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Home Meal Type Casserole
5
/5
40 minutes

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

Gluten Free Gluten Free Nut Free Nut Free
Jump to Recipe
By: Denise Bustard10 Comments
Posted: 3/3/22 Updated: 10/6/20

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This healthy broccoli quinoa casserole is easy to prepare ahead for easy weeknight dinners! Packed with chicken, broccoli, and quinoa, it's meal prep and freezer friendly.

Comfort food at its finest - casseroles such as this healthier chicken and cauliflower casserole, butternut squash enchilada casserole, and this broccoli quinoa casserole are true meal prep heroes!

close up overhead view of broccoli quinoa casserole in baking dish
Jump to... show
1 Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
2 ingredient notes
3 Meal plan + shopping list!
4 Step by step directions
5 Serve It with
6 FAQ
7 Meal Prep
8 Storage and Reheating
9 More Healthy Casserole Recipes
10 Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

Featured Review

"I made this as a freezer meal for my sister who just had a baby and it was delicious! Really flavorful. I'm going to make it again as a vegetarian meal with broccoli and cauliflower and I'm sure it will be great again."

-  HN

This broccoli quinoa casserole is so easy to assemble if you have some of the ingredients prepped ahead! Toss all your meal-prepped ingredients together in just 10 minutes, and dinner will be on the table after just 30 minutes of baking.

To our surprise, our broccoli-hating little one LOVED this broccoli chicken quinoa casserole! It's pretty hard to beat the combination of cheese, herbs, chicken & quinoa, even with a little broccoli hidden in there.

Reasons You'll Love This Recipe

  • the flavors of the broccoli with chicken and cheese are so delicious and comforting
  • you can meal prep the ingredients ahead, then assemble in under 10 minutes
  • it's gluten-free and full of nutritious, wholesome ingredients

ingredient notes

overhead view of ingredients for the chicken quinoa casserole
  • Chicken - start with cooked, cooled chicken - cut into bite-sized pieces. You can use rotisserie chicken, or cook your own in the Instant Pot.
  • Quinoa - can be cooked in a rice cooker for easy meal prep and perfect fluffy quinoa every time, or prep it in the Instant Pot. We used white quinoa, but you could also use tri-color quinoa (they cook up the same)
  • Cheese - shredded; we used mozarella, but you could use Monterey Jack, or cheddar cheese
  • Broccoli - washed, dried, and cut into 1- ½ inch bite sized flourets. Could be swapped for cauliflower, if you prefer
  • Herbs - dried basil and oregano work perfectly here, but you could also swap either of these herbs for thyme if you don't have it

Meal plan + shopping list!

This recipe is part of a prep ahead meal plan: prep 5 ingredients and assemble through the week to make three dinners! Here are the important links:

  1. see the full meal plan here
  2. Instant Pot Whole Chicken
  3. Healthy Chicken Quesadillas
  4. Caprese chicken quinoa salad

Step by step directions

quinoa fluffed up after cooking in the rice cooker

Cook Quinoa

Ways you can cook it:

  1. perfect fluffy stovetop quinoa
  2. in the Instant Pot
  3. in a rice cooker

Once cooked, you will want to allow the quinoa to fully cool before assembling this broccoli quinoa casserole.

composite image of how to steam broccoli on the stovetop

Cook Broccoli

Heat ½ inch water in a pan or pot. Add broccoli florets, cover, and steam for 3-5 minutes, until bright green and soft in the middle.

See: how to cook broccoli

overhead view of chicken broccoli quinoa casserole in baking dish before baking

Assemble

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a deep 9 x 9 inch baking dish with oil and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, cooked chicken, broccoli, egg, chicken stock, half the cheese, and all spices.

Press into the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Square Baking Dish

This is the square baking dish that I own and love!

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Close up of broccoli quinoa casserole

Bake

Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes.

Favorite Silicone Lids

Pro tip - these silicone lids work great for reducing plastic and tin foil waste! Use them for marinating, baking lasagnas or casseroles, resting meat, and even for covering food in the fridge!

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close up view of chicken and quinoa casserole in bowl

Serve

Portion into bowls, and enjoy!


spoonful of green goddess dressing over a mason jar

Serve It with

I consider this to be a complete meal in itself, but you could serve with a side salad for some extra veggies. Here are some of my favorite side salads:

  • 10 minute crunchy rainbow Thai salad
  • Our staple kale salad
  • Asian slaw with sesame vninaigrette
  • Anything drizzled with this Green goddess dressing

FAQ

Can I freeze cooked broccoli quinoa casserole?

Likely yes, but we haven't tried. You can definitely freeze before baking (assembled but unbaked). Thaw completely, then bake up as directed. Quinoa freeze/thaws surprisingly well!

I don't care for quinoa, can I swap it for rice?

This should work, but we haven't tested it. If you do try, could you report back in the comments to let us know how it turns out?

Can I swap the broccoli?

Yes, feel free to swap for cauliflower - although your finished dish may not be quite as pretty, it will cook up in the same amount of time, with similar flavors.

Photo of Denise standing in her kitchen eating out of a blue bowl

Meal Prep

To meal prep this broccoli quinoa casserole as a freezer meal, we recommend:

  1. assembling all ingredients up to step 3
  2. be sure to use a metal casserole dish to avoid risk of glass breaking
  3. freeze (assembled but unbaked).
  4. thaw completely, then bake up as directed.

Storage and Reheating

casserole dish with silicone cover overtop, from overhead

Fridge - Cool completely after baking. Store in the fridge in the baking dish (covered), or portioned out into meal prep containers for up to 4 days.

Reheat - at 350°F in the oven. Cover the casserole to reheat. I love these reusable silicone baking dish covers to reduce my foil waste!

More Healthy Casserole Recipes

  • Mexican spaghetti squash casserole
  • Healthier taco casserole
  • Chicken cauliflower rice enchilada casserole
  • Instant Pot quinoa enchilada casserole 
  • Turkey zucchini lasagna (freezer friendly)

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!

Close up of broccoli quinoa casserole

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

5 from 3 votes
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Print Rate
This healthy broccoli quinoa casserole is easy to prepare ahead for easy weeknight dinners! Packed with chicken, broccoli, and quinoa, it's meal prep and freezer friendly.
4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 2 cups cooked chicken see note 1
  • 3 cups steamed broccoli
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup chicken stock
  • 2 cups cheese shredded; divided in half
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions 

  • Cook quinoa - Cook quinoa according to package directions on the stovetop, in a rice cooker, or in an Instant Pot (see note 2).
    quinoa fluffed up after cooking in the rice cooker
  • Cook broccoli- Heat ½ inch water in a pan or pot. Add broccoli florets, cover, and steam for 3-5 minutes, until bright green and soft in the middle.
  • Combine - Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a deep 9 x 9 inch baking dish with oil and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, cooked chicken, broccoli, egg, chicken stock, half the cheese, and all spices.
    Press into the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
  • Bake - Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes.
    Close up of broccoli quinoa casserole
  • Serve - Portion into bowls, and enjoy!

Tips:

These are *large* servings, you could cut back the portion size and get 6 servings
  1. Start with cooked, cooled chicken. You can use rotisserie chicken, or cook your own in the Instant Pot
  2. When cooking quinoa in the Instant Pot it's important to halve the cooking liquid 
Meal Prep
To meal prep this broccoli quinoa casserole as a freezer meal, we recommend:
  1. assembling all ingredients up to step 3
  2. be sure to use a metal casserole dish to avoid the risk of glass breaking
  3. freeze (assembled but unbaked).
  4. thaw completely, then bake up as directed.
Storage
Fridge - Cool completely after baking. Store in the fridge in the baking dish (covered), or portioned out into meal prep containers for up to 4 days.
Reheat - at 350°F in the oven. Cover the casserole to reheat. I love these reusable silicone baking dish covers to reduce my foil waste!
 

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1/4 batch, Calories: 506kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 39g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Cholesterol: 153mg, Sodium: 636mg, Potassium: 637mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 1080IU, Vitamin C: 60.9mg, Calcium: 477mg, Iron: 3.6mg
Author: Denise Bustard
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American

© Sweet Peas & Saffron - Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.

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9 x 9 Inch Baking Dish
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Meet Denise Bustard

Denise Bustard is the creator of Sweet Peas and Saffron, a meal prep-focussed food blog. With a PhD in biochemistry, Denise takes a scientific approach to perfecting her recipes. You can find Denise's work featured on Huffington Post, MSN, Self and more.

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Recipe Rating




  1. Claire says

    Posted on 1/18/22 at Posted on 1/18/22

    5 stars
    Thank you for this delicious recipe! My husband and I are trying to eat healthier and had been searching how to use quinoa in meals. This was extremely easy to prepare and so flavorful! Threw in some boiled celery to bulk up and provide more fiber since we had extra. We did not have a 9x9 pan but used a 7.5x13.3 pyrex dish. Will definitely make again!

    Reply
    • Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says

      Posted on 1/18/22 at Posted on 1/18/22

      Hi Claire, so glad that you found it flavorful and worthy of making again! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review 🙂

      Reply
  2. HN says

    Posted on 12/10/20 at Posted on 12/10/20

    5 stars
    I made this as a freezer meal for my sister who just had a baby and it was delicious! Really flavorful. I'm going to make it again as a vegetarian meal with broccoli and cauliflower and I'm sure it will be great again.

    Reply
    • Denise Bustard says

      Posted on 1/4/21 at Posted on 1/4/21

      Hi HN! What a good sister you are! I'm so happy to hear you guys enjoyed the recipe. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review, I really appreciate it!

      Reply
  3. Annie says

    Posted on 5/20/20 at Posted on 5/20/20

    Another delicious recipe—thank you!
    I pretty much followed the recipe as written...I used tri-color quinoa (2/3 cup uncooked), 4-ish cups steamed fresh broccoli, mozzarella cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper (also sprinkled some Parmesan on top). I did use 8.25oz chicken broth (plus the egg) and it was super moist/not soupy at all!
    Next time, I may get wild and crazy by trying a Ranch Seasoning blend with white cheddar. 🙃

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 6/1/20 at Posted on 6/1/20

      Hi Annie! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Glad it was a good texture for you. Ranch seasoning sounds pretty amazing to me!

      Reply
  4. David says

    Posted on 7/8/19 at Posted on 7/8/19

    Can I prepare this in my toaster oven? It does have convection baking feature.

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 7/22/19 at Posted on 7/22/19

      Hi David, unfortunately I really can't say. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!

      Reply
  5. Amber says

    Posted on 5/29/19 at Posted on 5/29/19

    I just made this for my vegetarian daughter. I left out the chicken, and replaced the chicken stock with water. It came out to watery. What is the purpose of the liquid? Can it just be left out?

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 6/3/19 at Posted on 6/3/19

      Hi Amber, that's very strange! It should not be watery at all. The liquid helps the quinoa stick together while it bakes. Without it, the casserole was very dry for us.

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Denise

Meal prep took me from feeling constantly stressed out about meals to cool, collected and in control. I want to share this amazing and transformational habit with you, so you can feel in control, too! Read more ...

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