15-Minute Quinoa With Chicken And Vegetables

Need some new healthy dinner ideas to make this week? Try this quick quinoa with chicken and vegetables recipe! Ready in 15 minutes, in one skillet and packed with vegetables like kale, arugula, tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini, this healthy leftover quinoa and chicken dinner is gluten-free and absolutely delicious.

One-Skillet Quinoa And Chicken Dinner

Best things in life are the ones you don’t plan for. Like this simple quick one skillet quinoa and chicken recipe. Full of vegetables and protein, it’s:

• healthy
• packed with flavor
• quick and easy
• delicious
• super filling

I’m so glad I took my camera and shot the video and the images for this meal, because as it turns out – it has become one of my favorite dishes this year. I hope you try it and enjoy it too!

Healthy Chicken And Quinoa Skillet Ingredients

I was making this healthy quinoa with chicken skillet at the end of the week and guess what was in my fridge? A lot of leftovers and some vegetables I needed to use up. Feel free to change things up and use vegetables that you have at home.

Some examples of vegetables that would also do well in this skillet are carrots, spinach, asparagus, bell peppers, thinly chopped broccoli or cauliflower…Here’s the list of ingredients I originally used:

• Leftover quinoa. Using cooked quinoa will really speed things up here!
• Leftover chicken. Chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs will work, but use whatever you have.
• Vegetables. I used arugula, kale, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes.
• Flavors. Garlic, crushed red pepper and pesto bring this dish to the next level.
• Pitted olives and some cheese. For some saltiness and cheesiness! You can use whatever
• Salt and olive oil. To bring the whole meal together.

How To Make This Quinoa & Chicken Skillet

The process is pretty simple and quick. You basically chop the vegetables and the chicken and put everything one after another in a non-stick pan and cover it with a lid from time to time.

At the end you stir in some cheese and freshly minced garlic, because who doesn’t love garlic? So here are the steps:

1. Add olive oil and the chopped tomato to a non-stick pan, cook at medium-high and cover with a lid.
2. Add in the chicken and one garlic clove. Cover again, then stir in the chopped zucchini and cooked eggplant.
3. Stir in the pesto and quinoa. Add some salt and water if needed. Cover with a lid and let the meal cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Next stir in the kale, arugula and olives. Add some crushed pepper and cover with a lid again for 2-3 more minutes.
5. Add the rest of the garlic and stir in the shredded cheese.

That’s it, your quick and easy dinner is done and it’s SO good!

How To Store

If you have any leftovers of this quinoa and chicken skillet, make sure to store in the fridge in a closed airtight container. This recipe will stay good for about 2-3 days and you will need to reheat before serving.

Meal Prep For Variety

If you want to meal prep this recipe, you can do that too. However, I always find this type of meals taste best from scratch. To prepare you can cook the quinoa, chicken, and chop all vegetables except the tomatoes.

Preparing this way will give you the option to make other meals with the same ingredients.

You can switch flavors and use Indian spices or add in some tamari sauce and make it more like quinoa fried chicken.

More Easy Quinoa Recipes

Whatever you decide, I hope you love this quick and easy leftover chicken with quinoa recipe as much as I did. If you’ve got even more leftovers, check out these other healthy recipes:

• 15-Minute Chicken Quinoa Fried Rice
• Avocado and Quinoa Salad
• Tomato Basil Quinoa Risotto

15-Minute Quinoa With Chicken And Kale

Yield: 3

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Try this quinoa with chicken skillet recipe if you need new quick healthy dinner ideas! Ready in 15 minutes and packed with vegetables like kale, arugula, tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini, this healthy leftover quinoa and chicken dinner is gluten-free and absolutely delicious.

Print

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked
• 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup arugula, chopped
• 1 ½ cup kale, chopped
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ cup olives, pitted
• ½ zucchini, chopped
• ½ eggplant, cooked (optional)
• 1 tbsp pesto
• 1 big tomato, chopped
• 2/3 cup shredded cheese
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt

Instructions

1. Add olive oil and the chopped tomato to a non-stick pan, cook at medium high and cover with a lid.
2. Add in the chicken and one garlic clove and cover again for 2 minutes. Next stir in the chopped zucchini and cooked eggplant.
3. Add the pesto, some salt, quinoa and ¼ cup of water. Cover with a lid and let the meal cook like this for 2-3 minutes.
4. Next stir in the kale, arugula and olives. Add some crushed pepper and cover with a lid again for 2-3 more minutes.
5. Add the rest of the garlic and stir in the shredded cheese. Turn the heat off - your easy weeknight dinner is ready!

Notes

Feel free to change ingredients and use up the non-starchy vegetables available to you: carrots, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, bell peppers would all be great here.

Nutrition Information

Yield 3 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 439Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 69mgSodium 608mgCarbohydrates 32gFiber 7gSugar 6gProtein 23g