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Wow, made this for dinner tonight, and it is delicious! I already know this will be a family favorite! Thank you for the awesome, healthy recipe!
Jamie
And to think that I used to not even like quinoa. What’s happening to me, you guys?
So this Mexican-type black bean casserole is life changingly amazing, but first, let’s catch up. Mother’s Day just happened.
Did you have an awesome one? I was far far away from my mom and family, but something really sweet happened: our young married neighbors invited us out to lunch with them to celebrate Mother’s Day with their sweet 6 month old baby girl, Maggy. Even though he won’t hold her, or any baby for that matter (working on that one), Bjork says she’s the cutest baby he’s ever seen in his entire life. And he has good taste in babies. She is seriously adorable.
The cheeks. Ohhhh the baby cheeks. We were thrilled that they invited us and a little nervous since this last year, we’ve spent most of our time socializing with kids under 10 years old. But they are so friendly, we had a great time, and I was honestly so touched that they showed such hospitality to us.
Now for a flavor explosion. Do you see all that goodness in the slightly bent skillet? That’s onion, garlic, and JALAPEÑO. Truth: I had to capitalize that because I don’t know how to make a tilde on the n using lower case letters. But it works because that spicy green guy adds capital D-ELICIOUS flavor, right along with that fragrant garlic (♥) and sweet onion.
And then those peppers that look like they’re roasted? That’s more of a 5 minute trick that I do sometimes when I don’t want to sweat to my death in our hot apartment. They just get fake-out blistered a tiny bit by leaving them in the hot, dry skillet without stirring. Not fancy, but still totally pretty and yummy.
This whole quinoa black bean casserole thing is actually a remake of an earlier post I did: Southwest Black Bean Casserole. By earlier, I mean like 2 years ago earlier.
At that time I was probably still calling quinoa kin-o-wa because I was clueless. Or because I didn’t like and I was being spiteful. Now I’m more open-minded, I call it keen-wa, and I actually know how to hide it in my food to make myself enjoy it.
I basically replaced the ground turkey in the older version of this recipe with the quinoa in this recipe. It’s possibly the most I’ve ever loved this weird healthy semi-crunchy stuff, although I also equally loved it in last week’s curry squash quinoa. I dry-toasted it (that’s fancy terminology for “put it in a hot pan with nothing else”) with some spices and salt, and it was so delicious even just plain. What? Plain. I said it.
Then it gets layered between the most delicious black bean garlic onion jalapeÑo mixture reminiscent of homemade refried beans, and a top layer of blistered sweet bell peppers, and then you bake it with my favorite ingredient of the whole world lately: cheese. White, melty, ooey gooey cheese.
I didn’t bother finding Mexican cheese… it just doesn’t exist here. So I used some really melty Mozzarella and my new favorite, Emmental. Yum. Do they have Emmental cheese in America, and is it cheaper than it is the Philippines? I feel so out of touch.
PS. Chips chips chips chips chipschipschips.
PSS. HINT OF LIME. It’s kind of trickery because I’m showing you Bjork’s man-hand dipping a girly RiceWorks chip into this yummy mountain of Mexican black bean casserole goodness, but if you’re a Hint of Lime person, you won’t be disappointed with this combo. Or maybe you could buy some of those citrus-y and extra salty ones from Chipotle?
I think I just had a business idea.
I love this so much that I’ve decided it will be my TV snack when I watch the last ever episode of the Office. Which, by the way, I’m already emotional about. I read an article about Pam today (ok fine, Jenna Fischer) and I almost cried. That’s… my real life.
Distracting myself with chips now.
Print
Southwestern Quinoa and Black Bean Casserole
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
Description
This Southwestern quinoa and black bean casserole is a delicious and healthy way to enjoy Mexican comfort food!
Ingredients
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, minced
- 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, minced
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 1/2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed
- 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 4 bell peppers, diced (mine were red and yellow)
- 1 1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese
- sliced green onions
Instructions
- Black beans: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, and jalapeno, sauteing for 4 minutes and stirring occasionally. Stir in broth and black beans. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Mash beans to desired consistency. I like to make them a little more like refried beans while still leaving some of the beans whole. The mixture should be thick, not watery. If you still have a lot of moisture, let it cook out by keeping it on the heat for another few minutes. Taste and season with salt.
- Quinoa: In a dry nonstick skillet over medium high heat, toss and toast the cooked quinoa with the cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and salt for 1-2 minutes. Taste and season with salt. Set aside.
- Peppers: In the same dry nonstick skillet over medium high heat, place the diced peppers and do NOT stir. This allows the peppers to get a brown roasted look on the outside. Wait for 2-3 minutes before stirring, then let them “roast” for another few minutes before removing from the heat.
- Assemble: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spoon black bean mixture into a glass baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with quinoa, bell peppers, and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the top layer of cheese was golden and bubbly. Sprinkle with green onions and let cool for at least 10 minutes (otherwise it will be too runny). Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips, on tacos, on a salad, or just eat it plain!
Notes
I used an 8 inch square baking dish and it was VERY full. You could also spread this into a thinner casserole by using a 9×13 baking dish.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Tex Mex
Keywords: black bean casserole, quinoa and black bean casserole, vegetarian casserole, quinoa and black beans
We found this and made it yesterday – it’s an older one but still just so good. We added a diced up sweet potato since I goofed on the quinoa conversion and only cooked about a cup worth, but it was fantastic. We diced the sweet potato then toasted it in the same pan with the seasoning mix you added to the quinoa to give it more flavor. And, we used chihuahua cheese as the Mexican cheese – perfection!
Today, I’m having the leftovers with a poached egg on top. The yolky goodness really adds something special!
all the recipes are great and easy and yummy. thanks for it all
Found this recipe then lost it, so glad to have found it again. One of my favourite black bean dishes, family loves it. Thanks
While this dish is very tasty, it has way too many steps. I eliminated toasting the quinoa and if I make it again, I will probably not toast the peppers – they will cook enough while the casserole is in the oven.
Can you make this a day in advance then finish the day needed?
Thanks!
I’ve made this several times now and it’s quickly become a favorite. I like adding diced tomatoes and corn. Great recipe!
I love quinoa and could definitely eat it plain, he he. Your casserole looks like a much better alternative though.
Hi Lindsay –
I’m looking for a vegetarian Casserole with these flavors that can be made ahead and frozen. Will this one work?
Love your recipes!
Barbara
SOOOOOO yummy! And really easy. I made this with my two year old (he really enjoyed mashing the beans). We had run out of quinoa so we used millet instead, and I added some sweetcorn in with the peppers (I used frozen sliced peppers because…lazy). Served it as is for the kids, and with some hot pepper sauce for the adults. YUM. Everybody had seconds. 🙂
This looks delicious! Can this casserole be placed in the freezer for some other day? Or would the consistency of the quinoa be altered? Thanks
Hi Nadeen! We’ve never tried so can’t really say. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Thanks for the recipe! We have made this multiple times. We make a piece of Texas Toast and then put a perfectly sized serving on top of the toast. Then we put salsa on top. So good!
This recipe looks FANTASTIC! Can’t wait to try it tonight. Also, I love The Office too, and your commentary on it is hilarious!
This is one of our very favorite dinners! My kids ask for it weekly. Do you think I could prep it and then freeze? I wasn’t sure how quinoa freezes.
We haven’t tried freezing this, but would recommend combining all the cooked ingredients (beans, peppers, quinoa) and then freezing it with the cheese before baking it. That way it’s already cooked but just pop it in the oven to heat.
Amazing!
I absolutely love your recipe. Question, is it healthy? It tastes soo damn good that I my taste buds can’t understand if I’m cheating on my diet or not 🙂 Either way this isn’t the first and won’t be the last time I make this recipe!
I loved this recipe a bunch, so much, I dedicated one of my early posts to it. Except my photography ‘skills’ and planning are so sad next to yours haha Thanks for an awesome dish – it’ll be a regular at my place xx http://www.wisherwoman.com.au/?p=55
Hi! I just stumbled upon this recipe and haven’t had the time to read these hoards of comments. I’d like to serve this to 12 hungry people as a main course. If I doubled it and filled a 9 x 13 pan, would it overflow? Also, by Mexican cheese, are you referring to Queso Cotija or just something spicy like pepperjack? Thanks so much for sharing this. It looks absolutely mouth-watering!
Great question! It would likely overflow if you doubled it in a 9×13 baking dish – we’d recommend two 8-inch squares (each will be pretty full) or two 9×13 dishes that will each be a little thinner. Any Mexican cheese will do! Pepperjack is always a great option. 🙂
Do you have nutrition info??
Hi, Taylor! We did not publish nutrition info for this recipe, but here’s a tool similar to the one we use to make nutrition labels: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076.
This is one of my all time favorite recipes and is family favorite. Have you ever tried making this in a slow cooker?
We haven’t, but it would probably work well!
The recipe sounds great. How much dry beans and quinoa yield the cooked amounts in the recipe?
Hi, Ann! 1 cup of dry beans generally yields 2 to 2.5 cups cooked beans. Quinoa will be about 1 cup dry to 2 cups cooked. For this recipe you’ll use about 2 cups dried beans and 1 cup dried quinoa.
Thanks! Made the casserole last week using extra old cheddar. It turned out well, although I may reduce the quinoa next time. I enjoyed the black bean layer more than the quinoa.
Love that you used quinoa! It’s one of my favorite grains and I’m always looking for new recipes to use it in.
Hope you enjoy this! 🙂
Cooked this last night and even my “i don’t like anything different” husband LOVED it! And those hint of lime chips? On point.
We love hearing that, Kate! Glad you (and your hubby) enjoyed it!
1cup of dry quinoa = the 2 cups cooked in your ingredient list?
That’s correct, Jill! Enjoy! 🙂
My wife makes something almost exactly like this except instead of jalapeno she uses a lot of New Mexico Hatch Green Chile and it is truly amazing. I used to give her a hard time (jokingly) whenever she made an entree without meat but this is practically my favorite dish now. I enjoyed your article!
That’s great to hear, Bud! Thanks!
I was so psyched to try this but mine did not turn out right. I followed the recipe to a T except I used Almond cheese. The pic looked so delicious
Hi Brandy! I’m not sure almond cheese would work in the same way here… but I guess I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure.