January 30, 2014

Vegan Vegetable 'Fried' Quinoa Recipe


I love quinoa... I really do! It is so versatile and you can use it in any dish... savoury or sweet!  It tastes like a yummier version of brown rice that is more tender and nutty. If you haven't used quinoa before please don't be overwhelmed as it is so easy to prepare... practically the same process as cooking rice! Quinoa originated in the South American region and is a grain crop used for its seeds. Funnily enough, it is closely related to  beetroot, spinach and tumbleweeds (so strange) and is very high in protein, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. Anyway, this is Jerome's recipe for his vegan vegetable 'fried' quinoa! I had been wanting to create a vegan fried rice for a while and I thought that it would be much more nutritious and delicious with quinoa. So, Jerome set out and created this amazingly scrumptious restaurant-quality dish. I love it when he creates a recipe and cooks... food always tastes nicer when someone else makes it! Especially this one... it is way more tasty than a greasy takeaway fried rice and a lot healthier. I guarantee that you will love it! Enjoy ^_^


serves: 4


   300g uncooked quinoa
   1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
   1 cup chopped baby corn
   2 cups sliced mushrooms 
   1 cup tightly packed sliced wombok 
   3/4 cup frozen peas 
   3/4 cup finely diced carrots
   1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
   2 tablespoons kecap manis
   1 tablespoon peanut oil
   2 tablespoons soy sauce 
   salt and pepper



  1. Prepare quinoa according to packet instructions and set aside in a large bowl once cooked.
  2. In the meantime, in a pan/wok on high heat add 1/2 tablespoon of the sesame oil, the baby corns and the mushrooms and stir fry for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the wombok, peas and carrots to the pan and stir fry for a minute or so until the peas have defrosted. 
  4. Add in the ginger and 1 tablespoon of the kecap manis and stir fry for another minute or so until the ginger is fragrant. 
  5. Pour the stir-fried vegetables into the large bowl with the cooked quinoa and toss until combined. Set aside. 
  6. In a small bowl, make the 'oil mixture' by adding the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and the peanut oil and stirring until combined. In another small bowl, make the 'soy mixture' by adding the last 1 tablespoon of kecap manis and the soy sauce and stirring until combined. Set aside. 
  7. Place the pan/wok back on the heat and add 1/4 of the oil mixture (from step 6) with 1/4 of the quinoa and stir-fried vegetables and fry for 1 minute or so until heated through. Then add 1/4 of the soy mixture (from step 6) and fry for another minute. Set the fried batch aside. Repeat this with the remaining three batches until all the remaining quinoa and vegetables have been fried and heated through.
  8. Season with salt and pepper as needed and serve immediately! Enjoy. 



  • The quinoa has to be fried in batches in step 7 in order to give a nice fried consistency. If you fry it all together, it will be steamed rather than fried. 
  • I purchase our quinoa from Coles in the health food section. It is quite expensive... I think about $8.00 for 300g.
  • Kecap manis is a sweetened thickened soy sauce. 


The nutrition information above is an approximate guideline. Each serving of our delicious fried quinoa contains 24% of your RDI of vitamin C, 37% of your RDI of iron and is very high in manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin B6. 

4 comments :

  1. Mm this sounds delicious (and I love the presentation:) - I had no idea quinoa was closely related to beetroot!

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  2. Is this good cold?

    ReplyDelete