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This Brown Rice and Quinoa recipe is a homemade version of the popular side dish that you can find at Costco. I love making this in large batches and keep in the freezer, and is so much cheaper than the store bought version. I used my Ninja Foodi to make this dish, but you can also use an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker. Stovetop instructions are included.
One of our favorite convenience foods is the Seeds of Change quinoa and brown rice with garlic. The ingredients are low, it’s super easy to cook, and it’s delicious! As with all prepackaged foods, the brown rice and quinoa blend has a decent amount of sodium in it. Once I realized how easy it is to make this copycat recipe at home, I had to share it with you all.
Ingredients in Brown Rice & Quinoa Blend
- dry brown rice (short grain)
- dry red quinoa (other colors work too, but the original product uses red)
- fresh garlic, minced
- salt (optional)
- olive oil
- water or vegetable broth
How to make this Copycat Quinoa and Brown Rice in any electric pressure cooker
This recipe takes about 40 minutes from start to finish.
- Rinse your quinoa and brown rice. Spray inside of pot with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Add rice, quinoa, garlic, 2 cups of water, olive oil, and (optional) salt to the pot. Add your lid and close it, then set your Sealing Valve from the Vent to the Seal position.
- Pressure cook for 18 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the cooking time is finished, turn the pot off and allow the pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes, then quick release the rest of the steam. Quick release is when you move the Sealing valve back to the Vent position quickly by hand.
Stovetop Instructions
- Bring your broth or water to a boil, then add quinoa and brown rice, and the garlic and olive oil.
- Simmer on low for 20-25 minutes, keeping an eye for the liquid to absorb into the rice and quinoa. If you want to cover and cook this, be very careful that it doesn’t boil over–it makes a mess that’s tough to clean off the stove.
- Test the rice and quinoa to make sure it’s cooked thoroughly. If so, remove from heat and serve as a side dish.
Recipe Tips
- It’s easy to spice this dish up a bit! Add red pepper flakes, roasted garlic, or lemon juice or lemon zest to give this side dish a fun flavor twist.
- Cooking quinoa in the Instant Pot is easy because you don’t have to worry about it boiling over as it often does on the stove. It’s easy to cook on the stove too.
- I love cooking quinoa and brown rice recipes in my pressure cooker–even more than in my rice cooker! I make Instant Pot Brown Rice weekly and freeze it for meal prep, and I love making extra of this recipe too.
Both quinoa and brown rice are gluten free, but make sure that the product ensures that it was grown in a field that had not previously grown products with gluten in them.
It is. Like I mentioned above, the Seeds of Change brand (and the new Costco brand recently seen on shelves) is pretty healthy for a prepackaged product. But it’s also expensive and simply because it’s store bought, it contains added sodium and preservatives.
Nutrition comparison for sodium and calories: Per 1/2 cup serving, this recipe has 104 calories (120 calories for Seeds of Change product), and 5 mg sodium (200 mg sodium in Seeds of Change).
One batch (ten 1/2 cup servings) of this recipe costs about $2.10. One bag (four 1/2 cup servings) of the store bought blend costs $2.79.
Healthy Eating Plans
21 Day Fix: 1/2 cup of this quinoa and brown rice counts as 1 yellow container.
Weight Watchers: 1/2 cup of this dish is 4 Blue Points | 4 Green Points | 0 Purple Points | 2023 Points: 4
Trim Healthy Mama: For THM, the small amount of olive oil makes this a great THM-E recipe.
Looking for other Brown Rice and Quinoa Instant Pot Recipes?
- How to Cook Quinoa
- Quinoa Tacos
- Brown Rice Risotto in the Instant Pot
- Healthy Brown Rice Pudding
- Vegan Pineapple Fried Rice
Brown Rice and Quinoa Recipe
Equipment
- Ninja Foodi
- Strainer
- Sealing Rings
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry quinoa dry
- 1 cup brown rice dry, I used short grain
- 3 tbsp garlic minced
- 1.5 tsp olive oil
- 2 cups water
Optional: salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse your quinoa and brown rice. Spray inside of pot with olive oil to prevent sticking. 1 cup dry quinoa, 1 cup brown rice
- Add rice, quinoa, garlic, water, olive oil, and (optional) salt to the pot. 3 tbsp garlic, 1.5 tsp olive oil, 2 cups water
- Set the pressure cooker for 18 minutes on high pressure.
- Allow dish to naturally release for 5 minutes, then quick release the rest of the steam.
Stovetop Instructions
- Bring your broth or water to a boil, then add quinoa and brown rice, and the garlic and olive oil. 1 cup dry quinoa, 1 cup brown rice, 3 tbsp garlic, 1.5 tsp olive oil
- Simmer on low for 20-25 minutes, keeping an eye for the liquid to absorb into the rice and quinoa.
- Test the rice and quinoa to make sure it’s cooked thoroughly. If so, remove from heat and serve as a side dish.
Notes
Recipe Tips:
- It’s easy to spice this dish up a bit! Add red pepper flakes, roasted garlic, or lemon juice or lemon zest to give this side dish a fun flavor twist.
- Cooking quinoa in the Instant Pot is easy because you don’t have to worry about it boiling over as it often does on the stove. It’s easy to cook on the stove too.
- I love cooking quinoa and brown rice recipes in my pressure cooker–even more than in my rice cooker! I make Instant Pot Brown Rice weekly and freeze it for meal prep, and I love making extra of this recipe too.
Nutrition
Make This Recipe?
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I have tried this blend from the store, super excited to try your recipe. I was wondering if the quinoa can be another variety instead of red? I have a colour blend of quinoa on hand.
I think they all cook the same–I’d use what you have!
What if I don’t have an pressure cooker? I have a rice cooker and the ninja foodi grill version.
There are stove top directions in the post that are great if you don’t have a pressure cooker :)
I’ve been wanting to experiment forever with making something that would match Costco’s. It was awesome, and oh so easy!!! I went overboard on garlic . . . next time I’ll try just 3 T, and I did 1 c water and 1 c chicken broth that I needed to get rid of, and I figured the salt in that would be more than enough, so I didn’t add any. I love the Costco brand, but even on sale it’s more than I’d prefer . . . I love this recipe more because of how easy it was to make. Not tear 1 inch and 90 second easy, but close. (I forgot to rate last time, go ahead and delete that response)
My 2-year old and my husband loved this blend, so it is a KEEPER!!!! Perfect to pair with my healthy recipe collection in the new year.
This easy blend is my go-to grain side dish for during the week!
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
Yum! Such a great recipe! My family loves it!
If I half the recipe do I half the time?
I wouldn’t!
The copycat brown rice quinoa recipe on my phone does not have a printable version. I don’t know how to do the sto e top method. Can you help?
Hi Patti,
I’ve updated the printable recipe to include stove top directions. Let us know if you still have any questions :)
18 minutes in Instant Pot burned bottom and quinoa was soggy. Usually Quinoa is 1 min, etc. Perhaps this was too much time and too much liquid?
Hi Phil, I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you! I make this often and I use the 18 minutes because the quinoa can handle the extra time, but any less time and the rice wouldn’t be cooked all the way. The brown rice and quinoa both absorb about a cup of water. Did you use dry brown rice?
Will long grain brown rice work for this recipe?
Yes!
Great recipe! What is the stovetop cooking times with “long grain” brown rice? Is the ratio still 2 cups water to 1 cup rice?
So, if I used one cup of rice and one cup quinoa do I add 4 cups water?
Thank you
Hi Bob! The stovetop cook time is the same whether you use short or long grain brown rice. The ratio in the recipe is 1 cup rice, 1 cup quinoa, and 2 cups water. Peek at the very bottom of the post at the printable recipe if you didn’t see it! ;)
Can’t wait to try this! Question about freezing: does it change the flavor a lot when freezing? What’s the max amount of time you would keep in freezer? Heating from frozen ok or would you thaw first?
Thanks for your efforts keeping us all healthy on a budget :)
Hey Jamie! I don’t think it changes the flavor when I freeze this. I’d keep it in the freezer for 2-3 months, and I often heat from frozen.
You’re so welcome – thank you for visiting! :)
Can I make this in a regular rice cooker?
Hi there,
We haven’t made this recipe in a rice cooker so can’t say how it’d turn out. There are directions for stove top if you don’t have a pressure cooker :)
My husband and I recently became mostly vegetarian with some pescatarian thrown in. I found this and it’s now my go-to recipe! We use this in many ways, including mixing it with sautéed veggies and veggie ground meat for a full meal. It’s an outstanding recipe and so easy! It’s great alone or with add-ones! Make it- you’ll love it!!
Yay! I’m so glad you like it!
I tried it in a rice cooker, and it came out fine. Allow a little more time, though, to let all the water get absorbed.
brown rice does not cook in 25 minutes. By the time that the rice was done, the quinoa was mush. Also very, very bland recipe with no flavor.
Im sorry you didn’t care for this–we make this at least once a month and it cooks perfectly, and tastes like the Seeds of Change orange packet at the grocery store.
Made this last night and it was a huge hit!! Thank you!
Yay!! I’m so glad you liked it!
What would the cook time be for a pressure cooker if the recipe is doubled? I can’t wait to try this out!
The cook time would be the same :)
It’s perfect! Wow, what a money saver. Have you figured out the recipes for the other Seeds of Change pouches? How about Tasty Bites Thai Ginger Curry?
You are awesome!!
I figured I could make this and found your recipe, so thank you! I actually used 3 1/3 cups of low sodium chicken broth, 16 cloves of garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt. I simmered it for 35 minutes per my brown rice instructions, and it came out perfect! The quinoa was not mushy, and this was very delicious.
I took a stab and made this recipe with a pre-mixed brown rice, quinoa and flax package. cut it in half in case it didn’t work, but it did! My rice is just a little chewy but not enough to cook it more–water could have been about a 1/4 cup more and and another 5 minutes cooking I think. Still good1 Thanks for posting this–I use Seeds of Change rice all the time but had this mixture on hand and found it cleaning out my pantry. It was my first time cooking any rice. I don’t use white rice, only the mixed grains.
I love this recipe, I’ve used it several times and I also like to add wild rice to this with some diced onions. Delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe with all of us.