Mexican Beef Quinoa

Quinoa (keen-wah, I said it wrong for SO long so it's OK for you to admit it too!) is a grain of exceptionally high nutritional value, so much so that last year the UN declared 2013 as "International year of quinoa." It contains antioxidants, anti-inflammatries, beneficial fats, it's high in fibre, zinc, folate, amino acids.. the list goes on. 

Quinoa is very versatile. It can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, in breakfasts (see my quinoa and chia granola), lunches, and dinners.

I wanted to do something a little bit different with quinoa. Most of the time, when you see quinoa in savory dishes it's in a salad of some kind, I wanted to use it in the way you would expect to use rice. This was a really easy dish to put together as well as it all just went into one pan.

Mexican Beef Quinoa

Serves 4

400 g beef mince
3 cloves garlic, finely grated or crushed
1 onion, finely diced
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
1 Cup uncooked, rinsed quinoa
1 1/2 Cups beef stock
400 g can diced tomatoes
400 g can red kidney beans, drained
Salt and Pepper
2 Spring onions, sliced


1. Heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the beef and brown, add garlic, onion, and chilli and cook for about 3 minutes.

2. Stir in the quinoa, stock, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked.

3. Season with salt and pepper, serve topped with spring onion, and cheese and sour cream if desired.