Chicken Quinoa Bake

Quinoa, chicken and vegetables are cooked in a creamy tomato sauce and topped with cheese to make a delicious Chicken Quinoa Bake

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

1. 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)
2. Add the garlic and bell pepper (capsicum) and cook for a further 2 mins.
3. 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)
4. Add cooked quinoa, chicken and peas and stir until combined. Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the grated cheese on top.
5. 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

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4.72 from 7 votes

Author: Amy

Chicken and Quinoa Bake

Quinoa, chicken and vegetables cooked in a creamy tomato sauce and topped with cheese.

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Serves:6

Hover over "serves" value to reveal recipe scaler

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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 Information is a ROUGH guide only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator. 

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

Course:Main Course

Cuisine:Western

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*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.