As I prepared for this post, I found that a lot of existing recipes for cooking quinoa in the slow cooker and Instant Pot use too much water. As a result, the quinoa is too soft and mushy for my taste. I think that the amount of water you use to cook quinoa should vary depending on the cooking method. Cooking on the stovetop requires the most water and the Instant Pot method the least amount. Feel free to play around with the amount of water to get the quinoa to be the texture you prefer.
COOKING NOTES FOR THE QUINOA
Finding the right cooking time for the slow cooker. I have an All-Clad slow cooker with a ceramic bowl, and the quinoa cooked relatively quickly. The quinoa around the edges browned at around 2 1/2 hours, so I turned off the slow cooker. The quinoa was already cooked through. Do a test batch in your slow cooker and see if 2 1/2 hours is enough time for you.
QUINOA RECIPES
Quinoa Cakes with Chickpeas and Mango SalsaMason Jar Salads with Butternut Squash, Red Curry Tofu, and QuinoaQuinoa Tabbouleh SaladRed Curry Quinoa with Honey Chili Tofu Stir FryFall Harvest Quinoa Salad
TOOLS I USED
Slow CookerInstant Pot: This is an older model that I own.
