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A quick and easy one-pan meal, this Thai Peanut Quinoa Bake makes a flavorful vegetarian dinner recipe for the whole family. Topped with a zesty peanut sauce, your weekday dinners are officially complete!
Sometimes it feels like I’ve spent the majority of my adult life figuring out what balance looks like to me. I basically went from carnivore to vegan and now find myself somewhere in between. I went from buying 100% conventional produce to thinking organic is the only way. I’ve realized I can eat meat and be conscious about where my meat is sourced. I can buy organic when it’s available but not stress when I have to occasionally buy conventional. Healthy living doesn’t fall on one extreme or the other for me… it falls somewhere in the middle.Â
Which brings me to this thai peanut quinoa bake recipe. I used to have very polarizing opinions about Costco but have recently realized, it’s okay to fall somewhere in the middle! This recipe came about when I came across a gigantic bag of quinoa at Costco for $16. $16!Â
Dinner doesn’t get much easier than this – you need a few key ingredients, one baking dish and you’ve got a delicious meal ready in no time.Â
Thai Peanut Quinoa Bake Ingredients:
- uncooked quinoa
- vegetables – red onion, broccoli, red bell pepper, and frozen shelled edamame.
- coconut milk
- seasonings and spices – curry powder, ground ginger, cayenne powder and sea salt.
The most important part (in my opinion) is this peanut sauce!
Here’s what you need for the sauce:
- natural smooth peanut butter
- garlic clove
- rice vinegar
- tamari (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- honey (use maple syrup if vegan)
- sesame oil
- red pepper flakes
- ground ginger
Do You Have to Precook the Quinoa?
No! One of the best things about this recipe (besides the flavor) is that you don’t have to pre-cook the quinoa. You can literally mix all of the ingredients together and bake. It doesn’t get much simpler than that… it’s the perfect recipe to assign to your partner that might not be super comfortable in the kitchen. The quinoa takes on all of the amazing flavors it’s surrounded by in the dish.Â
How to Make This Thai Peanut Quinoa Bake [Step-By-Step]
STEP 1: Preheat oven and grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.
STEP 2: Add uncooked quinoa to casserole dish and top with red onion, broccoli, edamame and bell pepper.
STEP 3: Combine water and coconut milk and stir in curry powder, ginger, cayenne and salt.
STEP 4: Make peanut sauce by combining all ingredients in a jar and shaking everything together (or mix in a bowl).
STEP 5: Pour water-coconut milk mixture over quinoa-vegetable mixture until well coated and then drizzle with HALF of thai peanut sauce.
STEP 6: Cover with tinfoil (or a top if your casserole dish has one) and bake for 45 minutes covered.
STEP 8: Remove tin foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed by quinoa.Top with remaining peanut sauce and serve.
Thai Peanut Quinoa Bake
A quick and easy one-pan meal, this Thai Peanut Quinoa Bake makes a flavorful vegetarian dinner recipe for the whole family. Topped with a zesty peanut sauce, your weekday dinners are officially complete!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 65 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- coconut oil, for greasing
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained*
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 3 cups broccoli, chopped (about 1 head)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup water
- 1 14 ounce can coconut milk
- 1 1/2 tsp of curry powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- pinch of cayenne powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
For the Peanut Sauce:
- 1/4 cup natural smooth peanut butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- 1 tbsp honey (maple syrup if vegan)
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
For the Peanut Sauce:
- Add all ingredients together in a large bowl.
For the Casserole:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a large casserole dish (9×13) with coconut oil or coconut oil spray.
- Add uncooked quinoa to casserole dish and top with red onion, broccoli, edamame and bell pepper.
- Combine water and coconut milk and stir in curry powder, ginger, cayenne and salt.
- Pour water-coconut milk mixture over quinoa-vegetable mixture until well coated.
- Top with half of peanut sauce and cover with tin foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes covered with tin foil.
- Remove tin foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed by quinoa.
- Top with remaining peanut sauce and serve.
*I used white quinoa however you may need to bake for longer with tricolor quinoa – approx 50 minute covered and 15-20 minutes uncovered.
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Hi. What can I substitute for edamame? (No soy)
Just leave it out or another veggie!
This was so good. My husband hates qunioa but he loved this dish. The full fat coconut milk made it so creamy and delicious and I’m so glad it makes enough for leftovers.
Glad you enjoyed! Sorry for being so delayed in responding. Was on vacation. Enjoy the leftovers!
Can I use frozen broccoli?
absolutely!
I just came across your blog and I have been going through the Man-Friendly Vegan Meal post which I have to say has some very delicious and creative recipes. I can’t wait to make some of these recipes and share them on ig. I just wanted to let you know that you should add a note for a substitute to honey in your Thai Quinoa Casserole dish to make it completely vegan for those very strict vegans.
Thanks
yup! You’re so right – maple syrup is a great substitute as is coconut sugar. Thanks for the heads up!
When you say to pour the milk mixture to cover, do you mean to not use the full amount? Also should the vegetables not be stirred? I used the full amount and stirred it and followed the recipe to a t. It has now been cooking for 50 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered and the quinoa is still not cooked. Gonna try covering it for a bit to see if it can be salvaged.
Hi Krystle. Yes, the full amount should be used. What kind of quinoa are you using? Also perhaps your oven runs cooler? I’ve made this many times, as have so many others without any issue! Hope it works out for you.
I had EXACTLY the same issue when I tried this. It took about twice as long as indicated to get to anything other than soup.
I used white quinoa, and started with a hotter oven (my husband had just cooked a pizza at a higher temp). I did use a round casserole dish instead of the 13 x 9, I used the full amount of liquid, and I did stir everything together.
The flavor is great, and I’ll certainly try it again, but by the time the casserole wasn’t soupy anymore, everything got a little goopy instead. I suspect the wider dish (thinner layer of quinoa,) plus the layer of vegetables (rather than mixed in) might have made a difference in the steaming/cooking time.
If I wanted to add chicken, do you think I could put it in with everything in the casserole dish? Or just cook it separately and add it after? Thanks! Looks delicious.
yup! Just throw it in with everything else and it will cook through perfectly 🙂
I just made this for dinner and it was DELISH! Definitely going to be added to my regular recipe rotation. That peanut sauce is amazing. Thanks for a great recipe!
So wonderful! It’s actually on the menu here tonight too 🙂
Quinoa with an Asian fusion? How delicious does that sound?! I also watched Cowspiracy and I’ve decided to make a very slow transition to a plant based diet. I haven’t started just yet–I’m going to be vegetarian by the time I start college and I can’t wait!
This looks so tasty! Adding this to my list to try this month 🙂 Also seems like a great ‘batch cook’ type recipe to get meals made for the week.
Exactly! I’d like to believe I could have this on hand for a week’s worth of meals, but my BF usually polishes it off way too quickly haha
My daughter shops at BJs only because of the great selection of organic vegetables.
This recipe looks yummy. What can we use to substitute peanut butter? Tahini? Or would it be possible to try almond butter instead of peanut butter?
Almond butter or tahini would be a great substitute!