Mexican Quinoa Stew
You're going to love this Mexican quinoa stew! It's hearty, easy to make and tastes amazing. This delicious soup recipe is vegan and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 9, 2024
Sometimes I get really excited about a recipe because it sounds delicious, but it almost seems too easy—do you know what I mean? Like, am I about to get duped here? Am I going to end up with a so-so meal? Maybe I’m too skeptical, but I’ve been let down before.
This soup sounded both delicious and easy, and it proved to be even better than that—it’s amazing! And so easy! The recipe comes from my friend Megan’s brand-new cookbook called No Excuses Detox: 100 Recipes to Help You Eat Healthy Every Day. All of the recipes are vegetarian (mostly vegan) and gluten free, with short ingredients lists and prep times.
I love Megan’s approach to detoxing—the term often makes me think of scary juice fasts and extreme measures, but there’s nothing extreme about this book other than the ease of the recipes. She shares simple recipes made from whole foods that support your body’s natural detox mechanisms.
Plus, she shares tons of real-world tips on how to eat well when you’re short on time, money and energy. Megan manages to run a blog, write cookbooks, work as a greeting card designer, and raise two adorable kids all at the same time. She definitely has a few tricks up her sleeves and doesn’t let excuses get in the way. I’m the queen of making excuses and overthinking, so I’m taking notes.
I am especially pumped about her tips for pressure cooking, since I just caved and bought an Instant Pot. (Have you guys tried pressure cooking yet? I’m scared. So many buttons. The unopened box is resting nice and cozy next to my hamper.)
Anyway, her book’s full of recipes that look and sound delicious, and seem easy enough for busy weeknights. This hearty Mexican quinoa soup hit all of those marks. I could eat this soup every day until spring and I just might, since it freezes well.
Megan modeled this recipe after chicken tortilla soup, but made it a hearty vegetarian soup with quinoa and black beans. It tastes remarkably fresh and flavorful, thanks some basic aromatics, herbs and spices. I love that she used water instead of vegetable broth, too—something to consider in future soup recipes. Please let us know how you like it!
Watch How to Make Mexican Quinoa Stew
Mexican Quinoa Stew
You’re going to love this Mexican quinoa stew! It’s hearty, easy to make and tastes amazing. This soup recipe is vegan and gluten free. Recipe yields 4 large or 6 more modest bowls.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil (I opted to use 1 tablespoon olive oil instead)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
- 3 ½ cups water
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups cooked black beans or 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- ½ cup quinoa (dry/uncooked)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (for extra heat, optional)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Optional garnishes (my ideas): extra chopped cilantro, small wedges of lime, diced avocado, crumbled tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream…
Instructions
- In a medium Dutch oven or soup pot, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and jalapeños. Sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.
- Add the water, tomatoes, beans, cumin, salt, quinoa, cilantro and cayenne pepper (if using). Season with pepper and bring the soup to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower the heat, cover the pot, and let the soup simmer until the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Once the quinoa is tender, add more salt and pepper to taste, if necessary. You can serve this soup right away or use an immersion blender to purée a couple cups of this soup—this helps to thicken the soup while still leaving some texture (I may have overdone it a bit).
- Divide into bowls and serve with any garnishes that you’d like. Store leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Recipe reprinted with permission from No Excuses Detox, copyright © 2017 by Megan Gilmore, published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Megan’s Instant Pot guidance: Sauté the aromatics (everything listed in step 1) in your Instant Pot with the olive oil. Add the ingredients listed in step 2. Securely seal the lid according to the manufacturer’s instructions and cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. Allow the pressure to release naturally, then carefully remove the lid. You might want to blend a couple cups of the soup as suggested in step 3. Serve with garnishes of your choice.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This looks so simple, healthy, and yummy! All the components I look for in a weeknight dish. Thanks for sharing and I am definitely going to check out her blog!
You’re welcome, Jessie! And you should–her recipes are amazing.
Have no fear, Miss Kate! The Instant Pot is your friend! It looks a bit intimidating (and I have the large, 8 qt model, which at first glance resembles a countertop dishwasher :-)…) But it is a benevolent beast, jump right in!
Thanks, Louise!
This soup looks awesome. And pressure cooking is the pure quill. I have an old Presto® I’ve used for years upon years. One of the nice things about them is that you can cook things until they are almost done, then finish them off on the stove or oven for more robust flavor. Or, cook things a day ahead and let it think about itself overnight in the fridge. Really, once you get over the fear… everything is possible.
All of that sounds awesome, Sarah. I think it’ll be a really fun adventure in new techniques and flavors!
The Insant Pot is fantastic…especially for beans, rice, and hard boiled eggs. You’re going to love it.
It’s amazing the variety of foods you can cook in it! I’m sure I’ll get over my fear soon… :)
My husband is raving and raving about the delicious broccoli, cheddar and spinach frittata! He kept asking “what’s a frittata? it’s so good.” He’s also a fan of the chick pea, carrot and dill salad. Thanks for sharing and making dinner time a success. I can’t wait to try this vegetarian stew. :o)
Thanks so much, Leslie! Let me know if you try the stew.
I made this delicious stew for dinner tonight since I had almost everything in the house. I used a part of a reconstituted dried ancho chile rather than the jalepeno. I also didn’t have cilantro. I loved that I didn’t need to use any broth and it was so flavorful. Thanks so much for this fabulous and easy recipe. I can’t wait for leftovers!!
Thanks, Karen! Megan gave me some amazing inspiration.
Oh my! Made this soup as soon as you posted it!! It was a great hit. My 12 year old loved it! Hubby had seconds. Fooled the boys into eating their veggies. I giggled the whole time
This comment made me giggle, Terese! I’m happy you could sneak it by them. :)
Nice dish! i think this would be good for my diet plan. by the way, is it alright to use melted butter instead of coconut oil/olive oil? :) thanks for sharing your recipe!
I don’t see why not, Jose! If that’s what you prefer, go for it.
Looks delicious! I love quinoa – I’m always looking for ways of incorporating in my recipes.
Let me know how it goes, Natmari!
OK. Fine. I admit it. When I saw this recipe I was skeptical. How could it have such great flavour without using stock? Just water? C’mon. Kate’s gotta be pulling my leg! Well. I just made it and shame on me for doubting. IT’S ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR! Truly delicious and easy. Only sub I made was using some chopped celeriac that I had in the freezer instead of celery. It’s a make again (and again) recipe for sure – thanks, Kate!!
I know what you mean, Rose! The amount of flavor in this stew even without vegetable broth is amazing. I’m so happy you loved it!
Yay! I love winning over skeptics. ;) I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Rose!
I saw this posted on a friend’a Facebook page, and I realized that I had all the ingredients at home! (Except for the celery) so I made it tonight (added a yellow pepper, since I had that to use up too). Funny story, though, I was halfway through chopping my cilantro, when the smell wafted up, and I realized it was flat leafed parsley. So in the pot it went! It worked well!
The lime really made it. I juiced in half a lime, then garnished it with a dollop of sour cream and a lime wedge. So incredibly good! Thanks for the awesome dinner idea
You’re welcome, Chelsea! Sounds delicious.
Yum, Katie! i’m pinning this for a cold night =)
Awesome! Thanks, Sara!
Fabulous! All the flavors of Mexican, but using quinoa rather than rice made for a light but filling dish. Used parsley as had a bunch of that in the fridge, rather than cilantro.
I was wondering where all the quinoa went when the timer went off, but no fear, just under all the veggies. Next time I might use as much as a cup of quinoa for a little more of a stew effect.
We have soup every day in the colder months. We got tired of our same-old kale and bean soup and lentil soup. I made this this week and we LOVE it. My husband asked if I’d make a double batch today! Definitely a keeper!! Thank you!
Loved it! So easy to make! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jen!
I made this and it turned out excellent. I did not add any pepper because the 2 jalapeno peppers that I added were very large and added enough heat. During the last 5 minutes, I also added 1 cup of corn. I will definitely be making this again.
Sounds wonderful, Tracey!
Just made this for dinner, exactly what I look for in a meal- easy, delicious, and can eat it all week!
Perfect! Thanks, Alyssa.
Made and loved it, yummy and flavorful! I added avocado and cheddar cheese on top.
This was so good! I didn’t have cumin, and forgot to buy jalapeños, and so I used some chili flakes. Also added some sour cream when serving. Excellent! Thanks for posting!
I made this yesterday and you are absolutely right, Kate — it’s deceptively simple and utterly delicious! My husband declared that I had “outdone myself” but the credit goes to you. Thanks for another great recipe!
Such kind words, Alexa! I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it.
Made this for lunch today – we both loved it! Added one sweet potato, one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce and some ancho chili pepper. Served with all the toppings. Oh my, SO GOOD! Loved the texture once half-blended. Thanks for this!
Yum, sounds smoky and delicious, Marie-Eve.
Loved this stew!! I added in cubed sweet potato that we needed to use up and it was a nice touch :)This is the 2nd recipe I’ve tried from your blog and I’m quickly becoming an addict!
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, Colleen! :)
This is such a good recipe, I will definitely be making it again! This is my second week adopting a plant based diet, and I’m loving your site:)
We made this for dinner tonight, it was so awesome!!! Thanks for the recipe :)
Delicious! I doubled the recipe and I’m so glad I did! I brought about half of it to my inlaws–they loved it! My little family loved it too! All three of my little girls ate it right up! Thanks for a great recipe!
Yes! Sounds like a crowd-pleaser, Lucy. So happy it worked out for you. :)
Use that Instant Pot! It’s amazing! I got mine last spring, and also took a few weeks to open it and give it a try. Now I would estimate I use it 3x a week. Maybe more.
Wow! Now I’m afraid I won’t want to use anything else!
I made this last night. Everyone loved it (7&10yo kids and picky husband)! I subbed canned chipotle chilis and added corn. Yum!
I’m so glad that everyone loved it!
Great! Thanks, Brooke!
Thank you so much for sharing, Kathryne!! Can’t wait for YOUR book to be out next!!
This soup was delicious and super affordable in the way of ingredients! It tasted even better the next day. :)
Yes! So glad it made you and your wallet happy. :)
I LOVED this stew! I don’t have an immersion blender and didn’t liquify it at all, but I probably would try that next time, as I would have liked a bit more liquid. The quinoa seemed to absorb most of the liquid, leaving a very hearty, thicker, flavorful stew-like consistency. Since we’re vegan, we just added avocado, cilantro and tort chips when serving. Then proceeded to eat BOWLS full. It is fabulous. Thanks for sharing! And thank you for adding another fantastic recipe to our repertoire! Sometimes it’s so hard to find great vegan recipes, and you never disappoint! (BTW, we substituted water for oil — and it seemed to work fantastically.)
This is great, Wendell! I’m so happy this worked for the both of you, and I appreciate your kind words about my blog! Happy to have you here.
Excellent and easy recipe, thank you! I do recommend adding more cumin and cayenne pepper if you like things a little spicier (I also added smoked paprika and a dash of hot sauce). As a distance runner, I’m always looking for interesting ways to incorporate quinoa into my recipes– this hit the spot
Awesome, JM! I’m glad this helps you spice things up.
This is a great weeknight recipe! Prepared in 20 minutes before afternoon activities and left it on the stove to simmer. My 8 & 10-yr old boys gobbled it up when we got home. So easy and so much flavor. Thank you!
Made this tonight for my picky vegan husband and me. We loved it! So much flavor and texture – and agree that it is super easy to pull together. I now have three of your recipes on constant rotation – your food is amazing!
Thanks so much, Shoregirl! I’m so happy to hear this.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, Kate. I followed the recipe exactly, including pureeing two cups of the soup and adding it back into the pot for thickener. I was surprised by two things — first, that I was able to saute all of those aromatics in one teeny little teaspoon of coconut oil, and second, that the soup had so much flavor while using water instead of vegetable broth! I garnished the soup with chopped cilantro, avocado chunks, crushed tortilla chips, and fresh lime. This soup was super easy to make and very hearty — delicious and satisfying. I will definitely make it again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Lisa! And on the water–you and me both! I was so pleasantly surprised that the flavor was still so rich, even without any broth.
Make this recipe. You’ll be glad you did. As others have said, it is surprisingly flavorful and delicious considering how simple it is. I don’t know if it’s the celery or what, but some ingredient or combination of ingredients makes this both savory and bright and super yummy. The recipe looked similar to other things I’ve made, but the flavor here was unique. Delish!
I appreciate the endorsement, Annie! So kind of you. I love the depth of flavors, too.
I made this last week and it was awesome! Thanks Kate. I discovered your blog last month and everything I’ve made from it has been delicious!
Thank you, Nina! Happy to have you here.
I made it last weekend: delicious. I ate it for three nights in a row, and I was looking forward to dinner each and every time :).
So kind of you, Charlotte! Thanks.
Kate, this was a great break from our fast-paced, fast-food eating month. So rich and yet not too filling. This recipe is definitely added to my comfort food list!
So glad this could be a welcome break from all the chaos! :)
I made this a few days ago exactly as written. Used cilantro and grated cheese on top. It was very good and the leftovers were great as well.
Great! Thanks, Tina.
This looks so delicious and right up my alley! I’m curious as to what your thoughts are on this being a freezer friendly dish? Thanks!
I don’t see why not, Jan! I think you might lose some of the texture after re-heating, but that shouldn’t affect the flavor whatsoever.
This is AMAZING! Super easy and SO delicious, even my 15 year old veggie-cautious teen loved it!!!
So great to hear, Sheila!
Made this last night – so good! Just enjoyed some leftover for my lunch. I’ll definitely make this again.
Thank you!!
Lovely texture and taste in this recipe! We cooked it the other night and it was wonderful!!
This is a question referring to another grain. I know bulgar is not the ‘food trend’ these days…. I made a batch of Trahana (bulgar fermented in yogurt or milk and then dried) and was wondering if there were other uses for bulgar? I like Trahana and was introduced by a greek friend. I use it for soup thickening/texture and zip. Any other ideas for bulgar beyond soup and salad?
thank you!
Hi Zoe, I’ve not heard of Trahana before! So far, I’ve only used bulgur in tabbouleh (here). I think you could use it in place of other recipes calling for whole grains, as long as you adjust the cooking time/liquids accordingly. You might search for it on naturallyella.com—Erin has a lot of creative whole grain recipes!
Quite loved this one, been making your recipes/or variations on them for over a year now and realize I should comment more! I especially loved this soup and have made it for my weekly meal prep for two weeks now. The flavors are delicious and, as a cilantro lover, the herb really enhances the meal. I add more cayenne and sometimes hot sauce for the extra spicy kick. Thanks again!
Sounds delicious, Jaclynn! I’m so glad it’s been helpful for meal prep. And thank you for commenting! I love hearing about readers’ experiences with the recipes.
This is a fantastic recipe! I omitted the jalapeño to make it more family friendly because I have little ones. Everyone loved it! It was really easy and I’m so glad I doubled the recipe so that I could freeze half for another night. This stew will definitely be added into the rotation. I can see adding some summer vegetables like zucchini and corn to make it an excellent summer meal as well. Thank you for sharing!!
This soup was awesome! I used a small can of green chilis instead of the jalepeno and I added some fire roasted corn right before serving! Thanks for another winner, Kate!
That sounds delicious, Emily! Thanks so much.
Your version sounds excellent, Emily. Thanks!
Absolutely LOVED this recipe, and it even pleased my two non-vegetarian parents! Sometimes they complain about not feeling full enough after eating meatless meals, but that was definitely not the case with this hearty stew. Easy, filling, and lots of great flavor!
I’m so glad they liked it, Olivia! Thanks.
Excellent taste. I actually wasn’t even hungry as I was cooking this but after we sat down and I tried it I ate seconds! It is a great meal for stretching your grocery dollars and I will definitely double it in the future. Thank you!
Yes! It’s important to me that my recipes don’t break the bank, so that’s really wonderful to hear. Thank you, Eleanor!
Made this last week – easy and DELICIOUS! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Made this today for lunch and it was the perfect comfort food for a rainy Sunday! Thick and hearty…I can’t wait to have leftovers throughout the week!
Perfect! Thanks, V.