6 servingsamericancayenne pepper

Latin Spiced Chocolate Quinoa

By Pamela Ellgen

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6 servings

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less than 15 min

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Easy

Latin Spiced Chocolate Quinoa
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Recipe Details

Course: Side Dish

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Total Time: less than 15 min

Cooking Technique: Pressure Cook

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking quinoa
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 4 cups wate
Chocolate and quinoa? It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Both foods have ancient origins and figure prominently in regional cuisines throughout South America. Jar size: 2½ cups

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Layer the dry ingredients in the jar in the order listed.
  2. Place all of the jarred ingredients into the Instant Pot. Add 4 cups of water or almond milk. Stir to mix. Cover with the lid and ensure the vent is in the “sealed” position. Pressure Cook on High for 5 minutes. Allow the steam pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release any remaining pressure manually.

Notes

Ingredient Tip: You can use another kind of chili powder than cayenne, but make sure it only contains ground chiles, not onion powder, cumin, or other savory ingredients.

About the chef

Pamela Ellgen

Pamela Ellgen

Food writer and cookbook author Pamela Ellgen has written twenty-eight cookbooks, including her latest, The I Love Trader Joe’s Snack Boards Cookbook, to be published by Ulysses Press in December 2023. Other books include The Gluten Free Cookbook for Families: Healthy Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less and bestselling The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook: Easy, Healthy Recipes for the Next Four Years & Beyond. She has also done collaborations with Instant Pot, Beyond Celiac, and Settlers of Catan. Her work has been featured in USA Today, HuffPost, TODAY, Healthline, Outside Magazine, Scary Mommy, and The Pioneer Woman. She has worked as a private chef and taught farm-to-table cooking classes in public schools. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Pamela now lives in sunny Oceanside, California with her fiance and their three boys. She loves surfing, pasta, and wine.

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