Instant Pot Mini Quinoa

Instant Pot Mini Quinoa is light, fluffy, and a delicious way to add protein to any meal. Make a small batch for two or double the recipe for meal prepping.

If you’re like me and watching pots on the stovetop isn’t your strong suit, then you’re going to love making quinoa in your 3 Quart Instant Pot Duo Plus. You just toss everything in and forget about it.

Like making oatmeal for two in the instant pot, cooking quinoa won’t take you less time but it is incredibly easy and yields great results. The quinoa comes out perfect every time: light and fluffy (never mushy).

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1: Rinse The Seeds

Quinoa seeds have a natural outer coating called saponin that’s bitter tasting (it repels bugs). Removing the coating is easy, you just need to rinse it off.

Pour the quinoa into a mesh strainer and rinse under cool water until the water runs clear. You don’t need to stress about getting it dry or anything – just give the strainer a good shake to remove most of the excess water.

Step 2: Fill The Pot

To keep the quinoa from sticking to the pot, spray the bottom of the inner cooking pot with a little cooking oil. I usually forget to do this and have to scrub a few stuck-on pieces off.

Next, add 3/4 cup water and the rinsed quinoa to your 3 Quart Instant Pot’s inner cooking pot. If you prefer softer quinoa, increase the liquids to 1 cup total.

Because we use our cooked quinoa for all kinds of things, sweet and savory, I prefer to not add any salt or spices. If you’ll be serving the quinoa plain you might want to add 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Step 3: Pressure Cook

Lock the lid on the pot and turn the steam release handle so it’s facing the Sealing position. Press the Pressure Cook button and set the machine to cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 1 MINUTE.

The machine will start to come to pressure, this usually takes our machine about 8 minutes. After it reaches pressure it will cook for 1 minute. (During this time you might hear some clicks and noises as the machine adjusts the pressure)

Once the cooking time is up, let the machine naturally release the pressure for about 12 minutes. (Right when our machine finishes the 1-minute cook time it usually lets out a small burst of steam on its own). 

After 12 minutes, if the float valve (little metal pin) has not dropped down on its own, turn the release handle so it’s facing the venting position to release any remaining pressure. 

Step 4: Get Fluffy

Carefully open the lid and let any steam clear. The seeds should be translucent now and have little tail-like spirals.

Use a fork to fluff the quinoa, season, and enjoy.

3 Easy Ways to Upgrade Quinoa

1. Toast the quinoa for a few minutes (using the Saute setting) before cooking to bring out more of its nutty flavor.
2. Substitute vegetable broth for the water.
3. For sweet breakfast-style quinoa, add a cinnamon stick and a splash of vanilla extract to the pot before cooking.

More Tasty Instant Pot Inspo

• Instant Pot Mini Salsa Quinoa Bowls
• Instant Pot Mini Cooked Beets
• Instant Pot Mini Hard-Boiled Eggs
• 3-Quart Instant Pot Accessories
• Instant Pot Mini Split Pea Soup