Easy cheesy quinoa bake with black beans, corn, garlic, shredded cooked turkey, and lots of cheddar cheese!
With great power comes great responsibility. At least that’s what I tell myself about turkey leftovers.
Whoever cooks the turkey gets to keep the leftovers, right? Whoever has the extra turkey meat gets to decide what to do with it (at least that’s how it works around here). High expectations, people. That’s where the responsibility part of the power comes in. Whatever you do with the leftovers, it better be good.
This turkey black bean quinoa bake? It’s good, great actually. A “winnah”, according to my family. Of course they didn’t get to eat much of it when I was recipe testing it last week, given that I ate half of it myself. Just didn’t want to part with it.
It’s sort of an inside-out version of our Cheesy Quinoa Black Bean Stuffed Peppers, with leftover turkey, and not stuffed. So good!
Whatever you do, enjoy those leftovers if you have them. This is also a great recipe for leftover homemade beans. Here are some other great recipes for leftover turkey if you need more inspiration.
Turkey Black Bean Quinoa Bake Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 to 6
To save time, prep the ingredients and start on the onions and peppers while the quinoa is cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
- Salt
- 3 cups shredded, chopped cooked turkey
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups onion, chopped
- 2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (chipotle chili powder if available), less or more to taste
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided 2 cups and 1 cup
Method
1 Cook the quinoa: Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Typically package directions ask you to put 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt into a pot, bringing it to a boil, reduce to a very low simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Then remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
2 Cook peppers and onions: Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and the bell peppers and cook until softened and browned at the edges, about 10 minutes.
3 Add garlic, spices, corn: Add the garlic, cumin, chili powder, and corn, and cook a minute more. Remove from heat.
4 Place the cooked quinoa, black beans, onion mixture, cilantro, 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese, and cooked turkey in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
5 Top with cheese and bake: Place in a casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese, and bake at 350°F uncovered for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
