Quinoa is a pseudo-cereal, not a real grain. It tends to cause much less irritation to the gut than glutinous grains like wheat and rye, which can contribute to issues like Leaky Gut Syndrome. Quinoa is a complete source of protein, easy to digest, and a very useful ingredient on your Candida diet.
Many meatloaf recipes call for milk, bread, sugar and even ketchup – all loaded with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and other ingredients from the foods to avoid list. This savory meatloaf recipe contains none of those ingredients, but still has lots of flavor thanks to the thyme and rosemary. The quinoa makes it extra filling, satisfying, and of course very nutritious!
- 1 lb. minced beef
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 medium onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 chilies
- 1 tsp. coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1 tsp. rosemary
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- Cook quinoa as directed.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Chop the onion finely in your food processor.
- Now add the cooked quinoa and all other ingredients to a large bowl and mix together.
- Grease a loaf tray with coconut or olive oil, then add the mixture and bake for 1 hour.
Looking for more gluten-free, sugar-free recipes? My Ultimate Candida Diet program contains more than 50 delicious recipes, plus lots of valuable advice on which foods to eat and avoid. Find out more here.
Love this recipe! It’s delicious.
My whole family love this recipe. I add some ground cumin and smoked paprika – works a treat!
Hi, I’m confused. Ingredients say uncooked quinoa but instructions say cook as directed ( without directions) and to then add cooked quinoa…. Are there missing directions?
Quinoa expands as it cooks. That’s why Lisa used the uncooked amount in the ingredients. If your quinoa doesn’t come with cooking instructions, here are some generic instructions I found online:
Combine 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Quinoa holds lots of water, so you have to make sure you drain it thoroughly after it’s cooked.
It should absorb the water…like rice does. If you cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water and use 1/2 cup since it does expand, it’s perfect. And you can use the rest of the quinoa in some veggies. I’m confused that the recipe doesn’t tell us to chop the garlic and chilies. Are they left whole for flavor? And is the oil listed for greasing the pan? Or is there a T. in the recipe AND some used to grease the pan? I have made this several times; chopped everything and have done the oil both ways….we just love it, love it, love it!!
The directions are on the bag the quinoa comes in. Usually two cups of water and one cup of quinoa.
Joel–I find the 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa to be too much water. Here’s the best way I’ve found to cook quinoa:
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa to 1.25 cups cooking liquid
Instructions
Start off by soaking your quinoa. You can soak for an hour or more but 15 minutes will do fine. After soaking, rinse for two or three minutes in a fine metal strainer. (If you are using pre-rinsed quinoa you can skip this step although I’ve never seen pre-rinsed quinoa.)
Add one part quinoa to one and a quarter parts liquid. Bring to a simmer and then reduce to low. Cover and cook for between 30 and 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit covered for an additional five minutes. Fluff and add to your favorite dishes.
What a gorgeous loaf,reminds me of my grandmothers recipe so full of flavour,
Very quick to make too,we look forward to eating this tomorrow for our dinner
Thanks for such a simple dish
Amanda
Do the chili peppers make the meatloaf spicy? I was going to make this for dinner tonight, but I’m afraid it will be too spicy for my 4 year old. Is there any other vegetable I can add instead?
No. You can use milder peppers, but actually the chillies are not a very hot pepper. You could also mix them in one half of the meatloaf.
Really does have a lot of flavor. My picky eater 6 year old loved it! thanks.
Hello there,
Does the meat have to be raw when its mixed with the rest and when it goes to the oven, or can I pre-bake the meat? Just to be sure it won’t burn or overcook if I pre-bake and then leave it in the oven for 1 hour?
Looks great!
I’ve never used chili peppers. What kind should I be buying? Are these dried or is this from the produce isle? Help! LOL!