Healthy quinoa casserole made with zucchini, black beans and cilantro. Mexican style weeknight dinner idea!
I just made this quinoa casserole in one bowl. It was quick, easy and delicious. I kept the Mexican taco sauce to add some stronger flavor to already delicate zucchini. The taste was incredible.
I love tacos, burritos, enchiladas… anything Mexican is my favorite. Mmmm…. and cilantro that adds so much flavor to any dish. I was cooking with quinoa for the second time. The first Pistachio Quinoa and Cranberry Granola was a hit. I used dried uncooked quinoa for granola. I thought it will be so good as crunchy and I was right:) Today I’ve decided that I should give it a try with cooked quinoa and I used it in my taco quinoa casserole.
At first I thought that I wanted to avoid any rice or quinoa. However, I thought that quinoa casserole with zucchini, black beans and yummy cilantro will be perfect. It’s very healthy and… again meatless. Wow.. I definitely make lots of meatless dinners. Still I love them.
I would be happy if my children will like this quinoa casserole. But they saw it and they were not interested to eat it. But, maybe if its with pasta they will love it. Obviously, I have to make with pasta next time. They don’t really like Mexican dishes and maybe that’s why they didn’t try my dinner. Apparently, for me and my husband it was the best quinoa casserole. I will be making this easy dinner often.
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Taco Zucchini Quinoa Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans
- 3/4 cup cooked quinoa*
- 1 medium-sized zucchini diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 12 oz. taco sauce about 340ml
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
Extras
- 1 small avocado diced
- 1 small tomato diced
- cilantro to garnish
- salt/pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl mix black beans, cooked quinoa, diced zucchini, cilantro and taco sauce.
- Pour into the 10 x 8 pan.
- Add cheese on top.
- Bake for 30 - 40 minutes.
Extras
- Mix diced avocado with diced tomato and some cilantro. Add a little salt and pepper.
- Serve with quinoa taco casserole.
Notes
Do you like quinoa?
If you like Taco Zucchini Quinoa Casserole check…
Easy Taco Casserole
Crock Pot Chili
Julie @ Lovely Little Kitchen
April 24, 2015 at 8:34 AMThis looks wonderful! I haven’t cooked with quinoa, but I love the idea of adding it to granola!
Ilona
April 24, 2015 at 9:26 AMThanks Julie for visiting my blog:)
Kelly
April 24, 2015 at 11:20 AMSo glad I found this, trying to cut back on glutn
Ilona
April 24, 2015 at 4:50 PMIt’s very delicious Kelly:)
Yanique Chambers
April 24, 2015 at 8:35 PMThis looks really good! I have to try. Pinning 🙂
Ilona
April 25, 2015 at 2:36 PMThank you for pinning!
angelamroberts
April 25, 2015 at 7:28 PMI eat quinoa for breakfast with berries. Maybe they would like that. I use milk too. But your dish looks yummy and gooey good.
Ilona
April 26, 2015 at 10:15 AMWhat a great idea to eat quinoa with berries. Seems delicious!
Cat @ Pocketful of Posies
April 26, 2015 at 7:32 AMThis looks delicious and I love that it is healthy!
Ilona
April 26, 2015 at 10:15 AMThank you
Julie Evink
May 1, 2015 at 12:03 PMI have to try this! I love sticking quinoa in casseroles!
Ilona
May 3, 2015 at 7:32 PMThanks Julie for your visit
Sue
May 9, 2015 at 10:31 PMThat looks really good – I love quinoa
Ilona
May 9, 2015 at 11:09 PMThank you Sue!
Renee Nicole's Kitchen
April 4, 2016 at 9:54 PMQuinoa seems to be popping up everywhere these days! This looks like a particularly tasty way to eat it.
Tamara
April 4, 2016 at 10:05 PMQuinoa is such a healthy addition when going meatless due to its protein content! This looks yummy… Keep offering it to your kids, they’ll come around. My 4 adult sons all cook, and have almost no dislikes, but I kept offering things to them when they were little… Go Ilona!
Ilona
April 7, 2016 at 2:37 PMThank you so much Tamara for your suggestions. I think I should stick with offering:)
Lauren @ Create Bake Make
April 4, 2016 at 11:41 PMThis looks fabulous! We love mexican food in our house and I can’t wait to try this 🙂
Ilona
April 7, 2016 at 2:37 PMThank you Lauren!
The Foodie Affair
April 5, 2016 at 1:29 AMI’ll take the kid’s portions – haha! I love everything about this casserole! Pinning this so I can make it soon!
Ilona
April 7, 2016 at 2:36 PMThank you for pinning!
Sam | Ahead of Thyme
April 5, 2016 at 2:19 AMYumm!! This is so mouth-watering, bookmarking this recipe!!
Ilona
April 7, 2016 at 2:36 PMThank you so much Sam!
Jennifer
September 4, 2016 at 6:05 PMI made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit!
Ilona
September 6, 2016 at 11:13 AMI am so happy to hear that!
ATW Renegades
November 11, 2016 at 11:17 PMI cooked this for my husband tonight, who is a professional chef. He was very skeptical of this being good since he is such a huge meat eater, and this is vegetarian. But he absolutely loved it!! He even went back for thirds! It’s a healthy, comforting, flavorful and easy dish that we will be putting into the regular rotation 🙂 I think one of the keys too is that we invested in some really good taco sauce found at Whole Foods that included red pepper and cumin. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Ilona
November 12, 2016 at 10:54 AMThank you so much! I am so happy to hear the good news. I agree if you invest in really good taco sauce that you like you’ll love the whole dish:) Thank you for trying my recipe.
Jennifer A Stewart
November 16, 2016 at 8:16 AMLoving this when the corn or flour tortillas are not jiving with my body:)
Ilona
November 16, 2016 at 9:09 AMThank you Jennifer!