This healthy Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl has cherries, almonds, banana, and coconut to get you off to a great start!
Chocolate for breakfast, yes please!
Anytime that I can sneak in chocolate to whatever I’m having for breakfast, while keeping it healthy, I am all over it.
I actually wasn’t sure if I would even like this Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl. I mean, chocolate and quinoa together? Quinoa is only supposed to be savory, right? Wrong.
Quinoa has a nutty flavor, so chocolate and quinoa are a great match. When I decided to make this quinoa breakfast bowl, I figured it would be kind of similar to oatmeal, but with a different consistency.
(I was out of oatmeal and had just bought a huge bag of quinoa from Costco, hence the quinoa inspiration.)
Also, I knew I liked rice pudding from having it once many years ago, so I figured I would probably like a sweet quinoa recipe.
If you’ve never had quinoa for breakfast, I highly recommend it. Protein packed quinoa is a great way to start your day. Top it off with your favorite fruit, nuts, and seeds for flavor and crunch.
I topped my vegan quinoa bowl with banana, cherries, coconut chips, sliced almonds, and cacao nibs. Almond extract adds a sweet almondy flavor and helps to keep the sweetener to a minimum.
Since almond extract has a slight cherry flavor, I knew almond extract would go well in a quinoa bowl with cherries on top. I often add it to anything that has chocolate.
This healthy Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl has cherries, almonds, banana, and coconut to get you off to a great start! Click To Tweet
Other Easy Breakfast Recipes You Might Like
- Mocha Almond Overnight Oats
- Acai Berry Bowl
- Neapolitan Chia Pudding
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Yogurt Parfait
Tips For Making a Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
- If you purchase quinoa from the bulk section of the grocery store, make sure to thoroughly rinse your quinoa. It contains saponin, which gives it a soapy or bitter taste if not rinsed. If you buy packaged quinoa, make sure that it says it was rinsed before packaging.
- Toast your quinoa for a more nutty flavor before adding liquid and cooking it.
- A quinoa bowl is somewhat similar to oatmeal in that some people prefer more liquid added. The difference with a quinoa bowl is that you add the extra liquid after cooking it, like cereal.
- As always, taste as you go. You may want more or less cacao powder or sweetener.
Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
If you’ve never had quinoa for breakfast, this recipe is a great place to start. I mean, chocolate for breakfast, come on!
*Don’t forget to come back and leave your feedback and star rating.
Affiliate links below. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
This healthy Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl has cherries, almonds, banana, and coconut to get you off to a great start!
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk + more for serving
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup + more for serving
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- Pinch of salt (or 2 pinches)
Toppings
- Cherries or other fruit
- Slivered almonds or other nuts
- Coconut chips or flakes
- Cacao nibs or chocolate chips
Instructions
-
Heat a pan on the stovetop. Add quinoa and toast for a few minutes (optional).
-
Add almond milk and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Let sit for 5 minutes until the almond milk is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy and tender.
-
Add cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt.
-
Top with fruit, nuts, seeds, coconut chips, cacao nibs or chocolate chips.
*Note: Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only. Different nutrition calculators give you different results.
Whitney B says
I loved this! I had sweetened almond milk on hand, because I had found it on clearance, so I left out the syrup. 🙂 My girls (3 and 1) said it wasn’t sweet enough… but I think that was mostly because they ate all their toppings first. 😛 Oh, well.