Chicken, Quinoa & Sweet Potato Casserole

Not sure why but it made me very thirsty. I kept drinking water after eating this and could not quench my thirst. Disappointed and really tried to make this work but this recipe is not for me.

Having been a recipe tester previously for several best-selling cookbooks, I am aware of two things: 1. It’s important to actually TEST recipes, preferably using multiple testers, and 2. There are people who *don’t* have testers for their recipes, and it shows.

This recipe is odd on several counts.

As multiple other contributors have pointed out, the prep time is off by half. It’s a good 25-30 minutes of prep, and I’m fast.

Next, neither the quinoa nor the sweet potatoes cook in the time allotted. Cook time is off by half. I followed the recipe to the letter, and the quinoa was initially still crunchy and the sweet potatoes still too firm. It ultimately required 45 total minutes in the oven.

Also— It’s not a casserole, unless your definition of “casserole” is that it’s simply a collection of ingredients that go in the oven. By my definition, a casserole is a cohesive dish. Something that is (even loosely) bound together. If this is a “casserole,” then putting chili in a dish and melting a little cheese on top makes chili into a “casserole.” But maybe that’s just me.

So I rescued it to my satisfaction. This included using shredded cheddar as a slight binder. I used a heaping 1/2 cup stirred in when placing everything into the casserole dish.

As previously mentioned, I more than doubled the cooking time.

Also, when I spooned the quinoa/chicken/sweet potato mixture into the casserole dish, I used a slotted spoon and just added a bit of the remaining liquid to help cook the quinoa. Otherwise, it would have been completely soupy. You can avoid this by cooking the quinoa/broth mixture a lot longer than just getting it to boiling and calling it a day. I’d say give it a good ten minutes of simmering after bringing to a boil, before combining with the chicken and sweet potatoes.

Smells delicious. Interesting idea. Nice flavors. My end result was enjoyed by the family, but I had to do a lot to get it there. The recipe can’t get full stars when it needs this much improvising and editing in order to work.

Wish I had read the reviews. This was a page ripped out of magazine in my ‘want to try ’ recipe folder. Quinoa not cooked in recommended time. Baked for an additional 28 minutes! I’m also in high altitude though. Would have been much better to use precooked quinoa. However that might require reducing amount of chicken broth. Kinda frustrating recipe. Also agree with others about prep time, way more chopping. Thankfully we were not starving, despite our ski day…. Once we finally got to eating, the flavor and texture was good.

I didn't like it; much too dry and tasteless. I did however, feed it to my dog
who loved it.

SO YUMMY! This is fall comfort in a meal. I also let the quinoa simmer about 10 mins before combining everything. Other changes - used chicken breast instead of thigh, and added one can of black beans into the mix (so good). It filled a 9x13 dish to the brim. We also skipped the cheese entirely but enjoyed a dollop of sour cream on top!

I LOVED this dish. But let me start by saying I don't even like quinoa! Nope -- not a fan. But in an attempt to eat healthier and do better about meal planning, I decided to give this recipe a shot. It was very easy to make. Not spicey at all (i only eye balled most of the ingredients). But it was really good, flavorful, filling, and easy to make. I did follow some of the other comments and cooked it longer because the quinoa definitely did not cook in the alotted time. But 10-15 extra minutes with a watchful eye on turned out perfect. I should also comment that my boyfriend is a "meat and potatoes" kinda guy -- not one for trying hippy, healthy foods, and even he enjoyed this dish.

After reading the comments, I diced my sweet potatoes and cooked them in the microwave for 6 minutes instead of 4. I also simmered the quinoa for 10 minutes. There was so much food, I put it in a 9×13 inch pan. It was prep intensive, but so good and it made a massive amount of food!

Unless you're chopping like a Top Chef in a mise en place challenge, this recipe takes at least 65 minutes. After reading other reviews about half cooked quinoa, I cooked the quinoa with the spices and chicken broth separately which may have been to detriment. It was ok and just felt like I was eating sweet potatoes, chicken, and quinoa with cheese. This recipes makes A LOT!

The flavors in this dish are complex and fantastic! This high fiber dish will be in my regular rotation. My kids and husband love it! I made it exactly as the recipe stated and the sweet potatoes were nicely cooked (make sure your cubes are about 1/2 inch) and the quinoa had that little pop in your mouth. I had never really cooked much with poblano peppers and I am not a fan of really spiced foods. This is not spicey, just bursting with flavor! Love it!

The flavors in this dish are complex and fantastic! This high fiber dish will be in my regular rotation. My kids and husband love it! I made it exactly as the recipe stated and the sweet potatoes were nicely cooked (make sure your cubes are about 1/2 inch) and the quinoa had that little pop in your mouth. I had never really cooked much with poblano peppers and I am not a fan of really spiced foods. This is not spicey, just bursting with flavor! Love it!

This is a very tasty and healthy recipe. I've cooked it twice (once at my house and one at my daughters' house) and both times I had to cook it an additional 30 minutes. Once it's cooked, it's delicious, just give it more time!

First off, I agree with another reviewer that the quinoa isn’t cooked enough. I’d probably cook it for about ten minutes in the chicken broth (with a little extra broth) before adding it into the onions and peppers. The casserole didn’t have a lot of liquid left over at all so I wouldn’t be afraid that everything would turn out too soggy with the extra liquid. Prep was also a bit more intensive than I liked, partly because I had to debone my own chicken thighs but also, just chopping everything takes a while. The dish has really good flavor though and there’s plenty for leftovers to take to work. Chicken was nice and moist, easy to cut. And I was definitely a bit generous with the cheese at the end.

This is delicious and we loved it, but the recipe didn’t work for us at all and not sure what I did wrong. The quinoa didn’t cook (like at all) so after waiting for 20 minutes, we had to throw it all back in a pot to try and boil it enough to cook the quinoa (not an easy task once the chicken and sweet potatoes are added to the mix). This recipe would be great if you used cooked quinoa or fully cooked it in the liquid Prior to mixing everything together and baking. Wish the recipe was clearer.

Really liked. 2nd time around. Added more chicken & used very little cinnamon.

I cooked sweet potatoes in the microwave like recipe said and left them covered until added to pan. Did not have a problem with under cooked. I did not have pableno peppers, so I used a cut up yellow pepper and added a couple of our canned jalepneos. Was good and filling

I did not make any changes to the recipe, followed it to the T. Didn't take long to prepare. Very nutritious and filling. The flavor was great. My husband and I really enjoyed it...complete meal in one pan. Enough for me to have several lunches through the week.

Sweet potatoes were not close to being finished.

Sweet potatoes were not close to being finished.

Delicious and nutritious. Had to leave the casserole in oven an extra 10 minutes before broiling to make sure sweet potatoes were done. Might not have if had wrapped foil a little tighter?