How To Cook Quinoa

Quinoa is AMAZING.

Quinoa is a grain that can be used as an alternative to rice or cous-cous, and is cooked in a similar way. It has a low glycemic index, meaning that it releases its energy slowly and prevents the blood sugar spike associated with starchy foods such as rice. You can use quinoa in salads, with curries and you can even used flaked or puffed quinoa as a breakfast cereal! It’s a versatile super-grain.
How To Cook Quinoa

Basically, cook it like rice…

  • Quinoa cooks very much like rice, and has a similar range of uses.
  • The same procedure is used for all quinoa colours: white, red and black.
  • The procedure below makes for a light, fluffy quinoa.
  • The quinoa will steam in its own water, and will not require draining.

This is how we cook it, which is exactly how we cook rice. You cannot go wrong if you treat it just like rice.

  1. Use one cup of quinoa per person.
  2. Wash the quinoa thoroughly, as it sometimes has a bitter coating.
  3. Place the quinoa in a saucepan with a fitting lid.
  4. Cover the quinoa with boiling water, 2 inches above the level of the quinoa.
  5. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down.
  6. Allow to bubble gently until the quinoa puffs right up and you cannot see the water.
  7. Turn the heat down to a minimum.
  8. The quinoa will now start steaming. Allow the quinoa to cook in this way until it looks like the picture on the right. It will take around 15 minutes.
  9. If the pan starts drying out, just add a splash more water to keep the quinoa moist.