This Easy Skillet Mexican Quinoa is a one pot meal that you can have on your table in 30 minutes! Black beans add even more protein to this vegetarian dinner.
I first made this healthy and delicious recipe for Cinco de Mayo. I took this Quinoa and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole, one of my all-time most popular recipes, and adapted it for the stovetop to create this Mexican Quinoa skillet. I kept the flavors and key ingredients in the casserole, but cooked everything in a skillet on the stove to speed things up. Preparing this dish in a skillet also creates less dishes, which is a major plus.
This Mexican Quinoa has a mildly spicy enchilada-style sauce, onion, black beans, cilantro, and cheese. And, of course, plenty of quinoa and sweet potatoes!
We like to serve this Easy Mexican Quinoa either wrapped in whole grain tortillas or with tortilla chips for scooping. The leftovers are delicious for lunch the next day.
Why you’ll love this Skillet Mexican Quinoa :
- This meal is meatless, yet still full of protein thanks to the quinoa and black beans. Quinoa is also naturally gluten-free and a good source of fiber and other nutrients.
- Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of many nutrients, including Vitamins A and C, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.
- It’s ready in 30 minutes!
- You will only have one pan to wash after making dinner. Enough said.
Love 30 minute one pot meals? Try my Chicken Tortilla Casserole or Chicken Enchilada Soup next!
Mexican Quinoa and Sweet Potato Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, about 1.5 pounds total
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow or red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder*
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and drained
- 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, or Mexican cheese blend or Monterey jack, divided
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
Instructions
- Peel (if desired) and chop the sweet potatoes into ½-inch cubes. (Don't chop them larger or they won't cook through by the time the quinoa is done.)
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sweet potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Add the onion to the skillet and continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salt and cook for 30 seconds, stirring.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, water, quinoa, and black beans. Bring to a simmer. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer. Cook for 15-17 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid and sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
- Remove from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the cheese and ¼ cup of the cilantro. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and cilantro over the top. Serve.
Notes
- 1 tablespoon of chili powder makes this dish mildly spicy. You can add more chili powder to make it spicier.
Oh this is such a wonderful skillet, Kristine! I love finding new ways to use quinoa, and this looks perfect for Cinco de Mayo. Sounds so flavorful, especially with the spices and sweet potatoes!
Dear Kristine, This skillet dish sounds delicious…I love how wholesome and healthy it is too! xo, Catherine
I love how almost all of the dishes today are Mexican inspired somehow! SO fun! This is such a great dinner PACKED with all the good things!
Oh I want this so badly right now! And I’d totally be scooping it up with tortilla chips. Sounds delicious!
Healthy and delicious! Love that you can also eat this with chips.
Oh this looks so good! Sweet potatoes, black beans, and quinoa with Mexican spices is such a phenomenal combination! Delicious meal and Happy Cinco de Mayo, Kristine!
Thanks, Marcie! Happy Cinco de Mayo (and Mother’s Day) to you, too!
I love that you made this dish meatless. There are so many days that I don’t want to deal with meat and this dish looks amazing! I would be making some nachos out of this with all the tortilla chips I’d eat with it. Ha!
Thanks, Cyndi! We eat meatless more nights than not because I don’t like dealing with meat, either! And yes, we definitely had many tortilla chips with this! 😉
What a delicious skillet! I love a good and hearty meatless dinner.
Thank you, Kelly!
Sweet potatoes are such a great substitute for meat! Tons of flavor, and so healthy. I love this skillet! And can’t beat 30 minutes.
Thanks, Natalie! I think I’m addicted to sweet potatoes!
I love everything about this recipe, Kristine! Looks so delicious and healthy, and only one pot= awesome!
Thank you, Denise! We’ll do whatever we can to get away with less dishes around here!
This looks amazing, I love one pot dinners. Especially Mexican ones that I can eat on tortilla chips! Anytime chips and dip is an appropriate dinner that makes me happy! 🙂
Thanks, Stacey! Can’t go wrong with tortilla chips, right? 😉
Yay for one dish meals – and it looks so healthy and delicious! My kids go crazy for anything with sweet potatoes so this would definitely be a hit. I love that it can be scooped up with tortilla chips 🙂
Happy Mother’s Day!
This is one gorgeous skillet, Kristine! Preeeeeetty sure I just want to do a face-first dive into all that healthy Mexican goodness! My family would love this!!
Can this meal be frozen after being cooked?
I’ve never tried freezing this myself, but I think it would freeze and reheat well.
We made this for dinner tonight and added chicken thighs. It was AMAZING! Full of delicious flavour.
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, Bethany! I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe!
We are having a family dinner featuring a taco bar.
My parents are vegetarians. I’m thinking of making this for them to fill their tacos. I just want to clarify that you didn’t precook the sweet potatoes? They are uncooked when added to the skillet?
That’s correct, I didn’t precook the sweet potatoes. As long as you cut them into 1/2-inch size pieces, they will cook in the times given in the recipe. This would make a great vegetarian taco filling!
This was absolutely delicious! I am always looking for more vegetarian meals as meat prices are crazy expensive.
Thank you! Keep up the good work. 🙂
I made this for supper. I substituted some frozen butternut squash I had for the sweet potato and added a few vegetables. It was really delicious. I would definitely make this again. Thanks Kristine.