Quinoa with Grilled Onions and Peppers

Quinoa with Grilled Onions and Peppers along with a bit of feta cheese makes for an easy and healthy side dish. Perfect for a night when you have the grill going for some meat or fish! Read on about our quest for tasty quinoa, or click here to jump down to the recipe. 

I used to be skeptical about quinoa, but now I’m all in.

The first time or two I tried making quinoa I didn’t like the way it came out, and I didn’t try it again for a few years. I’m glad I gave it another shot, as now quinoa is in the mix regularly here, making for a substantial and healthy side dish. Today we share our latest version, Quinoa with Grilled Onions and Peppers.

Jump to:

• Why this recipe works
• Making this recipe
• More quinoa recipes
• Wine pairing
• Recipe card

Why this recipe works

I’m not sure what went wrong with my early attempts at making quinoa. Maybe I didn’t do the step of rinsing the quinoa until the water runs clear? This article from the kitchn suggests its not a big difference maker based on their tasting, but does note the reason rinsing is recommended is to remove quinoa’s natural coating, which can be bitter. I do recall my early quinoa being a on the bitter side.

Two other variables also seem to contribute to my newfound fondness for quinoa. I get a blend of different types quinoa that also includes a little bit of millet, which gives it nice color and flavor. The other key to my quinoa cooking now is that I realize that quinoa is pretty plain by itself, and needs to be tossed with something to give it flavor. Today, it is quinoa with grilled onions and peppers.

Our Quinoa with Grilled Onions and Peppers is a perfect side dish for a night you are cooking something else on the grill. We originally served this quinoa with Grilled Halibut with Parsley Pesto.  More recently, we enjoyed it with some simple grilled pork chops.

Give it a try and you too might become a quinoa fan, if you aren’t already! There are a lot of good health reasons to learn to love quinoa. In fact, the site Well-Being Secrets has rounded up 27 Health Benefits of Quinoa.

Making this recipe

We give you the details in the recipe card below, but here is an overview of some tips.

As mentioned earlier, get started by rinsing your quinoa. Once you’ve done that, the quinoa cooks while the onions and peppers get cooked on the grill.

We spread the onions and peppers out on a grill pan — this one on Amazon seems most similar to what we have. [affiliate link provided] 

The onions and peppers take about 10 minutes to grill up nicely stirring once.

The quinoa takes about 20 minutes to cook. It is done when the water has been absorbed and the grains are tender. The quinoa gets tossed immediately with the grilled onions and peppers. A bit of feta cheese rounds out the flavor at the end.

More quinoa recipes

This is perhaps our simplest quinoa recipe, but we have enjoyed it in a number of other delicious recipes. See some other tasty quinoa favorites below.

Wine pairing

The wine pairing for Quinoa with Grilled Onions and Peppers will depend a bit on what you are having with this quinoa side dish. That said, we have found rosés to be a good match for the flavors of the quinoa recipe.

When we made this quinoa dish most recently along with grilled pork, we opened the delicious Aleatico Rosato from Tenuta delle Ripalte shown above. This is a fairly full-bodied rosé with ripe strawberry fruit and a fresh bouquet.

The wine pairing for Quinoa with Grilled Onions and Peppers will depend a bit on what you are having with this quinoa side dish. That said, we have found rosés to be a good match for the flavors of the quinoa recipe.

An Italian rosato also worked well when we served this quinoa with grilled halibut and parsley pesto.

A full bodied white wine such as a white Rhone blend or a Chardonnay could also complement the nutty flavors of the quinoa and the grilled vegetables.

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Recipe card