Black Bean Quinoa Bowl Recipe

Sharing our favorite Quinoa Bowl today! My Black Bean Quinoa Bowl Recipe is packed with loads of delicious vegetables. Love this healthy dish.

Quinoa Bowl

So excited to share this delicious quinoa bowl recipe with you! A few weeks ago we went to a little cafe in Laguna Beach called Active Culture, you can see a collage I posted on Instagram HERE. They serve all sorts of wonderful healthy foods, yogurt and smoothies. I ordered what they call their whole bowl and I could not get enough of it. I went home and created my own version of their super healthy fabulous bowl. It’s not exact, but I enjoyed mine just as much. Hope you enjoy friends!

Try my Quinoa Party Salad too! Follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration.

quinoa bowl

To get started, cook your quinoa and brown rice. Do this in advance if you’d like, it will save you some good time. You’ll also need some finely shredded cabbage, thinly sliced and quartered cucumber and chopped tomatoes. You can even substitute for white rice in place of the quinoa and brown rice.

How To Make a Quinoa Bowl

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl. Cook brown rice according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl.
  2. Place mustard, yogurt, water and worcestershire sauce into a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until warm. Remove from heat.
  3. Place celery seed, paprika, curry powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a small bowl, stir to combine.
  4. In each serving bowl layer the following: brown rice, quinoa, a few spoonfuls of mustard sauce, black beans, cucumber, tomato, a few spoonfuls of salsa, cabbage, a few pinches of seasoning and diced avocado. I like to stir my bowl all together to mix in the sauce and seasonings. You may find you enjoy more sauce and or seasonings in your bowl. Add what you like. I also prefer my bowl slightly warm.

quinoa bowl

You’ll also need black beans, your favorite mild salsa (not pico de gallo), and 1 avocado peeled and diced.

quinoa bowl

Here are the spices I used to create the seasoning for the bowl. You can substitute all of these for a spice blend called Accent if you have that. A few less ingredients/steps. Otherwise, 1 teaspoon of each of these spices. I also added fresh ground pepper not pictured.

quinoa bowl

Love how colorful these spices are. So fragrant too!

quinoa bowl

The sauce consists of brown or Dijon Mustard, plain greek yogurt, a few splashes of water and worcestershire sauce.

quinoa bowl

It will look like this. Brings great flavor to your bowl.

quinoa bowl

Time to layer your own bowl. Start with brown rice, some quinoa, a few spoonfuls of mustard sauce, black beans….

quinoa bowl

 …cucumber, tomatoes, salsa, cabbage, your homemade spice blend and some diced avocados not pictured.

quinoa bowl

Ahhhh yah. After you take a photo for Instagram (ok, maybe that’s just me), stir your bowl all together and dig in! Stirring together allows the spices and sauces to integrate with the quinoa and rice.

quinoa bowl

Black Bean Quinoa Bowl Recipe

This Black Bean Quinoa Bowl Recipe is healthy, packed with delicious vegetables and flavorful seasonings.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 590kcal
Author: Jenny
Cost: 15
Print Pin

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 cups uncooked brown rice
  • 1 cup Dijon or brown mustard
  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon celery seed
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 15 ounce can black beans drained
  • 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
  • 2 cups quartered and sliced cucumber
  • 2 cups chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup mild thin salsa not pico de gallo
  • 1 avocado peeled and diced

Instructions

  • Cook quinoa according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl. Cook brown rice according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl.
  • Place mustard, yogurt, water and worcestershire sauce into a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until warm. Remove from heat.
  • Place celery seed, paprika, curry powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a small bowl, stir to combine.
  • In each serving bowl layer the following: brown rice, quinoa, a few spoonfuls of mustard sauce, black beans, cucumber, tomato, a few spoonfuls of salsa, cabbage, a few pinches of seasoning and diced avocado. I like to stir my bowl all together to mix in the sauce and seasonings. You may find you enjoy more sauce and or seasonings in your bowl. Add what you like. I also prefer my bowl slightly warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 590kcal | Carbohydrates: 107g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 1358mg | Potassium: 1077mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 465IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 152mg | Iron: 5mg
Keywords: a healthy dinner recipe, best quinoa salad recipe, black bean quinoa bowl, chicken quinoa bowl, easy healthy dinner idea, healthy, healthy appetizer, quinoa, quinoa bowl, quinoa bowl recipe, quinoa salad black bean, quinoa salad recipe

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72 Responses
  1. Nicole

    Hello, I loooooove Active Culture’s wholesome bowl and have tried to re-create the sauce as well! Did you ask them for their ingredient list or how did you come up with this recipe? It tastes pretty similar but I think I used the wrong kind of mustard! oops!

  2. Chandra

    Hi there, great recipe except for the Accent spice….this is straight MSG! Yes, Monosodium glutamate! Very frustrating to go buy this spice and get home only to discover what it truly is! Please remove this Accent from the recipe!

  3. Christine Gillis

    Any idea what the nutritional info would be for this recipe? I do WW and would live to know the points.

  4. Sydney

    Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
    I made it last night for work lunch today.
    To make it a little more time and cost saving, I used taco seasoning powder instead of the indivisual spices and salsa to give it that Maxican flavor and also made Guacomole instead of avo slices.
    Because I took it to work for lunch, I did not want to carry two containers separating the quinoa/rice and salad mix, so after laying all the ingredients on top of the brown rice/quinoa I layed the bed on cabbage and added on the guacomole and yoghurt dressing on the top so that the bottom layer does not get mushy and soggy. I also added a few pieces of chicken breast for extra protein, Tuna should be a good one as well.
    All in all, it was super yummy! A little goes a long way so I will be cutting back on the portion size from tomorrow, today I take it indulgence! 🙂

  5. Jen Roper

    Hi Jenny! Do you have any ideas on a substitution for the Greek yogurt? I’m a vegan and don’t do anything dairy. Thank you! 🙂

  6. Julie

    Yum! I’ve been a black bean kick lately so I will have to add this to my list. Thank you and I love your cookbook!

  7. Sue

    We also are dairy-feee. I mashed the avocado and used in place of the yogurt in the sauce. Worked beautifully!

  8. Heather

    You’re in Orange County too?!? I’ll have to make this and try out the place in Laguna Beach and compare……have you ever been to Las Brisas? They have some killer steak nachos, I’d love to figure out how to replicate the sauce (hint hint, lol)….steak nachos definetly aren’t “skinny”, but man oh man they are tasty! And a real kid pleaser 🙂

  9. Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking

    Such a great idea for a weeknight meal – these bowls look so scrumptious, Jenny!

  10. Rebekah

    I made this and my husband and I loved it. The flavor of the “sauce” is pretty strong but we enjoyed it. My three boys did not. WAH! Trying to get them used to different foods and it will happen one day.

  11. Helene

    I am impressed by this salad and want to make it. Summer is coming and it’s time to be back on the right track 🙂

  12. Alyssa | Queen of Quinoa

    FABulous recipe!! Anything with avocado and quinoa mixed together? You’ve got me. And I love the idea of a Skinny Palate page. 🙂

    I’d love for you to come share this recipe over at Thank Goodness It’s Quinoa, a bi-weekly link party celebrating all things quinoa. I know our readers will fall in love with this recipe, just as we have!

    Hope to see you there: http://www.queenofquinoa.me/2013/03/thank-goodness-its-quinoa-tgiq-6/

    Happy Friday!

    Alyssa

  13. Grace @ Sweetlandia

    Yummy!! I also like taco salad. Sort of almost the same. No quinoa, no mustard sauce, no spice on top. 😀

  14. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

    I love a fiesta bowl and it’s been a while since we had some. Perhaps for dinner tonight 😀

  15. Kathy

    Yum! I enjoy dinners like this. Not sure about the rest of family, though! I have really become a fan of quinoa lately!

  16. Deann

    This looks delicious!! I really appreciate you sharing your choice of spices as we don’t use Accent around here.. we’re really against MSG.
    Can’t wait to try this recipe!

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