
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
(click to expand)
Made these Friday night and had leftovers for lunch on Saturday. We ALL loved them, and my 9 year old thinks they will be great for lunch at school, too. I was out of sweet potato and basil so used carrots and chives, worked well. So perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you :)
How tasty! I made these last night, and they were wonderfully crispy and savory. I added 1 cup of fresh sweet corn to the patties-tis the season after all! I served the patties with slices of avocado and sea salt, over a big bed of mixed greens from our CSA. Yum! Thanks for the recipe :)
Fantastic!!
My batch is still in the oven but I couldn’t help eating a few spoonfuls right out of the mixing bowl. YUM! I had a little bit of trouble getting them to stick together – wet hands helped for forming them – but oh so delicious even if they don’t look as perfect as yours :)
These are fabulous! Just made them tonight and they turned out great. Carnivore husband enjoyed them as well (with some cheese :)). Angela – such a fan of so many of your recipes!
What about the “politics” of quinoa, which is why some of my friends have stopped eating it. I say all food is political, but quinoa in particular us drawing more awareness and reaction. Your thoughts?
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/01/quinoa_bad_for_bolivian_and_peruvian_farmers_ignore_the_media_hand_wringing.html
I made this on Friday evening (without the sundried tomatoes because I didn’t have any!) and loved the recipe. I thought that they were a little dry on the first night I ate them and had a very strong taste of flour. I whipped up a little vegan tartar sauce and that really helped even out the dryness! However, like most (or all) vegetarian recipes, the cakes were so much better on the second and third (and soon-to-be fourth) nights after the ingredients could settle with each other and mix flavors. I also thought they were better pan fried (after being initially baked) to add the crunch and savory-factor. It was so exciting to be able to make quinoa cakes after years and years and years of making quinoa salads. The New York Times once posted a recipe for variations on quinoa cakes and their recipe did not have any binding agents (the cakes were supposed to stick together by the moistness of the hot quinoa alone – HELLO). It was a disaster. I am so glad to know how to make these cakes now and look forward to including different ingredients.
These are wonderful! I tried these over the weekend. I love the flavour combinations. What a great idea! In response to some of the comments, these froze really well. I just defrosted it and popped it under the broiler for a quick breakfast this morning. I had it with avocado and vegan sausages- definitely a keeper. I should mention, I made some alternations- I didn’t use oats or flour. I used 2 tbsp of almond flour and surprisingly it held together well! I used frozen spinach (defrosted) instead of kale because that’s what I had on hand. I didn’t add sunflour seeds but I definitely will next time, my sun-dried tomatoes weren’t oil packed and I used chives instead of onion! One last note, I grated raw sweet potato and added it. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be cooked but it worked and I think it would work either way. Thank you Angela!
I made these on Friday and we splurged and had them with french fries. So good. We had some of the leftovers on a big salad on Sunday and I had the rest in a wrap on Tuesday. There is no bad way to eat them!
Made these for dinner Saturday! Great recipe – they hold together well (used regular all purpose flour), taste great, and were good on salad as well as in a wrap or all alone. Even my toddler ate them (albeit with a bit of bribery to get her started!).
Just made these for dinner; my daughter and I loved them, but my 12 year old son prefers your chickpea yam burgers. Can’t fault him for that, they are delicious, too.
I made these tonight, and they are sooooooo delicious! I will be making them again and again! Thanks for the recipe!
My first comment, yay! So I made these last night, and I as I when I was shaping the patties, I was worried that they would fall apart. But once they were baked, they “gelled” perfectly together. The taste was fabulous too…well basically anything with tahini paste is fabulous. I’m writing from Israel, so tahini is staple product in our households! Thank you for this blog -OSG is the heart of our kitchen!
This recipe is four and a half. (I need to ‘save’ the half star for another recipe I love and which my husband raves about). Served them hot with fresh tomato salsa. There are a few left in the fridge – lunch today for sure!
Crispy, tasty. Thanks Angela.
I have loved many of your recipes, however, this one did not meet my expectation of wonderful. The cakes were bland and way too dry. I have tried making patties before (lentil, veggie) and always find the same problem. Either there is too little binding agent and they fall apart or they are dry. And they are always a lot bladder that I like. If you have any suggestions on improving, I would love to try again.
I found with the sundried tomato and sweet potato, it added a lot of moisture and flavour. I wonder if you need to up the sundried tomato or sweet potato content? Just a thought.
I am so excited to make these! They look and sound amazing. Quick question – I have sun dried tomatoes but they aren’t in oil. They are just dry, not in any liquid. Would those work okay, or should I buy oil-packed ones for best results/flavor? Thanks for all you do, and congrats on the little one!
Hi April, I tend to prefer the flavour of the oil-packed ones, but you can totally use dried too. Just be sure to soak them in water until soft before using. Hope this helps and thanks for your congrats!
I made these last night for my husband and I and they were delicious!! We are not vegans, but we still like to take a break from meat every now and then! The instructions were easy to follow and I feel like there could be so many things added to change the recipe up if we ever needed to in the future!! I know this meal is going to appear a lot more in our dinners from now on. Sometimes it is so difficult to come up with interesting meal choices, so I really appreciate your creativity in putting together this recipe!
Thank you!
These are amazing!!!!
These are absolutely awesome! Can think of a whole lot of different ways to enjoy them. I think this is one of my favorite recipes, though there has been many!
I love this bean-free cake. Almost like a quinoa falafel or something.
Yum!