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Quinoa, chicken and vegetables are cooked in a creamy tomato sauce and topped with cheese to make a delicious Chicken Quinoa Bake
There's something about baked dishes that my kids always love - probably the gooey cheese topping. Pasta bakes are always a popular choice, but gnocchi bake and quinoa bakes are just as much of a hit in our house.
Why Chicken Quinoa Bake is a Great Family Dish
- Make-Ahead: Prepare this dish in the morning or evening before and pop in the oven when needed. This avoids the stress of preparing a meal when the kids are hungry, tired and grumpy.
- Easy to Adapt: This recipe is pretty flexible. Mix up the veggies and miss out the chicken, depending on what you have available or to suit your family's tastes or dietary needs.
- Kid-Friendly: Children usually enjoy baked cheesy dishes and so this recipe is perhaps a good way to introduce quinoa to kids that are a little unsure of new foods. As the chicken is shredded it is also a brilliant dish for those kids that don't like, or struggle with, big chunks of meat.
Chicken Quinoa Bake Ingredients (with alternative suggestions)
- Quinoa: In this recipe, white quinoa is used. It has the most delicate flavour and cooks up fluffier than other varieties of quinoa. You could replace with tri-colour quinoa but I would not recommend using only red or black quinoa in this dish.
- Onion: Added for flavour and goes unnoticed in the dish.
- Celery: Added for flavour
- Red Bell Pepper (Capsicum): Adds sweetness and extra veggie goodness (can be missed out if preferred)
- Garlic: Adds flavour
- Dried Italian Herb: Added for flavour, can be omitted or replaced with dried oregano.
- Passata: Can be replaced with canned crushed/chopped tomatoes if preferred.
- Cream Cheese: Adds flavour and makes the sauce lovely and creamy.
- Peas: Just throwing in another veggie, can be replaced with veggie of choice.
- Chicken: This recipe uses shredded chicken. Many young children don't like big chunks of chicken but are happy with shredded chicken. You can replace with sauteed chicken chunks or miss it out for a vegetarian option.
- Cheese: A mix of mozzarella and cheddar is used for a cheesy topping. Mozarella melts really well and has that nice stretch. You can replace the cheddar with other cheeses such as Gruyere, Monterey Jack, Colby, Provolone & Tasty. A little grated parmesan will also add good flavour.
- Seasoning: Taste and season the sauce before assembling the bake. (Do not season if feeding a baby / young child)
How to Make Chicken Quinoa Bake
- Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium/high heat. Add the onion and celery, reduce the heat and cook until softened. (around 4 mins)
- Add the garlic and bell pepper (capsicum) and cook for a further 2 mins.
- Add the passata, cream cheese and herbs, stir until the cheese is dissolved and then allow to simmer for 5 mins. Taste and season accordingly. (do not add salt if serving to a baby)
- Add cooked quinoa, chicken and peas and stir until combined. Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the grated cheese on top.
- Bake until bubbling and all the cheese is melted (approx. 25 min).
Storage and Reheating Instructions
- Refrigeration: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days.
- To reheat leftovers you can use a microwave to warm, add a little more cheese on top and then place under the grill (broiler) until topping is bubbly. Alternatively, you can place in the oven (covered in foil) at 190C/375F until hot throughout.
- Freezing: Prepare the dish but do not bake. Cover and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then bake as per the recipe.
Other Quinoa Dishes You Make Like
- Sweet and Sour Quinoa Balls
- Sweetcorn and Quinoa Fritters
- Quinoa Crusted Chicken Nuggets
- Spanish Style Quinoa
Have you tried this recipe? I love receiving your feedback, please rate and leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @healthylittlefoodies
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Chicken and Quinoa Bake
Quinoa, chicken and vegetables cooked in a creamy tomato sauce and topped with cheese.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Serves:6
Hover over "serves" value to reveal recipe scaler
Equipment
- Large frying pan
- Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 175g (1 cup) Quinoa
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 1 Celery Stalk finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Garlic minced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper (Capsicum) finely chopped
- 500g (2 cups) Passata
- ½ teaspoon Italian Mixed Dried Herbs
- 100g (½ cup) Cream Cheese
- 250g (2 cups) Cooked Shredded Chicken
- 135g (1 cup) Frozen peas
- 50g (½ cup) Cheddar Cheese grated
- 50g (½ cup) Mozzarella grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170c / 350F/ Gas 3
- Cook the quinoa according to the pack instructions and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium/high heat. Add the onion and celery, reduce the heat and cook until softened. (around 4 mins)
- Add the garlic and bell pepper (capsicum) and cook for a further 2 mins.
- Add the passata, cream cheese and herbs, stir until the cheese is dissolved and then allow to simmer for 5 mins. Taste and season accordingly. (do not add salt if serving to a baby)
- Add the quinoa, chicken and peas and stir until combined. Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the grated cheese on top.
- Bake until bubbling and all the cheese is melted (approx. 25 min).
Recipe Notes
QUINOA
175g (1 cup) of uncooked quinoa is equivalent to 380g (2.5 cups) of cooked quinoa. You can use white quinoa or tri-colour quinoa.
STORAGE:
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days. To reheat leftovers you can use a microwave to warm, add a little more cheese on top and then place under the grill (broiler) until topping is bubbly. Alternatively, you can place in the oven (covered in foil) at 190C/375F until hot throughout.
- To freeze, prepare the dish but do not bake. Cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then bake as per the recipe.
Nutritional facts
Calories: 379kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 222mg | Potassium: 804mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1629IU | Vitamin C: 45mg | Calcium: 165mg | Iron: 4mg
*This post was first published Feb 2016. It has been updated with more recipe information, new images and process step images. The recipe remains the same.
Jessi
Hey! How would i substitute the chicken for a vegetarian option?
Amy
Hi Jessi, you can just skip the chicken 🙂
Hayley
Very yummy recipe and easy to cook! Thanks for sharing so many delicious recipes that the whole family can enjoy.
Amy
Thanks Hayley, I'm so happy you are enjoying the site 🙂
Rachel
Clean plates from my kiddos. I switched the celery and red pepper for carrots and courgette because that's what I happened to have in the fridge. Certainly a hit in my house!
Amy
Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to rate and comment, Rachel 🙂
Jenn LeBlanc
My 10,5 month old loved it and so did mom and dad! Made it without celery bc I didn't have any and turned out great!
Amy
Thanks so much Jenn 🙂 Glad it was a hit all round
Louise
This is probably a silly question but is that 175g of quinoa pre cooking? I am hoping to cheat a bit and use pre cooked quinoa but unsure how much to use
Amy
Hi Louise, I'm so sorry for the late reply. The weights are before cooking. 1 cup of uncooked quinoa yields around 3 cups, hope this helps if you wish to use pre-cooked quinoa.
Sasha
Hi Amy,
My kid doesn't eat cheese (yes, I know!) and I'm wondering if the bake would work without cream cheese? Thank you
Amy
HI Sasha, I think it would bake but may lack a little in flavour and won't have a "topping" without the cheese. You could try adding a little white sauce and breadcrumbs on the top. Let me know if you try it and how it turned out.
Chaslynn
This may be a silly question, but is the pasta cooked before adding in?
Amy
Hi Chaslynn, there is no pasta in this dish. You could the quinoa before adding. You may have read passata as pasta?
Zoe
Hey could you freeze this? Xx
Amy
Hi Zoe, I haven't tried myself but I'd say it would freeze well.
Gemma
I froze it after baking and it was all good.
Shiela
Do you think portions of this could be frozen? Would you do that before or after baking?
Amy
Hi Shiela, I'd freeze before baking. 🙂
Amy
Hi Shiela, I'd freeze before baking ?
Caroline
Sounds great - hoping it'll tempt my previously great eater into eating meat again. How do you cook the chicken to make it shred successfully?
Amy
Hi caroline, I often stick some thighs in the slow cooker and then shred them up. They just fall apart and my son prefers thigh meat. I've also done breasts in the oven and shredded when cool.
Amy
Hope you enjoy!
Anja
Yay, it was a success! My two-year-old liked it, and so did I 🙂
Anja
I definitely have to try this for my little cheese monster 😉
Amy
Great! I hope it is a success!
Amy
Great! I hope it is a success!