the most flavor. Fresh will always be better than dried.
Ají Amarillo Paste – this is a lightly 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): Ají Amarillo.
Soy Sauce – for a gluten-free alternative you can use Tamari or Coconut Aminos.
And this is how you want to chop everything for your quinoa fried rice. Since quinoa is pretty tiny, you’ll want to really take your time chopping. You want to end up taking one spoon or fork full and have a little bit of everything on there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you replace rice with quinoa in any recipe?
In most recipes, you can easily replace quinoa for rice. I’m not one of those people that believe 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 nutrient-dense than a cup of white rice. So if you are 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 recipe low-carb, check out this Cauliflower Fried Rice.
How long can I store quinoa fried rice?
This recipe can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. It is also suitable for freezing though better just refrigerated because of the egg.
That means it’s perfect for meal prep! Divide the whole recipe amongst 4 meal prep containers and you have lunch for almost the whole work week.
Quinoa Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup quinoa
- 0.5 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 10 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 4 eggs
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 2 carrots
- 2 spring onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp grated ginger
- 1 Tbsp ají amarillo
- sea salt
- pepper
- soy sauce
Instructions
- Add 1.5 cups quinoa, 1/2 tsp sea salt, and 1.5 cups water to the Instant Pot and stir until all the seeds are submerged in the water. Add the lid, turn the valve to the sealing position, and set to 1 minute on high pressure. Then let the pressure release naturally.
- In the meantime, preheat a large pan over medium heat and while heating cut chicken thighs into bite-size 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.
- While the chicken is cooking you can chop the veggies into small dice and then set aside. And slice the spring onion and finely mince the garlic and ginger. Set the dark green part of the spring onion aside for garnishing and add the white and light green part to the garlic and ginger.
- Add 4 eggs to a bowl, season lightly with sea salt and pepper, and whisk until well combined.
- The chicken should be cooked through by now. Remove it from the pan and set it aside. Add the whisked eggs to the pan with all the chicken pan juices and cook as if cooking a pancake. 2-3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook another minute or two on the other.
- Remove the egg pancake from the pan and set aside. Add a little bit of the chicken juices accumulated in the bowl you set the chicken aside back into the pan, then add the sliced white part of the spring onion, and the minced garlic and ginger to the pan, as well as ají amarillo and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Then add the rest of the chopped veggies and stir-fry until bright in color.
- Cut the egg pancake into bite-size pieces and add to the cooked quinoa. Add the chicken and veggies, too. Season with soy sauce and mix well.
- Sprinkle with the sliced dark green part of the spring onion and enjoy!
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