These simple quinoa fritters are healthy, delicious, and a great way to use leftover quinoa. Serve them as a meatless main dish, a tasty side, or even a hearty snack. Ready in less than 30 minutes!
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Why You Will Love this Recipe
There are plenty of reasons to love these tasty little quinoa patties. Here are just a few:
- Fast & Easy: They require only a few minutes of simple prep, and can be ready to serve in under 30 minutes.
- Healthy: Low in fat and surprisingly high in protein, quinoa patties are a great option for when you want to get more grains into your diet.
- Economical: They require just a few simple ingredients, and are a great way to use leftover quinoa.
- Versatile: Serve quinoa fritters as a meatless main dish, a tasty side, or even a hearty snack.
- Adaptable: This fritter recipe can be easily adapted for your personal tastes and needs. Sub in your favorite herbs and veggies, or serve them up with your favorite sauce.
- Advanced Prep: They can be made ahead of time and refrigerated (or frozen!) until you need them.
What Goes into Quinoa Fritters
The ingredients for basic quinoa fritters are simple and leave lots of room for creativity.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
• Quinoa: We prefer using tri-colored quinoa for this recipe because it looks more interesting, but any quinoa will work.
You can also make these fritters with cooked bulgar.
• Fresh herbs: We love the combination of fresh parsley, green onions, and arugula for these fritters.
Another good option is to sub in dill or cilantro for the arugula, and serve with tzadiki sauce!
• Cheese: Sub in your favorite cheese. Cheddar, Jarlsberg, and feta all make flavorful choices.
How to Make this Recipe
Prepare Quinoa
NOTE: If you are using leftover quinoa, you can skip this step.
Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve under running water.
Combine quinoa and ⅔ cup salted water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the quinoa is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.
While the quinoa is cooking, line a sheet pan with parchment or a Silpat mat and place in the freezer.
When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove the sheet pan from the freezer, and spread the quinoa out over it.
Prep the rest of the ingredients while the quinoa cools.
Make Fritter Mix
Crack the eggs into a bowl, season generously with salt and pepper, and lightly beat.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs, green onions, chopped parsley and arugula, lemon zest, panko crumbs, parmesan, and cooled quinoa. Mix well to combine.
Fry Patties
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
When the skillet is hot, use a ¼-cup measure to form patties, flipping them out of the measuring cup directly into the skillet.
Use a spatula to flatted them slightly. Patties should be about 4-inches in diameter and ¼-inch thick.
Cook patties until they are golden brown and cooked through; about 3-4 minutes per side.
Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate until ready to serve.
To use an electric skillet or griddle, set the temperature to 375°F | 190°C. Reduce temp to 360°F | 182°C after adding fritter mix to the pan or griddle.
Make Maple-Tahini Sauce (Optional)
Combine tahini sauce ingredients in a small blender and pulse until smooth. Salt to taste.
Sauce is ready to serve immediately.
FAQs & Expert Tips
Serving Suggestions
Serve quinoa patties with the sauce of your choice. We've included our easy Maple-Tahini sauce on the recipe card, but there are countless other sauces that go well with these tasty quinoa fritters.
We enjoy also them with cilantro-lime dressing, creamy yogurt-dill sauce, and even plain Greek yogurt.
Yes! Quinoa fritters can be frozen for up to three months. Reheat in a hot, dry skillet. (You can also reheat them in the microwave, but they won't be as crisp.)
Both. Patty refers to a shape (disk), and fritter refers to the cooking method (i.e, fried). The terms are used interchangeably in this recipe.
Rinsing quinoa helps get rid of saponin, a naturally occurring chemical that coats each tiny seed. Saponin has a bitter, sometimes soapy flavor, and can leave quinoa-rich foods with a a strong, unpleasant taste.
Most quinoa sold in the US is pre-wash, although not necessarily with water.
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Crispy Quinoa Patties
Equipment
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
Quinoa Fritters
- ⅓ cup rainbow quinoa
- 2 whole green onions thinly sliced
- ½ cup chopped parsley curly or flat; ~½ oz
- ½ cup chopped arugula ~½ oz
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons Panko crumbs
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan
Maple-Tahini Sauce (Optional)
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 1 clove garlic rough chopped
- 4 teaspoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare Quinoa
- NOTE: If you are using leftover quinoa, you can skip this step. Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve under running water. Combine quinoa and ⅔ cup salted water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the quinoa is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.
- While the quinoa is cooking, line a sheet pan with parchment or a Silpat mat and place in the freezer.
- When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove the sheet pan from the freezer, and spread the quinoa out over it.Prep the rest of the ingredients while the quinoa cools.
Make Fritter Mix
- Crack the eggs into a bowl, season generously with salt and pepper, and lightly beat.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, green onions, chopped parsley and arugula, lemon zest, panko crumbs, parmesan, and cooled quinoa. Mix well to combine.
Cook Fritters
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the skillet is hot, use a ¼-cup measure to form patties, flipping them out of the measuring cup directly into the skillet. Use a spatula to flatted them slightly. Patties should be about 4-inches in diameter and ¼-inch thick.
- Cook patties in batches until golden brown and cooked through; about 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate until ready to serve.
Make Maple-Tahini Sauce (Optional)
- Combine tahini sauce ingredients in a small blender and pulse until smooth. Sauce is ready to serve immediately.
Notes
Nutritional information includes only Quinoa Patty ingredients, and does not include values for the Tahini Sauce.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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Originally published September 26, 2016. Updated with new images, content, and instructions to improve reader experience.
james says
hate to admit it, but I save time by microwaving all that I can!
wendi says
prepping as much as possible on sunday night!!
Jill Myrick says
I try to plan a menu for the week and post it so that I know what needs to be prepped or laid out the night before.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
Lorri says
I use a pressure cooker that I love. It took me forever to find one that was stainless steel inside rather than a yucky poisonous coating. I pressure cook beans and meats one day out of the week then make home made variations of everything from Curry to Soup during the week with the precooked meats. This is the cheapest way to have 'un processed' foods processed and ready to go.
Shannon Ganger says
I try to make dinner part of my down town after work, I have my tablet in my kitchen and I watch some of my favorite shows while I cook
Michelle says
I plan ahead and on nights that are way too busy, I usually do a crockpot meal so I don't have to worry at dinnertime!
John H. says
I would say grab take out.
Trisha says
Plan ahead! From the meal plan to the grocery shopping to the prep work. Plan ahead.
Jennifer H. says
We cook things over the weekend and then eat leftover for the beginning of the week.
Sarah says
my best tip is to use your crockpot. Also you can make large amounts and freeze half for another day
Courtney says
I love crock pot meals because I can prepare in the morning and not worry in the busy evenings. These look great too!