Green Chile Enchilada Quinoa Bake
Updated March 26, 2019
Green Chile Enchilada Quinoa Bake-this gluten-free quinoa bake will remind you of your favorite green chile enchiladas. It is easy to make and a hit with the entire family!
Once upon a time, I made this Green Chile Enchilada Quinoa Bake for dinner and and it was pretty much the ugliest meal I’ve ever made. I wasn’t going to share the recipe, but then we ate it and all decided it was one of the tastiest meals I’ve ever made. When I say we, that includes Caleb. Yep, our toddler asked for seconds and ate leftovers the next day. He even asked if we could eat the quinoa bake every night for dinner. In my book, that is a blog worthy recipe…even if the pictures aren’t pretty.
So just trust me on this one. This Green Chile Enchilada Quinoa Bake won’t win any beauty awards, but it will win the most delicious dinner award. I promise, this dish is worth making!
And if you’ve made our Black Bean Quinoa Enchilada Bake, which is one of the most popular recipes on our site, you know my quinoa bakes are the real deal. This one is just a little sore on the eyes, not on the belly though:)
This quinoa bake was inspired by two of my favorite recipes, our Black Bean Quinoa Enchilada Bake and our Creamy Spinach and Green Chile Enchiladas. I basically turned the green chile enchiladas into a quinoa bake. All of the same flavors, but casserole style! Easy peasy, comforting, and so good!
I used white beans in this quinoa bake because I was trying to make the dish match and look good, but obviously that didn’t work:) So if you prefer black beans or pinto beans, use them! Before serving, I top the quinoa bake with avocado and cilantro. It helps perk the dish up a bit and you can never go wrong with avocado!
If you are looking for a delicious dinner idea, make this Green Chile Enchilada Quinoa Bake. If you want to eat it blindfolded, I won’t be offended:) I promise it is super tasty! Just trust me on this one! And if you don’t believe me, ask Caleb. He will back me up on this one!
Green Chile Enchilada Quinoa Bake
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 10 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
- Juice of 1 small lime
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 10 oz cans green chile enchilada sauce
- 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 4 oz can diced green chiles
- 1 15 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups shredded Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack Cheese
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 avocado diced, for garnish, if desired
- Extra chopped cilantro for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- 2. Add quinoa and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Cover quinoa and set aside.
- 3. In a large skillet, heat the tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for about 5 minutes, our until spinach shrinks down. It will shrink down a lot. Add the lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro. Stir to combine.
- 4. In a large bowl, add the cooked quinoa. Add the enchilada sauce, sour cream, diced green chiles, spinach and white beans. Gently stir until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
- 5.Pour the quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining shredded cheese. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and edges are bubbling. Remove from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Garnish with avocado and cilantro, if desired. Serve warm.
- Note-this recipe freezes well!
Have you tried this recipe?
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I assume you stir in the spinach mixture with the quinoa in step 4.
Yes! I updated the recipe. Sorry about that!
Well, I don’t need my food to be beautiful, just tasty. And honestly, I think the eye popping green on top makes it pretty nice looking. And since y our son Caleb liked, it, well that’s the only real test I need. Bingo. Making this.
Looks gorgeous to me! Sometimes the most delicious foods aren’t the most beautiful! I always think soups just do not photograph well, but I LOVE soup!!
this looks and sounds fabulous Maria!
I’ve made your green chile enchiladas before and everyone LOVED them. I need to make this bake because I’m sure it’ll be just as good. 🙂
I love bakes. They are comforting, filling and delicious. Kudos on this one.
Mmmmm….I know what I am making for dinner tonight! Love all the cheese!
I’ve made a few not-so-pretty dishes, but still totally good, so I love that you blogged it. But honestly, this doesn’t look “ugly” to me at all. IN fact it’s looking super tasty.
It LOOKS so tasty. You can almost taste the creaminess through the screen! I would eat this in a heartbeat!
this look seriously good Maria!
What a tasty quinoa bake!
Totally making this for me & my kids!!
Could I use kale instead of spinach? I have lots and lots of kale! Thank you.
Curious, why do you need to bake it? Instead of combining in a bowl, can’t you just stir it around a pot until the cheese melts? What does the baking do?
I can’t wait to make this ASAP!!! This looks so creamy and delicious!
I absolutely love your spinach green chili enchiladas, this quinoa bake sounds perfect! Hopefully my 3 year old loves it like Caleb!
It’s such a bummer when delicious food is utterly unphotogenic. This still looks pretty good, though! Anything with gooey cheese does!
Oh, I love quinoa, but my repertoire has been limited to salads! Your casserole sounds amazing!!!
I don’t mind the look, as long as it tastes as great as you say it does. I’m going to test this recipe out tomorrow night.
Happy Thursday 🙂
http://www.lovecompassionatelee.com/
We made this last night and loved it! Everyone had second helpings. Thanks for such a great recipe!
It’s in the oven right now! I added a cup of white corn just because we love corn. I hope it is supposed to be a little gooey before going in the oven 🙂 We love your other quinoa recipes, so can’t wait to taste this one!
I bet the corn was a great addition. I will try that next time!
I just made this tonight and it was really great! A super versatile recipe! I made it as written this time, but I think next time I’ll add another can of beans, some corn, and a little extra lime juice. We served it with tortilla chips and basically used this as a chip dip. And the avacado on top was a must in my opinion! That was a perfect compliment to all the other flavors. We’ll definitely make again. I love quinoa recipes so I’ll have to look for more on your site 🙂
I am glad you liked it! It is so good with chips:)
What a great bake – perfect for celebrating a little Cinco de Mayo next week!
My favourite thing to make in the kitchen!
I made this today and it was very tasty! I used black quinoa and added halved cherry tomatoes to the topping before baking for more color. I also used roasted hatch chiles I had in the freezer instead of the can chiles. I will be making this often. Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I will have to try tomatoes next time!
Delicious. Husband and kid approved. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for posting this!
this is so so so good! The only suggestion I’d make is to serve sauteed spinach on the side instead of including it in the main dish IF you plan to stretch this to the next night or lunch leftovers. It still tastes so good but cooked spinach the next day isn’t so easy on the eyes and makes the husband a bit uneasy 😉
This was delicious! We just made it for dinner. Just wondering if you freeze it before cooking or after and if you can cook it from frozen?
I freeze it after baking and reheat it!
Love this so much and have made it so many times. I am hoping you can provide me with a nutritional breakdown. Does not have to be super detailed, but I am on a pretty strict diet and would love to know calories per serving for this plate of deliciousness!!!!
There are lots of places on the internet you could enter the recipe in to get the breakdown
Just tried this and even my kids loved it. I added a small bit of shredded chicken on top for little extra protein. Super yummy recipe!
I have made this twice now. Everyone loved it!
Hi! How many servings is this recipe?
This was really good. Even my son, who would normally not eat quinoa, liked it. This is a keeper!
This is on a weekly rotation now…my daughter and myself prefer to eat a meat free diet. My husband is a meat lover. But he requested this dish so often that I now just make it at least once a week after work. Super easy, very satisfying served with mango slices and warm corn tortillas. Yum!!
So glad you love it!
This recipe is overdue for a 2022 comment! She’s not wrong… this is not a pretty dish… I don’t care one bit… it is so delicious!!! If you’re on the fence, just go ahead and make it. It’s easy to make and has good depth of flavor. I topped mine with a little avocado, cilantro, sour cream, and a few lime tortilla chips. Nice for a meatless
This recipe is overdue for a 2022 comment! She’s not wrong… this is not a pretty dish… I don’t care one bit… it is so delicious!!! If you’re on the fence, just go ahead and make it. It’s easy to make and has good depth of flavor. I topped mine with a little avocado, cilantro, sour cream, and a few lime tortilla chips.
Ha! It’s the taste that counts:)
This was excellent! Love the tang of the green chile.. I used nonfat plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream and it worked beautifully. Just enough spice to make it thoroughly enjoyable! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
You are welcome!
This recipe is so easy and reheats and freezes well! one of our favorite meatless options