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
Could you post a list of snacks for the game? Thank you!
These look so awesome! The cheesy inside stuff looks so… cheesy! Its amazing! I think I have all the ingredients too.. YAY! 🙂
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!