How To Cook Quinoa In The Slow Cooker

Quinoa is the new favorite superfood, and we just can’t get enough of it. We’ve posted a great slow cooker quinoa recipe on the blog, but I had a reader email me to ask if there was a way to cook quinoa in the slow cooker. Well, of course you can!

It’s actually way easier than I thought it would be, and it’s great for those of us that like to meal prep for the week all at once. You can cook a bunch of quinoa in the slow cooker, set it, and forget it (for a couple of hours). This yields about 6 cups of quinoa, which means it should be a great staple for multiple meals in your weekly meal plan. Ready to learn how to make quinoa in the slow cooker? Let’s go!

How To Make Quinoa In The Slow Cooker

First, you want to make sure that you rinse your quinoa very well. If quinoa isn’t rinsed before you cook it, it ends up tasting bitter. Nobody likes bitter grains. Rinse 2 cups quinoa in a fine sieve, with cold water.

Place your quinoa in a slow cooker with 4 cups of clean, cold water. I used my 6-quart slow cooker to make the quinoa. I was afraid to make it in my 8-quart, since it may have cooked quicker and possibly burned. If you only have an 8-quart slow cooker, just keep an eye out on the quinoa. You may only need to cook it for 2 hours, instead of 2 1/2.

Turn your slow cooker on low, and cook for 2 to 2/12 hours. How do you know if it’s done? You won’t see any liquid at the top of the quinoa, and it will smell heavenly! You can always open the lid and stir, to see if most of the liquid is gone. If it isn’t, just replace the lid and let it cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Once your quinoa is done, you will have 6 cups to use for meals. You can use it as a tasty side dish for dinner, as a cold salad for lunch, or even has a hot breakfast (brown sugar quinoa bowls are blissful). Believe me, it won’t go to waste.

Want to know how to make quinoa is a rice cooker? My friend Amy from Mom Advice has a rocking tutorial for that!