
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…


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
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I just made these for dinner. Absolutely fantastic flavour and texture.
It’s obviously a good recipe as it can stand up to a little “oh no I’ve run out of….” subsitution. I used finely chopped broccoli as I had no kale, left out the onion, added more garlic and a good spoonful of my beloved piment de Espelette.
Thanx very much for a bean-free burger option :)
This looks amazing!!! So many good ingredients in there… yum!!
My kind of lunch/dinner/ snack ;)
I can’t wait to try this out.
btw. I think holding out on sharing recipes will be your secret to have something to share once the baby comes ;)
I am adding things to my blog that I cooked/ baked back in early spring.
Just a tip mama – shoot now and keep a supply ready ;)
xoxo ella
Made these tonight with a black bean/corn/red pepper salad, fresh quacamole, and tortilla chips. The husband was very appreciative and said the sundried tomatoes is what made them :)
Christine, what a great combo. I was in hurry making the recipe and just didn’t have time to come up with the “sides”. I will have to try these out.
Never commented before – but had to this time round because this is the first time I’ve tried something the day you posted it (normally I wait a while to see if other people experiment with replacements since not everyone in my family is strictly vegan, or even vegetarian. And since we’re not, sometimes if I buy something specifically for a vegan recipe and only use a tbsp, well, sadly it often goes to waste before it gets used again. I digress). These are amazing! I did end up substituting the tahini with sesame oil 1:1 (our tahini had gone bad). Even my dad, who was at first disappointed there was no meat with dinner tonight, loved them. So so good!!
Thank you Alexandra! I’m so happy you enjoyed it so much. Thanks for your quick feedback too!
Made these last night… amazing! There was one that was a little thinner (end of the bowl) and it was rather dry; so be sure to keep them more on the plump side.
I usually don’t leave comments but… these were fabulous!
I made them last night when I had my grandmother over (a strict believer in “vegetarians still eat lamb… right?”) and even she was impressed.
For those of us like me who still dream of a food processor and a vitamix this recipe was easy and approachable. A sure to be staple in my fridge from this point forward.
I made these, subbing short grain brown rice (which I already had cooked) for the quinoa. The rice was nice and sticky, so the cakes held together incredibly well and developed an amazing crispiness, even though they were oven-baked. I followed the recipe otherwise to a T, and they came out perfectly! My meat-loving finance even said these were his favorite veggie burgers I’ve made to date :-)
Tried then, loved them. The whole family loved them (they are not completely veggie either). Even my picky pants son says, “mum, these are really great.”
Thanks Angela
Can I make these ahead and freeze or refrigerate them? Trying to save time before a party! :)
I’m planning on making these tonight with grated red potatoes instead of the sweet potatoes. Any thoughts on whether or not this could work?! Either way, I’ll keep ya posted! (My bf doesn’t like sweet potatoes, which is complete madness to me! Just doesn’t make sense!)
I can’t see why it wouldn’t work! Although I don’t think I have ever used grated potato in a veg burger recipes (need to fix this obvi!)
Angela, the recipe states grated sweet potato but the picture above looks like you cubed and roasted them – is it raw and grated or the other? Thanks so much
I used raw grated sweet potato in the quinoa cakes.
The roasted cubes are what I served on the side :)
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly . I just made two batches – love them.
The regular red potato worked great! Served these with your avocado basil cram and fresh sliced heirloom tomatoes from our garden, and they were awesome!!! Thanks for all your great recipes and inspiration!!!
I have to start by saying I am not vegan. I do eat meat occasionally, but am largely vegetarian. I made these for the second time tonight. Tonight I changed them up by substituting a mixture of spinach and kale, swapping cilantro for the basil, and adding finely diced jalapeño. We topped it all with mango salsa and blackened cod on the side. Amazing.
These look so yummy, I just restocked on quinoa so it’s perfect! yay!
I finally made them today, they’re SO GOOD! The combination of flavours is fantastic and they were rather quick to prepare as I had cooked quinoa on hand. I shared them with friends who tend to turn their nose up at vegetarian/vegan food and they also loved it. Another winning recipe which will be in heavy rotation over here. Thanks!
The weather has been so bleak in Toronto and I am craving sweet potatoes already! These look amazing, colourful and fresh. Here’s hoping the weather gets nicer but in the meantime, I am preheating my oven to make these. Thanks so much!
This Quinoa Cakes look phenomenal and I love that they are a bit different that the average go-to bean or lentil burger (haha, as much as I love beans sometimes I don’t feel like a whole bunch of beans for dinner!) :D I can imagine how great these burgers taste with a big bowl of crispy greens!! Yummyy!!
Made these tonight. Insanely good! I always keep cooked quinoa in my freezer so this was a cinch to make. I also used my food processor to chop everything finely and save on time. I also subbed hempseeds for the sunflower seeds due to allergies in our house. Thx for such fab recipes.
These quinoa cakes are sitting in the fridge waiting to be baked tomorrow. I had to substitute dried basil for fresh ‘cos when I pulled out the fresh basil….well it wasn’t that fresh….. Instead of the “runny tahini”, I used your Ultra Creamy Hemp Seed Dressing. I will have to freeze most of the burgers. Angela, could you remind me/us, why you choose to bake your burgers before freezing as opposed to freezing them raw?
So…I made them tonight with a twist.. I didn’t make burgers….I put the mixture in tart shells, to have sort of a “meat” pie experience. Quite good.
These look so good! How rude of you to make us wait 2 1/2 months though…I guess we’ll let it slide this time since you are preggers :) Love the recipe and your pictures are beautiful as always.