A sustaining bowl of protein-powered quinoa porridge to fuel you up for success. Add this to your collection of breakfast recipes to make it year-round. It's easy to make, tasty, and good for you in so many ways.
Jump to:
This quinoa porridge is better than your standard oatmeal in many ways. Try adding a quinoa porridge to your morning routine at least once a week for a healthy balance.
Quinoa porridge is a comforting and soul-nourishing bowl of goodness packed with healthy ingredients. It's got protein, fiber, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and minerals.
Introduction to porridge
From Asia to Europe, in many shapes and forms; porridge is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world.
- Congee is a traditional Asian rice porridge.
- Kasha is the Russian variety made with buckwheat groats.
- Teff porridge is used in Ethiopia.
- Millet porridge in parts of Africa and Asia.
Porridge has been my staple breakfast for the most part of my life. It's been a love-hate relationship at times!
Like all food, It's a very personal thing. Everyone enjoys porridge in their own particular way. I've had hundreds of varieties of porridge over the years, experimenting with various grains, milk, and toppings.
Scandanavian porridge adventures
My porridge recipes started to expand after a visit to Grod Porridge Cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark a few years ago when I was on a Scandinavian culinary adventure. I fell in love with this cafe concept and all its different porridge combinations.
They had several exciting signature porridges as well as the option to build your own: choose your grain, choose your milk, choose your toppings. Genius! You can eat porridge every day and never ever get bored.
Mixing up your breakfast bowl combination every day provides you with a variety of different nutrients. Oats are super healthy, but imagine having a mix of different grains throughout the week. After all, 'variety is the spice of life
If you've not tried Quinoa Porridge yet, I urge you to do so. Other grains you can play around with are buckwheat, rye, barley, lentils, millet, teff, and rice.
Superpowered ingredients
What makes this porridge a bit different is that I'm using a mix of oats, quinoa, chia seeds, and some other nutritional toppings.
I tried to pack as much superpowered nutrition into this bowl as possible by using various “superfood” ingredients.
- Quinoa: an incredible gluten-free grain that rose to fame over the last 10 years, and rightly so. Quinoa is now effectively cultivated all around the world. It comes complete with all 9 essential amino acids, high fiber, and a low GI index to help keep blood sugar levels in good order.
- Oats: a staple for most of my breakfasts, oats are a fantastic source of fiber and complex carbohydrates. They're not as high in protein, but they are in complex carbohydrates so they digest more slowly, helping to keep you fuller for longer and help you to maintain sustained energy throughout the day. Read more about Oats here
- Chia seeds: Chia seeds are most well-known for being full of omega-3s. But in addition to those, they also contain all 9 essential amino acids. Chia seeds are also easy to digest and full of other vitamins and minerals. Read more about chia seeds here
- Blueberries: the king of anti-oxidant fruits. Blueberries protect against high cholesterol and help lower blood pressure
- Pumpkin seeds: a nutritional powerhouse, full of essential minerals, protein, and fiber
- Almonds: a great source of many nutrients and minerals
- Banana: lots of potassium and natural sweetness
Chefs' top tips
- Soak grains in water overnight in the fridge.
- Cook on a gentle heat, and add your favorite plant milk.
- Stir well.
- Cook slowly, adding more milk or water as the porridge thickens up.
- Use a good medium-sized saucepan.
- Check the seasoning, add a little pinch of pink salt, sweet spices like cinnamon or vanilla, and some sweetener of choice to lift the flavors of the porridge.
How to cook quinoa for porridge
While the recipe below is the basic recipe for making quinoa porridge, lately I have also been making a few different variations of it so I thought I could outline those to help you as you make your own.
Method #1: Cook rolled quinoa flakes with plant-based milk
The first method is to cook quinoa with your favorite plant-based milk. If you are new to cooking quinoa with milk, this is a good recipe to start. Plant-based milk like unsweetened coconut and almond milk makes a nice creamy porridge
In the recipe below, I used almond milk, but you could use coconut, oat, or any other plant milk.
The ideal ratio is 2 parts almond milk for 1 part of quinoa. However, if you want it to be lighter on the creamy part, you can swap some of the plant milk with water.
To sweeten it, I used a few tablespoons of coconut syrup. However, you can adjust the amount of sweetener you use based on your preference. Maple syrup or honey will work well also.
As you can see in the photos, I used rolled quinoa flakes. However, you can also make this recipe with red or white quinoa.
Please take note; it is vital to rinse quinoa thoroughly to ensure that it's natural coating (that makes it bitter) is fully removed.
Method #2: Use Leftover Quinoa
I usually cook a large batch of quinoa to add leftovers to salads, soups, or stir-fries. Lately, I have also been using it to make a similar quinoa breakfast porridge as well. This works perfectly if you have leftover quinoa.
To turn leftover cooked quinoa into a delicious bowl of quinoa porridge, simply place it in a saucepan and pour in your favorite plant-based milk. Place it on the heat for 2-3 minutes to warm through, sweeten and top with your favorite ingredients.
How to store quinoa porridge
The best way to store any leftover quinoa porridge is in the fridge. You can keep it in a large container as one portion, or if you want to meal prep this recipe, you can portion it out into individual containers. It will keep fresh for about 3 days. Anything longer than this and it will deteriorate in freshness.
To reheat your quinoa porridge, you can put it back in a small saucepan and heat it up with a bit of almond milk.
Ways to serve quinoa porridge
I love serving this warm with some different toppings. No two breakfast bowls of mine ever look the same! Here are some of my favorite topping options:
- Fresh berries: blueberries, but raspberries or sliced strawberries would also be great
- Chia seed jam: try my blueberry chai seed jam recipe
- Sliced fruit: try some bananas, apple, or kiwi
- Nuts/seeds: I'm all about the texture, I love using sliced almonds, chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds
- Nut butter: a good drizzle of almond or peanut butter on top of quinoa porridge takes it to a whole new level!
- Yogurt: try a dollop of coconut or plant milk yogurt for some extra creaminess
- Raw honey or maple syrup: and lastly, sweetness! I love to drizzle on some honey, coconut nectar, or maple syrup
No matter what toppings you serve up with this recipe it's going to be delicious! I really think it's going to become a staple in your morning rotation.
Let me know how you like it in the comments section below. And, remember to tag #holisticchefacademy when you make it. I love to see your creations.
More breakfast recipes to try
- Oat and chia seed porridge
- Buckwheat kasha porridge
- Banana and chickpea pancakes
- Teff marathon bowl
- Oat Bircher muesli
📋 Recipe
Quinoa Porridge
Ingredients
Equipment
Sandra Aidar-mcdermott says
Hello Jamie,
Thank you for creating this nutritious recipe.
I made it. It was satisfying. One suggestion is to cook the quinoa first or to cook it longer. Eight minutes is not enough for the quinoa to cook so the grains were al dente.
Your website is gorgeous. I will explore other recipes.
Congratulations on accomplishing this initiative.
Kind regards,
Sandra
Jamie Raftery says
Hi Sandra, thank you for the feedback. I use rolled quinoa flakes for breakfast porridge as they cook quicker and act similar to oats. You can also use pre-cooked whole quinoa as an alternative. Let me know how it works out next time, Jamie 🙂