Melty, cheesy, savory homemade quinoa pizza bites. This easy recipe is such a popular appetizer or healthy snack!
Pizza night will never be the same.
Bring a batch of these homemade quinoa pizza bites, and you are pretty much guaranteed to be the hit of any party or family dinner.
The healthy pizza appetizer is simple to make and can be vegan, gluten free, egg free, sugar free, flourless, nut free, soy free, and dairy free.
Also try out this Cauliflower Casserole
Vegetarians and non vegetarians both love the addictively delicious pizza balls, so you know they must be good.
And the bites are easily portable, meaning they’re great for potlucks or game day events. Or serve them as a healthy after school snack.
Kids can’t get enough of the bold pizza flavor and melty cheese filling, while parents appreciate the fiber, protein, iron, and Vitamin C packed into each and every bite.
Pizza Bite Ingredients
The recipe calls for the following eight ingredients: quinoa, beans, tomato paste, dried basil, sweetener, salt, garlic, and onion powder.
Use your favorite brand of shredded mozzarella for the cheese filling. Vegan cheese works too; that’s actually vegan cheese in the photos. The cheese is not required and they’re still yummy if you want to leave it out.
I haven’t tried it yet but would love to know if the recipe also works with rice instead of quinoa. Please be sure to report back if you try!
Quinoa Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (here's How to cook quinoa)
- 1 cup canned or cooked pinto beans
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice
- optional shredded mozzarella cheese (vegan brands work too!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a baking sheet well, then set aside. In a medium bowl, mash the beans completely. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Taste, then add a little more sweetener only if needed. (Mine didn’t need it.) Roll into balls, then break off a piece of the cheese—if using—and push it into the middle before sealing the ball back up. Place the balls onto the baking tray and cook 30 minutes. For a crispy outer shell, feel free to broil a minute at the end.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
More Healthy Meatless Recipes
Or this Cauliflower Pizza Crust
These look delicious! And the fact that they’re naturally GF=bonus! Thanks for sharing!
YUM this looks awesome, definitely trying it out!
*drool* If only I wasn’t away at school so I could make these!
What an interesting appetizer! They look delicious! Eating gluten-free means I don’t get to enjoy pizza as often (or I guess as easily) as I did before, so these would be a good way to satisfy a pizza craving!!
Yes, please! Protein and all kinds of good stuff in it and it tastes like pizza? Cannot wait to try these! Probably WILL for Superbowl, too! Thanks so much! I never would have come up with this!
WHA! These look insane! I’m a sucker for ANYTHING pizza so a healthy quinoa-y pizza bite? I am sold!
Yes! Pizza-y! Very important. Not being a football fan, I will be doing my usual improv shows on Sunday, but I don’t think I need the game as an excuse for pizza themed foods;)
I love this idea! This week my goal is to get the daily recommended amount of fiber per day (see blog for more details) and with the super bowl coming this week I have to plan ahead for sure! quinoa is a great source for fiber, can’t wait to try these this week!
When I saw these I expected some long complicated ingredient list and recipe but they are so simple! I think I’ll try them tonight 🙂 Pizza in ball form….can’t go wrong!
I made these as soon as I got home from work! And they are amazing! Such a great alternative to those mozzarella sticks and pizza rolls in one. I could have eaten the quinoa mix by itself! I used cannellini beans because I was out of pinto at home, but maybe they taste more Italian that way. I also doubled the garlic and added cayenne because I like my food spicy. Thanks so much for this recipe!