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…
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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)
*UPDATE* I made these again and just threw the kale, sundried tomatoes, basil, garlic, and onion into the food processor instead of chopping it. It worked great. Plus, used an ice cream scoop to dish them out and they came out perfectly even (plus no messy hands). Yahoo! Great recipe :)
Wow these are so good! I feel so healthy eating them. Can’t wait to pack these in my lunch all week! :)
LOVE THESE! I cook them in a frying pan instead of in the oven, which gives them a delicious crust. Make a few extra and store uncooked in the fridge to heat up for a quick snack xx
How long do you cook them for in the frying pan?
Just like 7 minutes on each side on medium-high until they get crispy, and then leave them for about 10 minutes in the frying pan off the heat to make sure they’re cooked all the way through!
Hi Angela,
I don’t usually comment, but I absolutely had to after I pulled these out of the oven. I actually just finished enjoying one off the baking sheet! Haha. I followed your recipe exactly as is and they turned out perfect. They couldn’t be made better!
I also need to say thank you for making such high quality recipes – and I do not mean ingredients wise. Every measurement, time reference, and suggestion are always spot on. It helps to turn out killer meal after killer meal time and time again. Thank you for being so precise and accurate with every detail! I have my full trust in you and all of your recipes.
Xo
These are great! My two year old, who is quite a picky eater said “I like this” when I wrapped them up like a “burger”.
These turned out great! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I won’t give these a rating because mine came out kind of dry, so will try again and see what happens before giving it stars. Perhaps I did something wrong? The flavor of the patties were really, really good-so good that I had several large “tasting spoonfuls” ahead of time. But when I tried to get them on the pan I could not for the life of me get them to stick together to make cakes out of them. So I added a bit more flour, which worked well at getting them to stick but perhaps that is what made them dry? I also had a ton of the white quinoa on hand so I used that instead of the red. So maybe that was a factor also. My coworker had these for dinner one night and loved them so much she told me about them and sent me the link which turned me on to this website that has provided me with dinners for just about every night last week and now this upcoming week, so I am going to try again. When I told her mine came out dry, she said that hers didn’t at all but that they wet their hands for every patty, so maybe I will try it that way. As it was, we added ketchup on ours and once we had that addition, we scarfed these down so all in all it was a success, but I am hoping I can make my next ones come out looking like the picture. Loved the addition of the sundried tomatoes.
Yum! I just made these and they are incredible! I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog!
To quote my 11 year old…”these are delish!” This recipe is fabulous. I had already run out of time to make them the day before, so I couldn’t resist using the food processor to do the work (grating, chopping, etc…) once I’d ground the oats. Everything just went in the processor. Though i had already chopped the kale the night before. They turned out great that way…just not quite as pretty as yours. I think I’ll add more sunflower seeds next time and see if those ground with the oats make enough ” flour” to leave out the wheat flour…either way works for us though. Served them with sliced avocado and just threw the leftover sweet potato in the oven to roast like you did. Thanks for the inspiration!
My husband is all about paleo meat devouring, but I made these last week and he loved them! Plus just suggested I serve them to our four dinner guests tomorrow!! Awesome recipe :)
I just made these the other day & they were delicious! I was out of kale, so sadly there wasn’t a lot of green in them other than the basil, and I substituted the tahini for almond butter, but they still turned out great! Next time, I think it might be nice to try Indian flavours the next time – maybe some curry powder, turmeric, & a pinch of cinnamon. Might be nice! Thanks for a wonderful recipe, Angela!
I made these last week and they were so delicious!!! I went a little wild on the red pepper flakes so they had a nice kick to them. YUMMY. The only thing is that mine certainly did not look like the ones in the picture since they didnt hold together quite so well. But that didnt affect the deliciousness
Just made these for my dinner. Delish!!
Made a double batch exactly following the recipe. Froze them on a sheet pan and then transferred to a freezer bag. Tonight, I took out a few and reheated them in a pan with a little olive oil. SO GOOD. I’ll definitely be making these a part of the regular menu. Dinner was done in 15 minutes! Thanks for another great recipe!
These look AMAZING! They remind me of the wonderful veggie puffs I used to make in our pre-vegan days! Any suggestions for a workable substitution for the tahini? I can see what an important binding role it plays, but we’re allergic to sesame. Thanks!
Hi :-) I’ve recently decided to go vegan and have found your blog so useful! This will sound like a really dumb question so apologies… but I’m new to a lot of this food. I’ve read that flax can be really dangerous if you cook it, as it becomes ‘unstable’. Is this true??
made these last night. Had a hard time for them not to fall apart. Had to cook way longer than the suggested time. Don’t know what I did wrong. Do u have any suggestions in how to make them not fall apart.
I just made these and I can’t stop eating them. I live in Costa Rica so I couldn’t get ahold of any sunflower seeds or tahini at my local supermarket but they still turned out amazingly!!!! I have been sending this recipe to all of my friends. AMAZING AMAZING recipe!!!!
I didn’t have all the ingredients so I substituted here and there. Used pesto instead of sun dried tomatoes and ancho chile powder instead of red pepper flakes. Still delicious! This recipe could be prepared lots of different ways!
have made these a couple of times and they are my favourite way to use up leftover quinoa. My daughter-in-law just loaned me your cookbook which she might not get back :) And I just put it together that this recipe and the great cookbook are the same author!