Hello! Happy Tuesday! I had such an uplifting weekend at the Elevate Conference in Newport Beach. I went up Friday night and had a hotel room ALL to myself! I went to bed pretty late but slept like a baby. AKA- I didn’t have a child wake me up in the middle night or at the crack of dawn. That was a real treat!
After a weekend of indulging (because there was sooo much good food!) and yes, for the umpteenth time, I’m committing myself to eating clean(er)! I need a reset. I’m a firm believer that healthy food can still taste amazing and this casserole 100 percent does! Ahem…a healthy casserole you guys! This BBQ Chicken Quinoa Casserole is packed with protein– loaded with quinoa, chicken, corn and black beans, and even made with Greek yogurt to make it nice and creamy. And a little cheese and barbecue sauce of course! It is so good. My boys devoured it.
Two tips for making this. Number 1) always cook the quinoa in chicken broth, it adds so much flavor! And 2) use a rotisserie chicken to make this a super speedy dish!
Oh, and if you aren’t a fan of quinoa swap it out for brown rice!
You can make it more or less cheesy or barbecue-y if you want to….totally up to your preference! Once it’s baked and the cheese is melted to bubbly perfection, we like to add some avocado, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), an extra drizzle of barbecue sauce, and eat it with chips!
- 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (cook your quinoa in chicken broth!)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked and shredded chicken (can use rotisserie to save time)
- 3/4 cup shredded mexican cheese
- 1/2 cup plain Nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce (or any preferred bbq sauce)
- 1 (14 oz) corn, drained (i've used creamed corn too)
- 1 (14 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- diced cilantro and green onion
- additional bbq sauce
- additional Greek yogurt
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl combine quinoa, creamed corn, black beans, Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup bbq sauce, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, garlic salt, cumin, salt and pepper.
- Toss the cooked chicken with 1-2 tbsp bbq sauce and set aside.
- Lightly grease a casserole dish. Spread half of the quinoa mixture into the bottom of the dish. Evenly distribute half of the shredded bbq chicken over the top. Distribute the rest of the quinoa mixture over the top of it, and then cover it with the remaining bbq chicken. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes (or until cheese is melted and bubbly)
You had me at “Cookies Quinoa”! I have no idea what it is, but sign me up! 😉 I am sure you meant “Cooked Quinoa”, but Cookie Quinoa sounds very intriguing. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I am going to try it this weekend. IBeautiful blog and family you have. =)
haha yes i did!! but cookies sound good right about now!
Love this recipe. Thank you.
thanks Liz!
This recipe sounds amazing! Have you ever assembled it ahead of time and kept it in the fridge for a day or two before baking?
I haven’t done it yet, but I’m sure you can!! And I probably will, maybe even freeze it!
Yum! looks great! I generally have all of these ingredients in my fridge so I’ll definitely try this one out sometime. 🙂
I hope you like it Camille!!!