Little Quinoa Patties
These adorable little quinoa patties are so remarkably delicious, even the worst skeptic can be convinced to try them (and most likely love them). Promise.
Don’t disregard this post. Really, don’t! For all that is good and righteous about food, I promise you that I will not lead you astray with what you might consider crazy-people food (quinoa gets a bad rap in many conservative kitchens!).
If it makes you feel better about sticking around, I assure you I’m not crazy (well…that’s probably debatable overall but when it comes to food, I’m not crazy, pinkie swear!).
These adorable little quinoa patties are so remarkably delicious, even the worst skeptic can be convinced to try them (and most likely love them). Promise.
A beautiful, smart, witty reader, Melanie D., forwarded me the recipe and I was intrigued enough to try them almost immediately (ok, so I’ve never actually met Melanie in person but with a name like that, she’s gotta be pretty cool!).
I made them for my four rowdy little boys, my sister and her two little boys, and my mom.
With that many kids to please, I was expecting major groans and quite possibly gagging. But these little patties were gobbled up (smothered in ketchup and gobbled up but gobbled up nonetheless) without a shout of complaint.
In between shoving bites of them into my mouth in order to even get a taste before they were all snatched, I managed to be completely amazed, especially when my 8-year old loudly exclaimed, “I definitely want these for my birthday dinner!” Huh, what? Who is this kid and how did he get here?
In the interest of full disclosure, I set out to try these simply in an effort to incorporate more quinoa (a super healthy food we love in this and this already) into our diet. The salads are great but I wanted something a bit heartier and more savory.
I really didn’t even know if I would post these babies, but let me tell you, not only are these post-able but they are going into my “favorite file.”
I’m never going to go exclusively meatless, but I could totally see myself setting one of these patties on a bun in the place of a burger and being totally satisfied (dude, who am I and how did I get here?).
In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy them dipped in ketchup with lots of fresh fruits and veggies on the side!
What To Serve With This:
Tender Grilled Salmon or Maple Pecan Crusted Salmon
Vegetable Saute with Simple Cream Sauce or fresh, cut up veggies
Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip or Hot Chorizo and Cheese Dip with crackers or chips
One Year Ago: Pumpkin-Maple Hazelnut Bread
Two Years Ago: Classic Marinara Sauce
Three Years Ago: Blue Cheese and Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes
Little Quinoa Patties
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups cooked quinoa, room temperature
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 cup finely crushed saltine or Ritz crackers or bread crumbs, plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Combine the quinoa, eggs, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the parsley, cheese and garlic. Add the cracker or bread crumbs. Stir the mixture until combined. If the mixture seems overly wet, add a tablespoon or two more of cracker or bread crumbs. If it seems too dry, add a tablespoon or two of water or broth. Let it stand for about five minutes so the liquid can be somewhat absorbed. Take small handfuls of the mixture and form into little patties, about 1-inch thick, yielding about 11 or 12 patties.
- In a large, nonstick skillet, heat the tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until it is hot. Add a single layer of patties (about half of them if you are using a 12-inch skillet) and cook until the bottoms are well-browned, about 5-7 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent burning (or increase heat if the patties aren’t browning well). Flip the patties and cook about 5 minutes more until the second side is golden brown. Remove from the skillet and repeat with the remaining patties (adding a bit more olive oil, if needed). Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe a reader, Melanie D. sent me, originally from Whole Living
My fabulous sister-in-law sent me this recipe. I just made these in the oven and I’m planning on freezing most of them. They are delicious! Thanks for posting!
Aria, At what temperature did you bake them in the oven?
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing your Quinoa Patty Recipe. We featured it on our blog this week! http://www.thehappygal.com/20-quinoa-recipes-love/
Just came across a recipe for broccoli cheddar bites on Closet Cooking and gave you rave reviews. I don’t know anything about netiquet so hope I’m not about to be arrested for not linking to your website (or visa-versa). Your patties still rule and I can’t go a week (or on a road trip) without them.
These are amazing! So glad you hyped them because I’m not sure I would have tried them otherwise. I’m only a little ashamed to say that I made the full amount and my husband and I ate almost the whole batch ourselves. Can’t wait to make them again!
Thanks for the great recipe! I’m curious if you always use fresh parsley? Have you ever tried it with dried parsley? If so, did you put only 1/8 cup dried parsley?
Thanks for all the great recipes. Keep them a comin’!
Denise – You could definitely use dried parsley although it will lessen the fresh flavor a bit – I’d probably just use a tablespoon of dried.
Melanie, this looks like another great recipe from you arsenal! Out of curiosity, do you use solely fresh parsley? Have you ever used dried parsley for this, and if so, do I adjust the 1/4 cup parsley to be less if it’s dried?
Thanks for all your great recipes!
Has anyone tried baking these? We love the baked quinoa broccoli and ham bites. The few times. Have tried making patties they fall apart so I feel skittish about making the patties. But quinoa is easy to work with so maybe I need to get over my fear and just do it. Grated carrot and zucchini would be good with these too. Or I am thinking you could shape it into a loaf and making a vegetarian meatloaf. My one year old gobbles up the broccoli and ham bites from your site!
Seriously love these! I know everyone is always amazed when their kids/hubbies eat things like this, and then proceed to tell you all about it…and I am no exception. They gobble them up like crazy…it’s awesome!
This is currently my kids favorite meal. It boggles my mind when I ask, “What do you want for dinner?” and they both answer, “Quinoa patties.” And then I ask would they rather have pizza or quinoa patties and the quinoa patties win! It’s enough to warm the heart I tell you. Thanks so much for all your awesome recipes. I appreciate so much all that you do! 🙂
I tried this last week and it was simply delicious, even my daughter (who is picky about what she eats these days) tried it and liked it. I made a small batch for lunch today and had it with a salad. I have replaced my white rice, and even brown rice with quinoa. I’ll be watching your site for more quinoa recipes. Thank you for sharing!
I tried this last week and it was simply delicious, even my daughter (who is picky about what she eats these days) tried it and liked it. I made a small batch for lunch today and had it with a salad. I have replaced my white rice, and even brown rice with quinoa. I;ll be watching your site for more quinoa recipes. Thank you for sharing!
can you leave cooked quinoa unrefridgerated?
Donna – probably for short period of time but I’d recommend refrigerating if longer than an hour.
Um. Awesome. My pickiest-kids-in-the-universe kids ate them. My mouth dropped open. We loved them. And I told my husband I will be making these forever more.
Thank you for providing a recipe that provided us with a peaceful, happy mealtime.
I tried these over a year ago and was blown away. After making them a couple of times I felt confident enough to make them without the recipe. Big mistake. I finally came back to the blog and fixed them exactly according to the recipe. Guess what!? They are as delicious as a remembered them. I now know to follow the recipe then add whatever I want. I just polished off a dozen of them. They are sooooooo good! I have a dozen left over for tomorrow. Yay for me!
yum made these last night and they were a big hit! thank you! do you think you could bake these? youre the best!
Hi Hillary – I haven’t tried baking them but many other quinoa recipes (like this) are baked so it should probably work if you play around with temp and time a bit.
I thought I would chime in to add to the praise for these guys…quinoa is a regular part of our diet, but these were seriously loved around here! I wasn’t so sure as I was putting them in the pan (the texture of my mix was odd??), but my 2 girls had polished off their first helpings before I even finished getting all of the dishes on the table. I served them with cucumber yogurt dip, and our family of 4 went through 10 patties in one sitting.
Best part, though, is that I just snatched up the last 2 and popped them in the oven with marinara and cheese on top, and I’m currently enjoying some really fantastic quinoa parmesan for lunch! So good. I’m planning to make a double batch to freeze so I can pull them out for quick meals…these are worth your time. They also kind of reminded me a little of falafel, so I might make some with mint and feta mixed in for a pita meal. I’ll report back if they work! Thanks, Mel!
This was my first time eating quinoa. Wow. It definitely won’t be my last! I cooked the quinoa in chicken broth in my rice cooker; it turned out perfect. My 9 month old (who eats everything) was in quinoa heaven 🙂 My two year old (who eats NOTHING except pancakes and your sweet and sour chicken- go figure) asked if they were chicken nuggets. I said, “they look like it don’t they.” and she proceeded to eat 1.5 of them — a straight up miracle. Thanks for the great recipe!
Ahhh, I finally got my hands on some quinoa (help with the pronunciation– the hubby and I disagree on that :-)) I, like you, live in a small town and can’t always find what i’m looking for when it comes to food…. I’ve been trying to find some ever since you posted these… months ago. Today was the big day, I cooked up a big batch of quinoa– in chicken broth — in my rice cooker — PERFECT cooking method for me, it came out just how I hoped it would. Then onto making these. I made them small ( just a little larger than a chicken nugget 🙂 ) Then proceeded to feed them to my 6 year old and his little friends that I’ve been tending… let me note here that the said 6 year old is for sure one of the pickiest kids I know– and he’s my 6th child.. He ate 3 dipped in bbq sauce and LOVED them, as did the other kids who dipped in ranch and ketchup… He asked me if they were chicken and I said, they are patties — you tell me if they taste like chicken :-0 I think he thought they did, he ate them and wow!!! I loved them too… this ones a keeper, and I love that I still have more quinoa recipes to try with the extra I cooked… next the black bean and mango salad. THANKS !!
Maureen – it makes 11-12 patties (like the recipe states) but how many that serves really depends on children vs. adults and appetites and also what you serve with it. If you are serving 6 adults, I’d double the recipe. If you are serving children, one batch would probably suffice.
How many does this serve? One patty per person? Three? Just trying to decide if I need to double this recipe to feed six people. Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe! We’re a mostly vegetarian household that generally doesn’t use TVP or tofu. These were a great solution for my dinner crunch!
Trying these tonight! Do you think the patties would be okay if frozen?
Sally – yes, I think so!
Hmmm…do you think these could be made with Panko?
Wow- these are amazing! I was looking for something to make with my leftover quinoa and I’m so glad I stumbled across this recipe. I predict I’ll be making these frequently in the future!
These are so delicious! I’ve made them twice now, and this last time I made some fococcia bread and made delicious little sandwiches. Mmmm, I am still thinking about them! Thank you for sharing!
Yum! These look good.
Quinoa is a staple in my house – I mix it with rice. In fact, my kids call rice quinoa. I cook it with rice in the rice cooker. It cooks in the same time, and uses the same amount of grain to water. I do 1/2 c. rice, 1/2 c. quinoa, and 2 c. water. I usually use white rice, but my friend uses it with brown rice in the rice cooker and it says it works great.
These were SOooo good! I substituted gluten free bread and crackers so my GF hubby could eat too. I didnt have any parsley so left that out and added a littlbit of some dried herbs. I also made some homemade olive hummus in case they were a little bland for us but no, they were delicious all on their own. Crispy, flavorful and healthy…what more could you ask for?! Oh and I also used red quinoa as that was what I had.
Mallory, probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to give it an extra rinse if you want.
If my quinoa says that it is pre-washed, do I still need to wash it?
these are sooooo good!! i love reading through your recipes and i am so glad i decided to make these. I made them twice in one week, and my husband loved them as well. Thank you!!
These have become a family favorite at our house:) We LOVE Quinoa bites:) I hope you are enjoying the north:)
Yum!!! I’ve made these twice in the last 2 weeks. The second time I made them twice as big and used them as hamburger patties. They worked great! Thanks for a wonderful vegetarian recipe!
Wow, these hit all 5 of what I look for in a recipe: Tasty, Kid-Friendly, healthy, Easy, cheap to make! Thank you for noting that you use the chicken broth instead of water to make the quinoa, it does add some flavor. Hurray for another fantastic recipe, thanks!
Er, that’s chopped onion, not opinion, LOL! (Embarrassed)
I went to the health food store and bought the quinoa on Saturday, just to make this recipe, and I cooked it and rinsed it very, very well. I keep bread crumbs in a jar all the time, made from my homemade bread, so that part was easy, and I added all the listed ingredients, nibbling a bit on a little of the beautiful parm (love). I made the patties, and added them to the skillet, and they browned beautifully. I was pumped. Couldn’t wait to taste them! Then I did, and Oh! OH! I was disappointed. I had added a little exta garlic, but they are a little flat for me. Hubs liked them but he slathered them with ketchup, and who can taste anything drowning in ketchup? I will maybe try again, but I’ll add some (or a lot) chopped opinion and some shredded carrot and shredded zucchini. And I think instead of chicken broth for cooking the quinoa, I’ll use that new Knorr vegetable stock that comes in little tubs because it is very, very flavorful. (Try cooking spaetzle in it some time – delish!) Possiblities exist here, but I want just a little more – oomph. A bit more complexity of flavor. So I might even add some chipotle Tabasco and really make life interesting. Thanks for the basics, though!
I made these last night and they were delicious! I did use Italian Panko instead of the crackers and used the full cup. I completely forgot to cook the Quinoa in chicken broth so I just used water but I felt the patties still had a lot of flavor with the fresh parsley, garlic and seasoning from the Panko. Earlier in the day I also made a Sriracha Ketchup and we dipped the patties in that – they paired well together! Thanks for sharing another quinoa recipe – I had only ever used it in vegetarian chilli before so it was nice to find another good recipe to use it in. I served mine with a salad and some roasted asparagus.
Hey crazy lady–could you please quit offending all of the crazies out there? As someone who is totally NOT crazy (haha!) these are fabulous!
Made these tonight and they were delicious- a hit all around! I ended up adding some caramelized onions and baked them in a mini-muffin pan at 350* for about 20-25 minutes because I was short on time. I can see myself making these again and again and adding all sorts of tasty ingredients – thanks for another winner!!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I made it the original way, and my husband loved it. Tonight I left out the parsley, and instead I put in 1/4 cup diced red pepper, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, and two chopped green onions. I served them with baked butternut squash. WOW!!
Tonight I added caramelized onions and sautéed, chopped portabello mushrooms…mmm!
I am always trying find ways to incorporate quinoa in my meals…thanks, for the recipe.
I made a broccoli cheese version of these for my family the other night! They turned out amazing! Even my little guys tried them which is to say a lot! Thanks Mel!
Simply put, I’m in heaven! My belly is full, my boys are happy, and my brain is all abuzz with the possibilities that this simple recipe holds! Can we say BACON in breakfast version? Of course, there go the health benefits! Since I made far too much quinoa for the recipe, I’ll be experimenting!
You did it again! Thanks, Mel!
I really enjoyed these. From now on, whenever I make quinoa I will make sure to prepare enough so I can make these these babies, too. I added some chopped pickled jalapeno peppers to mine and they were excellent. Another great recipe……thanks!
Rebecca, these are pretty sturdy. I think they would hold up just fine.
How do you think these would hold up with a bit of marinara sauce and melted cheese on tiop? Like a quinoa parmesan? Do you think they would crumble and mush up?
Rachel – I served these with fresh fruit, vegetables and cottage cheese. Sounds simple, but it worked! They would be great with some type of bread, also.
These were nothing short of amazing. I have had my eye on them since spying the original recipe several months ago, but I hadn’t decided whether or not to make them until seeing you post this recipe. After trying lots of your recipes (and loving them), I knew if you liked them they were probably pretty good. I was totally blown away. The texture was awesome, the flavor was divine, they were simple to make and were great plain, or on a bun like a regular hamburger (ketchup + mustard + pickles). Thanks for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper!
These are so yummy! I added thyme and mozzerella, and used Japanese bread crumbs (panko) instead. My meat loving husband LOVED these. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Melanie, the first time I tried quinoa was in a hospital cafeteria of all places. They had stuffed a green pepper with quinoa, melted cheese and marinara sauce. It was so good I’ve craved it ever since. Would you please come up with a recipe for this? Everything you make tastes so good! Pretty please?