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.
- Mix diced avocado with diced tomato and some cilantro. Add a little salt and pepper.
- Serve with quinoa taco casserole.
Recipe Notes
*3/4 cup cooked quinoa is approximately 1/2 uncooked
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | 4 |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 406kcal Calories from fat 150 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 17g | 26% |
| Saturated Fat 7g | 35% |
| Transfat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 29mg | 10% |
| Sodium 621mg | 26% |
| Carbohydrate 47g | 16% |
| Dietary Fiber 12g | 48% |
| Sugars 6g | |
| Protein 20g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
Do you like quinoa?
If you like Taco Zucchini Quinoa Casserole check…
Easy Taco Casserole
Crock Pot Chili
This looks wonderful! I haven’t cooked with quinoa, but I love the idea of adding it to granola!
Thanks Julie for visiting my blog:)
So glad I found this, trying to cut back on glutn
It’s very delicious Kelly:)
This looks really good! I have to try. Pinning 🙂
Thank you for pinning!
I eat quinoa for breakfast with berries. Maybe they would like that. I use milk too. But your dish looks yummy and gooey good.
What a great idea to eat quinoa with berries. Seems delicious!
This looks delicious and I love that it is healthy!
Thank you
I have to try this! I love sticking quinoa in casseroles!
Thanks Julie for your visit
That looks really good – I love quinoa
Thank you Sue!
Quinoa seems to be popping up everywhere these days! This looks like a particularly tasty way to eat it.
Quinoa 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!
Thank you so much Tamara for your suggestions. I think I should stick with offering:)
This looks fabulous! We love mexican food in our house and I can’t wait to try this 🙂
Thank you Lauren!
I’ll take the kid’s portions – haha! I love everything about this casserole! Pinning this so I can make it soon!
Thank you for pinning!
Yumm!! This is so mouth-watering, bookmarking this recipe!!
Thank you so much Sam!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit!
I am so happy to hear that!
I 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!
Thank 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.
Loving this when the corn or flour tortillas are not jiving with my body:)
Thank you Jennifer!