How to Cook Quinoa (the lazy way)

I have a really yummy recipe that I want to share with you soon. It involves quinoa, so I thought I should start from the very beginning and show you how I cook quinoa.

The first time I had quinoa was in Oregon visiting some friends. This is how she cooked her quinoa and I honestly didn’t know for a long time that people cooked it any other way. This is so simple, that I almost don’t even want to call it a tutorial.

First you need to decide how much cooked quinoa you want. The rule of thumb to cooking quinoa is 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water. So, if you want 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa, you need to start with 1/2 cup of quinoa and cook it in 1 cup of water. Easy peasy.

After you’ve decided how much cooked quinoa you want, then rinse the dried quinoa. I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize when I first started using quinoa that it should be rinsed. I didn’t rinse it for a long time. Some people think there is a bitter taste if it’s not rinsed. I can’t tell that much of a difference myself. It could be the kind of quinoa I buy. I get it in bulk at one of our local grocery stores.  But, it’s really easy to rinse it, so now I do.
I like to use a pint jar. The curve at the top of the jar helps the quinoa stay in while the water runs out. So, first put the quinoa in the jar.

Then add some water.

(Can you tell what color of shirt I was wearing? I guess I didn’t take into consideration reflection when I was choosing my wardrobe for the day).

After you add water, let the quinoa settle to the bottom of the jar. It only takes a minute or so.

Now, pour off the water.

A few of the still floating quinoa will probably fall into the sink, but I never worry about it. I’ve tried using strainers, but the wet quinoa sticks to the strainer and I found that I lose less by just letting a few float out. You can rinse it once or a few times if you want. I usually rinse it twice.

Now…on to cooking the quinoa. Pull out your rice cooker and dump all of the quinoa in. If there is a little bit of extra water, no problem!

What? You don’t have a rice cooker? Well, shame on you! Go get one!! I love my rice cooker. I’m on my third one – I use them so much that I keep wearing mine out! My husband just bought me this one. It’s a little more high tech than most, but you can find little rice cookers for under $20. So, seriously, go get one!

Okay, after you add the quinoa, add the water (for 1/2 cup of quinoa, add 1 cup of water – remember this from the beginning of the post?)

And then, just cook it like you would rice. If you have a fancy rice cooker with different settings, then cook it on the white rice setting. My quinoa comes out perfectly every time this way. I never have to watch it to make sure it doesn’t burn. And, it’s ready in no time!

So there you have it. My lazy, super easy way to cook quinoa. It took me longer to write this post than it takes to make a batch of quinoa.