This is a new easy-to-make favorite which myself and Intern Courtney found when preparing for my Cook to Thrive! Class on One Pot Meals! It packs a powerful protein punch with the chicken and the quinoa along with a large amount of fiber.
It can be made in a conventional stovetop pot or Instant Pot, which is why we have included two ways of cooking in here for you.
PrintLemony Chicken Quinoa
This recipe was inspired by a dish done by Martha Stewart. It is quite a crowd-pleaser and very easy to make. The olive oil and lemon juice amounts are simply recommendations but please feel free to adjust for your liking. I personally like things to have more lemon and olive oil for flavor, but play around with it and have fun!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 TB olive oil, plus more for serving
- 4 scallions, sliced
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, halved
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 1 pound asparagus, cut into pieces
- 1 + 1/3 cups water
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
- 2 TB chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add scallion whites; cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add quinoa, chicken, lemon zest, and water; bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 11 minutes.
- Add asparagus and peas, cover, and cook until liquid is absorbed and vegetables are tender, 4 to 5 minutes more.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for a bit before shredding the chicken and mixing the ingredients. Add lemon juice, parsley, scallion greens, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Steps for Instant Pot Version
- In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add scallion whites; cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Put the quinoa, chicken, lemon zest, water, asparagus and cooked scallions into the Instant Pot. Put it on the rice setting and have the timer be set to 11 minutes.
- Once done, released the pressure on the valve. Open and shred the chicken with two forks in the pot. Add peas, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and scallion greens. Mix everything thoroughly and enjoy immediately or let it cool before storing.
Tips from the Kitchen
- When sauteing the scallions, feel free to add more olive oil or water to get the desired browning. I cooked mine for a bit longer than 3 minutes because I enjoy very browned, caramelized onions, but feel free to do them how you like them!
- I did the Instant Pot version of the recipe and it was so easy and delicious! The chicken was cooked completely through and the asparagus was not overcooked. If you prefer your asparagus more on the raw, crunchier side, then do the conventional version of this recipe.
- I did not measure my olive oil, lemon juice, pepper or salt because I go off taste and I recommend you all do the same if you are feeling confident! Everyone has different preferences and I believe this recipe is very conservative with salt and oil because it is a part of Martha Stewart’s Clean Eating Series.
- If you like your chicken cooked a different way, you could definitely do everything separately and then combine all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl; these versions are just the simplest One-Pot versions of making this.
- Had a very mild, nice flavor, but feel free to add any spices or additional flavors if you would like. This recipe is a really good basic framework to turn into any flavor profile you would like! Other Italian herbs could be a great experiment or adding some heat with red pepper flakes! Have fun!
Check out my One Pot Meals cooking class recording here!
Check out the other recipe from my One Pot Meals cooking class (Julie’s Black Bean Chili) here!
This sounds great! You can probably sautee the scallions right in the Instant Pot (assuming it has that feature) to avoid dirtying an extra pan. I may try this tonight with frozen chicken (and add 5-10 cooking minutes) it sounds so good!