All I can say is thank goodness I banked a few recipe posts earlier this summer because my inspiration has been pretty dismal during this kitchen reno. Combine that with the dreaded 3rd tri “preggo brain”, and my recipe mojo just isn’t flowing like it normally does. Then there was that disaster of a crock pot recipe I made on the weekend for Eric’s birthday. The pot is still soaking in the laundry tub because when you mess up a slow cooker recipe, you pay the price. I might have to chisel it out. Thankfully, I’ve been sitting on this recipe gem since June. I don’t know how I waited that long to share it because it’s a great one! When I first made these crispy quinoa cakes they disappeared at a record pace. I think I recall eating 5 of them straight from the pan. [Then I made you wait for the recipe for 2 1/2 months! Pure evil.] The next two batches were also quickly enjoyed and made easy meals for us without much fuss. We served them as part of a weekend brunch with home fries and avocado toast, for lunch on top of a salad, and for dinner tossed into a wrap or served with roasted veggies. Oh, and I also love them for a snack, straight from the fridge (yes, cold!) slathered in hummus. So unbelievably satisfying.
For those of you who can’t tolerate beans you will be happy to know these veggie cakes don’t have a bean in sight. In fact, I think this might be the only bean-free veggie patty on my entire blog! The quinoa provides a complete protein source and gives them a wonderful chewy texture at the same time. The oven bakes them up golden and crispy – no frying required. I also made the recipe gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free so almost anyone can enjoy these delightful crispy cakes. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch, snack time, or dinner, they make a great addition to any meal. Just don’t be surprised if your favourite way to enjoy them is straight from the baking sheet…
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Crispy Quinoa Cakes
Yield
1 dozen cakes
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Crispy quinoa cakes packed with vegetables like kale, sweet potato, sun-dried tomatoes, and more! Enjoy these as part of breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They are great with roasted home fries and avocado toast, on top of a salad, in a wrap, or enjoyed all of their own. It's important to make sure the vegetables are finely chopped for this recipe. If the pieces are too large, the patties won't stick together as well. Recipe inspired by Vegetarian Times .
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 tablespoons ground flax + 6 tablespoons water
- 1 cup destemmed and finely chopped kale
- 1/2 cup rolled oats, ground into a flour (use certified gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/2 cup finely grated sweet potato
- 1/4 cup finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely diced onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon runny tahini paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur) or regular all-purpose flour
- red pepper flakes, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the ground flax and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes or so to thicken.
- Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl, including the flax mixture and the 1.5 cups cooked quinoa. Stir well until the mixture comes together. Don't forget the flour because it helps bind the patties.
- Shape mixture into 1/4-cup patties with wet hands. Pack tightly so they hold together better. Place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then carefully flip cakes, and bake for another 8-10 minutes until golden and firm.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet and then enjoy!
- Store leftovers in a container in the fridge for up to 5-6 days. To reheat, preheat a skillet over medium heat, add a bit of oil, and cook patties for about 3 minutes per side, or until heated through.
Tip:
Tips: 1) To cook quinoa, rinse 1 cup uncooked quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Place quinoa in a medium pot and cover with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and then cover with a tight fitting lid. Simmer covered for 14-17 minutes until most of the water is absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and then place lid back on to steam for another 4-5 minutes. Note that this makes almost 3 cups of cooked quinoa and you only need 1 1/2 cups for this recipe, so you will have leftover quinoa (which is never a bad thing if you ask me!).
2) To make oat flour, add the oats into a high speed blender and blend on the highest speed until a fine flour forms. You can also use store-bought oat flour if desired.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
These sound divine! I love quinoa & sweet potato. I think I’ll make these up this weekend and see what the carnivore boyfriend thinks of them (trying to find the best veggie recipes to sway him to my side!)
I too recently discovered the quinoa and sweet potato combo (I was missing out) but what I love most about these cakes is the addition of the oil packed sun dried tomatoes….that’s what really packs a punch! Need a snack right now because even if I eat a good breakfast, I’m starving by 10 a.m. and wonder what my problem is?!? I wonder if other people have this issue? And no, I’m not even pregnant, so I don’t have that excuse. But you need healthy snacks like this or I will just hit up a vending machine at work and that is such a bad thing!!!
It sounds like you just have a high metabolism, Laura. I have the same problem, especially during times when I’m training for a race or doing extra workouts!
Yes, I think a high metabolism is the culprit. I am the same way. I find eating protein and a dose of healthy fats with every meal, including snacks, really helps! We burn through carbohydrates quickly, so make sure to add hummus, avocado, coconut butter, lentil dip, etc. to any grains!
Sometimes coffee with breakfast can make you hungry earlier than if you don’t drink coffee. A matcha tea is a good substitute for coffee.
I have the same issue, Laura – no matter how big my breakfast is, I’ll be starving mid morning…and my breakfasts are usually very dense. My other issue is that I very rarely feel full. I can just keep eating and eating, especially real food – not snacks like nutbars and stuff, they give me headaches. I find, that if I eat good fats, I can go a bit longer before I feel starved. An avocado makes for a great mid morning snack!
The cakes are in the oven now. Didn’t have the tomatoes and darned if I didn’t pick up a package of sun dried yesterday while shopping and changed my mind ( arthritics avoid tomatoes as much as they are amongst our favourite foods, at least in my case ) I used an egg instead and rice flour instead of all purpose – can you believe I have no other flour in my kitchen?
My question is do you have a nutritional breakdown got this recipe? I am trying to increase my magnesium potassium and calcium and although I know the kale and yam will help I’m just curious.
Hmmm those cakes are starting to be fragrant…
You can use cronometer.com for this. It’s amazing! You’ll have all the values you need.
Naja, I used to have the same problem. Turns out, I was eating too many carbs. Your body starts to crave more. and then it’s a continuous cycle. Try to eat more Protein rich foods
Sometimes just waiting to eat breakfast until 10am helps. That’s what I do.
What I love most about this recipe (and pretty much ALL of your recipes!) is that the ingredients are usually items I already have or are super easy to find! This looks yummy and it’s going on my list of recipes to try ASAP : )
Glad to hear that! Hope you enjoy the quinoa cakes :)
I agree. You have the best vegan recipes. Big up yourself from Jamaica!!
These look delicious. My mom and sister have celiac disease and cannot tolerate oats, even gluten free ones. Do you have a suggestion to replace the oats?
Hey Robyn,
I haven’t tried anything else, so it’s hard to say for sure. Other types of GF flour they can tolerate might work (maybe quinoa or millet flour?) although you’d have to add a little bit at a time until the proper sticky consistency is achieved. Let me know if you try anything out!
I just made these and used corn flour instead of gf flour. Worked great! This is an amazing recipe!
HI Robyn;
try quinoa flakes. I have often used them in place of rolled oats in cookies, and I’m sure they would work well in this recipe.
PS
this recipe looks really good, Angela! I hope to try it out before the summer is out.
Costco sells “quinoa flakes” … its LIKE oats, but quinoa instead.
So the recipe might work with that as a substitute?
Hopefully that helps!
I love the recipe! I’m coeliac as well and can’t tolerate oats. So for flour I used for this recipe corn or rice flour, I think corn starch might work even better. To subsitate the oats: I always have a mix of 2x rice, 1x millet, 1x buckwheat “oats”, that I always use instead of regular oats – on their own, they have quite a, well particular flavour, but as a mix, they work great, e.g. I use them for porridge as well.For this recipe, I didn’t grind them into flour but added them to the quinoa with a bit more water and left the mixture on the shelf for 30ish minutes before adding the other ingredients – worked out very well. Millet oats are the tiniest oats and have a very subtile taste (unlike buckwheat/rice), if you just want to buy one kind take them.
Can you freeze these? would you freeze them after cooking? I’m thinking of trying these for my daughter! At 16 months she’s getting pretty picky. Can’t wait to see what recipes you come up with for your little girl! I’m always looking for new ways to sneak in the extra veggies.
Hi Allison, Most veggie burgers freeze well, so I would think these would too. I would freeze them after cooking (and cooling) for best results.
These quinoa cakes look great!
If you’ve been eating out a lot during your renos and need some blog material, I for one would love to hear about what you get when you eat out/order in.
Not necessarily specific restaurants, but go-to vegan dishes you know you can rely on. Or, for instance, off menu options you order at “regular” restaurants.
I have been a vegan for several years but still have a very hard time figuring out what to get when i go out and end up eating a kale salad.
These sound fabulous. Would it be possible to sub ground chia seeds for the flax seeds? And is there anything that would work as a sub for the oat flour? I’m cooking for people with both flax and oat allergies.
Ground chia tends to absorb more liquid than ground flax, so you might want to cut the ground chia down to 1-1.5 tablespoons. I think it should be fine though!
As for oat replacement, I haven’t tried anything else, so it’s hard to say for sure. Other types of GF flour might work (maybe quinoa or millet flour?) although you’d have to add a little bit at a time until the proper sticky consistency is achieved. Let me know if you try anything out!
Oh wow…this looks amazing. I just happen to have most ingredients on hand. The Mr and I can’t really do kale so I would likely sub spinach but if you have any other suggestions, I’m open! :-)
yes spinach would totally work as a sub! Any type of green you like really. Just be sure it’s finely chopped so the patties stick together.
I made them without any greens (can’t have any right now), and they stuck together just fine!
These sound yummy, I love the idea of using oats as a flour. I use basil in my quinoa cakes and top them with pesto and tomato, and they taste like Italy, yum! worldwidevegetarian.com/recipe/basil-quinoa-cakes/
Thanks for sharing, I will try out your recipe.
Katie
Yum! I haven’t made quinoa in a long time! I need to get back onto the bandwagon!
Love that these are both bean and nut free! Would anything horrible happen if I left out the sun dried tomatoes? I have everything else on hand so I’d love to make these without needing to wait for a trip to the store!
You might not achieve mouthgasm…
hah ;) They do add a great flavour, but you can certainly leave them out for convenience sake!
Oh, good! I am trying to duplicate my grandmother’s Danish meatballs (Frikkerdeller) for an office holiday potluck, but I don’t think that the tomatoes would go well with the mushroom cream sauce she always used over the meatballs…
Or…would one of the lentil or bean “meatball” or “meatloaf” recipes work better for what I’m trying to do, do you think?
Oh Quinoa, I love it.. It is such a wonderful thing to eat, incredible healthy and has such a long history..
Will try this recipe the next time!
Love from Germany and the -fatcatconnection.
lasagnolove.blogspot.de/2014/08/books-on-food.html
Fantastic sounding recipe. Just what I’ve been looking for tot include in picnics for hols next week. How long will they store in the fridge for?
Hi Julie, they should be good for 5-7 days (see recipe)
Hope the renovations are going well! These look delicious – I often have trouble getting vegan patties to hold together, so I look forward to giving these a go :-)
These look divine. Thank you for my dinner for tonight.
Ack, I hate having to let slow cooker pots soak, they are so huge and get gross! I’m so into these cakes, I have quinoa hanging out in my fridge, so these are happening!
I know…I always forget how bad food sticks in them and I always forget to spray with oil! Hrmph.
Have you tried baking soda? I looked up “natural oven cleaning” online and found the tip to just wipe it with water, cover it with baking soda, and let it sit for awhile … an hour or so. Later on when you wipe it off, the baked-on crud comes right off! Some kind of chemical reaction, apparently. And if any doesn’t come right off, the baking soda is gently abrasive, so that helps, too. It makes my oven and stove look like new! So now I recommend it to everyone because it makes me happy when baked-on stuff comes off!
I’ve used baking soda on the oven but never thought to try it with the slow cooker. I’ll have to try that next time! Thankfully after a 3 day soak it all came off easily…hah.
Baking soda also works well with vinegar to unclog/clean sinks; especially on the boat ! PS – just found Quina and Kale; thank you so much for the wonderfully informative recipes !
Oh yum sweet potato quinoa cakes are my favorite but I haven’t made them in way too long. This version looks perfect — I love the addition of tahini.
I’ve made the Vegetarian Times recipe a bunch – so so good. I will definitely try your spin on it. Did you try the sauce recipe that came with it? Spicy but good.
No I haven’t tried it, but it looks good!
These look fabulous! Can you suggest a good substitute for the tahini? Would Sunbutter work? I want to make these but my husband is allergic to sesame.
Sunbutter would probably work fine…anything with a nut butter consistency I would imagine (as long as you like the taste)
Quinoa and sweet potato what a perfect combination! Lucky you have a lot of plan recipes, a kitchen renovation can be so hectic especially with the baby! I can’t wait to see the updated kitchen!
These look amazing! I’ve been looking for more ways to use quinoa!
These look amazing! I’m always excited to find recipes without egg as a binder. And whenever kale and sweet potatoes are involved, you have my undivided attention. :)