Red Quinoa with Cilantro and Lime

My Gluten-Free Vegan Red Quinoa with Cilantro and Lime dish is an easy and healthy recipe to make with only 4 clean, real food ingredients. It's perfect to pair with your favorite Mexican dishes, can be made on the stove-top or with an Instant Pot and is Medical Medium® Compliant!

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Here's Why This Recipe Works

My top 3 favorite reasons:

1. Can be made on the stove-top or with an Instant Pot
2. Ready in under 20 minutes!
3. Made with only 4 clean, real food ingredients!

This Red Quinoa with Cilantro and Lime recipe is perfect to make using freshly made or leftover quinoa!

Can Be Made on the Stove-Top or With an Instant Pot

You can make the quinoa needed for this recipe using either the stove-top method or with an Instant Pot.

They will both take approximately 15 minutes to cook the quinoa, but the Instant Pot will have less "hand-on" time involved.

For example, with the Instant Pot, you'll just add the quinoa and water, set it and walk away until it's ready.

Ready In Under 20 Minutes

You'll love how this recipe is ready to enjoy in under 20 minutes.

As previously mentioned, both methods of preparing the quinoa will take about 15 minutes and then you'll need about 5 minutes prep time.

Once the quinoa is ready, you will add everything to a mixing bowl and stir it together.

And, if you already have leftover quinoa, you could have this recipe ready in about 5 minutes. 

You could enjoy it as a stand-alone side dish or use it as a filling for a tortilla wrap, lettuce wrap or even in a salad.

Made With Only 4 Clean, Real Food Ingredients

This simple and easy recipe is made with only 4 real food ingredients like quinoa, cilantro, lime, and Himalayan pink salt.

It has the tangy flavor of lime with a hint of cilantro and has a plant-based protein that quinoa is known for.

My healthy recipe is plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, oil-free, and Medical Medium® Compliant.

Ingredients

Here are the clean, real food ingredients I used to make this recipe. Try to buy organic if possible.

• Quinoa
• Filtered/Purified Water
• Cilantro
• Lime Juice
• Himalayan Pink Salt

That's it! My Cilantro and Lime Quinoa recipe is super easy to make!

How To Make This Recipe: Step-by-Step Instructions

Here is how to make this recipe and I'll show you with step-by-step instructions below.

Step 1: Gather All Ingredients

Firstly, gather, measure and prep all the ingredients needed to make the recipe.

Step 2: Cook the Quinoa

Secondly, there are two different methods of preparing quinoa. Both will take approximately 20 minutes from start to finish:

1. Stove-Top Method: Cook the quinoa in a saucepan on a stove-top according to the package directions.
2. Instant Pot Method: Add the quinoa, water and 1-2 pinches of Himalayan pink salt to the Instant Pot container. Use these settings:

• PRESSURE COOK
• HIGH PRESSURE
• 5 MINUTES
• VENT CLOSED

Once the quinoa has cooked for 5 minutes, allow the pressure to release naturally (approximately 10-15 minutes). 

Step 3: Add All Ingredients Together

Thirdly, add the cooked quinoa along with the remaining ingredients to a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.

Step 4: How To Store The Quinoa

Lastly, store the quinoa in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.

It can be enjoyed cold or warm and can be added to wraps, in a salad or used as a side dish.

Karielyn's Expert Tips and Ingredient Substitutions

Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:

Quinoa. I used red quinoa to give the dish color, but you could use any variety of quinoa as a substitute. In addition, this is a great dish to make if you already have leftover quinoa. Just add the chopped cilantro, lime juice, and salt and your dish is ready in less than 5 minutes!

Water. I highly recommend using filtered/purified water to cook your quinoa instead of tap water - especially if you are following the Medical Medium protocol. For example, I use a Berkey water filter system when cooking in all my recipes.

Cilantro. Fresh, fresh, fresh! Use fresh cilantro and chop it into pieces as small as possible.

Lime Juice. Freshly squeezed lime juice is going to give you the best flavor and nutritional benefits since it hasn't been pasteurized, but you can substitute with store-bought organic lime juice.

Himalayan Pink Salt. This is my salt of preference, however, you can always substitute with sea salt. 

Optional Add-Ins: If you want to make this dish spicy, add ½ teaspoon organic chipotle powder or (1) diced jalapeno! And, if you want to make a meal out of it with extra protein and fiber, try my Red Quinoa and Mango Salad with Lime Dressing (just omit the organic corn to be 100% Medical Medium® Compliant).

More Healthy Vegan Quinoa Recipes

Check out these: 

• Southwest Quinoa Bake 
• Creamy Pumpkin Quinoa  
• Black Bean and Quinoa Veggie Burger
• or my Real Food Vegan™ 14-Day Meal Plan Program with 42 plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!