Fermenting quinoa after cooking allows the lactic bacteria to work their magic on the grains, breaking down complex starches to improved digestibility. Fermented quinoa is also a great way to get your daily dose of probiotics!
What can you do with Fermented Quinoa
Fermented quinoa ends up a bit more liquidy than simply cooking it. The added lactic culture isn’t well absorbed by the already cooked grains. However, it’s perfect for any dish that would work well with a little extra liquid. Here are some suggestions:
- Gently warm it up on the stove top and serve it as hot cereal. The probiotic culture will still be alive as long as you don’t go above 40C.
- Eat it like a cold cereal with milk and fruit.
- Try making quinoa pudding. You can flavour it with chocolate, vanilla or banana for a tasty, probiotic treat.
- Turn it into a quinoa salad. Just reduce the culture to 2 tbsp so it’s not quite as soupy.
Post Fermented Quinoa
Fermenting quinoa after cooking is a great source of probitoics and will improve digestibility. Fermented quinoa is delicious for breakfast, snack or dinner. See section above for some serving suggestions.
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1/2 cup culture (see notes)
Instructions
- Cover the qunioa with water and allow to soak for 12-24 hours.
- Drain off the liquid, and rinse until clear (to remove the bitter saponins).
- Bring quinoa and 2 cups of water to a boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes (until cooked).
- Move to a glass container and stir in the lactic culture.
- Allow to ferment somewhere warm for 12-24 hours.
- Move to the refrigerator for storage.
Notes
- Though presoaking and rinsing isn’t always necessary, some quinoa is particularly bitter from the saponins that coat the grains. Regardless, I always presoak quinoa to improve digestibility.
- Use any culture you have on hand. I particularly like lactic cultures for cereals and puddings (vegan or dairy). But I recommend kombucha for a salad.
Keywords: vegan, probiotic, salad, cereal, pudding
ivana
March 29, 2016 at 8:11 pmhello! what kind of kefir would you use for this fermentation?
Emillie
March 30, 2016 at 6:36 amI used a milk culture, since it was a creamy milk pudding. But I guess you could try water kefir? I actually don’t regularly keep water kefir or kombucha, as I’m not one to drink much besides plain water. 🙂
Sascha
September 13, 2016 at 2:12 pmHow long does this last when refrigerated?
★★★★★
Emillie
September 13, 2016 at 7:03 pmI would say it would last up to a week. It’s definitely not for long-term storage purposes.
aimar
February 26, 2017 at 8:30 pmI wonder if fermented Quinoa is very low in carbs ? I would assume that the fermentation would “consume” the carbs in the Quinoa? I had great results fermenting cooked ( Cooled before fermenting the quinoa) I used a vegie starter Dr. Mercola sells .I using mason jars with the air lock system. I let it ferment for several weeks and the typical tangy ferment one gets when fermenting Kraut was excellent with the quinoa. I have tried many ferments with blends of quinoa and vegies all excellent.
Emillie
February 27, 2017 at 7:00 amIt would definitely be lower in carbs… though it would probably depend on how long you fermented it for. Sounds tasty! Though does it become alcoholic?
Jim
May 31, 2017 at 12:18 pmI don’t think cooked seeds can ferment
★★★★★
Emillie
June 1, 2017 at 2:23 amI found that this recipe worked better than trying to ferment the quinoa in advance of cooking. In that case they were just soaked seeds, not fermented. I think that since cooked foods can rot from the wrong type of culture, they can probably ferment with the right type of culture.
Trudy
October 21, 2017 at 10:12 amIf you cook Quinoa plain with a little salt, in filtered water. Allow it to sit for several days, using some for dishes, and the remaining cooked quinoa self-ferments without any added ingredient is that okay? I did not have any mold, or foreign substance, just the smell of q soured food. Like Sauerkraut. Do you need to do anything to it then? Like add salt, or Amino’s, or Lemon Juice? Or Whey?
I was worried it was inedible or unsafe until I checked on the Internet. Now I want to establish a habit of doing this correctly for positive results.
Emillie
October 22, 2017 at 4:25 pmI would be wary of leaving it out too long. It’s easy for cooked food to spoil. However, given the right circumstances you may be able to catch a culture. Good luck!
Sarah Gabriel
June 23, 2018 at 7:11 amI wonder if you can clarify the kefir as starter… I have dairy kefir grains and also the kefir made from those grains. are you suggesting using the kefir grains with kefir as a starter or just the kefir liquid as the starter or the grains with milk as starter? Thanks
Emillie
June 23, 2018 at 7:48 amI usually use whey made from over-cultured kefir as a starter. But for this recipe, I recommend cultured milk. Especially if you want to use it as a cereal or pudding.
Chinmayi
August 23, 2018 at 3:28 amDo quinoa turns into red
★★★★
Emillie
August 23, 2018 at 6:07 amNo… if it’s turning pink, then it’s probably mold. However, I sometimes use red quinoa, which will be red.
Michelle
April 4, 2019 at 3:27 pmHi! I’m new to fermenting. I have fermented cabbage and carrot sticks. The cabbage turned out great, but there was a thin white film on the carrots so I threw them out! I want to try to ferment quinoa. Can I use a vegetable culture starter? The extra water isn’t a problem for me and I can’t tolerate dairy products so if the veggie starter doesn’t work, is there something else? I’m very excited to try different things!
Michelle
April 4, 2019 at 3:44 pmI was looking at other receipts on your site and they all look so good! I saw a bean dip fermented with miso paste. I’m still interested to know if I can use a veggie started for the quinoa, but now I’m also wondering about using miso for the starter. What do you think?
Emillie
April 4, 2019 at 4:13 pmThanks Michelle! I would definitely try using miso as a starter. I would be SO good!
As for the white film on your carrots, it might not be a problem. Kahm yeast is not harmful, and it can grow across the top of a ferment. Here’s a post with pictures of kahm yeast: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/archives/1154 Otherwise, it is always a good idea to throw out a ferment that has gone off.
Happy fermenting!
Linda
April 9, 2019 at 12:25 pmCould you ferment uncooked quinoa? I have sprouted quinoa before, but this time it fermented.
I guess cooking it now would just kill the benefits of fermenting. Maybe I could dry it and grind it
into flour…worth a try. Anything else I could do??
Emillie
April 9, 2019 at 3:51 pmI have tried fermenting raw quinoa before cooking, but then you still need to cook it. Grinding into flour is a good idea. Or just cook it and use it in your favourite recipe. It will still taste good!