Have you ever made a Mexican Haystack Bowl? If you’ve ever been to a Chipotle restaurant, you are probably at least familiar with the concept.

Imagine any foods that go great with taco meat (tomatoes, beans, shredded cheese, corn, avocados, rice or quinoa, shredded lettuce, etc.) piled into a bowl and eaten together. That’s it…a Mexican Haystack Bowl!

Just like at Chipotle, where you can pick the foods you want in your bowl (or in your tortillas), a Mexican Haystack is like a buffet that you choose from. My bowl looked different from my husbands’ and my kids’ bowls, but all of us enjoyed this dinner. I wish I would have taken a picture of what all of our bowls looked like, but since I didn’t, I will share this photo of how I presented the foods for the family to choose from.

Each person filled their own bowl with what they wanted.

The options I set out were a Mexican ground turkey/bean/tomato mixture (this is in the recipe below), regular cooked quinoa (for my husband and children who do not like cilantro), cilantro lime quinoa (for me…also in the recipe below), extra tomatoes (this probably wasn’t necessary), shredded cheese, corn, and chopped avocado (not counted in the WW SP).

Other optional ingredients to add to your Mexican Haystack Bowl.

A few other ingredients you might consider serving with these haystack bowls are shredded lettuce, sour cream, green onion, and salsa. If you don’t like one of the ingredients in this recipe, simply leave it out. The beans, tomatoes, and corn are optional ingredients.

I made enough that I was able to snack on the leftovers throughout the week, and boy, was I glad I did! These foods taste SO good together!! I hope you love it as much as we did!

Here is what you need:

Cilantro Lime Quinoa:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tablespoon light butter
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro, optional
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mexican Haystacks:

Cooking spray
1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
2 tablespoons chopped onion, optional
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, optional
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained, optional
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (4.5 ounce) can diced chiles, optional
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 (15 ounce) can corn, optional
3/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Here is what you do:

Cook quinoa according the directions on the package. Once cooked, add butter, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, and salt to the quinoa and mix until the butter is melted. (My husband and kids don’t like cilantro, so I just set some quinoa aside without the lime/cilantro mixture.)

Meanwhile, spray a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Add ground turkey and onion, and cook until turkey is fully cooked, breaking up the meat as it cooks.

Add black beans, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, chiles, onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, salt, and cumin to the ground turkey. Cook an additional 5-7 minutes, or until all of the flavors are well blended.

Meanwhile, warm canned corn in a medium bowl in the microwave.

For each serving, serve 1 cup turkey/bean mixture, 1/3 cup cooked quinoa, 1/4 cup corn, and 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese.

Makes 6 servings.
One serving is 1 cup meat/bean mixture, 1/3 cup cooked quinoa, 1/4 cup corn, and 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese.
One serving is 9 Green, 4 Blue, and 2 Purple points.

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Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Mexican Haystack Quinoa Bowl

9 Green, 4 Blue, and 2 Purple points per serving.

Makes: 6 servings

Author: Alisha Hughes

Ingredients

• CILANTRO LIME QUINOA:
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon light butter
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 cup cilantro, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• MEXICAN HAYSTACKS:
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion. optional
• 1 15 ounce can black beans, optional
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained, optional
• 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 4.5 ounce can diced chiles, optional
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 15 ounce can corn, optional
• 3/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Instructions

• Cook quinoa according the directions on the package. Add butter, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, and salt to the quinoa and mix until the butter is melted.
• Meanwhile, spray a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Add ground turkey and onion, and cook until turkey is fully cooked, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
• Add black beans, tomatoes, chiles, onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, salt, and cumin to the ground turkey. Cook an additional 5-7 minutes, or until all of the flavors are well blended.
• Meanwhile, warm canned corn in a medium bowl in the microwave.
• For each serving, serve 1 cup turkey/bean mixture, 1/3 cup cooked quinoa, 1/4 cup corn, and 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese.