Instant Pot coconut curry quinoa
Quinoa and sweet potato cooked in golden coconut curry, with peas and spinach stirred in at the end, a creamy, gently spiced one-pot dinner.
- 35 min total
- 10 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.68 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1½ cups quinoa, rinsed
- 1 sweet potato, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
- ⅓ cup cashews, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 450 calories, 14 g protein, 67 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $2.68 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No cashews? Almonds work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Set the Instant Pot to , add the oil and onion, and cook, stirring, 4 minutes, until soft.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Timer: 4 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, turmeric and cumin for 1 minute, . Press Cancel.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Pour in the coconut milk and water and scrape the bottom well. Stir in the quinoa, sweet potato and salt.
Dolly’s tip: Coconut milk scorches easily, so scrape until nothing is stuck to the bottom.Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing and cook on High Pressure for 1 minute.
Timer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: One minute is right. The quinoa keeps cooking while the pressure comes down.Let the pressure come down on its own for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to Venting.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Keep your hand and face away from the valve. The steam is very hot.Stir in the peas and spinach, put the lid back on and leave 3 minutes, until the spinach .
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Timer: 3 min
Squeeze in some lime, then serve with more lime wedges, cilantro and cashews.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
