Melty, cheesy, savory homemade quinoa pizza bites are such a crowd pleasing easy appetizer or healthy snack recipe!
Why you’ll love these quinoa pizza bites
- Pretty much a guaranteed hit at any game day or brunch party, holiday event, or casual weeknight family dinner. Your next pizza night will never be the same.
- Tastes like cheese pizza in the form of a nutritious, protein packed bite.
- Quick to prepare using basic ingredients, and very easily adaptable to egg free, dairy free, sugar free, low carb, gluten free, oil free, and vegan diets.
- The bites are easily portable, meaning they are a great vegetarian option for potlucks or sports tailgating. (Think, football playoffs, Super Bowl, or March Madness.) Or serve them as a low calorie snack after work or school.
- Their soft, chewy texture delights guests of all ages, and parents appreciate the fiber, iron, and Vitamin C in each quinoa ball. Leftovers? Highly doubtful!
Also try these nutritious Sweet Potato Brownies
Step by step recipe video
Quinoa pizza bite ingredients
The recipe calls for just eight ingredients: quinoa, cooked beans, tomato paste, dried basil, sweetener, salt, garlic, and onion powder.
Quinoa – This can be red, black, or white quinoa, or a combination. Raw quinoa contains a bitter natural coating called saponin, so it is important to always rinse quinoa before cooking.
These bites remind me of a healthier, oil free and baked version of arancini, but I have never tried substituting rice or another grain. If you try it before I do, be sure to report back.
Beans – Use either cooked or canned beans. I like pinto beans or white beans here. While garbanzo beans (chickpeas) technically work, the quinoa balls will be a bit more gritty.
Tomato paste – For best concentrated taste and texture, do not substitute tomato puree or sauce or ketchup for the paste.
Spices – Minced garlic, onion powder, dried basil, and a pinch of salt give these healthy savory snack balls their bold pizza flavor.
Sweetener – Just a teaspoon of your favorite sweetener balances the acidity of the tomatoes. Feel free to use unrefined sugar, brown sugar, stevia, honey or pure maple syrup.
Optional cheese – The recipe is completely delicious whether or not you choose to stuff it with cheese. I’ve found that string cheese works best, and Daiya vegan mozzarella sticks work well for a dairy free option.
While the oven is hot, bake Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
How to make the healthy snack bites
- Begin by rinsing the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer to remove saponins.
- In a small saucepan, bring the water, quinoa, and 1/8 teaspoon of the salt to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover and lower to a simmer for about fifteen minutes, or until water is absorbed and the grains are light and fluffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit or 176° Celsius.
- Drain and rinse the beans, then mash well in a large mixing bowl, using a fork.
- Add the cooked quinoa, tomato paste, spices, remaining salt, and sweetener to the mashed beans. Stir evenly incorporate all ingredients.
- Use clean hands to roll the dough into balls similar in size to meatballs. Place on a nonstick or parchment lined baking sheet, leaving space between the balls.
- If desired, break off a small piece of string cheese and press it into the middle of each quinoa pizza bite before cooking.
- Place the pan on the center rack of the oven, and bake for twenty five minutes or until fully cooked and slightly crispy on the outside.
- Enjoy hot or cold. Once cooled, refrigerate any leftovers in a covered container for up to five days. Or freeze for up to two moths and reheat before serving.
Leftover quinoa? Make Breakfast Quinoa or Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bites
I recently made them for a baby shower this past month.
Can confirm, the recipe is a big hit with both vegans and non vegans, alike.
The recipe was inspired by these Vegan Meatballs.
Quinoa Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup raw quinoa (50g)
- 3/4 cup water (180g)
- 1 cup canned or cooked pinto beans (240g)
- 1/2 cup tomato paste (120g)
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice (5g)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp dried basil (optional)
- 3 sticks string cheese or vegan mozzarella (optional)
Instructions
- 1. To make the quinoa pizza bites, first rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer to remove saponins.
- 2. Bring the water, quinoa, and 1/8 tsp of the salt to a boil in a small saucepan.
- 3. As soon as it begins to boil, cover the pot and lower to a simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
- 4. Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (176° Celsius).
- 5. Drain and rinse the beans. In a large mixing bowl, mash beans well with a fork, then stir in the cooked quinoa, tomato paste, spices, remaining salt, and sweetener until evenly mixed.
- 6. Roll the dough into balls. If desired, break off a small piece of cheese and press into the center of each quinoa ball.
- 7. Place on a nonstick or parchment lined baking sheet, and bake on the center rack of the oven for 20 minutes or until slightly crispy on the outside.
- 8. Enjoy these savory healthy snacks hot or cold. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to five days, or freeze for longer storage.
Video
Notes
More healthy meatless recipes
Oh my gosh these look unbelievably fantastic! I can’t wait to try them. I’m doing a Super Bowl potluck at my house this year, and I know there will be a mix of vegan and non-vegan dishes. I’m really trying to educate my family and friends on how delicious and fulfilling vegan food can be (in a totally non-pushy and polite way, hopefully), and I was a little stuck on what to do for Super Bowl. The best I had so far was guacamole and vegan chili. Do you (or anyone else) have any other ideas? Also, would you mind terribly if I reposted this on my own blog (or at least tossed in a link to this)? Thanks for the great idea!
So…this reply is a little late (just look up the pizza bites for a possible 4th of July recipe), but what I did for vegan friends during football season was to make vegan chickpea cutlets from Vegonomicon (http://www.chow.com/recipes/11364-chickpea-cutlets) in nugget shapes, then toss in wing sauce (I used a vegetable spread instead of butter).
These look so good I want to make them tomorrow! I just don’t have pinto beans. Do you think chick peas, black beans, brown rice, or lentils could work?
I’ve not tried, so you’ll have to experiment :).
The optional cheese reminds me, is there a link someone could point me to for making vegan cheese? I know how to make a cheesy sauce to go with macaroni, but that’s it. It’s easier for me to go homemade than to experiment with store bought brands.
Is the nutritional value based on eating 10 of them to make 420 calories or 42 calories for 10? lol i’m so sorry its late and I clearly can’t comprehend!
It’s 42 calories per bite based on 10, so if you get 10 bites out of the recipe then each one will have 42 calories. It would be 420 calories for all 10.
Looking delicious…
Can’t wait, Just wanna try as soon as possible..
Did you realize you just made “arancini?!” lol! I made quinoa arancini a while back…I’m not unfamiliar with making arancini but always wanted to try it with quinoa…#1 because I eat gf, and #2 because I love quinoa! Well, I had my ENTIRE ITALIAN family (i.e., in ITALY) scarfing these down! Success! Your recipe is a bit different but regardless, I KNOW these taste AWESOME! Great pics! Btw, here’s the link my recipe:
http://www.bitesforbabies.com/recipes/pesto-prosciutto-and-mozzarella-stuffed-quinoa-arancini/
awesome! I love that this recipe is GF and will definitely be making at some point. I’m a Canuck and I feel like people in Canada watch the Super Bowl as an excuse to pig out on bad foods. I don’t have any plans but generally it’s not enjoyable because everything is deep fried!
I don’t care if pizza-y is a word or not, but it was begging to be made into one! 🙂
Oh, yum, both of your options for Super Bowl dessert recipes sounds *SO* good!!!! Are you planning on posting them? Please, please, please….? *puppy dog eyes* 🙂
Yes 🙂
YAY!! Thank you!!! Looking forward to it!
These look seriously delicious!! I can’t wait to try them!
I love this idea for quinoa, I am in the middle of making them right now… in love with the flavor but mine don’t seem to roll… so I plopped them on the sheet in hope they would bake… they are in the oven right now… what do you think could have went wrong?
How’d they turn out?
Hey, I wonder what I could substitute for the beans? I’m not a fan of them :/
These…look amazing. I need to make these soon.
I made these today and they were absolutely amazing!! Just varied it a little:
Instead of pinto beans I used kidney beans.
I multiplied it by 1.5 so that I used the whole can of beans.
I got 21 balls out of it, and analyzed my nutrition, but somehow got 100 calories per ball 🙁
I added just a bit of marinara to it.
My picky water husband couldn’t get enough! Yummy!
Should say picky eater – not water!
If you used an online calculator, it probably just did dry beans instead of canned by mistake. Online calculators seem to have trouble calculating canned beans. Cooked quinoa as well.
You’re right! I went back and realized that that is exactly what happened! By the way, I absolutely love your blog and all of your recipes. I have never tried so many recipes from one site before. I love how you show people how delicious vegan food can be. I am sure you inspire a lot of people to go veg 🙂
These are delicious! My 4yr old loves them!
Hi Katie! I’ve tried to find a way to do this privately, but you’re a fortress! 😀 Just wanted to make sure that I had your blessing to totally plug this fantastic site on my own blog (which I won’t plug on yours!) Please email me privately for the link and you can take a look at it. If any issues, I will be happy to comply. (Totally just giving you props on the page though as I use your site to keep my clean-eating sweet tooth happy). Keep up the great work! Love this site!
Aw Melissa I’m honored. THANK YOU :).
YUM! Love this idea and I wonder if they could freeze well…hrmm