Gimme Some Oven

Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls

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Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

Annnnnd, the countdown is on.

Ten days until Barclay and I leave for New Zealand!!! And I can’t WAIT!

I can’t wait to meet all of B’s Kiwi relatives who are coming together for a big reunion at a beautiful National Park campground (complete with a family jam sesh, since apparently everyone’s musical). I can’t wait to take our time (nearly 4 weeks) adventuring all over both islands, visiting the long list of towns and hikes and restaurants and coffee shops that some dear friends have recommended. I can’t wait to soak up lots of quality downtime with this cute guy, especially after some extra busy schedules we’ve had these past few months. And — I must admit — after a brutal winter week here in Kansas City, I can’t WAIT to cross the equator and have it be summer down there!!!

My swimsuit and flip flops are already packed. :)

Still, I’ve been working hard to get ahead and create a bunch of winter-friendly recipes to share here on the blog while I’m gone. And oh my goodness — I had initially scheduled this one to be posted in mid-February, but I couldn’t wait another second to share it with you. Because I’m convinced I have stumbled upon a winner here.

They’re everything we all love about a good slice of pizza. They’re made healthier (and also gluten-free) with lots of protein-packed quinoa. They’re 100% easy to customize with all of your favorite pizza ingredients. They’re quick and easy and actually really fun to make. And oh my goodness — THEY ARE GOOD.

Meet my new favorite Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls!

How To Make Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls | 1-Minute Video

Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

Everyone seems to be obsessed with anything that’s served in a bowl lately, and I’ll admit I’m no exception. There’s something about digging a spoon into a big bowl of deliciousness that is oh-so-comforting. (And as a food stylist, I’ll also add in that bowls are oh-so-pretty!)

So when I was craving pizza the other day, I randomly decided to try tossing all of my favorite pizza ingredients into a new set of ramekins I just bought. (<–That’s an affiliate link, for anyone in the ramekin market. I totally recommend them!)  I’m a big fan of pepperoni (always), green pepers, red onions, mushrooms, mozz, and Parm. In lieu of crust, though, I just cooked up a quick batch of quinoa, stirred it together with my favorite pizza sauce, and then added that to the mix.

Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

So I layered everything up, then baked them nice and hot until the cheese was bubbly. Then I finished them under the broiler for another minute or two, until the cheese got nice and golden brown…
Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

…and then finished them off with a little extra Parmesan and crushed red peppers. And the result?

Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

Pure love. :)

Oh my goodness, these little bowls were incredible!!! I mean, first off, I think they’re incredibly cute and make for a really fun presentation. I loved how much quinoa I was able to stuff in them. And they totally satisfied my pizza craving!!!

And as opposed to having to commit to one or two toppings when you order a whole pizza, you can totally customize each individual bowl with the toppings you’d like. So if everyone in the family has a different topping preference? Bring it on! Or if you’re looking for a fun party idea? Set up a DIY pizza bowl kit and let them all make their own!

Seriously, these are too fun, and too good to pass up. So grab your favorite pizza toppings and some oven-proof ramekins (or hey, you could even make this one big casserole in a baking pan!), and give this recipe a try soon!

Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

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Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 9 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x

Description

These Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls are fun to make and customize with your favorite ingredients, they’re full of protein-packed quinoa (that also makes them gluten-free!), and they’re TOTALLY delicious!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup (dry) quinoa
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 (14-ounce) jars pizza sauce
  • 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • 23 cups of your favorite pizza toppings (I used pepperonis, diced green peppers, diced button mushrooms, and thinly-sliced red onions, but see other ideas below*)
  • optional toppings: grated Parmesan cheese, crushed red peppers

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Cook quinoa in the chicken or vegetable stock according to package instructions.  (Or you can use this tutorial for how to cook quinoa.)
  3. When the quinoa has finished cooking, fluff the quinoa with a fork.  Then stir about 1/2 cup pizza sauce into the quinoa until evenly combined.  Set aside.
  4. Lightly spray 6 large (10-ounce) oven-safe ramekins with cooking spray.  Place the ramekins on a large baking tray.
  5. Spread about 2 Tablespoons of pizza sauce evenly over the bottom of each ramekin.
  6. Layer each with about 1/4 cup of quinoa, and spread with a spoon to flatten.
  7. Layer each evenly with pinch of shredded Mozzarella.
  8. Layer each with a single layer of pizza toppings.
  9. Repeat by layering each with another layer of sauce, quinoa, Mozzarella, pizza toppings, followed by a final layer of Mozzarella.  The ramekins should be full but not overflowing.
  10. Transfer the baking sheet full of ramekins to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the ingredients are heated through.  At this point, you can either remove the pizza bowls from the oven.  Or if you’d like to get the cheese extra golden on top, you can turn the oven to “broil”.  Then — keeping a close eye on the cheese so that it does not burn — broil the pizza bowls until the cheese is golden on top.
  11. Remove and sprinkle each pizza bowl with a pinch of Parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers, if desired.  Serve immediately.

Notes

*Feel free to swap in your favorite pizza toppings here.  As goes with traditional pizza, just be sure that they are chopped or cooked (if needed, such as for sausage, etc.) if needed before adding them to the pizza bowls.

Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls -- totally easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings, and SO delicious!! (Bonus, they're also naturally gluten-free!) | gimmesomeoven.com

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132 comments on “Easy Quinoa Pizza Bowls”

  1. these look great! will try this next time i crave pizza :)

  2. I undersauced accidentally but it was still good and pizza-y! Thanks!

  3. I don’t have ramekins this large, do you think I could make this in an 8×8 glass baking dish or casserole dish?

  4. Hi! This looks absolutely delicious! Do you think that this would be a dish that you could freeze?

    • Thanks, Daphne — we hope you enjoy! And Yes, we think you could freeze these.

  5. I made this tonight for supper and it was as delicious as your pictures portrayed! My husband was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted and has asked me to make it again :) you know it’s a winner when it’s requested again!

  6. O EM GEE! I made these and used your BBQ sauce and added some corn, chicken and red onion for a BBQ Chicken twist on them and they were a hit! I love how versatile your recipes are! Thanks for another delicious dinner. 

    • Thanks for sharing, Megan — we’re so glad you enjoyed the BBQ sauce and these bowls! :D

  7. I’ve made this it’s deliscious!!

  8. Just made these and they are absolutely delicious! Nothing better than the smell of peppers and onions coming through the oven. Do you have any tips for reheating? Can I microwave these right in the ramekins? 

    • Thanks for sharing, Liz — we’re so happy you enjoyed them! As far as reheating, yes, you can just microwave the ramekins. :)

  9. This is a very late comment, but I was just wondering what are some of your favorite jarred sauces to try in this? 

  10. How many inches tall are your ramekins? Thank you!

  11. What do you think the  caloric intake is on a bowl?

    • Hi Rhonda! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!

  12. These were great! I halved the quinoa and used an 8×8 glass dish since that is all I had on hand. I will use the full amount of quinoa next time and use a 9×13. Great pizza flavor without all the gluten! I do notice in the directions that it calls for 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese. One cup is equal to 8 ounces so should it be 1 cup (8 ounces) or 2 cups (16 ounces)?

    • an 8oz cup refers to a liquid measure. using the same cup for dry measure does not mean it will weigh the same.

  13. This was a big hit! Cut the recipe in half since I only cook for 2. Made 3 ramekins, we ate our 2 for dinner, the last one we put in the fridge and our grandson ate it when he came for a visit 2 days later. He wanted more!!!!! Unfortunately we didn’t have more. I will make this again and I am giving the recipe to my daughter so she can make it for my grandson again.






    • We’re so thrilled to hear that, Marilyn, thanks for sharing with us! :)

  14. I made into a casserole…just because I have 4 boys!!! It was amazing!!






    • That’s awesome, Susan! And we’re so glad it was a hit! :)

    • This dish is spectacular…it will definitely be a family favorite! Reheats well for lunch as well!!

  15. I make this recipe all the time!! Except as a casserole since I don’t have ramekins, in which case you need a bit more sauce to get an even layer. Everyone I’ve made it for absolutely loves it! I swap the mozerella for Dubliner and holy moley it’s addicting! Thanks so much for sharing!!






  16. GENIUS!!!! I can’t wait to try this recipe out!

  17. I didn’t have ramekins so I used a pie dish. It still turned out great. I was able to serve slices with this method.






  18. I’ve made this recipe serve real times. However, I’ve made it casserole size. It’s a hit & great for pot lucks.
    I used turkey pepperoni in the last one. ???






  19. I made these several times and my family loves them. They are great the next day too!






  20. These little ramakibs of goodness are the best thing since baked bread with hot butter!! Need I say more!!






  21. We’ve been making these for a while. We generally just use turkey pepperoni and sauteed fresh garlic as our toppings. Totally gives the taste of pizza without the guilt. Everyone I’ve told who has tried it, loves it. Wish there were more quinoa recipes that made quinoa taste this good! ;)






  22. This recipe was outstanding!!! I veganized it with mushroom, peppers, red onion, vegan sausage, vegan pepperoni, vegan mozzarella, and vegan chicken broth. Thank you for this super easy, versatile recipe. I can’t get over how cute the food is in a ramekin.

  23. I made this casserole-style and it is a game-changer! I have been struggling with a lot of digestive issues lately, and my doctor keeps recommending quinoa as a healthy substitute for my usual carbs. I always was wary about quinoa though, because I just refused to believe it could taste good. But this recipe looked so great I had to try it, and I think this is going to become a regular meal for me!! I loved it so much, and my stomach agreed with it (which is a rareity). Thanks to you I have a healthy recipe my picky self can really enjoy :) thank you!!






  24. The link for these ramekins isn’t working. What size are they?