How to Make Puffed Quinoa (popped quinoa)
Puffed quinoa is a crunchy, high-protein snack made by toasting uncooked quinoa kernels in a dry pan until they pop, ready in under a minute with zero added ingredients or oil.
Puffed quinoa is a crunchy, high-protein snack made by toasting uncooked quinoa kernels in a dry pan until they pop, ready in under a minute with zero added ingredients or oil.
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Put a dry sauté pan on the stove and turn on the heat to medium high. Do not rinse the quinoa. Do not oil the pan. Do not add water.*
Toss in a 3-10 single kernels of dry quinoa and if the pan is hot enough, the kernels will begin snapping and popping within 1-5 seconds or almost immediately. Add the rest of the dry quinoa to the pan and shake it around so it is only 1 kernel of quinoa deep.
Keep shaking the pan as it pops, and after 15-30 seconds the popping will slow and the smell will be nutty. It's time to stop.
Remove the pan from the stove, and allow the quinoa to cool enough to be able to use or to be transferred to a storage container.
Store puffed quinoa in a sealed container for a week or longer. It can be frozen but might need to be re-sautéed to return the crunchy texture.
Store puffed quinoa in a sealed container for a week or longer; it can be frozen but may need to be re-sautéed to restore crunchiness.
No. Do not rinse the quinoa before popping it in the pan.
The popping will slow after 15-30 seconds and the quinoa will smell nutty—that's your signal to remove the pan from heat immediately.
Yes, any color of uncooked, prewashed quinoa will work.
Store it in a sealed container for a week or longer. It can be frozen, but may need to be re-sautéed to restore the crunchy texture.
Toss in 3-10 single kernels first. If the pan is hot enough, they will snap and pop within 1-5 seconds or almost immediately.
