These Quinoa Fajitas are made up of loads of veggies, shredded chicken, and quinoa! Dump everything into a slow cooker and forget about it until dinner time. Once everything is cooked, shred the chicken and layer the filling into warmed tortillas. Add your favorite fajita toppings like cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and fresh lime juice.
Quinoa Fajitas
The aim of this recipe is to give a nutrition-packed, flavorful meal that can be prepped in no time at all! In my experience, itโs pretty hard to find a quick slow cooker meal thatโs also nutritious. Instead of dumping in cans of condensed soup, weโre adding in a mix of fresh, frozen, and canned veggies. Now, before you say that quick and slow cooker donโt go together, what Iโm talking about is the prep time. If you can throw it all in and go, in my book, thatโs quick.
This meal is also easy to make vegetarian, with plenty of protein from both black beans and quinoa. If vegetarian is not your aim, then go ahead and pair this recipe with chicken!
Quick Tip
Typically, the more protein in a dish, the more satiating it is. This means youโll be fuller for longer and more protein helps to curb cravings among other things.
Quinoa Fajitas Shortcut Tips
- To keep the prep quick, we limit the fresh veggies. So instead of onions or garlic, we add garlic and onion powder. (Feel free to add in garlic and onion if you prefer. Iโd sautรฉ them first since they might not soften enough in the slow cooker.)
- Buy pre-chopped butternut squash or sweet potatoes to save prep time. A lot of stores sell these pre-cut veggies in the produce section of the store.
- Look for frozen, thinly sliced peppers (usually in a package with onions) instead of thinly slicing fresh peppers. These are also in the produce section and the freezer aisle.
- Add fire-roasted tomatoes. This type of tomato is charred over a flame before being crushed and canned. Contact with that flame brings out the tomatoโs sweetness and gives a distinct smoky flavor. Essentially, youโre getting more flavor with no extra work.
- Use a fajita seasoning mix. Instead of measuring out individual spices, you can use a packet instead. If opting for the packet, I recommend getting a good quality brand to make sure these Quinoa Fajitas have enough flavor.
Homemade Fajita Seasoning
While packets are the quickest, if you have the time, homemade tastes the best. Itโs also more economical, and you know exactly whatโs in it. This is important if youโre concerned about additives, gluten, or animal products. Hereโs the recipe for a homemade blend (with the same quantity as 1 packet).
- 2 teaspoons: ground chili powder (use McCormick for less heat)
- 1 teaspoon EACH: paprika, fine sea salt, white granulated sugar, ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH: onion powder, garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon: ground cayenne pepper (increase or decrease depending on your heat preference)
Quick Tip
While youโre at it, make up several batches of this fajita seasoning blend. Put them in individual serving-sized packages and store them in the pantry. Theyโll be just as easy to use as the store-bought mixes!
Quinoa Fajita Notes
- Cut the sweet potatoes into even and small (1/2-inch) cubes. If the potato pieces are too large, they wonโt get tender in time.
- Cook on high. This recipe doesnโt cook well on the low setting. The quinoa needs higher heat to โpopโ and cook through.ย
- Generously grease the slow cooker or use a liner. Quinoa tends to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Use good-quality vegetable or chicken stock. I highly recommend Swansonโs vegetable or chicken stock. Iโve found it to have the most robust flavor for a store-bought stock.
- Make vegan/vegetarian. Replace the chicken broth/stock with vegetable stock/broth and leave out the chicken (no need to change anything else). For toppings, stick to vegan alternatives if vegan.
Topping Suggestions
Our โmust-haveโ toppings are extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, fresh lime, and a thinly sliced avocado. Here are some other ideas:
- Cotija cheese
- Chopped cherryย tomatoesย
- Fresh-chopped cilantro or thinly slicedย green onions
- A squeeze of fresh lime
- A large scoop of sourย cream. We use fat-free to keep these on the light side. You can also useย Greekย yogurt.
- Slicedย avocadoย or a scoop ofย guacamole
- Pickledย redย onionsย (I share a quick pickled red onion recipe on theseย chicken tinga tacos)
More Quinoa Recipes
Quinoa Fajitas
Equipment
- 6-quart Crock-Pot 6-quart, see note 1
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 3/4 pound (11 ounces) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, optional, see note 2
- 1-1/2 cups frozen corn or 1 can corn
- 1 (15.25-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted crushed tomatoes undrained
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth or vegetable broth
- 2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1-1/2 cups thinly sliced bell peppers I use 1/2 an orange pepper and 1/2 of a red one
- 1 fajita seasoning mix see note 3
- Tortillas flour or corn
- Toppings as desired see note 4
Instructionsย
- Thoroughly rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve. Drain and rinse black beans. Peel and dice the sweet potato (small pieces to cook in time!). Thinly slice the pepper(s) and cut the long pepper strips in half lengthwise.
- Generously spray the slow cooker with cooking spray or insert a liner. Combine quinoa, chicken (see note 1; be sure to cut each breast into 4โ5 even pieces and each thigh into 3โ4 even pieces), corn, black beans, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, sweet potatoes, and peppers in the slow cooker. Add fajita seasoning mix or seasonings listed in note 3. Gently stir everything together and submerge the chicken below everything else.
- Cook 3-1/2 to 4 hours on high, watching carefully so the quinoa doesnโt burn (avoid opening the slow cooker and checkingโthis disrupts the heating). I donโt recommend cooking on low; the quinoa gets too mushy. Cook until the chicken shreds and the quinoa has popped. Remove chicken and thinly slice or shred with two forks. Gently stir everything together and taste for seasonings, adding salt and pepper as needed.
- Spoon filling into charred or warmed (see note 3) tortillas and top with optional toppings. For me, fresh lime, fresh cilantro, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese are must-have toppings!
Recipe Notes
- 2 teaspoons ground chili powder (use McCormick for less heat)
- 1 teaspoon each: paprika, fine sea salt, granulated sugar, ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon each: onion powder, garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon: ground cayenne pepper (increase or decrease depending on heat preference)
- Spray both sides of the tortillas with cooking spray. I use an olive oil-based spray (canola works as well).
- Very lightly charย eachย side of the tortilla over an open flame on the stovetop. If you donโt have an open flame, warm for 10โ15 seconds in a skillet.
- Immediately remove the tortilla from the heat and fold in half. Place under a towel and repeat until all tortillas are charred.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Is it freezer friendly?
I am wondering if you have ever made this in an instant pot? I have made it before and love it but wonโt have enough time to make it in crock pot.
Iโve never made it in the instant pot, but it should be just fine if you cook it in there (I believe a few other readers have tried this; so hopefully someone can chime in here with better directions!) Let me know how you like it! ๐
hi! Iโve never used my 2qt crock pot before and I donโt see if this recipe is for a 2qt crock pot or a larger one. Can you please clarify?
I use a 6 quart crockpot. I think for a 2 quart youโll need to halve this recipe!
Oh man, I just made this with a few tweaksโฆAh-mazing!!!
Yay!! So glad to hear you enjoyed these! ๐
Just wondering, I have a ton of butternut squash to use up. Do you think it would be okay to use the squash in lieu of the sweet potatoes? Thanks!
Yep that should work out great! ๐
Thank you, added to the menu plan!