Quinoa Pizza Bites Recipe (2024)

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By Natalie Monson

Published on June 4, 2016

28 Comments

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These power packed little Quinoa Pizza Bites are loaded with balanced protein, antioxidant rich veggies, and with a big pizza flavor, the kids will never know!

A number of years ago, I decided that once a week our family would eat meat free to help save our pastured/grassfed meat budget a little. It has become a pretty simple addition to our meal rotation, and, most of the time we barely notice. I like to use quinoa a lot on those meat free days since it is a nice complete protein. It is so versatile as well, taking on whatever the flavors are that you are working with.

That yummy pizza flavor is a big hit with kids and they are the perfect size for little hands, so these have become a popularitem in the house. I even made a double batch this week and froze un-cooked bites on a tray, then popped them into a freezer bag to use on a busy school night. These would even make a great healthy snack!

These pizza bites are also loaded with cauliflower! I often forget about that lonely cauliflower sitting at the market, but it has some amazing antioxidant properties and is loaded with vitamin C and cancer fighting power! It’s neutral flavor and color make it hide really good in these pizza bites and will give the kids an extra veggie boost for the day.

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4.1 from 22 votes

Quinoa Pizza Bites Recipe

These power packed little Quinoa Pizza Bites are loaded with balanced protein, antioxidant rich veggies, and with a big pizza flavor, the kids will never know!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 bites

Calories: 286kcal

Ingredients

1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa you can make this part days in advance or use leftover quinoa from dinner
2 cups cooked and cooled cauliflower florets, pureed you will need about half a head of cauliflower. i steamed mine for 15 minutes while my quinoa was cooking. you can make this part days in advance or use leftover cauliflower from dinner
1 egg if you are egg free, i think a flax egg or gelatin egg would work for the binding
1/4 cup white rice flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tbsp pizza sauce
2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
extra pizza sauce for dipping
optional freshly grated parmesan cheese and/or basil for garnish

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all of the ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
Gently roll about 1 inch balls and set them onto a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. You can garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese and basil if you wish and use pizza sauce for dipping!

Nutrition

Keyword : gluten-free, healthy, Pizza Bites, Quinoa, Veggies

www.superhealthykids.com

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

Hi Lynn,
We generally don’t consider calories, fat, carbs, or protein as significant in the healthfulness of a recipe. Real, healthy, whole ingredients is the focus. For an analysis of any recipe, you can enter the ingredients here http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Thanks for being a reader!

I made these today. They were tasteless and very mushy. Big disappointment and such a waste of expensive quinoa!

What a disappointment, taste is just ok but none of us like the texture of the quinoa. Maybe it should be soaked first ? It was a little too salty too.

Hello!
What should I do with the cauliflower before mixing it with all of the other ingredients? Stick it in the food processor? Also is the quinoa cooked or uncooked before it goes into the oven?

Are the quinoa and cauliflower supposed to be blended together first? I just mixed in raw quinoa and it didn’t look anything like the picture

Does the quinoa cook while they bake or do you cook the quinoa before hand? Also I’m assuming that you put it all in a food processor?

Is the cauliflower cooked?,puréed as one reader says?

Sorry for my ignorance but do you process the cauliflower?

Hi…unfortunately my bites don’t look anything like the picture , texture has a lot to be desired due to the “uncooked” quinoa…they taste ok. I will have another go and will make some adjustments in the process…if anyone has any recommendations please share. This is a great idea to get extra goodness so not ready to give up…yet

Very disappointed. My son tried to eat a few because he knew they were healthy and I really wanted him to, but finally couldn’t eat anymore. My baby, who eats everything, threw them all off of her tray! My other daughter had one and spit it out.

I was SO hoping to be able to leave a positive comment as these look and sound so great! But unfortunately mine failed as well. I followed the recipe, and mine looked nothing like these ones in the photos. The inside was like they hadn’t been cooked at all. Maybe it was the chia egg? Not sure but they just didn’t firm up. So disappointed. Not sure what we’re all doing wrong…

What can I use instead of Cauliflower?

Honestly, the ones in the picture look fried.

Mine came out great and looked a lot like the pic(although not perfect). If u read directions it does say to cook and cool everything first. Also it says the two cups of cauliflower is before puréed. With cauliflower, u do need to squeeze excess water sometimes but I had no problem with this recipe.

Hi…so sorry but mine also didn’t work – tasted okay but the dough is unworkable – I couldn’t roll it into balls. So I just whacked them in a muffin pan.
Maybe you could revise the recipe, or put a video up? It seems like such a ģreat idea for the kids…would like to give it another go!

Nice flavor and texture. I measured veggies first, then puréed, did one cup cauliflower and one cup broccoli. Look like the picture, not fried. Not sure about people using raw quinoa, the directions clearly say cooked and cooled. Side note, quinoa has a coating that is bitter, rinse well before cooking. I think these are quite good, it was easy and I am excited to have my toddler dig in.

I totally forgot to measure and squeeze the liquid from the cauliflower and I ended up having to add an extra egg because I took the liberty to add parmesan cheese and some finely diced pepperoni to the mix. Baked as directed and they look exactly like the pictures. Very delicious and will make a great afternoon snack for my son.

Would this recipe work using regular flower as well?

Can you use all coconut flour? I normally don’t use rice flour

Hi! We haven’t tried it with all coconut flour, but you can use our substitution guide to help you 🙂 https://www.superhealthykids.com/the-essential-food-allergy-substitution-guide/

I made a double batch. I squeezed the cauliflower a little bit to get most of the moisture out. But I did leave some in. Next time I will put in less salt. They made wonderful balls and looked just like the picture when baked. I used flax seeds to make two eggs for the double batch. I really liked them without the sauce, but my husband liked them with the sauce. I also would turn them over halfway. Thanks for a great recipe.

I make these for my son every once and a while…he LOVES them. They have a little bit of a crunch on the outside, soft inside.