Veggie Fried Quinoa

One of my favorite things to order back in the day when I used to order chinese take-out was always veggie fried rice. I thought that if I was at least getting my veggies in the rice then I could justify getting the sesame chicken, which was also a fav! Always justifying…

This recipe comes from one of my favorite recipe blogs, Gimme Some Oven. You can easily adapt this using whatever veggies you prefer or whatever you may already have on hand. It makes a perfect side dish or if you want to add some protein to it like chicken or tofu it would make a pretty fabulous main dish as well. Last night I chose to serve it up with some of my favorite chicken potstickers that I found at Trader Joe’s.

The key to this recipe is cooking the quinoa first and chilling it in the fridge before frying it up with the veggies. This helps you to get that fried rice texture rather than mushy quinoa when mixing in with the veggies. Like I said, use whatever veggies your heart desires. These are what I had on hand last night and they worked beautifully.

Veggie Fried Quinoa

Print Recipe

• Author: Dawn
• Total Time: 20-30 minutes
• Yield: 2 generous side portions 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Quick and Easy
• Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup low sodium veggie or chicken broth
• 2 TBL butter, divided
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli florets
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced (green parts only)
• 3 TBL soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil for drizzling

Instructions

Cook quinoa according to package instructions.  Once done, place in a bowl or on a plate and place in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or until chilled.  Heat 1/2 TBL butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add egg and cook until scrambled.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Add another 1/2 TBL of butter to pan and toss in the veggies and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until veggies are getting soft.  Push the veggies to the outside of the pan and add the remaining 1 TBL of butter.

Turn up the heat to medium high and add the quinoa, letting the quinoa cook a bit on one side before stirring to combine.  Add the oyster sauce and soy sauce and mix the quinoa with the veggies.  Add in the green onions and cook for a bit more (2-3 minutes).  Turn off the heat, add the scrambled egg and drizzle with sesame oil.  

Notes

I use butter in this recipe because it adds a nice flavor to the quinoa.  It is not necessary.  I’ve also done this with olive oil and peanut oil.  

Keywords: Fried Quinoa, Veggie Side