Healthy Quinoa Taco Patties - A Great Cinco de Mayo Appetizer
Gluten-free quinoa taco patties
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Celebrate!
These quinoa taco patties are the perfect appetizer for your Cinco de Mayo party! I absolutely love Mexican and Tex-Mex food so they are perfect for me any time. I actually ate this batch for lunch and dinner yesterday. They are super easy to make, take very few ingredients, and are quick to throw together. I would say they are best served hot, so keep a heat source on them. The patties are made with quinoa in place of Spanish rice. Quinoa is a fantastic nutritional food and is closely related to spinach and beets, it is not a grain as most people think. I have read it is great for migraine sufferers because of the high magnesium content. Quinoa is also high in protein, iron and is gluten-free. It can be prepared many ways and used in many types of dishes. I am only beginning to experiment with it and am loving it.
In this recipe, the quinoa is prepared like rice. Then it needs to cool a bit before it gets mixed with the diced onion, egg, shredded cheese, bread crumbs and seasonings. Then you just need to form the ingredients into patties and fry them up until golden brown. I garnished mine with more shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa. You can also garnish or serve them with any other Mexican toppings you would like, such as, black olives, jalapeno slices or guacamole. They are filling, so you may want to make the patties smaller than mine were if you are serving a lot of food. I really hope you enjoy these quinoa taco patties as much as I did!
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 cup Quinoa, pre-cooked and lightly seasoned
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
- 2 Tbsp sweet onion, diced
- 2 Tbsps taco seasoning
- 1 tsp jalapeno sauce or hot sauce
Directions
- Cook 1/2 cup dry quinoa on the stovetop in 1 cup of water. Bring the water to a rapid boil, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. You will notice little "hairs" coming off the quinoa, and that is exactly what it is supposed to do. While the quinoa was cooking I added a dash each of garlic salt, paprika and cumin to give it a little bit of flavor. Let the quinoa cool a few minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix egg, cheese, bread crumbs, onion, taco seasoning and jalapeno sauce.
- Fold in the cooled quinoa, making sure it all gets blended well so the flavors are evenly distributed throughout.
- Form into patty shapes.
- Heat 1 or 2 tsps of olive oil in a skillet to medium heat. Fry the patties up for about 3-4 minutes each side.
- Garnish with extra shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and enjoy!
