Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans—flavorful quinoa with salsa, black beans and sliced avocado. An easy meatless meal or an amazing side dish.
Get the INSTANT POT Mexican quinoa and black beans recipe here
Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans
I am obsessed with my Mexican Rice and Black Beans. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner all by myself until it’s gone. I decided to keep the recipe pretty much the same but swap out the brown rice with quinoa. It turned out wonderfully! I sliced up some avocado and enjoyed this until it was gone. This is a wonderful light summer recipe that I paired with a fresh fruit salad and a green salad.
I like buying quinoa in the bulk section at Winco. As far as I can tell it’s the cheapest way to buy it as well. I always make sure to rinse my quinoa really well because there is a natural coating on quinoa called saponin. This can make it taste a little bitter or soapy. It can also cause digestive issues. Sometimes boxed quinoa claims that it is pre-rinsed, but I always rinse my quinoa anyhow.
To make this recipe I always use the mild Pace Picante sauce. It’s my favorite. I buy it in the big container at Costco. If you’re not a fan of black beans just use pinto beans in the place of the black beans.
This recipe can easily be doubled. Just double all the ingredients. I like to make this recipe for lunches throughout the week. Skyler love to take the leftovers in his mini crockpot* to school. And Greg will take a little container to work and warm it up in the microwave.
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What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans I used my small 3 quart slow cooker.* I love this little slow cooker because it’s super cute and it’s just the perfect size for side dishes, drinks or small meals. It fits into my sink so I can easily hand wash it and it fits in the bottom or top of my dishwasher so I can easily stick it in there to get clean. I try to use this 3 quart slow cooker any time I can!
Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Flavorful quinoa with salsa, black beans and sliced avocado. An easy meatless meal or an amazing side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup uncooked and rinsed quinoa or orzo
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup salsa
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Lime juice
- Avocado slices
Instructions
- Add beans, quinoa (or orzo), water, salsa, bay leaf, cumin, salt and garlic to the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for about 2 hours.
- Remove lid and fluff quinoa with a fork. Remove the bay leaf.
- Add in fresh lime juice to taste and salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve topped with sliced avocado.
Notes
Ideal slow cooker size: 3 quart If you’d like to see a video of this recipe click here.
- Method: Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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I love this recipe! If I use brown rice instead of quinoa/orzo, is the cooking time the same? If I double the recipe, would I just double the hours in the crockpot?
★★★★★
You don’t need to double the hours in the crockpot. It’ll be a similar cooking time even though it is doubled. Brown rice will take longer than quinoa.
Thanks! Would refried beans work with this recipe?
or dried beans?
There is also something called Chili Beans that I LOVE more than canned pinto beans or canned black beans. Try it some time, it is really good!
yes I love those!
Has this recipe been developed for IP?
Yes! https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-mexican-quinoa-and-black-beans/
This was soooo delicious! My husband and neighbor, who was over, both raved! I was able to disguise a healthy meal, thank you!!!
Yes! I love this one. I was just thinking about it yesterday.
I made this yesterday, it tasted good but it had to much water.
They are canned black beans so they are cooked through. These are not dried beans. Good luck!
Black beans are canned, so they are basically cooked.
are the black beans cooked or uncooked when they go into the crock pot?
We've made this several times in the last few weeks, its become a favourite in this house, love the recipe, thanks!!!
Tara
Holly, probably about 4 hours!
Hi Karen, if I cooked this on low, how long do you think I would need to cook it for?
MP, so glad it worked out for you. I love salsa verde! I'm going to have to try that for sure!
This recipe is fantastic! Thank you for sharing. We had it this evening with salsa verde (because thet's what was in the house) and a nutritional yeast "cheese" sauce. DELICIOUS — Soo good I can hardly wait to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Very good, half the recipe because I used a small slow cooker. I used the left overs in my omelets and will make it again.
Wow, what a winner! I absolutely love the sound of this one.
Marisa,
That is so awesome! Yes, this can easily be made on the stove and adding chicken can make it a meal. Glad it worked out for you!
Karen – it was so good! I didn't have time to slow cook it, but since quinoa cooks so fast this was a great option for stove-top tonight. I added a little oregano and some frozen corn too and then topped it with some shredded chicken I had in the freezer. This will definitely be in my rotation and I will enjoy the leftovers for lunch this week. Thanks for the recipe inspiration today!