Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing is an incredibly delicious grain bowl. It is healthy and full of healthy veggies and has yummy Tex-Mex flavor. This quinoa bowl recipe is perfect for a weekend lunch, or make it the day before for a satisfying and delicious work lunch.

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing

Grain Bowls are super popular. We used to call it "Rice Salad" back in the day. We hadn't discovered quinoa yet! This is a super flavorful quinoa recipe with a stellar cilantro dressing!

Quinoa is a wonderfully versatile . I love it in soups, and mixed with rice, with gravy, in salads, and grain bowls, of course!

Nowadays Quinoa is considered a Superfood. It has a lot of protein and other great nutrients in it. It is technically not a grain, but a seed, but let's not split hairs. It's delicious, healthy and versatile!

Quinoa used to be hard to find, and was just in health food stores. Now you can find it just about everywhere!

The Cilantro Dressing takes this Southwest Quinoa Bowl over the edge of flavor amazingness!

You will have leftover dressing, and I encourage you to use it for dipping my Sweet Potato Steak Fries in. Or save it for tacos!

Is Quinoa easy to cook?

Yes it is! It is cooked similar to rice, and is very simple:
Boil water, add well-rinsed quinoa, put lid on. Cook for 15 minutes, then let it sit off of the heat for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork. Easy!

Why is Quinoa Sometimes Bitter Tasting?

That is because the quinoa wasn't rinsed prior to cooking it.
Quinoa has a naturally occurring coating called Saponin. It is like quinoa's natural bug repellent! It tastes either kind of bitter, or like soap.

Luckily the saponin rinses off easily.
• Put your quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and immerse it in a bowl of cool water and let it sit there in the water for a few minutes. Drain. Then add the rinsed quinoa to the recipe as directed.
• Or just rinse it very well and drain it and it's ready to cook.

Easy Instant Pot Quinoa
Instant Pot Quinoa Taco Bowls
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Caprese Orzo Salad

If you make this easy quinoa bowl recipe, please leave a comment below with a star rating and let me know how you liked it!

5 from 1 vote

Print

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Cooling Time

15 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing is a hearty healthy grain bowl packed with amazing flavors! So easy to put together, and you will love the dressing!

Course: Salad, Vegetarian

Cuisine: American

Keyword: quinoa bowl recipe

Servings: 1 Serving

Calories: 434 kcal

Author: Sandy Clifton

Ingredients

Quinoa

• ½ cup Quinoa, well rinsed
• 1 cup Water
• Pinch of Salt

Cilantro Dressing

• ¼ cup Mayonnaise
• ¾ cup Sour Cream (or Greek yogurt)
• 1 clove Garlic
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Pepper
• Handful of Fresh Cilantro Leaves, rinsed & chopped

The Salad

• ½ Ripe Avocado, mashed
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Squeeze of Lime Juice
• ¼ cup Corn Kernels, (fresh, froze, or canned)
• ⅛ Red Onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup Black Beans, canned, rinsed & drained
• ½ Roasted Red Pepper, sliced

Garnish

• Sliced Jalapeño
• Cotija Cheese

Instructions

Prepare Quinoa

1. Add rinsed quinoa, water, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

2. Take the pan off of heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

3. Remove lid and fluff quinoa with a fork. Quinoa is done when it looks translucent and you can see the germ (the little sprout).

4. Set aside to cool.

Make the Dressing

1. Add dressing ingredients to a mini food processor and pulse several times, until ingredients are well chopped and blended.
   

Assemble the Bowl

1. When Quinoa has cooled (you can serve it warm, but I don’t recommend hot), transfer to a bowl.

2. Mash the avocado with the salt and lime juice. Place in bowl with quinoa.

3. Add the corn, onion, black beans, and roasted red pepper to the bowl.

4. Drizzle with the cilantro dressing and garnish with sliced jalapeño and cotija cheese, or as desired.

Recipe Notes

• This recipe can be doubled or tripled for more servings or for meal prep.
• Store unassembled in the fridge if making ahead (quinoa having been cooked).
• Assembled salad can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Pin This Southwest Quinoa Bowl with Cilantro Dressing Recipe