This is the second quinoa recipe I’ve tried and I’m quite pleased with the result after each trial. I decided to make this Cheesy Zucchini Quinoa Casserole when we really loved my first quinoa recipe, Feta Quinoa Zucchini Fritters. Quinoa is a super seed as it makes everything lighter and more nutritious.
I’m so glad that lots of Give Recipe’s readers and pinterest users loved my Skinny Zucchini Casserole. Thank you everyone for helping spread this amazingly healthy yet tasty side around the web! What could be better than this yummy zucchini casserole? Another zucchini casserole for sure! It is even with more nutrition due to quinoa inside it.
This quinoa casserole is cheesy, but not overloaded with cheese. I used just ¼ cup of chopped mozzarella in the mixture and some more as topping. If you like your casserole more cheesy, you can increase the amount of cheese you use. You can even use a mixture of your favorite cheeses.
This quinoa casserole is not creamy, so you can serve it in square slices. Just make sure that you let it cool down before slicing so that it sits well. Don’t worry for the leftovers –if there are any. You can keep it in the refrigerator up to 3 days and heat either over stove or in oven before serving. You can even have the quinoa casserole squares cold and put them in your lunch box. If you want a creamy quinoa casserole, just add 1/2 cup heavy cream in the mixture and then bake.
This is a wonderful side dish for dinner because you can prepare it quickly and makes a great alternative to rice. I used red quinoa here, but you can definitely use white one too. If you haven’t try this amazing seed yet, give this quinoa casserole a try and it will become a staple in your pantry.
PrintCheesy Zucchini Quinoa Casserole
A super healthy and tasty casserole with quinoa and zucchini.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 4 zucchinis, grated and squeezed
- 1/4 cup chopped mozzarella, plus more for topping
- A handful of chopped fresh dill and parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Cook quinoa in 1 and 1/4 cup of water. Bring it to boil and let it simmer covered over the lowest heat until it absorbs all the water. Let it cool.
- Preheat oven to 370F (190C).
- Whisk eggs ,n a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients one by one stirring each time.
- Transfer the mixture into a baking dish.
- Top with cubed mozzarella and bake for 45 minutes or until the top gets slightly golden.
1/2 cup cooked quinoa, or cook 1/2 cup quinoa to use in casserole? 1/2 cup already cooked quinoa doesn’t seem like a lot.
Thanks for asking this. Great catch! It is 1/2 cup raw quinoa to be cooked.Correcting it right away!
What size baking dish should I be using?
Thanks!
The photos illustrating the quinoa zucchini casserole look as if the dish is covered with poached or shirred eggs.
But there’s no mention of finishing the dish with a raw egg on top to bake during the oven cooking stage, or finishing the prep with a poached egg on top of the cooked dish.
Or did the cheese topping somehow turn out looking like eggs on top???
Can you please advise how to get the finished casserole to look as scrumptious as your photos?
Thanks.
Hi Pam, they are not poached eggs. Funny that I had never thought they look like poached eggs! They are the cheese balls I added before baking. They look as you see in the photos when baked. Well, the cheese I used here are sold as a kind of mozzarella. I’m not sure if it is different from the ones sold in your area. It doesn’t melt completely. It melts but still stay together as in the photos. If you know that kind of cheese, use it for this recipe. Or just top your casserole with your regular mozzarella.