Last month I bought Instant pot and I am trying dishes every day using Instant Pot. Every day I fall more and more in love with this pot. I love how quickly it cooks so many things like Khichdi, Chhole Masala, Kheer, Dal, Cake and many more. I have planned to share many such recipes using Instant Pot in coming days. Here is the first one – Vegetable Quinoa Pulao / Pilaf. It’s a complete and a healthy meal.
Quinoa is a complete protein and it contains heart-healthy fats, a good amount of fiber and folic acid. It’s a great source of minerals too. Along with Quinoa, I have used different veggies like carrots, bell pepper, mushroom and corn which are a great source of fiber and vitamins.
I got to know about Quinoa only after shifting to the USA and my first dish which I made was a Quinoa Dosa. It was a big hit. And after that, I decided to try many dishes out of Quinoa. So today I am Sharing one of my families favorite dish Vegetable Quinoa Pulao. It is very delicious, healthy and perfect meal.
Serve this Vegetable Quinoa Pulao with a side of Cucumber Raita and you have a super healthy, super quick and soul Satisfying meal even on the days when you feel lazy to cook.
You can make this Pulao in a pressure cooker or in a pan too. Below at the end of the recipe, I will be sharing all the options.
Serves 4 to 5 people
Ingredients
Quinoa – 1 cup
Onion chopped – 1 cup
Corn – 1 cup
Chopped carrots – 1 cup
Chopped mushroom – 1 cup
Bell Pepper chopped – 1 cup
Grated Ginger-garlic – 1 tbsp
Oil – 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Chili powder – 1 tbsp
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Water – 1 and ½ cup
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Cilantro for garnishing
Direction
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao/Pilaf in Instant Pot
1. Heat oil in the Instant Pot and put it in saute mode.
2. Add cumin seeds. let it splutter. Add grated ginger-garlic and saute for few seconds.
3. Now add onion, saute it for a minute.
4. Add carrot, corn, bell pepper and mushroom. Season vegetable with salt and Saute for a minute.
5. Now add turmeric powder, chili powder, and garam masala. Let it cook for a minute.
6. Wash the quinoa properly and add it into the sauteed veggie mixture. Cook for a minute and add water.
7. Secure the lid. Change Instant Pot setting to rice mode with the vent closed.
8. After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
9. Open the lid, fluff them up with fork.
10. Add lemon juice and cilantro.
11. Serve hot with Cucumber Raita.
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao in Pressure Cooker
1. Heat oil in the Pressure cooker.
2. Add cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Add grated ginger-garlic and saute for few seconds.
3. Now add onion, saute it for a minute.
4. Add carrot, corn, bell pepper and mushroom. Season vegetable with salt and Saute for a minute.
5. Now add turmeric powder, chili powder and garam masala. Let it cook for a minute.
6. Wash the quinoa properly and add it into the sauted veggie mixture. Cook for a minute and add water.
7. Cover the lid. Pressure cook this for 2 whistles.
8. Let the pressure cooker cools down completely.
9. Open the lid, fluff them up with a fork.
10. Add lemon juice and cilantro.
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao In a Pan
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add cumin seeds. let it splutter. Now add grated ginger-garlic and saute for few seconds.
3. Now add onion, saute it for a minute.
4. Add carrot, corn, bell pepper and mushroom. Season vegetable with salt and Saute for a minute.
5. Now add turmeric powder, chili powder and garam masala. Let it cook for a minute.
6. Wash the quinoa properly and add it into the sauted veggie mixture. Cook for a minute and add water.
7. Cover the pan with lid. Let it cook for about 10 minutes over medium to high heat. Stir occasionally.
8. Open the lid, fluff them up with fork.
9. Add lemon juice and cilantro.
10. Enjoy Quinoa Pulao with Raita.
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao / Pilaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 1 cup Onion chopped
- 1 cup Corn
- 1 cup Chopped carrot
- 1 cup Chopped Mushrooms
- 1 cup Chopped Bell Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Grated Ginger-garlic
- 3 tablespoon Oil
- ½ tablespoon Cumin seeds
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 tsbp Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 and ½ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- Cilantro for garnishing
Instructions
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao/Pilaf in Instant Pot
- Add oil to the Instant Pot and put it in saute mode.
- Add cumin seeds. let it splutter. Add grated ginger-garlic and saute for few seconds.
- Now add onion, saute it for a minute.
- Add carrot, corn, bell pepper and mushroom. Season vegetable with salt and Saute for a minute.
- Now add turmeric powder, chili powder and garam masala. Let it cook for a minute.
- Wash the quinoa properly and add it into the sauted veggie mixture. Cook for a minute and add water.
- Secure the lid. Change Instant Pot setting to rice mode with vent closed.
- After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid, fluff them up with fork.
- Add lemon juice and cilantro.
- Serve hot with Cucumber Raita.
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao in Pressure Cooker
- Heat oil in the Pressure cooker.
- Add cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Add grated ginger-garlic and saute for few seconds.
- Now add onion, saute it for a minute.
- Add carrot, corn, bell pepper and mushroom. Season vegetable with salt and Saute for a minute.
- Now add turmeric powder, chili powder and garam masala. Let it cook for a minute.
- Wash the quinoa properly and add it into the sauted veggie mixture. Cook for a minute and add water.
- Secure the lid. Pressure cook this for 2 whistles.
- Let the pressure cooker cools down completely.
- Open the lid, fluff them up with fork.
- Add lemon juice and cilantro.
Vegetable Quinoa Pulao In a Pan
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add cumin seeds. let it splutter. Add grated ginger-garlic and saute for few seconds.
- Now add onion, saute it for a minute.
- Add carrot, corn, bell pepper and mushroom. Season vegetable with salt and Saute for a minute.
- Now add turmeric powder, chili powder and garam masala. Let it cook for a minute.
- Wash the quinoa properly and add it into the sauted veggie mixture. Cook for a minute and add water.
- Cover the pan with lid. Let it cook for about 10 minutes over medium to high heat. Stir occasionally.
- Open the lid, fluff them up with fork.
- Add lemon juice and cilantro.
- Enjoy Quinoa Pulao with Raita.
Video
Nutrition
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This is healthy and absolutely yummy!! An IP never sounded so good to me! 🙂
I love quinoa and I can eat it everyday. The pulao looks delicious. I will give the pulao version a try.
Love Quinoa in every form. Your version looks colorful and delicious.
I haven’t liked quinoa,but your pictures make me tempting to have..
I keep looking for quinoa as recently i have introduced it in our diet. Thank for sharing 🙂
I love cooking with quinoa and I am I search of new recipe .. this is my next try 😉 love it!
I must say your pictures look so tempting these days.. absolutely love it.. And I am also loving the thought of making these simple and easy recipes that you are sharing day after day.. great job
WOW, this dish looks positively awesome! I can almost already smell all the great spices… Do you think I can substitut fresh ginger with powdered one? I’d really like to make this for lunch today 🙂
Thanks Francesca.
Yes dear you can substitute fresh Ginger with Powdered one. Use 1/2 tsp. 🙂
I am sure you’ll love this healthy dish.
Thanks for stopping by. <3
We love quinoa and I often make pulao for my lunch, sadly never went up on my blog as I always finish it too quickly:) yours looks so tempting.
Yummy wholesome dish..loved it:)
This a healthy and wholesome dish! It looks delicious 🙂
Thanks Freda! 🙂
What is meant by tablespoon of grated ginger garlic?
Is that a tablespoon of each…?
Hi Natalie!!
1 tbsp Ginger-garlic means 1/2 tbsp ginger and 1/2 tbsp garlic. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
How many minutes on rice setting in the instant pot?
Hello,
Rice button, time never changes if you tweak the recipe. Time and pressure is by default. Hope this helps.
I made this dish couple of time but it turned out great today, this is awesome ! Thank you Dhwani for sharing recipe, I and my kids loved it. 🙂
The recipe looks great and can’t wait to try it!
I tried another biryani recipe (using the Instant Pot on rice setting) where I substituted the rice for quinoa, without making any adjustments to the recipe, and it turned out over-cooked and mushy. Do you have any suggestions on how best to substitute rice for quinoa in these types of recipes?
I made this yesterday for dinner, and it turned out so yummy. I didn’t know that quinoa could taste so good when cooked correctly. I added little bit coconut milk to enhance the flavor. The whole batch was immediately gone 🙂 thank you so much!!
Hi Meena!
So glad to know that you liked this recipe and it turned out good. Coconut milk sounds a great addition. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
The recipe doesn’t have tomatoes? But the picture does??? so confusin.
Hi Jaya!
It’s red bell peppers, not tomatoes. 🙂
Hi can you use frozen vegies in this recipe? And change the vegies? Will the cooking times remain the same?
Hi kiran,
Yes, you can use frozen veggies. No need to change the cooking time.
I agree with you
You have not mentioned about how much water to be added…have you? Trying quinoa foot the first time.
Hi Sunitha!
I have mentioned water quantity in the ingredient list. Its 1 and 1/2 cup.😊