QUINOA PUDDING
Well, well! I’ve been thinking about trying to do this for a long time and have found a new favorite! Made with quinoa, this dish has a nuttiness and a little more “chew” than traditional rice pudding where the rice gets very soft.
I’ve given a simple vanilla recipe here, but made with part coconut milk, almond milk, or added cocoa powder, spices, or citrus zest, there can be lots of variations. (And I can’t wait to try them all!)
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Quinoa does have quite a few carbs – which sort of goes against my low-carb approach to eating – but with more protein than rice, it is absorbed more slowly into the system and, therefore, doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar or carb cravings…for me at least. And that’s a very good thing!
(White rice has a glycemic load of approx 23, quinoa as a glycemic load of approx 13. This is a link of common questions concerning GL and GI info, if you’re interested.)
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1 1/4 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup fat free half & half
1/4 cup Splenda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed in a fine sieve and well drained
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste (or a vanilla bean, split and scraped)
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1/4 cup heavy whipping cream + 1 tablespoon Splenda
Cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, pumpkin pie spice, lemon or orange zest, brandy extract, etc.
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In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring milk and half & half to a boil. Add the Splenda, salt, quinoa, and vanilla extract/paste.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 min, stirring frequently. Cool.
Transfer to a dish, and chill, completely. Whip the 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon Splenda until quite stiff; fold into the chilled pudding.
(You may eat it warm before adding the whipped cream, but it’s SO good after!)
Makes approx 6 servings (1/3 cup each)
Per Serving: Calories 130; Protein 5 g; Fat 4 g; NET Carbs 16 g; (Fiber 1 g); Sugar 6 g; Sodium 140 mg
eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com 
This looks so good. Can’t wait to try it.
I have not tried the Quinoa, as of yet, but this sounds like the perfect recipe and the perfect time to try it..!!
Thanks, Linda…Your recipes are to die for..!!
LOVE YA!! 😀
Cyndy
wow looks great, can’t wait to try it…….and if you do not want your sugar spike have a cup of water with 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar in it before your meal….it does the trick:)
Hey Linda, your Pudding is a Recipe Guessing Game on Knapkins. Think your friends can win?
http://www.knapkins.com/guess_games/999?source=blog
Show your foodie love and vote here
http://www.knapkins.com/duel?dish=15222
Linda-
I want to make chocolate truffles but I’m not sure how to sweeten the unsweetened chocolate Bakers bars. I use Whey Low, like you do. The recipe calls for a box of semi sweet Bakers bars and a block of cream cheese. How do I know how much WL to use? And should I use the powdered or granual WL? Please help me…I don’t even know how to begin. What would YOU do? Thank you,
Kathleen
This totally KICKS. ASS. I made it the other day, and OMG. I didn’t do the last step, whipping the heavy cream & folding it in. Instead, I stored the individual pudding servings in the fridge, pour on some cream when I take one out, nuke it for 30 seconds, and I get a creamy pudding with bite. NOTE to others, quinoa is bitter if you don’t rinse it REALLY WELL. Rinse it, then rinse it some more, then when you think you’ve rinsed it enough, rinse for another couple minutes.
house is smelling AMAZING! first time making this recipe….i added cinammon in with the milk and half and half and wow…..if it smells this good I can only imagine how good it will taste!!!!
Oh, Marci, I hope you love it!! It’s one of my favorites!
Is the quinoa cooked or uncooked? This looks amazing!
It’s raw, Nickie. And thanks! I love it, but I LOVE quinoa!
Just discovered your blog thru Pinterest and made this last night! I used soy milk and sugar instead of 2% and splenda…and mine came out more “gluey” than I thought it should. Do you think those things make that big of a difference? Also, the curly cue part of the quinoa never came out like it does cooking it the regular way. Is that right? Thanks so much! (We also had your quinoa broccoli casserole for dinner and *loved* it! It was a quinoa crazy night at our house!)
Hmmm…I’ll have to try it with the soy, but it shouldn’t make that much difference in the thickness. Could be the sugar, maybe. If it looks like it’s getting too thick I add a little more milk and that usually works well. Although mine always seems almost too watery!
It should be fairly pourable when it’s done cooking and still hot. Then it sets up a little thicker when cold. Not solid, like oatmeal, but not liquidy, either. (This is clear as mud!!!)
The little tail should have come out, but as long as it was ‘soft’ and not hard like before cooked, it’s fine.
I will definitely try this with soy milk and see what I come up with.
I’m so glad you loved the casserole, though!!
This looks soooo good….have you ever used Stevia to sweeten your recipes?
Linda,
This quinao pudding is delish! 😉
Just curious do i still have to rinse the Quinoa if the bag says pre-rinsed?
I think it will be okay. I accidentally didn’t rinse the regular kind once and it was fine. Most of it is very clean already these days…so the pre-rinsed would be fine UNrinsed.
Splenda is chlorinated sugar. It is toxic! Please research this & consider whether it’s good to promote it as a healthy sugar alternative (especially when there ARE healthy sugar alternatives). Thanks!
This did NOT work for me, maybe it was because I used palm sugar, but I cooked it forever and ever and the quinoa never completely cooked. I had to keep adding milk and it still ended up thick and gummy with hard quinoa.
Good stuff! I reduced the cream and added a little evaporated milk, so creamy!
I love quinoa and rice pudding so excited to try this. I am going to add Xyngular Lean Protein Smoothis powder to it and use Stevia. I have lost 23 lbs without exercise in 8 weeks using Xyngular. Glad to add a dessert recipe that has whole grain and the Lean adds more protein so an even better balance of protein to carbs.