This Quinoa Fried Rice uses high-protein quinoa as a delicious alternative to rice! It’s packed with veggies and an easy way to eat a healthy meal.
This position was created in collaboration with ALDI. All opinions are ours.
do you like quinoa Great. So let’s do it Fried quinoa rice! Do you know the cozy and comforting goodness of fried rice? Garlic ginger flavored grains and scrambled egg bits are our ultimate comfort food here! So why not try a new version of the standard? Using quinoa instead of rice yields a high-protein version that’s a delicious alternative to rice. It’s easy to make and packed with veggies: making it an easy healthy meal idea. Oh: and it’s perfect for using up leftover quinoa. Let us begin!
Want it to taste like takeout? Try our best fried rice or shrimp fried rice.
Ingredients for fried quinoa rice
This quinoa fried rice recipe is a perfect way to say YES to healthy eating, especially since it looks like your favorite takeout meal! The old version of me, let’s call it Past Me, was all about avoiding bad food. I wouldn’t touch bread or pasta with a food stick of 10, and I went through an embarrassing episode of eating spray butter “because it had 0 calories.” But I quickly learned that there is a category of healthy foods that taste really good. that you would like Eat. Like this Quinoa Fried Rice, a healthy option with quinoa to pack in the plant-based protein.
Here are the ingredients you need for this Quinoa Fried Rice:
- Andean millet (one tag is best but not required)
- Green Onions
- yellow onion
- carrots
- Garlic & Ginger
- olive oil and kosher salt
- eggs
- Mixed Green
- soy pasture
Why Use Leafy Greens?
Most fried recipes don’t use baby lettuce. But when we loaded up the veggies, we said, why not? We throw handfuls of veggies in almost everything from soups and curries to sandwiches and pizzas. So why not toss some big handfuls of veggies into quinoa fried rice? We used a mixture of baby spinach, kale, and Swiss chard. It’s a perfect way to infuse more nutrients without even realizing it.
Start with day-old quinoa if possible!
The most basic fried rice adage is: use day-old rice. So for quinoa fried rice, it’s the same. Use day-old quinoa! Why is it necessary?
- Freshly cooked quinoa contains a lot of moisture. If you use fresh quinoa to make fried quinoa rice, it will clump up and become mushy.
- Day-old quinoa dries up. When you cook it, the grains stay separate and form that signature texture. For the best quinoa fried rice, make it with leftovers (refrigerate for up to 5 days) or cook one pot the night before.
- What if you don’t have day-old quinoa? Read on for a shortcut…
No quinoa for a day? Here’s a tip!
Don’t have cooked quinoa in your fridge? Don’t worry: we have a tip for you! Here’s what to do:
- Make the quinoa. Follow our master recipe: How to Make Quinoa or Instant Pot Quinoa.
- Spread on a baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes: Spread the freshly cooked quinoa on a rimmed baking sheet or tray: you’ll notice a lot of steam because it’s still hot. Place the tray in the freezer and freeze until the beans are cool to the touch, about 15-20 minutes.
Tips for eating green leafy vegetables!
Leafy greens like spinach, kale, and Swiss chard are super nutritious and easy to add to recipes. Here are some of our tips for eating leafy greens:
- Use baby greens or standard chopped greens: Cans of washed baby greens make it easy to access greens. You can also use standard sized leafy greens for the stem, just be sure to wash and then cut into bite-sized pieces.
- The green significantly decreases in size as it cooks. When fresh veggies are added, it seems impossible to fit in the pan. But boiling them for a few seconds will reduce them to a fraction of their bulk when fresh. Young leafy greens are more tender and therefore take less time to cook than standard sized leafy greens.
- Because the flavor of young leafy greens is bland when wilted, they usually take on the flavor of the dish rather than add their own flavor. Along with this Quinoa Fried Rice, we add a handful of veggies to almost everything: soup, sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese.
We got the ingredients for this quinoa fried rice recipe from ALDI. The mix of baby greens and organic quinoa in Quinoa Fried Rice comes from ALDI’s SimplyNature range. Check out ALDI say YES this year and get to work creating a lasting habit of healthy eating!
Looking for more fried rice recipes?
If you love this quinoa fried rice, you may enjoy these other fried rice recipes:
This Quinoa Fried Rice recipe is…
Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free. For vegans and vegetarians, skip the egg and load up on other filling proteins (like edamame, mentioned below).
This recipe is included in our 7 recipe meal plan for the coming week!
The description
This Quinoa Fried Rice uses high-protein quinoa as a delicious alternative to rice! It’s packed with veggies and an easy way to eat a healthy meal.
- 1 ½ cups uncooked SimplyNature organic quinoa, or 5 cups Quinoa cooked the day before
- 4 Green Onions
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 at 3 carrots (approx 1 cup diced)
- 4 large cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons SimplyNature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 SimplyNature* Organic Cage Free Brown Eggs
- 5 ounces (At 5 cups) SimplyNature Mixed Greens: kale, baby spinach, and chard (or chopped kale or chard)
- 4 tablespoons Fusia soy pasture or liquid amino acids
- Stir in sriracha and serve
- Edamame, to serve
- Cook (or use) quinoa Instant Pot Quinoa OR if you cooked quinoa, skip to step 2): Rinse the quinoa with a sieve under cold running water and drain completely. Place quinoa in a saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Stir once, then simmer, where the water is bubbling, until the water is completely absorbed (check by removing the quinoa with a fork to see if there is any water left), about 17-20 minutes. Remove from heat, cover the pan and let the quinoa steam for 5 minutes, then fluff the quinoa with a fork. Chill the quinoa by spreading it in a single layer on a baking sheet and freezing for 5-10 minutes. If you prepare ahead of time, refrigerate quinoa until ready to serve.
- Slice green onions; Reserve dark green portions for garnish. Chop the onion. Peel and cut carrots. Chop the garlic. Chop the ginger.
- In a very large pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and the white and light green parts of the scallions and sauté for about 3 minutes, then add the carrots and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add quinoa and salt and stir. Make a well in the quinoa, expose the pan and crack the eggs into the pan. Scramble the eggs and cook for a few minutes until tender, then stir into the quinoa (resist the urge to stir into the quinoa until done). Add the baby greens and continue to stir until completely wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in soy sauce and spring onions and mix. Taste and add additional salt if needed (we added an extra ¼ tsp since our soy sauce was low in sodium).
- If desired, drizzle with sriracha and/or additional soy sauce. Recommendation: Serve with Easy Edamame for a hearty meal.
- Category: garnish
- Method: Cook
- Kitchen: Asian
Keywords: Fried quinoa rice
Last update: June 2020
