This Chicken and Quinoa bake is so easy and delicious! Chicken thighs bake in one pan with quinoa, dates and pine nuts! Crispy baked chicken thighs, toasty pine nuts, sweet dates, and zesty lemon add up to the perfect easy weeknight meal! Everyone loves this healthy chicken casserole!
The New Chicken and Rice
One of the first meals I remember cooking over and over again in college is chicken and rice. It was the perfect easy one dish meal. Throw some rice in a 13x9 pan, add some onions, maybe peas, maybe mushrooms. Top with chicken breasts, poor broth or water over it, bake.
When I came across this recipe for chicken baked with quinoa in an old Donna Hay magazine, it reminded me of those chicken and rice recipes. Toss everything in a baking pan, top with chicken and bake - only with a modern spin - quinoa instead of rice!
Is Quinoa Better For You Than Rice? I'm glad you asked that! Yes, it is. It has fewer calories, but the big savings is in carbohydrates. White rice has almost 15 times more carbohydrates than quinoa and quinoa provides more fiber and more protein.
Ingredients in Baked Chicken Thighs with Quinoa
- Quinoa - most quinoa in the stores in pre-rinsed, but I still rinse mine to remove a naturally bitter tasting protective coating. Just put the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and place under running water for a few seconds. Shake it to drain off any excess water.
- Garlic
- Pine Nuts - these can be expensive, I buy them in bulk when they are on sale and store in the freezer. Substitutes for pine nuts - sunflower seeds, walnuts, pistachios, or almonds.
- Dates
- Lemon
- Chicken Thighs - Skin on and bone in.
- Parsley leaves
How to Make Oven Baked Chicken Thighs with Quinoa
Step 1 - gather your ingredients - quinoa, water, garlic, pine nuts, dates, lemon, salt and black pepper, chicken thighs, olive oil, and parsley. Peel the cloves of garlic and crush them, giving them a good bang with the flat side of your knife. Cut the dates in halves or quarters.
Step 2 - toast the pine nuts. I use a small dry skillet over medium high heat. Keep an eye on them, it only takes a couple of minutes and once they start turning they can go from golden to black quickly!
Step 3 - Place the quinoa, garlic, dates, pine nuts and water in a 9x13 baking dish.
Step 4 - zest one lemon (I use a microplane zester) and zest it directly into the quinoa mixture.
Step 5 - Stir the quinoa mixture.
Step 6 - Rub the chicken with olive oil and salt and pepper both sides. Nestle in the baking pan, Making sure no quinoa floats over on top of the chicken.
Healthy Baked Chicken Thighs with Quinoa
This was so good!! It had the same feeling as the classic chicken and rice, but with a healthier spin. The pine nuts added a nice crunch and the dates added sweetness. The crispy skinned chicken thighs were perfect.
This is such an easy chicken recipe and even easier to modify!
You could replace the dates with roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, mushrooms, feta cheese, the possibilities are endless. Change up the pine nuts for sunflower seeds or almonds.
Looking for other Easy Baked Chicken Recipes
Harissa and Yogurt Baked Chicken
Braised Chicken with Olives, Capers and Prunes
Chicken with Fresh Tarragon Pesto
Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
And, if you're looking for even more chicken recipes, you can check out my Pinterest Chicken Board!
Baked Chicken with Quinoa and Dates
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups quinoa dried
- 2 ½ cups water
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ cup pine nuts toasted
- ¾ cup dates halved or quartered
- 1 lemon zested
- 8 chicken thighs skin on, bone in
- salt and black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups flat leaf parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Place the quinoa, water, garlic, pine nuts, dates, and lemon zest in a 9x13 inch making dish and stir to combine.
- Rub the chicken thighs with olive oil and salt and pepper on both sides. Add to the baking dish, being careful to keep all of the quinoa submerged.
- Baked for 40-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Serve topped with parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
This week I am linking up with:
Daisy B says
Do you cover when baking?
Pam Greer says
No. Leaving it uncovered allows the chicken to get nice and crispy.
Carmella says
There is literally no way you can go wrong when you cook your starch in the chicken juices nom nom. I love quinoa, the texture of it is so interesting to me. I think I've only had dates once so I'm curious how they would taste here.
Matt Ivan says
Great recipe! The pine nuts and dates add unique flavor to the chicken.
Pam Greer says
They do!
Liz says
The dates add such an unexpected, but lovely sweetness to this dish! Such a perfect recipe!
Diana says
This looks incredibly delicious! I love quinoa, and always looking for new recipes! This is going to the top of my list.
Jessica Formicola says
I've been looking for new ways to add quinoa to my diet, and this recipe is by far my favorite! Thanks for sharing!
Emily says
I love dates in everything lately, this chicken and dates recipe looks amazing!
Kippi says
YUMMY! I just printed this out and I am pinning it to my anti-inflammatory board. Have a great week, Kippi #kippiathome
Alexandra @ It's Not Complicated Recipes says
LOVE quinoa, so the idea of switching out rice for this sounds perfect - delicious flavours. Yum! 🙂
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) says
He threw it in the sink? #1 Big Baby #2 I hate wasted food. This chicken dish looks very good Pam. I've got to try Quinoa very soon.
grace says
wasted food? deal breaker!
i like the look of this dish, pam--quinoa is still exciting to me. 🙂
PirateJeni says
Having recently discovered quinoa thanks to a book club I'm in (shout out to FromScratchClub! Booyah!) I'm excited to try this.. I love dates in just about everything.
Kyle says
He threw it in the sink? UGH.
Marjie says
Chicken and rice was too expensive for me in college; I had $5 per weekend for food. It wasn't pretty. But I just love a good chicken meal nowadays, especially when it's thighs and legs.
And even though you didn't give that boyfriend the heave-ho then, at least you were smart enough to dump him. We can be so blind when we're young!
Joanne says
You know I can't believe I ever got through college without that chicken and rice meal of which you speak! This version sounds wonderful...I love that it has dates and pine nuts in it...two favorites.