Quinoa Pizza Casserole

This quinoa pizza casserole is the perfect healthy side dish if you love pizza!  With all the flavors you love, plus topped with cheese (and your other favorite pizza toppings) everyone will love this! Gluten-free with a vegan option.

You could probably make this whole thing in the pot and serve it right away, without baking.  But quinoa does something kind of awesome when you bake it. 

The edges get crispy, the top gets golden and crunchy.  And it just turns out plain delicious.

I highly recommend baking it for best results!

I guess technically this would be a side dish. But I just ate one of these for lunch the day I made them. 

Maybe next time I’ll chop up some veggies that we usually get on pizza. Perhaps some bell peppers, more onions or maybe even some spinach and mix it in to make it a little more veggie-full. 

Other than that, I totally recommend this as a meal.

For a vegan and dairy-free version, you can top it off with some nutritional yeast for some cheese taste (or use vegan cheese, if you like that!). I used a non-fortified nutritional yeast that’s free of synthetic additives.

So if you’re vegan, you are not missing out!  Especially since that one got crispier on top from baking, which I loved.

This quinoa pizza casserole is perfect for when you have leftover cooked quinoa. You’ll need 3 1/2 cups cooked quinoa so it can really help get rid of those leftovers.

If a casserole’s not your thing, you have to check out my Mini Pizza Quinoa Bites!

Or for something different with quinoa, try this Quinoa Stuffing Stuffed Squash or Vegetarian Quinoa Chili. This Mexian Quinoa Salad also looks delicious!

And if you’re in the mood for actual pizza? Check out this fathead dough! It looks delicious.

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Quinoa Pizza Casserole

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

Servings: 4 servings, as a side

Author: Erin

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa cooked in 2 cups water or about 3 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 3-4 large cloves garlic finely minced, grated or pressed
• 1/2 small onion finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4-1 teaspoon sea salt
• dash black pepper
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast optional
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese to top(optional)

Instructions

1. Rinse quinoa well and combine with water in a small pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to low and simmer for 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed, the quinoa is tender and completely cooked. Remove from the heat and leave covered in the pot for 5 minutes while assembling other ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 4 – 1 cup ramekins, 2 – 2 cup dishes or a larger casserole dish, depending on how you want to bake and serve this.
3. In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste with the garlic and onion, water and olive oil. Mix well. Add all the seasonings including the nutritional yeast if using. Mix well again before adding the quinoa. Once the mixture is completely mixed, taste for seasonings and add more salt as needed. Then divide evenly among the dishes for baking, sprinkle with cheese if desired and place in the oven. I baked mine in two larger dishes, but this could easily be done in smaller ramekins for individual servings, or in one larger dish.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly or until the quinoa on top is golden and crispy. If desired, sprinkle with more nutritional yeast and fresh basil or parsley and serve.

Photos updated 3/2020. Here’s an old one:

Tagged as: basil, flavor, garlic, kid friendly, mozzarella, nutritional yeast, onion, pizza, pizza sauce, quinoa, recipe, side dish, tomato, tomato paste, vegan, vegetarian