Quinoa Cakes
These Crispy Quinoa Cakes are flavored with fresh herbs, garlic, and parmesan cheese, then pan-fried in olive oil until golden brown and crispy on each side. It’s a great side dish for dinner!
If you’ve got leftover quinoa that you don’t know what to do with, this is a great way to use it up.
Quinoa has a reputation as one of those expensive trendy healthy foods, but I have to say that I really love it.
Some grains can be relatively flavorless granules of starch, but quinoa has a really nice nuttiness and flavor to it, and has a wonderful fluff in its texture.
And it can also be mega crispy if you toast it or fry it in some olive oil. A local chocolate shop a couple blocks from my apartment has an award-winning quinoa chocolate bar, where the toasted quinoa gives it a Crunch-bar-like texture comparable to crispy rice!
These crispy parmesan quinoa cakes give you the best of both worlds in quinoa — that crispy, crunchy golden brown top, and a fluffy quinoa exterior.
My favorite part about quinoa cakes has to be the versatility. I have made these many, many times, and each time I make it the mix-ins are slightly different. Give it any flavor theme you want, and use your favorite herbs and cheeses.
Though this rendition has a parmesan herb theme, a Greek-style quinoa cake with feta, olives, and tomatoes is a close second.
You can really play around with the ingredients.
How to Make Quinoa Cakes:
First you need some cooked quinoa.
You can either use leftover quinoa, or take 15 minutes to cook some fresh (instructions are in the recipe box, but basically just quinoa, water, and a pinch of salt):
While the quinoa cools, we’re going to prep a few mix-in ingredients.
A scallion, parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, and garlic:
Add those to the quinoa:
Then stir in panko bread crumbs, salt, and pepper:
Finally, add 4 beaten eggs to the mix:
Stir this all together until the quinoa is evenly moistened:
Pack the quinoa mixture into a 1/4 cup measuring cup very firmly, then tap it on a flat surface to release each cake:
Pan-fry the quinoa cakes in olive oil for 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy:
I also recommend these 15-minute Zucchini Fritters which are similar to these, or this wonderful Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. Enjoy!
Crispy Parmesan Quinoa Cakes
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups raw quinoa*
- 1 scallion sliced
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped oregano
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 4 large eggs beaten
- olive oil for pan frying
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa, rinse it well in a strainer with cold running water for a minute, then place in a saucepan with 3 cups water and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, reduce to a simmer over medium low heat, and cook for 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. Fluff the quinoa with a fork or spatula, and let it cool for about 5 minutes.
- Add the scallion, garlic, parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, and panko bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper to the quinoa, and toss to combine. Then add the beaten eggs, and stir until the quinoa is moistened.
- Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pack the quinoa mixture very firmly into the cup, then tap the cup on a flat surface to get the quinoa cake to release. Repeat with the remaining quinoa mixture.
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan over medium heat, then fry the quinoa cakes for 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove the quinoa cakes to a paper towel to drain. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
Post updated August 2018 with re-edited photos, more writing, and new tips. Originally published February 2016.
38 Comments on “Quinoa Cakes”
You can make this vegan by using garbanzo water in place of egg.
H! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I tweaked it slightly and they still turned out delish! I used a mini food processor to finely chop up some brocolli and added that.
I used the 1/4 measuring cup as recommended but put the mixture in well greased muffin pan and baked them at 350 for 1/2 hour. Let them cool and flipped them onto wire cooling rack. Turned out great!
Can these be baked?
I think someone tried it and had success, but I haven’t tried it.
We really love these with marinara sauce, poached eggs and avocado !
That sounds wonderful!
What is the calorie count for 1 cake
I updated the yield to 12 cakes, so the calorie count is now per cake. However, the calories are approximate and automatically calculated based on ingredients. But it’s a good starting point!
This was fair. I know I did not use fresh herbs so that may be why. I enjoyed making this too. I added little bits of broccoli to some which seemed to help.
Do these freeze and reheat well? Trying to find healthy sides to bulk meal prep.
Hi Sam, I haven’t tried, but there’s a good shot they would freeze well because it’s mostly grains.
Looks delicious. Could you use packaged quinoa like from seeds of change?
Hi Marina, I’m not familiar with that product so I’m not sure. My guess is it should work fine!
I made these and my husband ate 8 of them !!!! We loved them. They stayed formed while pan frying. Delicious. We have a recipe book we add “must make again recipes” and this was added.
Hi Ashley, so happy you both loved these so much!
These are delicious. I’m not counting calories. I’m on the “who cares” diet. But… what I am going to do next time is NOT put them in these little measuring cups, but make faux meatballs and serve them with spaghetti with tomato sauce. It is too time consuming to try to be creative and get them out of the measuring cup. Roll ’em and fry em!
That’s a good idea. Hope it turns out well!
I made them in a muffin tin they turned out great also I added carrot celery and capsicum they are yummy
Hi Karen, so you baked them completely in the muffin tin and didn’t fry at all? Someone asked if they can be baked, and it sounds like you did it and it turned out well!
What time and temp? How many muffins? 12? 24? Thanks
Could you bake these? I made a similar recipe recently and the patties fell apart easily.
Hi Emma, I haven’t tried baking these, but my guess is they would be pretty different since they aren’t being pan fried.
I freaking love the quinoa cakes that whole foods sells for $3.99 a pop. Well, let’s just say you’ve inspired me to stop spending $3.99 and start making my own, because yours look even better than theirs!
Looks great! Going to try this recipe .
I am not usually a big fan of quinoa (the texture is too “wet” for me!) but I bet I’d love these! I’m going to share this on my Facebook page – thanks for the recipe!