Lauren Kelly Nutrition

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Vegetable Parmesan Quinoa in the Slow Cooker

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This is one of those healthy recipes that is so ridiculously easy to prepare and delicious rolled into one. This dish is gluten-free, vegetarian, healthy, quick and easy.

Vegetable Parmesan Quinoa made in the Slow Cooker! Lauren Kelly NutritionThis is what I like to call perfection in a slow cooker.

Because who doesn’t love prepping for a meal in the morning and then coming home later to dinner all done? I have three busy kids who I am running around after school and most nights. Enter my slow cooker and my night is simplified!

Many of my recipes are vegetarian or some even vegan. That’s mainly because many of you ask for lower calorie dishes (especially in January!) and I figured one easy way to cut calories to cut back on the meat.

Side note: I am not a huge meat eater. I eat chicken on occasion.

I also realize that many of my readers are vegetarian or vegan, some might be trying to cut back on eating meat and others might be curious in trying new, meatless recipes. Whatever the reason is, I am happy you are here.

I love all of the different textures in this dish. I also love that I used the slow cooker. I need to use my slow cooker more.  The first time I made this I was shocked how easy it is to cook quinoa in the slow cooker!

Also, go ahead and use whatever vegetables you’d like in this dish. Just be careful of the cooking time. I’ve used sweet potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots…you name it!

The only exception would be a leafy green vegetable like spinach, kale, collard greens etc. I wouldn’t add those until the last 20 minutes or so until they get slightly wilted, but are still brightly-colored green. This way no nutrients are lost in the cooking!

Vegetable Parmesan Quinoa made in the Slow Cooker! Lauren Kelly Nutrition

On those REALLY busy nights, I just might buy a bag of pre-cut broccoli and pre-chopped sun dried tomatoes. Whatever makes my life easier on those nights, I am taking advantage.

You can easily add some cooked shredded chicken or even some cooked chicken or turkey sausage to this dish.  On busy weeknights, I just shred a rotisserie chicken and add it the already cooked quinoa.

One thing to know, there is enough protein without the meat.  Sometimes you just need a little more.

But before you ask me, I choose not to eat red meat or pork not for health reasons.  I cook meat for my family all the time.  It’s all about texture for me. Even the more perfectly cooked steak or pork chop doesn’t do it for me. And that’s ok.

I am just a super picky eater.  I think that’s why I work with a lot of children.  They relate to me because I totally get it. I have come so far though since I was a picky little kid. I am still picky, just WAY healthier.

Ok, back to this meatless beauty…

This recipe is a perfectly well-balanced, healthy, vegetarian dish.  The quinoa and beans add enough protein to help keep you full and each serving has a generous helping of vegetables. And vitamins. And nutrients. You get my point.

Oh and it’s pretty amazing.  Man I love sun dried tomatoes…

Make your life easier and chop the vegetables the night before (if you didn’t surge on the pre-chopped veggies!). This way, it will take you minutes to put everything in the slow cooker and dinner will be ready a few hours later. This is my kind of dinner!

Vegetable Parmesan Quinoa made in the Slow Cooker
5 from 3 votes
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Vegetable Parmesan Quinoa in the Slow Cooker

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups quinoa rinsed and drained
  • 4 cups BPA-FREE organic vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 can BPA-FREE small white beans rinsed and drained
  • 1-2 cups broccoli florets chopped
  • 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped (not in oil)
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 large zucchini sliced
  • 1 cup mushrooms wiped clean and sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt optional
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • salt and fresh black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. In a 4 o 5 quart slow cooker, place quinoa and broth and top with remaining ingredients.
  2. Place on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 5-6 hours.
  3. Fluff with a fork, top with Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 642 g
Amount Per Serving

Calories

272

Calories from Fat

50
% Daily Value*

Total Fat

5.6g
9%

Saturated Fat

1.4g
7%

Trans Fat

0.0g

Cholesterol

5mg
2%

Sodium

1305mg
54%

Total Carbohydrates

45.4g
15%

Dietary Fiber

8.5g
34%

Sugars

4.8g

Protein

14.2g

*Nutrition information is provided by caloriecount.com and isn’t 100% guaranteed accurate

Hope you like it too~

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Comments

    • Absolutely Wendy! I would stir in the raw spinach or kale at the end. Just keep stirring it in until it wilts. Thanks!

      Reply

  4. This looks delicious! I’m just wondering how large a serving is, and what the nutrition facts are for each serving. Have you calculated that? Thank you! 🙂

    Reply

  5. This can be a wonderful dish, Quinoa is so healthy! And I love making things in the crock pot because it is easier.
    It cannot be called a vegetarian dish if you put in chicken stock, however, it woud be vegetarian if you used the vegetarian stock.
    I would also leave out the cheese and it would be a vegan dish!
    Adding kale would be an excellent idea, everything is better with kale. 🙂
    I did read your quote, “Side note: I am not a meat eater. I eat chicken on occasion.”
    If you eat chicken, you eat meat. Chicken is meat. Vegetarians eat no animals and fish and chickens are animals. Vegans do not eat or use any animals products, such as meat, dairy, eggs, leather, wool, etc.

    Reply

    • Hi Tammy! I love quinoa so much too, it’s so versatile. You are correct, this would not be considered vegetarian with chicken stock. I just gave chicken stock as an option for those who may not have vegetable stock (and who aren’t vegetarians). And yes, I updated my quote to read “I am not a huge meat eater”. I am not vegetarian, I do eat chicken on occasion. I also don’t really label myself anything, I don’t eat much cheese, no red meat or pork, no seafood…I am just a picky eater 🙂 Thank you for stopping by, I hope you like it!!

      Reply

  6. This looks great, but FYI, Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian. This type of cheese is not suitable for vegetarians as it contains rennet, which is an enzyme found inside cow stomach. Vegetarians should choose a different type of cheese to substitute.

    Reply


  7. Wow some people are just nasty like Tammy.. I mean this woman Lauren posted a pretty damn tasty recipe on here for others to enjoy and you want to correct her on what a vegetarian is… that’s ridiculous… Plus if she eats chicken and not red meat than technically she is a ‘POLLO VEGETARIAN’ maybe you should look up your facts before you start cutting on people Tammy… didn’t your mother teach you if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all???

    Most importantly.. thank you for sharing this Lauren! Many websites charge for nutritious recipes like this one and then don’t share the nutrition info. I can’t wait to make this dish with all the parmesan cheese and pollo included! Have an awesome weekend!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much Renee. I am my own type of picky eater, I never classify myself as anything BUT I just may start calling myself a POLLO VEGETARIAN! 😉 I really appreciate your support and I hope you like the recipe!

      Reply

  10. Never knew you could make quinoa with other veggies in the slow cooker! Amazed that the consistency looks perfect after hours of cooking! Also not a huge meat eater so all for vegan and vegetarian meals : )

    Reply

  13. This looks yummy, thanks for the recipe. And I’m pretty impressed with how nice your responses are to some of these know-it-all’s.

    Reply


  14. Lauren,

    Love the recipes. With that being said, do you know about how many cups 672 grams is? Our food scale broke and are in the process of getting a new one. Thanks for any help you can give.

    Reply

  15. I know this post is from a while ago, but I was wondering about using a 3-quart slow cooker for this recipe. If I cut the ingredients in half, does it change the cooking time?? This is my first time using a crockpot. It looks really delicious and my boyfriend is a vegetarian so I plan on making this soon!

    Reply

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