Instant Pot Quinoa (How To)

Learn how to perfectly cook quinoa in your Instant Pot for the easiest vegan meal prep trick and the fluffiest and tastiest quinoa!

The ultimate guide to Instant Pot Quinoa

I recently got my first Instant Pot a few months ago and did not hold back from sharing my instant pot recipes on Instagram. I know, I was a little late to the IP game, but hey better late than never!

So I’ve been experimenting nonstop with making quite literally everything in my Instant Pot (including a baked vegan cheesecake!).

Now, before the instant pot, I really didn’t enjoy making quinoa. Jared’s mom always made it so fluffy, but it took so long to make that I would never have the patience for it.

Enter in the Holy Grail: the Instant Pot.

My instant pot completely changed this for me when I discovered that you can make instant pot quinoa. It literally takes less than 12 minutes to make the fluffiest, lightest, and tastiest quinoa.

And the best part? There’s no stress about watching a pot!

What is quinoa?

So before we begin, let’s clear the air on quinoa. It’s actually not a grain. It’s technically grown from a grain crop, but quinoa is actually harvested as a seed and is considered a pseudo-cereal.

Historically, the Inca Empire considered quinoa to be a highly sacred crop.

Humans have eaten it for over 5,000 years in South America. Today, you can often find it as a wonderful hearty addition to any buddha bowl, veggie dinner, or even in a veggie burger!

There are three types of quinoa: red, white, and black.

Quinoa nutritional profile

Of course, there are many benefits to quinoa! One cup of cooked quinoa contains about 222 calories, 8 grams of protein, and 15% of your daily iron intake.

It’s also naturally gluten-free and contains over 30% of your daily magnesium intake.

What instant pot should I use?

I recently purchased the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus in the 6 quart size. I truly feel like that’s really the size you need. Of course, if you have a lot of mouths to feed, you can get the bigger size but I really feel like you can do a lot with 6 quarts.

There are several Instant Pots that have the quinoa cooking option, which mine does as well. However, I found that the best way to cook the quinoa is actually just with the straight up pressure cooker setting.

That way, anyone with any type of Instant Pot can make this, and you’ll also always get the best cooked quinoa results.

How to make quinoa in an instant pot

Of course I made a recipe video for you to walk you through all of the steps if you’re more of a visual person like me!

Making quinoa in an instant pot is incredibly simple though, and is so easy to work into your healthy meal prep routine.

To make this instant pot quinoa recipe:

1. Rinse the quinoa first, especially if you’re not using sprouted. I’ve found that I don’t have to rinse TruRoots sprouted quinoa in order to make this instant pot quinoa. However, other brands, especially not sprouted, definitely give it a quick rinse!
2. Brush the inside of the instant pot with coconut oil, and add in the quinoa, water, and sea salt.
3. Place the instant pot lid on top and seal. Press the “pressure cook” option, and set the time to “custom.” Set it to 2 minutes and press start.
4. Once the cook time is done, let the quinoa sit in the “keep warm” setting for 10 minutes. This allows the quinoa to fully absorb the water.
5. Carefully release the pressure valve completely, and carefully remove the lid.
6. Transfer the cooked quinoa to a clean meal prep container and let cool before sealing the lid.

• 

• 

• 

Can I freeze quinoa?

Absolutely! I would recommend storing the quinoa in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag.

To reheat, simply place in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave, or you can place into an oven-safe glass container and heat for several minutes at 350F.

Instant Pot Quinoa Recipes:

Here are a few of my favorite recipes on the blog that use quinoa! I’m very partial to the veggie quinoa burgers, as those are truly the best veggie burgers that I’ve ever had. But go enjoy!

Veggie Quinoa Burgers

Vegan Lentil Quinoa Soup

Vegan Buddha Bowls

I hope that you love this recipe as much as I do! It seriously makes meal prepping so much easier! If you make this instant pot quinoa recipe, let me know down below and give it a rating so that others can see it as well!

As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there.

Happy Instant Pot cooking!

More healthy vegan instant pot recipes:

Instant Pot Vegan Cheesecake

Vegan Zucchini Bread Oatmeal in an Instant Pot

Vegan Pantry Lentil Soup

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that when you make a purchase from these links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. All recommendations are based on my personal experience and preference! Thank you for supporting The Banana Diaries!

Print