Broccoli Quinoa Chicken Casserole is a simple recipe that needs to be added to your New Year menu plan. Whether you’re looking to change your diet, lose weight, or get healthy, this recipe is full of healthy ingredients that will inspire you to eat better without sacrificing on taste. There’s nothing better than a quick and easy dinner recipe for when you don’t have a lot of time to cook, and this recipe definitely fits the bill.
I have a lot of recipes that I want to experiment with using quinoa. I love the quinoa grain because it’s so versatile, healthy and easy to prepare. Quinoa has become one of my ultimate favorite ingredients to cook with, needless to say, it’s the new popular grain that all health foodies are using.
When I made my Broccoli Quinoa Chicken Casserole I wasn’t to sure that it would come out this good. I had never baked quinoa before, so I was a bit skeptical. Luckily it came out delicious because I really hate wasting food.
The cheese in this dish is everything and I used almond cheese…don’t tell my kids! My kids love cheese, and so do I, but I tricked them this time with almond cheese. Also, I think the pesto in this broccoli quinoa casserole was just genius. I love pesto and I had a little bit leftover from the weekend so I figured I throw it in the mix. I mean, it couldn’t hurt right?
The only thing I left out was garlic, which I forgot. You can add some if you like. We love garlic as well so next time I will add it for sure. I cooked my broccoli in the microwave for about 3-4 minutes prior to adding it to the quinoa casserole. Since it will not be baking for too long in the oven I found it to be important to cook it just a tad before. It came out just perfect in the end.
This Broccoli Quinoa Chicken Casserole was extremely easy to put together and taste great!
If you haven’t used Quinoa, start now!
Ali in the Valley
Broccoli Quinoa Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
2 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
4 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable stock (or water)
2 tbsp pesto sauce
1/2 tsp celtic salt
2 tsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
2 cups fresh organic spinach
12 oz skim mozzarella cheese (I used 16oz ( I used almond cheese))
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
12 oz fresh broccoli florets
3 green onions (chopped)
2 to 3 boneless (skinless thin-sliced chicken breasts (or use pre-cooked chicken))
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- In a 9×13 baking rectangular dish place the quinoa and green onions. On the meantime, place the broccoli in a large bowl and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes. Set aside. My microwave is not very powerful so this is how long I did it for without the broccoli getting mushy. If you have a powerful microwave you may need just 3 minutes as it will continue to bake in the oven for about 5 minutes
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the skillet. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces; set aside. Or use pre-cooked leftover chicken
- In a large mixing bowl, with a wire whisk, mix the vegetable stock, pesto, arrowroot powder and salt. Heat mixture until boil. You can do this on your stove top or microwave. I used my microwave
- Add the vegetable stock to the quinoa followed by the spinach, cooked chicken, parmesan and 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Take the quinoa casserole out of the oven and mix in the broccoli. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the quinoa and broccoli and place back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. If you like you can add more parmesan cheese over the top as well
- I place my casserole under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to brown the top but this is just optional. Serve while still warm
