Yield: about 3 cups cooked
Quinoa is a fragile grain. From my experience, it’s easy for this grain to get water logged and go mushy, therefore it’s important to pay close attention to the water to grain ratio. If you do not have an Instant Pot, you can find a stove top method here.
Quinoa has been prewashed, but some instructions recommend rinsing quinoa well before using as quinoa has “saponin”, a natural insect repellent that can leave a bitter taste to this delicate grain. Personally, I have tried both methods and have not found a taste difference, so I no longer rinse quinoa before cooking.
1 – Minute Instant Pot Instructions
- 1 cup quinoa (any color)
- 1 ½ cups water
- Add to pressure cooker the quinoa and water. Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Press (Manual) and choose 1 minute pressure cooking time.
- When time is up open the cooker using the 10-minute Natural Pressure Release.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled, however for salad let the quinoa chill completely.
What I do different
- When the 10 minutes are up, immediately release the pressure and remove the cooking pot from the instant pot.
- Cover pot with lid and allow the quinoa to cool undisturbed for at least 10 minutes. When making a quinoa salad allow the quinoa to sit longer, or leave in the fridge overnight.