While risotto has a reputation for being challenging to make, this recipe is really simple and tastes a lot like shrimp scampi.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sunflower seed oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 cups quinoa
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
- 4 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 (5 ounce) cans chicken chunks, drained
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- ¼ cup butter, cut into small pieces
- ¾ cup shredded Italian cheese blend, divided
- 1 ½ cups crushed pita chips
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat sunflower oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until onion is slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add quinoa and chicken bouillon; cook, stirring frequently, until quinoa is toasted, 5 to 8 minutes.
- Pour water over quinoa mixture and bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir thyme and parsley into quinoa mixture and simmer until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Spread quinoa mixture into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle chicken over quinoa. Spoon Alfredo sauce and cream of chicken soup over chicken layer; top with butter pieces. Sprinkle 1/2 cup Italian cheese blend over entire mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Stir mixture and flatten with the back of spoon or spatula; top with pita chips and remaining 1/4 cup Italian cheese blend. Bake until cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Cool casserole for 5 minutes; top with Parmesan cheese.
- If you’re not a fan of quinoa try orzo another small pasta. Sunflower oil can easily be substituted with olive or vegetable oil.
- Try garlic-herb pita chips for something different.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 679 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 76 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Sodium | 1319 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 44 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Family loved it! I used rotisserie white meat chicken, not canned, but everything else according to recipe. I added a layer of spinach in there, too. Casserole dish is really full, but it all fit.
I really enjoyed this. I followed the recipe exactly. The only difference is that I didn’t have a jar of alfredo sauce so I made my own. It did make a lot so I had a lot of leftovers. I could probably cut the recipe in half for 4-5 people. When you see quinoa in a recipe you think healthy, But there is a lot of cheese and oil and butter so that erases the healthy part. But it was very tasty. I would make it again.
Overall not bad. Cut Quinoa in half, doubled chicken. Needs some spice.
We made this according to the recipe. If you love fettuccine Alfredo, but you are sick of fettuccine Alfredo, this is a great recipe to try. It makes a lot, though. We enjoyed it, and will be inserted it into our regular rotation.
Want to rate this fairly. Was following recipe exactly until I hit the alfredo sauce. Didn’t have anyso had to punt. Substituted Barilla’s 4 cheese sauce & used tomato soup instead of cream of chicken. Not all the quinoa could fit if I wanted everything else to. Have about 2 cupsleft for another dish (fine with me!) Makes a lot and was delicious!! Will try it again usng the alfredo sauce,
We really enjoyed this recipe. I didn’t use the pita chips and I didn’t toast the quinoa. My husband loved it “as is” but I sprinkled Cajun seasoning on mine for a little kick. I’m glad I didn’t notice the other review or I probably wouldn’t have tried it. Will definitely make again.