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one-pan Mexican quinoa wraps

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one-pan Mexican quinoa wrapsI’m SO crazy for these wraps, like totally insanely crazy for these, and I’ve been making them non-stop for the past 3 weeks. Marin mama might need to be committed! They’re honestly my new favorite lunch and/or dinner, and the bonus is that Zoe loves them as much as I do. Yay Zoe! I’m working on Eli, as he likes these wraps, and will totally eat them, but he doesn’t crave them the way Zoe and I do.  I do have to remember that he’s only 10, and his palate hasn’t totally evolved the way Zoe’s and mine has. So Eli, I’ll give you a few more years to be lukewarm to my healthy recipes! Just kidding cutie!

These quinoa wraps are awesome for SO many reasons, which I will summarize for you below:

  • They can be made in roughly 30-35 minutes, making them the perfect weeknight dinner! Yippee!
  • Everything is cooked together in one-skillet!  Yes, you heard me right, one-skillet cooking baby!
  • These wraps are kid approved, loved by Zoe and approved by Eli!
  • You can be totally creative and add different combinations and veggies to make them unique!
  • The leftovers are amazing and make the perfect lunch!
  • These wraps are a great & healthy meatless Monday dinner option and are gluten free to boot!

The best part is that they taste great, and isn’t that what it’s all about?  Please don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, as these wraps are super simple to make and if you’re on a time crunch, you can substitute diced canned tomatoes for the fresh ones and frozen corn for the red pepper or zucchini. You can pretty much add to, or change anything!

Ok, let’s get started and make up some wraps peeps!one-pan Mexican quinoa wraps

one-pan Mexican quinoa wraps:

makes 6-8 wraps
prep time 10-12 minutes / cook time 23 minutes / total 30-35 minutes

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeno, ribs removed and diced small
  • 1 cup well-rinsed quinoa  – I love using this brand from Ancient Harvest, as you don’t have to pre-rinse it
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken broth – feel free to use vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegetarian
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, (about 1 pint) cut in half – if it’s fall/winter, or if you’re pressed for time you can use 1 (14.5-ounce) can of fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes
  • 1 medium zucchini (approx 1 cup), diced
  • 1 medium red bell pepper (approx 1 cup), diced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes – you can add more or less depending on how spicy you like things. Both of my kids thought that it was perfectly spicy, but not too hot.
  • 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice – from one lime
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese combination, cotija cheese and/or Queso fresco cheese – I like using a combination of the shredded Monterey Jack and cheddar along with Queso fresco.
  • burrito size spinach, whole-grain or gluten-free tortillas

Ok, first things first!  I like to prep all of my ingredients in advance, because with this recipe, you’re basically cooking everything at once, so you’ll want to have everything chopped up and measured ahead of time.

Mince up the 2 cloves of garlic and wash and dice up the jalapeño, put both into a small bowl and set aside.

Measure out the 1 cup quinoa and the 1 1/4 cups chicken broth.

Drain and rinse the black beans.

Wash and chop up the tomatoes, dice up the zucchini and red pepper, set aside on the cutting board.

 Get out a small bowl and add in the 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and the 1 tablespoon red chili flakes. It’s just easier to measure them out into one small bowl ahead of time, as you will be adding them all at once.

NOTE: I usually wash and chop the cilantro, dice the avocado and squeeze the 2 tablespoons of lime juice while the quinoa is cooking.  You’re going to have 20 minutes while the quinoa is cooking, so it saves you a few steps in the beginning. ingredients for one-pan Mexican quinoa Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet set over medium high heat.

Add the minced garlic and jalapeño, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.sauteeing the jalapeno and garlicAdd in the chicken broth, quinoa, black beans, chopped tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, salt, and the red pepper flakes.ingredients for Mexican quinoa in the skilletGive everything a stir so that all of the ingredients are well-combined.

ingredients for Mexican quinoa cooking in the skilletBring to boil, cover and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes.Mexican quinoa simmering with lid on the panAdd the diced avocado, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and the 2 tablespoons lime juice to the cooked quinoa mixture.  The avocado still tastes great in the quinoa mixture on day 2 and 3, so don’t fret adding it to the mixture.
finished Mexican quinoa with avocado and cilantro addedStir everything together to combine.finished Mexican quinoaNow it’s time to assemble the wraps. You can heat up your tortilla and melt your cheese anyway you wish. These are the two methods I use. The first is the non-lazy way and the second is the lazy way.

Non-lazy way:  Get out a tortilla and place it in a dry skillet over medium heat. Add to one half of the tortilla the shredded cheeses and Queso fresco (or whatever combination of cheeses you want). Flip the other half over like you’re making a quesadilla, and let the cheese melt.

Lazy way: Place the cheese on half of the tortilla and melt it in the microwave.  This is usually what I end up doing as I get lazy! heating up the tortilla and cheeseOnce the cheese is melted, pile on the quinoa mixture (if you’re making wraps using leftover quinoa, then you will want to heat up the quinoa mixture either via a skillet or microwave).   assembling the Mexican quinoa wrapsTop it with some fresh diced avocado and some fresh cilantro. I love adding more avocado, as it makes the wraps creamier in taste and texture.  SO GOOD!

My favorite way to eat these wraps are with a combination of shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese along with some Queso fresco, fresh diced avocado and cilantro to top off the quinoa mixture.

AMAZING! assembling the Mexican quinoa wrapWrap it up like a burrito and enjoy!

Hey, if you try these, please let me know what you think!  Also, please comment and let me know what changes or adaptions you made to the recipe. I know future readers, as well as myself would love to hear!

I hope your family loves these!

one-pan Mexican quinoa wrapsIf you LOVE quinoa wraps, then you have to try these quinoa wraps with black beans, feta and avocado!  This is another wrap that I’m totally obsessed with!

quinoa wrap with black beans, feta and avocado

5 from 1 reviews
one-pan Mexican quinoa wraps
 
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These quinoa wraps are the perfect weeknight, healthy meatless Monday option! They can be made in under 35 minutes and everything is cooked in one-skillet. They're delicious to boot!
Author:
Recipe type: quinoa wraps
Serves: 6-8 wraps
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeno, ribs removed and diced small
  • 1 cup well-rinsed quinoa - I love using this brand from Ancient Harvest as you don't have to pre-rinse it
  • 1¼ cups chicken broth - feel free to use vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegetarian
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half - If it's fall/winter, or if you're pressed for time you can use 1 (14.5-ounce) can of fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes
  • 1 medium zucchini (approx 1 cup), diced
  • 1 medium red bell pepper (approx 1 cup), diced
  • 1½ teaspoons chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon fine Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes - you can add more or less depending on how spicy you like things.Both of my kids thought that it was perfectly spicy, but not too hot.
  • 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice - from one lime
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese combination, cotija cheese and/or Queso fresco cheese - I like using a combination of the shredded Monterey Jack and cheddar along with Queso fresco.
  • burrito size spinach, whole-grain or gluten-free tortillas
Instructions
  1. Ok, first things first! I like to prep all of my ingredients in advance, because with this recipe, you're basically cooking everything at once, so you'll want to have everything chopped up and measured ahead of time.
  2. Mince up the 2 cloves of garlic and wash and dice up the jalapeño, put both into a small bowl and set aside.
  3. Measure out the 1 cup quinoa and the 1¼ cups chicken broth.
  4. Drain and rinse the black beans.
  5. Wash and chop up the tomatoes, dice up the zucchini and red pepper, set aside on the cutting board.
  6. Get out a small bowl and add in the 1½ teaspoons chili powder, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and the 1 tablespoon red chili flakes. It's just easier to measure them out into one small bowl ahead of time, as you will be adding them all at once.
  7. NOTE: I usually wash and chop the cilantro, dice the avocado and squeeze the 2 tablespoons of lime juice while the quinoa is cooking. You're going to have 20 minutes while the quinoa is cooking, so it saves you a few steps in the beginning.
  8. Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet set over medium high heat.
  9. Add the minced garlic and jalapeño, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  10. Add in the chicken broth, quinoa, black beans, chopped tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, salt and the red pepper flakes.
  11. Give everything a stir so that all of the ingredients are well-combined.
  12. Bring to boil, cover and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
  13. Add to the cooked quinoa, the diced avocado, ¼ cup chopped cilantro and the 2 tablespoons lime juice.
  14. Stir everything together to combine. The avocado still tastes great in the quinoa mixture on day 2 and 3, so don't fret adding it to the mixture.
  15. Now it's time to assemble the wraps. You can heat up your tortilla and melt your cheese anyway you wish. These are the two methods I use. The first is the non-lazy way and the second is the lazy way.
  16. Non-lazy way: Get out a tortilla and place it in a dry skillet over medium heat. Add to one half of the tortilla the shredded cheeses and Queso fresco (or whatever combination of cheeses you want). Flip the other half over like you’re making a quesadilla, and let the cheese melt.
  17. Lazy way: Place the cheese on half of the tortilla and melt it in the microwave. This is usually what I end up doing as I get lazy!
  18. Once the cheese is melted, pile on the quinoa mixture (if you're making wraps using leftover quinoa, then you will want to heat up the quinoa mixture either via a skillet or microwave).
  19. Top it with some fresh diced avocado and some fresh cilantro. I love adding more avocado, as it makes the wraps creamier in taste and texture. SO GOOD!
  20. My favorite way to eat these wraps are with a combination of shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese along with some Queso fresco, fresh diced avocado and cilantro to top off the quinoa mixture.
  21. Wrap it up like a burrito and enjoy!
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Comments

    • Honestly, they’re much better warm. If you’re pre-making them for lunch later in the day, you can just make the wrap, slice it in half, wrap it in parchment paper and then tin foil over it to hold it together. When you’re ready to eat it, take off the tin foil and re-heat the wrap in the microwave in the parchment paper.

      Reply

  2. Made this recipe for lunch and absolutely loved it! I’m also adding some spinach and kale for extra veg, and serving it with a fried egg in the morning for a healthy start to the day! Love it!

    Reply

    • Yay! So happy to hear that you made and loved this recipe. I’m actually making them for dinner on Thursday night. SO excited! Love the fried egg idea! Going to try that for breakfast on Friday 🙂

      Reply

  3. I made these last night and, oh my gosh! they were sooooooo much better than I thought they were going to be, and I thought they were going to be pretty darned amazing!! My mother (I am her primary care giver) and I really enjoyed how wonderfully they tasted and how we didn’t feel over full and bloated after eating them. I had some left over quinoa/rice/wild rice thing that I used instead of the raw quinoa and it worked really well. Thank you so much for this recipe!!

    Reply

    • Hi Natasha! Yay! So happy you made these and that your mother and you enjoyed them. I’m actually making them up for dinner this week and I can’t wait as it’s been almost a year since I made them. Crazy, right? Have a wonderful night and thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed the wraps! xoxo, Jackie

      Reply

  5. Tried this recipe and I loved it. Being single, this made a lot for me which is good because I could use it every day for a week. The only thing I would suggest, if you’re going to eat this over the course of a week, don’t add the avocado to the recipe and just add it fresh each time you heat it up and eat it. Instead of putting it in a wrap, I’ve been adding about a half a cup to two eggs, spinach, and goat cheese in the morning. Good way to start the day!

    Reply

    • Hi Tracy! I’m so happy that you loved these wraps! Thanks so much for your useful avocado tip, as well as what you’ve been pairing the quinoa with 🙂 I love new ideas and tips! xoxo, Jacquelyn

      Reply

  7. we LOVE the way you explain the process so step by step! even if we’ve never worked in a kitchen we could follow your directions! & since we are new to the Quinoa Scene, this is just what we needed!
    Thank you!

    Reply

  8. I made these wraps earlier in the week and my husband just loved them. He can’t wait to have them again. This recipe has everything we are looking for: healthy, quick, easy, and lots of leftovers. Thank you for posting the recipe. Your beautiful photos were inspiring.

    Reply

  9. This were absolutely amazing!!! My husband is a big meat guy, but he loved these! They were so awesome to have for dinner and then for lunch the next couple of days! These will definitely become a common menu item!
    Thank you for the awesome recipe!

    Reply

    • Yay Brittany! Another meatless recipe success that went over well with your meat loving hubby! I just saw your comment on how he loved the heirloom tomato soup! I’m elated that you found 2 keeper recipes from the blog, and I hope you find tons more. Try my other quinoa wraps, they’re amazing, and if you love these, you will love those as well! Keep me posted on other recipes that you both try! xoxo, Jacquelyn

      Reply

  10. Hi Jacquelyn, I look forward to making these very soon! I’ve really enjoyed your black bean and avocado wraps from last year! So nice to see you are posting again on a regular basis! I’m sure it is hard working full time with two kids and trying to produce a blog post with beautiful pics……seriously, when do you find the time? Great blog…..I always enjoy your posts and beautiful pics!

    Reply

    • Hey April, my insta buddy! Great to hear from you! I hope you love these wraps as much, as you love the heirloom soup and the black bean wraps! Zoe and I ate these non-stop for 2 weeks straight! Crazy! To be honest, I’m having time to blog because I took the summer off to figure out my life 😉 I’m actually going to be attending Bauman’s Natural Chef program starting next week! I’m SO excited and feel like I’ve been gifted with this opportunity to learn all cooking with natural foods! Anyway, I’m in the middle of writing a post on it all, so stay tuned! Thanks for your kind words sweetie! I think you do an amazing job on your blog as well 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn

      Reply

  11. OMG…these are the BOMB!  Or…as the cool kids say (so I’m told) “the Bomb-dot-com”!!!  I made them twice already…once on Thursday and the kids brought them left over for lunch on Friday.  Then, I mixed up another batch yesterday for us!  I only had red quiona at home, which made the whole thing look a little Christmas-y, but hey..the flavor was big!  My kids crumbled tortilla chips over \the mixture in a bowl, with shredded cheese and my own sour cream/avocado mixture.  Total yum all around.  Another thing we’ve discovered that we like to do is to buy those tortilla scoops (that’s literally what they’re called—tortilla chips in a teeny tiny bowl—and fill them with the mixture and pop ’em into your mouth.  So much fun!

    Bless you for sharing this!

    Lisa

    Reply

    • AWESOME LISA! I had a feeling you and your crew would love these wraps, as we seem to have the same culinary tastes! Thanks so much for letting me know that they were the “Bomb-dot-com.” That’s a HUGE compliment! 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn

      Reply

  12. Hi Marin Mama! I made these up yesterday, and these along with your quinoa wraps with black beans and avocado are one of my favorite lunches. I can’t wait to have one for lunch today, as I’m totally craving them. My hubby gave them the thumbs up as well. He loved the spiciness! Maybe you should write a cookbook on quinoa or kale, or better yet open a lunch cafe. Much blessings, Jennifer

    Reply

    • Hi Jennifer! AWESOME! I’m so happy you’re loving these new wraps and that my other wraps are your favorite as well. You and I must have similar palates because these wraps are one of my favorite lunches as well 🙂 I’m actually going back to school and attending a Natural Chef program in the Fall, so I will learn tons and therefore be able to create more healthy and tasty recipes for you to try 😉 Who knows? Maybe I’ll open a cafe after! Great idea girl! xoxo, Jacquelyn

      Reply

  13. I made these tonight for my family and they might be one of our new favorite meals! I served them up open faced on a gluten-free tortilla, and my 2 daughters each had 2 wraps. They kept commenting on how amazing they were. Thanks so much for another great and healthy recipe Marin mama! Keep them coming. Cheers, Alex

    Reply

    • Yay! Awesome Alex! I’m so happy that you jumped on this recipe and made it so quickly and I’m SUPER happy to hear that it was a HUGE success with not only you, but your girls! How old are they? Anyway, thanks for stopping by and saying hi! I will totally keep the recipes coming if you keep making them! Have an awesome holiday weekend! xoxo, Jacquelyn 🙂

      Reply

  14. These look awesome Jackie! Now you’re making me crave these! Its fun to see Zoe getting into your healthy recipes so much, and Eli too gets into a lot of them. Hope you are doing well,sorry I haven’t visited as much as I’d like but I love to see a new post from you pop into my inbox. Xoxo, Sharon

    Reply

    • Hey Sharon! Wow, it has been a long time! I think I need to take a visit over to one of my fave DIY blogs today! I miss your creative energy! Zoe has turned into a totally health nut! She loves anything with kale, quinoa and veggies. She even favors my healthy no-sugar cookies way more than normal cookies now. Crazy! I guess if goes to show that if you start them off eating pretty healthy, they eventually get a palate for it. 🙂 At least that’s what I keep telling myself 😉 I’m doing great and I will be sharing all my new adventures in a post next week, so stay tuned girl! xoxo, Jacquelyn

      Reply

      • I haven’t blogged in a few months, but I hope to get back to it eventually! Jake is similar to Zoe, he likes to eat healthy too and I’m so glad about that! I look forward to hearing about your new adventures. xoxo, sharon

        Reply

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