Quinoa Enchilada Bake
The BEST Chicken Quinoa Enchilada Bake! Packed with flavor and perfect for a rotisserie or leftover chicken!
Ingredients
Homemade Enchilada Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (sub 1-to-1 gluten-free flour)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2-4 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
Quinoa Enchilada Bake:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 cup traditional quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 10 oz frozen corn (sub canned corn, drained)
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 18 oz boneless skinless chicken breast approx. 2 medium chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cups colby jack cheese shredded (sub dairy-free option)
- topping: sour cream sub dairy-free sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- topping: fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Make Enchilada Sauce: Add 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil to medium sauce pan. Bring to medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and whisk immediately until fully combined. Add in 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 2-4 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves, & 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper into the pan. Whisk to combine. While you continue to whisk slowly pour in 2 cups chicken broth, adding about 1/4 cup or so at a time, then stop and whisk until it is combined and thick. Continue whisking and adding 1/4 cup at a time until fully combined. The sauce should be fairly thick at this point. Turn up the heat a bit and bring sauce to a low simmer (this will help to continue thickening your sauce). Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon lime juice. Whisk to combine. After sauce has a simmered 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and let cool.
- Preheat: Turn on oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine Skillet Ingredients: Bring a deep, 12-inch cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and let melt; swirl to coat the pan. Add onion and move around pan to soften. Add 1 cup traditional quinoa, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 10 oz frozen corn, 15 oz can black beans, enchilada sauce and the cubed, raw chicken. Stir to combine.
- Bake: Transfer to preheated oven and bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven and stir (at this point if you feel your quinoa isn't close to being fully cooked - place back in the oven and let cook another 10 minutes or so before adding the cheese). Top with shredded cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted, approx. 5 minutes.
- Serve: Remove from oven and serve with sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro.
Notes
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce: I cannot recommend enough that you make the homemade enchilada sauce for this recipe! It is just so good and how this recipe is supposed to taste - that being said, I totally get it, and if you need to use a store-bought version, go for it! Just make sure you use a store-bought brand that you know and love - you will need 2 cups. I do like the Siete brand enchilada sauce in a pinch.
- Chicken: you can make this with pre-cooked chicken BUT, add it in after the quinoa mixture has baked for 30 minutes. Then let bake 10 minutes to warm chicken through, add cheese and let melt. If you add it in at the beginning, it will be chewy/overcooked by the end of the bake time.
- Quinoa + Cook Time: we used Ancient Harvest traditional quinoa for testing this recipe and it took approx. 45 minutes of bake time to be fully cooked/soft. Quinoa brands and ovens vary, so just use your best judgment and if when you pull out your skillet in Step 4 and you feel like the quinoa is quite fully cooked, feel free to pop it back in for another 10 minutes or so!
Nutrition
Calories: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 996mg | Potassium: 658mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 872IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 3mg
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