• Home
    • Recipes
      • Recipe Index
      • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
      • Popular Recipes
    • Meal Plans
      • Weekly Meal Plans
      • Freezer Meal Plans
      • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
    • Classes
      • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
      • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
      • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
      • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
      • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
      • My Efficient Kitchen Course
    • Store
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • About
      • Press
    • Login

    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

    Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

    Join Erin's 5-Ingredient Challenge in 2023

    Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf

    January 28, 2011 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 4 Comments

    1 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

    When I was in Atlanta I bought 8 lbs of organic quinoa for $20. That’s about half the price of what I’ve paid for it before at Whole Foods.  I try to get some whenever I’m down in that area (closest store is in Cincy) and whenever I can squeeze it into the budget.

    In the past, we have enjoyed the following quinoa meals…

    • Red Quinoa with Avocado, Black Beans and Corn
    • Red Quinoa with Grilled Summer Veggies
    • Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa
    • Chicken and Quinoa Waldorf Salad with Creamy Maple Vinaigrette

    Love that different flavor and textures of quinoa. Love that it’s gluten free. And love that it’s so good for you!

    Here’s how this pilaf works…

    Saute the onions, mushrooms and garlic.

    But don’t add in the celery, unless you want it to be cooked.  If you want it to be soft, this is the time to add it.

    I like to have a little crunch in my pilaf, so I add the celery after the quinoa has cooked.

    Add the liquid and quinoa.

    Bring to a boil, the cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

    The quinoa will be cooked when you see that it has swelled some, and the little white ring around the grain will start to separate.

    Look at my cute little visitor.

    Monkey, is more like it.

    This baby is a total monkey.  He can himself from the ground on top of the dinner table. (He pulls Ryan’s booster seat onto the ground right next to the chair, then stands on the booster, pulls himself up onto the chair, then climbs onto the table.)

    He can get himself onto our end table next to the couch by pulling himself up onto our Dominican rocking chair, then onto the arm of the chair and finally up onto the end table.

    (Thankfully he has not tried to get down. YET!  He just fusses until I come to retrieve him from the trees.)

    Back to the recipe…

    I have a skylight in my kitchen and if I can get in there early enough in the day to cook and use the natural light from the skylight for the photographs, I can get much better photographs.  But some days I can’t get into the kitchen early enough…and it gets too dark in there for good pictures around 4 pm. So my back up is the bay window that is part of our office/playroom.

    And guess who can climb up into the bay window.

    Yep, the monkey.

    And he decided to come pay a visit and run a little quality control on my quinoa.

    Please pardon the eyelashes.It’s unjust.

    I give you the Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf.

    That, by the way, passed the 14 month old taste test!

    (Start them young folks!)

    mushroom quinoa pilaf
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

    Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf

    Perfect as a side dish or as a meal!
    Prep Time10 minutes
    Cook Time30 minutes
    Servings - 4 servings

    Ingredients 

    • 1 Tbsp olive oil
    • 1 cup frozen pearled onions (chopped onions will work too!)
    • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
    • 2 4 oz cans sliced mushrooms, drained
    • 1 cup mushroom broth (vegetable or chicken will do too!)
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 cup quinoa
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • 2 celery stalks
    • Couple dashes parsley
    • Baked Chicken, or other protein
    • 1 bag frozen peas

    Instructions

    • In a large skillet, add a touch of olive oil, then add the pearled onions (no need to thaw), crushed garlic and sliced mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes, or until the onions become translucent.
    • Then add the broth, water and quinoa. Season with some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat and let simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes.
    • Chop the celery and then add to the pilaf just as it is finished cooking. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with a little parsley before serving.
    • We had this with baked chicken and peas!
    • Serve Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf with Chicken and Peas.
    1 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Filed Under: Budget Friendly Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Quinoa Recipes, Side Dish Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

    Comments

    1. Laura Callen says

      January 31, 2011 at 10:11 am

      Nice to see some organic foods used on your site! My daughter is anaphylactic allergic to sulfites, and although this recipe has some natural sulfites (mushrooms, onion, garlic) I can play with it to make it friendly for her to eat.

      Thank you…

      Reply
    2. Kim Daniels says

      March 14, 2011 at 7:40 pm

      Not only the eyelashes, but the baby hands. I love little baby hands!

      Reply
    3. incense cones says

      July 29, 2013 at 3:28 am

      This design is wicked! You most certainly know how to keep a reader entertained.
      Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own
      blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job.
      I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how
      you presented it. Too cool!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Tweets that mention Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf -- Topsy.com says:
      January 28, 2011 at 7:05 pm

      […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Parentella, Gihon Orman. Gihon Orman said: Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf: When I was in Atlanta I bought 8 lbs of organic quinoa for $20. (Remembe… http://bit.ly/hMQGgs @5dollardinners […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
    It’s a fun challenge,
    and my pocketbook
    thanks me.
    Want to join me?

    Learn more here!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Search $5 Dinners

    Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

    Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

    © 2023 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



    Copyright © 2023 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in