Quinoa: Calories, Nutrition & Healthier Swaps

Quinoa is a seed from South America. Its protein contains all essential amino acids, it's gluten-free, and it has more fiber than white rice.

Quinoa nutrition facts per 100 g and per serving

Values per 100 g as eaten, averaged from food composition tables (USDA FoodData Central and others) and rounded — a specific brand or recipe will differ a little.

Quinoa: nutrition highlights

It has 5.6 g of fiber per serving — roughly 22% of the 25 g a day most adults fall short of. There's almost no sugar: the carbohydrate is mostly starch.

On the open Nutri-Score algorithm, quinoa gets an A: one of the better picks in its category. The score weighs calories, sugar, saturated fat and salt against protein, fiber and the share of fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts.

What to watch

• It's low in fiber, so add vegetables, greens or beans to the plate.

How much movement is one serving?

One serving (plate, 200 g) is 240 kcal — roughly 78 min of easy walking or 30 min of cycling for a 70 kg (154 lb) person. In the diary, minutes are worked out for your weight and the activities you actually do.

Healthier swaps for Quinoa

Swaps are picked the same way the app does it: from the same kind of food, with a serving matched to the same calories (±25%), and only when the swap is clearly better — not “salad instead of pizza”.

• Kidney Beans — 200 g, 240 kcal: −0.4 g salt, +7.2 g fibre.
• White beans, boiled — 180 g, 243 kcal: −0.4 g salt, +5.7 g fibre.
• Lentils — 210 g, 244 kcal: +11 g fibre, +10 g protein.
• Red lentils, boiled — 200 g, 236 kcal: +4.4 g fibre, +9.2 g protein.