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. Haha it is so true, everything is better and better looking in a cute bowl :) This is such a fun idea and looks mad tasty! I could go for one of these lovely bowls right now :)

  2. Very interesting idea. I will try it definitely!

  3. Oh my GOD these look so good! They’re going on my list ASAP!

  4. Looks really good!! Great idea on how to make Quinoa

    Kisses ❤

  5. I’ll be giving these a try ASAP! Those little pizza ramekins look so delicious, I just want to dive right in! 

  6. These look DELICIOUS. I just found out that I might have a non-celiac gluten allergy and now, I’m trying to find delicious gluten-free recipes to experiment with my diet. This is perfect! Thank you!

  7. Oh my god, so making these. Love quinoa. Love pizza. And New Zealand! I’m so jealous!! Have a great time!

  8. OH MY GODNESSS!! I am going to be living vicariously through you! Seriously, have the best time in New Zealand! Also, so making these delicious Pizza Bowls! 

  9. Ali, this is pure genious!  I love it!  My mouth is watering already.   Love that they are individual and customizable – super cute and fun.  Can’t wait to try.  Thanks for the inspiration!! ✨ Bita

  10. Looks delicious, can’t wait to try this…   I don’t have ramekins and like your idea of doing it as one big casserole in a baking pan. Do you have any idea what size of pan would work best? And would you cook at the same amount of time? Thanks! 

    • Thanks Linda! We think a 9×13 pan dish should probably work fine for this. It might need longer than 20 minutes to bake, but we would start there. We hope you enjoy! :)

  11. That looks so healthy and delicious!
    Kari

  12. Must try this sounds great. Welcome to N.Z. hope our weather improves for you summer has been quite variable depending on where you are!!!!

  13. I was wondering if any changes should be made if I were to make this in a large glass dish? Also, what size do you think would work better as the ingredients are listed(amount wise) a 9×9 or a 9×13? Thanks! 

    • Hi Sara! We think a 9×13 is probably the size you would want. It might need longer than 20 minutes to bake, but we would start there. We hope you enjoy!

  14. OMG, this looks so incredible! I love that these bowls are so tiny so that you can enjoy them as a quick little snack!

  15. This looks … AMAZING! Thank you for this recipe I will be giving this a try very soon!

  16. These look AMAZING! I love pizza and could literally it it every day so I will definitely be trying this recipe!!Thanks :)

  17. These are SO stinking CUTE!!! Love it! I’m not a huge quinoa fan but I know I’d love this pizza goodness, pinned!

  18. Thanks for the quick response. Testing it out tonight! I’ll let you know cook time of it is different from the remaking for a 9×13.

  19. I stumbled upon your website and have loved every recipe I have tried to date! This will be great to make this weekend for the AFC championship! Go Pats!

    • Thank you Laura, we’re so glad you like the blog, and we hope you enjoy the pizza bowls! :D

  20. Do you have a nutrition thing for these? This recipe came at the PERFECT time. I made too much quinoa AND I’ve been craving pizza all week, what timing haha. I’m so excited to try these and some other recipes from your site. 

    • Hi Madeline! 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, and we hope you enjoy this recipe if you make it! :)

  21. Do you have the 5  or 10 oz ramekins?

  22. There look amazing! Do you know if they freeze well? 

    • Thanks Pam, we hope you enjoy the recipe! However, because of the melted cheese on top, we don’t think this one would freeze too well.

  23. These quinoa bowls look amazing! I love how you added other pizza toppings besides pepperoni in them! 

  24. While you are in NZ be sure to try at least one meal at the roast shops.  It is just like a pizza shop, or sandwich shop, but they have roasts!  Most offer beef and lamb roasts, I don’t remember any others, but some had three kinds.  You order by size, and with the roast, you get potatoes, carrots, taro or kumala, and gravy.  If we had them here in the US, I probably would quit cooking and just get these!  

    We also found a Denny’s in Auckland and decided to see if it was the same as here.  Mostly yes, but the best meal we had there was a braised lamb shank, and I would say, not to be missed!  We also found a Tongan restaurant down by a beach.  My husband is Tongan and all the relatives in NZ are too.  My two companions while there were two of my nieces, they were happy to go with their Palangi (white) Auntie because she was buying!  This was the best Tongan food I have ever eaten.  We were just driving by and I saw the Tongan flag, so knew we had to give it a try.  

    My favorite thing about NZ was the shopping, not so much about buying a lot, but seeing the different types of shops.   We stayed at Mangere where most of the family was centered, but went to several villages to shop and sightsee.  We only stayed at North Island, but next time I wasn’t to go to the South Island.  Not to worry, hubs has a ton of relatives there too!  

    What I was struck with, was that we are more alike than different, weather, food, sights, etc.  I have been to Fiji and Tonga, and there is a major difference in cultures there.  I thought NZ would be more like them.  I hope you have as much fun as I did there!  I (we) were too scared to drive there so had to depend on others for transportation.  Everything is backwards, and they drive fast there!  Their biggest problem is visitors causing accidents and I didn’t want it to be one of those.  

  25. Anything that tastes like pizza but doesn’t require me to mix and pummel a load of dough for half an hour is great news to me because my kids are always asking (okay, more like demanding) for pizza. I suppose I can make these delicious-looking quinoa pizza bowls and then toast up some slices of bread and have them dip the bread into the bowls for a healthy meal, without mummy having to suffer aching arms. 
    Thanks for sharing!

  26. Wow! These were SO GOOD! Thank you so much for the absolutely amazing recipe!

  27. I was skeptical about these at first, but I have a ton of quinoa and not enough recipes for it, so I gave these a try. I was very impressed and I’ll be making them again. Not sure if pineapple would be good with these, but I’ll make one little bowl with pineapple next time to find out.

  28. Oh my LORD THESE LOOK AMAZING! As someone with a gluten allergy, it can be quite difficult to satisfy my pizza cravings without having the shell out $20 for a gluten free pizza. These look so cute and easy! Can’t wait to try this recipe.

  29. I’m so happy that I found this recipe. Easy to make and very tasty. I enjoyed my bowl a lot. Thank you. 

  30. This looks delicious. How many calories is in one ramekin? Thank you.

    • Thanks Debby! Unfortunately though, we aren’t sure 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!

  31. Delicious! I’ll totally be making this again. It’ll make a good addition to my menu at college. I only used half the sauce called for since it looked a little too sauce-y, and it still turned out great.

  32. Could this also be baked in a 9in pie pan or made in a casserole dish? I don’t have those lovely bowls and would like to make this tonight. :-)

    • Hi Ashley! A 9-inch pie pan might be too small, so a 9×13-inch casserole dish is probably your best bet. We hope you enjoy! :)

  33. Made this recipe for supper this evening. Baked it in a 9×9 casserole pan and it turned out absolutely perfect!
    So simple and easy, and really hits the spot. Thanks for the recipe, will definitely be cooking this one again. :)

  34. Great idea! Very unique. I will definitely give this a try.

  35. I’m making this for the second time tonight. Truly an amazing meal! I found some decent veggie pepperoni, so this can now go in my meatless meal  rotation. thank you!

  36. Made these tonight and they were a hit! FANTASTIC recipe!

  37. Does this reheat well? I’m looking for packed lunch ideas!

  38. I’m always looking for new ways to use qquinoa, as I tend to make a large batch and have plenty leftover.  This will be perfect.

  39. MADE IT! Didn’t have ramekins so used a cupcake tin and actually turned out really great! My boyfriend loved it! Pinterest post for the win! Thanks for the great recipe :)

    • Thanks for sharing Anna — we’re happy you and your boyfriend loved these! :)

  40. If I want to bake this as a casserole, what size pan would you recommend? These look delicious, can’t wait to try them!

    • Hi Kari! We think a 9×13 should do the trick. We hope you enjoy! :)

  41. When cooking the Quinoa do we replace the water with chicken stock??

    • Hi Danie! You can use water instead of chicken stock, if you prefer. We hope you enjoy!

  42. These dishes look so beautiful, Hayley, perfect for my next dinner party – thanks for sharing!

    • Thanks Ruby! This is actually Ali’s blog and recipe though (I just help out with comments). :) But we hope you enjoy these!

  43. Made these tonight and they were great!  I used six 8 oz ramekins and they were brimming to the rim.  Glad I didn’t get smaller ones.  I also only needed one 14 oz jar of sauce, and they were still plenty saucy.

  44. I made this tonight with a few modifications and it was very good.  I doubled the amount of quinoa and toppings but still used 2 14 oz jars of sauce and it was plenty.  I made in a 9×13 pan and used fresh pineapple, fresh spinach, and canadian bacon.  Everyone liked it and 2 of my 3 boys had seconds.  I will make again.  Thanks!  

    • Thanks for sharing Pam — we’re glad you enjoyed it and your toppings all sound fantastic!

  45. Hi:) I was wondering what the nutritional value is.

    • Hi Elisabeth! 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!

  46. I made these and they were delicious! My boyfriend said that I definitely will have to make them again! I ended up making 4 ramekins and 2 very small casserole dishes. The ramekins were a perfect serving size for me to take to work for lunch! Thanks for the recipe!

    • Thanks for sharing with us, Meredith! We’re so glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed them!

  47. Can I prepare this day before and just bake it the next day? Will the quinoa soak up the sauce and get to soggy?