Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Having cooked quinoa in the freezer is a food prepping trick that saves you time and enables you to make quick healthy meals.
How long it takes: half hour to cook the quinoa, plus cooling time
Equipment you’ll need: large covered pan, freezer bags or containers
Servings: makes 9 cups (or as much as you want)
Why freeze quinoa?
Freezing quinoa is one of my favorite kitchen shortcuts. I don’t ever cook a partial bag of quinoa; I always make the entire package. It’s so much easier to do that work once rather than every time you need quinoa for a recipe.
It’s easy to do. I cook the entire bag, let it cool, and then put it in measured portions in zip-top bags. I flatten them out so they fit nicely in my freezer, label them with the date and quantity, and then freeze until I need them again. Quinoa thaws quickly, too.
You can freeze other cooked grains, too. Cook any grain you like, cool it completely, and freeze it in an airtight container or zip-top bag. It’s so easy! This method works with brown rice, white rice, farro, millet, you name it.
How to Freeze Quinoa
- Cook quinoa. Follow the package instructions. Keep in mind that it triples in size, so choose a big pot.
- Cool completely. I usually put it in a large shallow bowl and refrigerate it uncovered so the steam can escape.
- Portion into freezer bags. I like to freeze quinoa in 2 cup portions, but if you have a favorite recipe that takes three cups, or 1, or 10, freeze it accordingly.
- Freeze. Flatten out the freezer bags and label with contents, quantity, and date. Freeze for up to 10 months. If you refrigerate it, cooked quinoa will only keep for 1 week.
Can You Freeze Uncooked Grains?
Whole grains tend to spoil faster so it’s a good idea to either refrigerate or freeze them for long term storage. If you buy a large quantity of brown rice, quinoa, farro, etc., freeze the uncooked grains to prolong their shelf life for up to a year.
Take one of the bags of quinoa out of the freezer and let it defrost either in the fridge overnight, or on the counter for a few hours. You can also warm it in the microwave for 45 seconds to a minute, even if it’s still a little frozen. Once it’s thawed, you can use it in any of number of recipes, or season it and eat it as a side dish.
Best Quinoa Recipes
Here are some of my faves, but you can see all my quinoa recipes here.
- Vegan Tacos with Roasted Carrots, Mushrooms, and Quinoa (cannot even tell you how much I love these tacos!)
- Instant Pot Chicken and Quinoa – this one is a great quick dinner, dump everything in and let the Instant Pot work its magic!
- Quinoa Pancakes – add extra protein and fiber to your pancakes with quinoa!
- Apple Quinoa Pancakes
- Vegetarian Quinoa Chili with Black Beans
- Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Tomatoes
- Breakfast Quinoa with Chia and Cinnamon
- Vegan Bolognese (its crazy how meat-like this is!)
How to Freeze Quinoa
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked quinoa
- 6 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, optional
Instructions
- Rinse quinoa and cook as directed on package. Typically a 1:2 ratio of uncooked quinoa to water is required. I usually cook the whole package so I have plenty to freeze.
- If there are no package directions, combine quinoa, water, and salt in a very large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium low. Keep covered and simmer for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed.3 cups uncooked quinoa, 6 cups water, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, optional
- Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool completely (see note below).
- Using a measuring cup, scoop 1 or 2 cup portions into freezer bags, seal, and label with measurement. Flatten and freeze for up to 10 months.
Notes
- Cooling the quinoa: I usually put the quinoa in a large shallow bowl or pan, and refrigerate it, uncovered, until cool. If you package it while it’s still hot, condensation will form inside the bag and make the quinoa soggy.
- Instant Pot quinoa: You can also make quinoa in your Instant Pot to freeze.
- How to use frozen quinoa: Remove quinoa from the freezer and let it defrost either in the fridge overnight, or on the counter for an hour. You can also warm it in the microwave for 45 seconds to a minute, even if it’s still a little frozen. Once it’s thawed, you can use it in any of number of recipes, or season it and eat it as a side dish.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!Post updated October, 2019.
Hmm. Your directions on this recipe says to use a 1:3 ratio of quinoa to water, but the recipe card shows a 1:2 ratio.
Hmm.
Thanks for pointing that out! The 1:3 was an error, I fixed it.
I find that quinoa freezes with no texture changes at all. It’s good to be used hot or cold after thawing, which is much better than rice.
I agree completely!
Hi,
Can I ask if i could do the same for millet? Thanks!
Hi, may I ask how do I thaw frozen quinoa besides using microwave? Can I just leave it to thaw on the counter? Thanks!
I usually just thaw mine overnight in the fridge. You could definitely do it on the counter though for a few hours. Microwave should work too, actually! :)
Hi Rachel,
I am just wondering if I could do the same with millet (cook a batch> freeze it> thaw on counter top)?
Thanks!
I’ve been freezing brown rice and googled to see about freezing quinoa – glad to see you’ve tried it and liked it!
I’m single so cooking for one, and I freeze my brown rice in 1/2 cup servings using 4 oz mason jars. Going to give that a try with the quinoa tonight!
Great! I hope it works out well for you. One of my favorite tricks.
Oooooh, what a great tip! I make dishes with quinoa ALL the time but have never thought to cook it, freeze it, and have it ready when I want to use it. Brilliant. Thanks!
Yes – freezing grains is a great tip. Whenever I make too much rice and put it in the fridge it gets dry and inedible. I only recently realized “duh – sometimes I buy frozen rice, why not freeze my own!”. Once I re-heat it, its soft & fluffy again!