This Instant Pot Pizza Quinoa Casserole is a gluten-free pizza bowl that all comes together in one pot and in less than 30 minutes!
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How to make this recipe
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Add chicken broth, mushrooms and quinoa to Instant Pot, making sure to add quinoa last. Pressure cook on high for 2 minutes.
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Remove the lid and add pizza sauce, green pepper and red onion, then stir. Let the veggies softne then remove lid and add in pepperoni, and stir.
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Divide mixture into servings, top with cheese, and microwave for 2 minutes to melt cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Chicken broth – veggie broth or beef broth will both work as an alternative.
- Mushrooms – if you don't have mushrooms on hand or just don't like them feel free to replace with a vegetable you love or just leave the mushrooms out.
- Dried quinoa – a great substitute for quinoa is couscous. Just note that if you use couscous that the nutritional facts will vary.
- Pizza sauce – tomato sauce with added spices like oregano, garlic powder and Italian seasoning is an alternative if you don't have pizza sauce.
- Turkey pepperoni – turkey pepperoni is a leaner meat, but feel free to use any other variant of pepperoni.
- Green bell pepper – any other bell pepper colour will work in place of green. If you're not a fan of bell peppers, feel free to replace with another vegetable of your choice or leave out entirely.
- Red onion – white onion, shallots or yellow onion can also be used in this recipe.
- Mozzarella cheese – mozzarella cheese will be the best option for this recipe but feel free to replace this with any other grated cheese of your choice.
- Basil (to garnish)
- Red chilli flakes (to garnish)
Storing and reheating
To store your pizza quinoa casserole, you will want to portion your meals out by serving and refrigerate without the melted cheese on top. Store each serving in an airtight container and keep in the microwave for up to 4 days.
It's important to store in the fridge without the melted cheese as it will last longer in the fridge without it. Leftovers that have the melted grated cheese on top will only last 1-2 days so, you're extending the shelf life of the leftovers and breathing some new life back into them.
When you're ready to enjoy your dish, take the serving out of the fridge, sprinkle your fresh, grated cheese on top and then microwave it for 1-2 minutes until warmed.
Freezing this recipe
This dish is freezer friendly! You can freeze the entire casserole in one freezer friendly container or in individual servings for easy access as a last minute freezer meal. Your dish will last in the freezer for 1-2 months.
More casserole dinners
Meal Prep tools
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60
is the version I use in this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this dish up for lunch
Instant Pot Pizza Quinoa Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup dried quinoa
- 2 cups Pizza Sauce
- 1 package turkey pepperoni
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Basil and red chili flakes to top (optional)
Instructions
- Add chicken broth, mushrooms and quinoa to Instant Pot, making sure to add quinoa last. Set to manual and pressure cook on high for 2 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to pre-heat and then the 2 minutes to cook. When complete, press cancel and do a quick release of the steam, waiting until the pressure gauge drops back down and the lid is safe to open.
- Remove lid and add pizza sauce, green pepper and red onion, then stir. Replace lid, then let sit 5 minutes to soften veggies. Remove lid and add in pepperoni, then stir.
- Divide mixture among 6 bowls (or however many bowls you need at time of serving), then top with cheese, and microwave for 2 minutes to melt cheese. Serve and enjoy!
- Note: Melted cheese is not ideal to store as leftovers, so store any remaining pizza quinoa mixture without cheese in the fridge. When ready to serve leftovers, add to a bowl and microwave 2 minutes, stir, then top with cheese and microwave another 1 minute before serving.
Video
Nutrition
doug f says
Love the recipe, but can’t stand mushrooms. Do you think I substitute olives in their place and keep cooking the same? Or any other ideas?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Doug – I would suggest leaving the mushrooms out altogether and then stirring the olives in after if you’d like to add them. Should be same cooking time 🙂
Sandy says
I just made this, and added a pound of lean ground beef because I was afraid it wouldn’t be substantial enough as a stand alone dish for dinner. I sautéed the beef in the Instant Pot first, then added the broth, mushrooms and quinoa. Worked great. Rest of recipe was the same. The beef didn’t detract from the other ingredients, just added some more protein. Husband loved the big taste.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed, Sandy! The ground beef was a great idea to add more protein.
Emily says
If I add chicken breast instead of pepperoni, how would that affect the cooking time?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Emily – I haven’t tested this recipe with chicken in it, but a best estimate would be increasing the cook time to 5 min. Hope that helps!
Jillian Bajak says
Any tips on cooking this in a normal crock pot as opposed to an instant pot?
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry Jillian I haven’t tried it in a crockpot yet 🙁
Kari says
Thanks for the recipe. I ended up with almost a full cup of chicken broth after cooking the quinoa/mushrooms. Had to drain before adding veggies and sauce. I’ll add less liquid next time, was very good.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy to hear that Kari! Sorry there was an extra little bit of liquid – I’m not sure what could have gone wrong here. I’ve tested this recipe a few times and find the liquid ratios work perfectly. Thanks for sharing with me!
Satina says
I had the same issue with almost a full cup of liquid left. I use a ninja foodie. For next time, Ill know. Thank you though for the recipe. Wishing you and yours well.