These simple crispy quinoa patties are so versatile. They’re a great meatless option that even meat eaters will love. Play around with your favorite vegetables and spices. Makes great leftovers!
Let me tell you a few things about these quinoa patties.
- They are so versatile! Serve them warm over salads, serve them warm in pitas (falafel style) with creamy sauce and greens, layer them into a sandwich with avocado and cheese, or even simply drizzled with hot sauce.
- They’re meatless. If you’re trying to limit your meat, these are a wonderfully healthy option. I also love my meatless black bean burgers, corn fritters, and pumpkin chili too!
- Great make ahead option. Make this entire batch of them (about 20 patties) and freeze them so you always have them handy when you’re in a pinch. Or store them in the refrigerator for the week for a quick grab ‘n go lunch of dinner. They reheat wonderfully in the microwave.
- There are so many variations! Get creative – what’s your favorite cheese? Add it. Love broccoli or cauliflower instead of zucchini? Make the swap. Add your favorite spices like lemon pepper, cumin, dill, or smoked paprika.
The version I’m sharing today has garlic, onion, fresh grated parmesan, parsley, carrot, zucchini, salt, and lemon pepper.
No matter which variety I make, I always use the onions and garlic for their unparalleled flavor. Kerry suggested a dill/feta cheese/zucchini version. I’m going to try that one next!
Like any burger, meatball, or veggie pattie recipe – you need to be careful with your ingredients. There needs to be enough “sticking power” to help the patties hold their shape. Here are a few tips to help keep the quinoa patties together:
- Make sure you have the right balance of veggies and bread crumbs. If you’re gluten free, make sure your bread crumbs are gluten free as well. I have never had luck making these without breadcrumbs.
- Make sure you chop your veggies nice and fine. I find pulsing them in a food processor gets them to the right size. (As well as cuts down your work!) The smaller your veggies are diced, the better they will hold the patties together.
- If you find your mixture is too wet, add a little more cooked quinoa and/or bread crumbs. Alternatively, if you find your mixture is too dry, add a couple drops of water.
Form the mixture into about 20 patties, give or take. They will be about 2 inches in diameter. Cook on a lightly oiled skillet until crispy and brown on each side. I’ve simply used nonstick spray instead of oil before, but the nonstick spray doesn’t give the patties their beautifully crispy texture.
Besides the cooked quinoa patties making wonderful leftovers, the uncooked quinoa mixture also keeps well for a few days. Make the mixture up, cover and store in the refrigerator until you have some time to cook the patties on the stove.
This meatless option is truly a keeper in our house. So many ways to enjoy them, fabulous leftovers, easy, quick, and a great way to use up leftover quinoa, veggies, cheese, and spices. See more recipes in my savory recipes collection!
What to Serve with Quinoa Patties
- a simple green salad and/or roasted potatoes or vegetables
- Zucchini Casserole
- Homemade Alphabet Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Strawberry Bacon Salad
Crispy Quinoa Patties
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: about 20 patties
- Category: Appetizers
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These simple crispy quinoa patties are so versatile. They’re a great meatless option that even meat eaters will love. Play around with your favorite vegetables and spices. Makes great leftovers!
Ingredients
- 2 and 2/3 cups cooked quinoa
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/3 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup gluten free whole grain breadcrumbs (or regular)*
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot and zucchini (1/4 cup each veggie)
- 1 Tablespoon oil, plus more as needed
Instructions
- Combine the quinoa, eggs, salt, and lemon pepper in a large bowl. Stir in the parsley, onion, cheese, and garlic. Stir in the bread crumbs and chopped carrot/zucchini. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the crumbs absorb some of the moisture.
- At this point, you should have a mixture you can easily form into 20 thick patties. You want the mixture moist, so the patties aren’t dry tasting. However, you want the mixture to hold together when cooking. You can add more bread crumbs to firm up the mixture, if needed. Alternatively, you can add a couple drops of water to moisten the mixture. *The uncooked quinoa mixture keeps nicely in the refrigerator for a few days. Cover tightly and cook the patties when you have time.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat, add 5-6 patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes until the bottoms are deeply browned. Carefully flip the patties with a spatula and cook the second sides for 5 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a large plate while you cook the remaining patties. Add more oil to the skillet if needed between each batch.
- Serve plain or in a pita, on a salad, on a sandwich, with sliced avocado, with hot sauce on top, etc etc. There are so many ways to enjoy them!
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cooked quinoa patties keep well in the refrigerator for 1 week or in the freezer for two months. A quick few seconds in the microwave will warm them back up to enjoy.
- Update (2015): I’ve successfully made these quinoa patties using 3/4 cup oat flour instead of breadcrumbs!
- Customize These! Use any cheese, veggies, or spices you like best. The finer the veggies are chopped/grated, the easier the patties will stick together. I always pulse them in a food processor. No matter what else I add, I always use onion and garlic because they give so much flavor.
- Recipe adapted from Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen By Heidi Swanson.
Keywords: crispy quinoa patties
These Pattie’s are very tasty and much healthier than many other choices. My whole family loved them served with a broccoli/cauliflower/chees dish and Coq a Vin.
★★★★★
Great idea and the recipe. Thanks!
To mage it vegan, I add 1 medium boiled, mashed potato as the binding agent. It worked great and was very easy to make patties.
Instead of breadcrumbs, I used 1 cup of coarsely grind ed oats.
Instead of pan frying, I baked them at 375 degrees until they were brown on both sides.
★★★★★
What is the nutritional value per pattie?
Hi Christine, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients, and many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients. However, there are many great online calculators where you can plug in your exact ingredients like this one: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076.
We love these! We serve them with a dollop of topping sauce made of 1/2 cup FAYE yoghurt, 1 Tbsp olive and salt and pepper. Fabulous.
★★★★★
Hi Sally: I am looking for GF recipes to prepare for an outdoor evening picnic event with a friend who has celiac. I obviously need things that can be enjoyed at room temperature. Would these be good served over lightly dressed greens perhaps? You only mentioned serving them warm in your notes.
Hi Kat, we don’t see why not, though they may lose some of their crispness. Also make sure to not leave them out for more than a couple hours. Let us know if you give them a try!
First time of using delicious so light yet so filling absolutely love these
★★★★★
My boyfriend and I made these patties for my parents as our lunch and they loved it! They loved how light and crispy it is. We’re meat eaters, but we absolutely this recipe.
★★★★★
Just made these with tapioca flour and vegan feta cheese – came out delicious
★★★★★
They exit the air fryer looking and tasting like perfection. In our house they are hot-sauced-up, and devoured alongside avocado and pineapple. Thank you!
★★★★★
Your recipe sounds Absolutely delicious and healthy. I’m going to be serving these to a group of ladies who have all had gastric bypass surgery. So I’m wanting to substitute the bread crumbs for something as well as I would like to use my air fryer at the location of the party to either cook them or crisp them up so what temperature and for how long would I do so. Thank you in advance Trish Howeth
Hi Trish! We’re unsure of the best substitute for bread crumbs, let us know what you try! We haven’t tested cooking or warming these in an air fryer. We would try cooking them as directed, then air frying for a few minutes to warm and crisp up again before serving. Let us know how it goes!
can you substitute bread crumbs for almond flour? cant wait to try these after reading all the comments!
I haven’t tried that substitution, but I can’t see why not!
Hi, Sally!
This recipe looks delicious!
Would this recipe be able to be halved or would that mess up the patties?
Thank you! Have a great day!
Hi Veronica, Yes you can cut this recipe in half. Enjoy!
Hi..would well drained beans made into puree, white bean, etc., help hold shape instead of crumbs? Several family members with gluten issues..
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Christine! I haven’t tried it, but mashed beans would make a great binder. The quinoa patties won’t be as crispy though.
I did try it, you’re right… not as crispy and a bit “dry”, but good otherwise.
Thanks for the response, always love your recipes:)
This is a great recipe and I make all the time with plenty of variations that are mentioned here. This weekend I want to make the paties for a vegan friend and I know I can substitute the eggs with flax seeds soaked in water…. what about the cheese? What can I use instead?
You can try just leaving the cheese out. I haven’t tested it with vegan “cheese” but that might be an other option.
You could use nutritional yeast as a cheese substitute. Comes in different textures. I will use it with cheesy to enhance the flavour and I use it as a cheese substitute in recipes.
These are amazing! I didn’t have any breadcrumbs but added about 1tbsp of buckwheat flour which made the patties hold together really well.
Any idea how long they will last in the fridge, uncooked?
Hi Lucy! A few days in the fridge should be just fine before cooking them.
These are delicious. I add more olive oil, use any veggies that are in season and refrigerate the mixture for an hour or two before grilling or baking them in the oven. Also I don’t use onions as I like to freeze a batch. They’re brilliant! Thank you so much!
My boyfriend just downed a plate of 8…his review…”outstanding”! I did add another 1/4 cup of carrots and substituted English cucumber for the zucchini. Fried in a mixture of canola/olive/peanut oils. Served with a mayo/schiracha ketchup dipping sauce. Will be making these often. Thank you!
Soooooo delicious!! I´m a newbie at cooking. I recently became a vegetarian and this recipe is one of my favorites now. I changed the veggies to use whatever is in my fridge.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Hi Sally,
Thus is si exciting! Just came across this recipe this morning, amazing timing as I happen to have too much leftover quinoa salad with roasted veg and was wondering what I could do with it 🙂 can’t wait to have a go…
Was just wondering if one could bake the patties instead of frying… What temperature would you suggest & how long for ? Thank you, kind regards , sara
absolutely! On an oiled baking sheet, you can bake them– I’d say 375F. They’ll be a little fluffier if baked vs lightly pan-fried.
Amazing recipe with a great taste! I made it several times and my whole family loves those delicious patties!
Made these and they were delicious! I don’t like to use my food processor so what I did was grate the veggies on a cheese grater. Worked perfect!! I also can’t have dairy so I left out the cheese and they held together fine. I wonder if these would be good in a waffle maker… ??
This has quickly become my husband and my favorite recipe. Love them! Have made them several times now with different cheeses, using red peppers (or assorted, no green), onions, minimal garlic, portabello mushrooms and they are fabulous! I have friends who are gluten free and/or vegan so I am going to experiment using your suggestions and make 2 batches for our Christmas party so we can satisfy everyone’s needs and taste compare. I will share the outcome. Thank you very much for this recipe!
I made the patties using partially ground thick rolled oats and omitted the cheese. They held together and are delish! The recipe made so many that I froze half the batch!
I’ve made this a few times now and it’s becoming a summer favourite
Easy and tasty!
I add diced sweet potato and use coconut oil to cook the quinoa patties. It adds additional flavor and texture to the patties.
I’ve made this a few times, it’s a staple for us now! Love it.
★★★★★
These are delicious. My husband liked them as well. I do not use lemon pepper so I used pepper and a squirt of fresh lemon. I was also out of carrots and only used zucchini. I will certainly make these again.
THESE ARE DELICIOUS!!!!!
These are a staple in our house.. I’ve made them too many times to count. They are my 11 month old son’s favourite thing to eat. Don’t usually comment on recipes by felt I had to because these are super yum, easy, affordable and healthy.
Great recipe! I made mine with req quinoa and added a can of mashed black beans; probably the best meatless burger I have ever tasted!! Thank you 🙂
I love this recipe but since I cannot eat fried food, I bake these instead. It’s still very tasty!
★★★★★
I made this today. It was a hit. I used grounded. Flax seed with warm water instead of egg and used red chili powder and cilantro for different flavor. Thanks for the recipe.