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Quinoa dry to cooked weight: 100 g = 306 g
Dry quinoa cooks to about 305.5% of its weight: 100 g dry becomes about 306 g cooked, and a 60 g portion about 183 g. That is a little more than rice, at 280%.
Raw and cooked, both ways
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An estimate from USDA data. Cooking time, heat and the piece itself move the result.
Quinoa: every method
| Method | Yield | 100 g raw | 150 g raw | 200 g raw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooked in water | 305.5% | 305 g | 458 g | 611 g |
| Method | Raw, per 100 g | Cooked, per 100 g | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooked in water | 368 kcal · 14.1 g protein | 120 kcal · 4.4 g protein | derived from dry matter · FDC 168874, FDC 168917 |
Why quinoa triples
Quinoa seeds hold 13.3 g of water per 100 g dry; USDA's cooked quinoa holds 71.6 g. The seeds absorb the water they cook in and keep everything else, so the converter holds the dry part constant: (100 − 13.28) ÷ (100 − 71.61) = 3.05. Quinoa cooked with less water, or left to steam dry, ends up lighter; a wet pot ends up heavier.
A worked example
Cook 75 g of dry quinoa and expect about 229 g. The dry entry gives 276 kcal; the cooked entry, for 229 g, gives 275 kcal. The energy doesn't change, only the weight, so pair the dry weight with a dry entry or the cooked weight with a cooked one.
From cooked back to dry
A 185 g scoop of cooked quinoa started as about 61 g dry: 185 ÷ 3.055 = 60.6. The cooked entry gives it 222 kcal, and the dry entry gives those 60.6 g 223 kcal. Weighing the quinoa on your plate is fine, as long as the entry you log is the cooked one.
Quinoa or rice?
Per 100 g dry, quinoa gives 368 kcal and 14.1 g of protein, and white long-grain rice 365 kcal and 7.1 g. Cooked, quinoa takes on a little more water, so 100 g of it has 120 kcal against 130 for cooked rice.
Does rinsing change anything?
Rinsing washes off the bitter saponins on the seed coat and wets the seeds before they cook, but USDA's yield starts from dry quinoa. Weigh it before you rinse: a rinse can add a few grams of water, which is why the dry weight is the one to use.
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: quinoa, uncooked, 168874 and cooked, 168917.
- The yield is derived from the pair's water content; the USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry covers meat and poultry only.
Compare with couscous, or open the raw to cooked weight converter.