These delicious Cheesy Quinoa Bites are brought to you in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. Thank you for supporting the companies that encourage my creativity.
I know exactly what you are going to do with your leftover quinoa. Make these Cheesy Quinoa Bites of course!
Do you ever have times where you have leftover quinoa from dinner and don’t know how to repurpose it? This happens to me often. While sometimes I make my Cranberry Quinoa Salad, there are times where I want to make something that everyone will devour.
Yes, it’s true. Not everyone devours salad at my house – shocker! But quinoa is a very versatile ingredient that is also nutritious. It’s naturally gluten-free and easy to digest for half of my house.
This recipe will transform you into a quinoa ninja because it comes together with super speed and the oven does the rest. For our picky eaters, it doesn’t taste or feel like they are eating quinoa, just bites of cheesy delicious yumminess. You have to watch this video where I show you how easy they are to make and fun to eat.
While you can create just about anything with quinoa; salads, appetizers, turn it into granola, breakfast bowl… none of our attempts at introducing this grain to your families will be as successful as this one -guaranteed.
With the success of these tiny bites at home for dinner served with a little marinara or tomato soup, I was encouraged to send them to school in my kids’ lunchbox. Want to up the special factor? Send them a printable note with their lunch that says “baked with love” to make them feel special when they open up their lunch.
To their surprise, it’s not a brownie or cookie but once they try them and taste them, the savory baked treat will be welcomed. Hey, sometimes it’s good to think outside the peanut butter sandwich, right?
What’s awesome is that these Cheesy Quinoa Bites can be customized to whatever you have on hand in the fridge. I am sharing the basic cheesy recipe but add 1 cup of veggies, ham, pepperoni… you get it.
The recipe is also simple enough that if you have nothing to pack for lunch, you can whip it up in the morning while the coffee is brewing. Cook quinoa in the morning? Nope. That’s because you can freeze it too! Boom. That’s two tips in one 😉
Some days, I like to send a cup of my Veggie Tomato Soup inside a thermos and use these as cheesy dippers.
And for grownups, you can chop them up on top of a salad and turn them into cheesy croutons. There is no limit on how you can use these, and they are a total crowd pleaser.
What add-ons would you add into your quinoa bites?
PrintCheesy Quinoa Bits
These cheesy quinoa bites are easy to make and a delicious way to repurpose leftover quinoa into a fun lunch!
- Yield: 12–15 bites 1x
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked Quinoa
- 1 cup grated Monterrey Jack or Mozzarella Cheese
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, whisked
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and grease or spray a mini muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, grated cheese, and grated parmesan cheese. Add seasonings and combine. Add the whisked egg and using a fork, mix well until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Transfer quinoa mixture into the muffin tin pan and bake for 15-18 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow bites to cool down before removing and serving with marinara sauce for dipping.
Notes
Notes: the recipe will yield 12 bigger bites or 18 smaller bites in height.
Mikayla Pheifer
Can you freeze these? If i made a triple batch and cooked them and then froze them?
Laura Fuentes
You sure can! just heat them up and serve. Enjoy!
Mindy G
I would add a few veggies to help boost the nutrients…maybe broccoli or even little bits of kale.
Rachel
Oh any kind of savory crumbled meat or olives!