Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Quinoa with Sausage and Kale
We are always looking to add vegetables to our meals. This Instant Pot Quinoa with Sausage and Kale is a complete one pot meal. It can be prepared in just a few minutes at a very low cost.
Go To Recipe
My son loves quinoa and so I have been learning how to add it to dishes. I developed this Instant Pot Sausage Kale Quinoa to get a healthy dose of quinoa and vegetables in a dish that I thought my family would love.
Quinoa is noted for being very healthy. There are many sources citing its benefits. One of my favorite sites, Healthline, lists 11 benefits of quinoa. For a very detailed health study you can read this dense paper.
Quinoa is a grain that is high in protein and gluten-free. It is also one of the only plant foods that has all the essential amino acids. In addition to being high in protein, quinoa is high in fiber.
Note I use red quinoa but there is also white, black and multi-color quinoa available. I don’t think there is much of a difference in nutritional value but you can experiment with which one you think tastes the best.
Because quinoa is high in protein, this Instant Pot Quinoa could work as a vegetarian dish. Just eliminate the sausage and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Kale is another key ingredient of this dish. Once again Healthline lists all kinds of benefits for kale. According to Healthline, kale “is one of the healthiest and most nutritious plant foods in existence.”
Of course, an issue with a vegetable like is that cooking it can lower its nutritional value. Personally I don’t think this is an issue and our family simply does not like raw kale. However, if you think it is an issue you can stir the kale in right before serving.
One of the interesting things about this recipe is you cook it oh high pressure 1 minute. Yes that is right one-minute! One of our favorite pressure cooker recipe websites even suggests setting the pressure cooker on zero.
Of course, with an Instant Pot cooking is going on as pressure builds. When the Instant Pot starts to release pressure, cooking is still going on. In this case we have found letting pressure release for 12 minutes does the trick.
This recipe is ripe for experimenting. I add bell peppers based on what is on sale. Broccoli is a family favorite, but other vegetables could also be added.
You can also serve this as more of a soup by adjusting the amount of the broth. To make it more of a stew use 3 cups broth. For a soup you can use 4 cups of broth.
Overall Instant Pot Quinoa with Sausage and Kale has become a standard for our family. It is a low cost, easy to prepare weeknight meal that satisfies everyone.
Quinoa, along with barley, are two grains we are testing in more recipes. Look for further suggestions down the road.
For more info on the Instant Pot check out our Top 10 Instant Pot Tips and our Top 10 Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Quinoa with Sausage and Kale
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound sausage meat removed from casing
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 3 bell peppers any combination of red, green, yellow or orange
- 3-4 cups chicken broth more broth = soup, less broth = stew
- 2 cups quinoa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to sauté and heat oil. Add the sausage meat and start browning. Add onions and garlic, cook until softened.
- Add remaining ingredients to Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 1 minute. Let natural release for 12 minutes.
I’m going to try it!