You are going to love eating healthy with this nutritious Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl! This mouthwatering and flavorful bowl can be served hot or cold and features shredded chicken, green onions, tomatoes, spinach, and basil pesto mixed in with sprouted fluffy quinoa and topped with feta.
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It is perfect for busy weeknights any time of year. We especially love this quick light meal during summer's sunny season.
Simply soak your quinoa for a couple of hours, rinse, and cook! After soaking, dinner is served in less than 30 minutes. Here’s to another delectable and nutrient-dense dinner to add to the weeknight rotation!
Why We Love It
When I discovered protein-packed quinoa as a healthy alternative to rice and pasta, I had to give it a try. It was love at first bite. Seriously, if you haven't tasted quinoa yet, you have to try it!
Since learning how to soak and properly prepare this nutritious superfood, I began incorporating it into many recipes. Our chicken pesto quinoa bowl is an easy weeknight meal that the whole family will love!
If you love this, try other bowls like Creamy Tuscan Chicken Bowl, Trader Joe's Chicken Shawarma Bowl, and Trader Joe's Harvest Blend Stir Fry.
Before getting started, I always recommend taking a moment to set healthy intentions. For more information on how to do this effectively, check out my free guide to setting intentions and using affirmations!
Ingredients
Organic Chicken- Boneless skinless chicken breasts work best, filleted! Chicken thighs will also work, for a richer flavor profile. You can also buy a pre-made rotisserie chicken to save time!
Tri-colored quinoa- Quinoa is a nutrient-dense pseudo-grain packed with protein and has fewer carbs and starches than rice. It is excellent for digestion too! In fact, it contains all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein!
Lemon Juice- Freshly squeezed lemon juice is best. Check out our article explaining the difference between fresh lemon juice vs lemon concentrate.
Grape tomatoes- Organic is best!
Basil pesto- When buying jarred pesto, be sure to check the ingredients- it will likely be a bit more expensive than the store brand, but incredibly important to get the least processed product available. If you'd like, you can also use homemade pesto. Often pesto ingredients contain nuts like pine nuts and even walnuts. If you have a nut allergy, be sure to search for a nut-free basil pesto dressing.
Feta Cheese- This one is also important to check the ingredients. Use all-natural ingredients and avoid products with chemicals that increase shelf stability because they increase inflammation!
See the recipe card for quantities.
Soaking the Quinoa
Soaking and sprouting grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds is an essential step that is beneficial for many reasons. These foods typically have a layer of phytic acid that protects them from environmental factors.
Phytic acid is known as an anti-nutrient and blocks the absorption of essential nutrients. It may also cause digestive upset. The simple remedy to remove the phytic acid and maximize benefits from your grains, nuts, legumes, and seeds is to simply rinse, soak, and/or sprout to activate nutrients and disable anti-nutrients.
If you do not have time to soak, be sure to rinse at least. For more in-depth information on the benefits of soaking check out these scientific studies.
Hint: The amount of water used to cook will vary depending on how long the quinoa has been soaked. The ideal soaking time is 6-8 hours.
If you need to soak for longer than 12 hours be sure to strain and rinse the quinoa and replace it with fresh water for additional time if needed/desired. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar and warm purified water for optimal results. Drain and rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Check out this helpful guide to learn more about the benefits of sprouting quinoa!
Cooking Liquid to Soaking Time Ratios
Here are the cooking times and liquid needed to add to the pot to cook in depending on how long you were able to soak your quinoa.
Rinse only- 3 cups liquid: 2 cups quinoa
If soaked for 1 hour-2 cups liquid: 2cups quinoa
Soaked for 3 hours- 1.5 cups liquid: 2 cups quinoa
Soaking overnight or longer- Minimum of 1 cup liquid no matter how much quinoa (in Instant Pot)!
Hint: The foam is the phytic acid soaking off! Be sure to rinse the foam and bubbles away to the best of your ability. Try to let the water run as clear as possible. Use a mesh strainer!
Substitutions and Variations
Brown Rice or Wild Rice can be easily swapped in place of quinoa.
For a grain-free alternative, consider spiralized zucchini as an alternative to quinoa!
For a vegan/vegetarian dish, simply omit chicken and/or feta cheese. Quinoa has a sufficient amount of protein in itself!
Add roasted vegetables like red pepper for extra flavor and nutrients.
Feta can also be swapped with parmesan cheese for a different flavor.
We also love to add hot sauce or red pepper flakes for a slight kick of heat!
How to Make Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl
Step 1: Cook quinoa on the stove or in the instant pot.
Step 2: Fluff quinoa with a fork, add oil and ¼ cup of water to the bottom of the pan to avoid burning the quinoa. The water will evaporate with cooking. Add baby spinach handfuls at a time while stirring until it wilts.
Step 3: Add tomatoes and green onions and stir for a minute. Remove from heat.
Step 4: Cook seasoned chicken on the stove.
Cool and cut into bite-sized pieces or shred.
Step 5: Add lemon juice and pesto to the quinoa.
Mix in cut chicken, crumbed feta, and Basil flakes.
*can be served hot or cold! Enjoy!
Expert tip
Do not overcook the chicken. Use a meat thermometer to ensure the proper heating temperature is reached. Once it is reached, remove and dice or shred once it has cooled enough to do so. To save time, get a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and shred it for convenience.
Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl FAQ's
There are approximately 300-400 calories in a chicken quinoa bowl per serving, depending on your toppings and serving size.
A cup of cooked quinoa has approximately 220 calories. But, don't let that fool you! These are nutrient-dense calories. This means that each of these calories are not empty calories, but are used by the body for energy and fuel. Quinoa is packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.
No. A cup of cooked white rice has about 40 more calories and 10-20 times more carbs than a cup of cooked quinoa. Additionally, white rice is devoid of nutrients, unlike quinoa. Quinoa is a superfood with nutrients to help your body while white rice is likely to spike your sugar levels and leave you feeling sluggish.
More Healthy Dinner Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Tried this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments! Leave us a 🌟 review below! Don't miss another recipe: Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the best healthy recipes directly to your inbox. Want to try another bowl? Check out our Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Bowl!
Recipe
Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Easy Sprouted Quinoa
Equipment
- large bowl
- Cooking Spoon
- Chefs knife
- cutting board
- Skillet
- Pot with lid
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mesh strainer
- meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder
- 2 cups Dry Quinoa soaked and rinsed
- 1-1.5 cups chicken broth
- 1 tb Lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 bunch Green onions washed and chopped
- 10 oz Grape tomatoes halved
- 6.5 oz Basil pesto
- 1 TB Avocado oil
- 2 TB Lightly dried basil flakes
- Pink Himalayan Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put broth or water in a skillet with a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Add soaked and rinsed quinoa and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover for 8 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. **If using an instant pot, set manual pressure to one minute. Let natural release. Always use a minimum of one cup of liquid for the pressure cooker to work properly.
- Fluff quinoa with a fork or spoon. Add ½ tb oil and stir to combine. Add a ¼ cup of clean water to the bottom of the pan to avoid burning the quinoa. The water will evaporate with cooking. Add handfuls of raw baby spinach at a time while stirring until it wilts, it takes a couple of minutes.
- Add tomatoes and green onions and stir for one minute. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, heat ½ tb oil on a skillet on medium-high heat and add butterflied chicken. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powders on both sides. Cook on each side for 6 min until reaching an internal temp of 165F. Remove from heat and place on cutting board, let cool for 5min. Once cooled, slice, dice in bite-sized pieces, or shred chicken to desired consistency.
- Place quinoa in a large bowl. Add lemon juice and pesto. *(hint: shake the jar of pesto before opening it because the oil settles at the top!)
- Add cut chicken, crumbed feta, and Basil flakes. Mix as desired.
Notes
- Soak Quinoa for 3 hours. If you soak for more or less adjust the liquid used in the instant pot, due to differing amounts of liquid absorbed. ( See liquid conversion chart in post) Do not use less than 1 cup of liquid in an Instant Pot.
- Can be served hot or cold
- For a vegan version, omit the chicken and feta
Katherine says
This looks amazing! I'm not a fan of tomatoes (or peppers lol), what would you recommend as a substitute or would it work okay together without those? The rest sounds so good!
Natalie Perry says
Thats ok! You don't need the tomatoes or peppers at all. It just adds another layer of flavor that is slightly sweet and tangy. If you don't like the flavor, I would suggest omitting them. If you prefer, you can try tomatillo as a replacement. Our daughter does not favor tomatoes, so we just remove them for her. She likes the pesto chicken quinoa bowl without them!
A. H. says
This looks amazing!! Can’t wait to try it!
Natalie Perry says
Awesome, let us know how you like it!
Jomelyn Mauermann says
Ive never cook quinoa before but I both some last week. Thank you for the thorough information on how to cook them.
Natalie Perry says
You are welcome! Quinoa is one of our favorites.