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
Yum! Just made these with black beans and cheese cheese, grated & mixed in. So tasty!
Cheddar cheese, I meant!
I know I tweeted about it already but just wanted to let everyone here know they were delicious! I used chickpeas and they were absolutely wonderful! Thanks Katie 🙂
Hi Katie! I want to thank you for helping all of us out here on Doug Kaufmann’s anti-fungal diet. Your recipes are inspirational and especially helpful in this case because of our limited use of ingredients. I have a question about coconut butter. I have been desperately trying to find coconut milk without guar gum and other preservatives in all the health food stores in my area to no avail:-( It is one of the anti fungal diets friendly foods, I have been so excited to try to make ice cream and whipped cream. You can imagine my disappointment:-( I found Artisana coconut butter and was pleasantly surprised to see that you can make coconut milk from it so I got excited and gave the company a call to ask about whipping it or using it to make ice cream. Guess what they suggested? That I contact you! What a compliment huh? I’m not surprised but just had to share that with you! They said that if anyone would know or could figure out how to make it happen it would be you. Pretty awesome coming straight from the manufacturer! So my question would be is it is possible to make whipped cream, ice cream or other recipes that call for coconut milk from coconut butter? Again, thanks for everything you do because it is truly a gift and I just wanted you to know how much you are helping the people who are out here struggling to get well. God bless you and your kitchen! Robin
there is also a lady with a site all about coconut oil, she might be able to help…I think coconutoil.com lol
love love loving your blog. just thought i’d share. thanks for the great fantastic delicious ideas.
Couldn’t make balls out of mine. Followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a soup! Not asking for advice to fix it, and I love a lot of the recipes Katie gives, but I’m not sure what was wrong with this one (at least for me).
I’m having the same issue here! Not exactly a soup but it’s not firm enough to make balls. What could be wrong here?
It sounds like you just need to cook your quinoa longer.
As far as I know there’s only one way to cook the quinoa and it’s not the first time I’ve cooked it so I’m thinking it must be something else.
This is a great appetizer that takes only minutes to make (not including the baking time)!
Thanks again CCK!
Thanks for the shout-out! Those quinoa pizza bites are definitely one of the most popular items to ever have come out of my little blog. 🙂 Your twist on them looks delicious!
These were amazing! I am not vegan so I did use regular mozzarella and it worked perfectly! My daughter hates when I serve quinoa at dinner but, she loved these!! I’ve actually made several items from your blog and they’ve all been amazing!!! Thank you 🙂
let’s face it, I am lazy, so when I had put a can of pinto beans into cooked quinoa in the rice cooker, and then found this recipe, a light bulb went off. So I added the recipe’s spices, vegan mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, (as I had no paste,) to the mixture in the cooker. I just ate a “bowl”. Next time I will have toast too. yummy Katie, ty!!!
These look delicious! Can I freeze theese?
Made these today for the Super Bowl! One of my favorite recipes of yours…everyone loved them (and I did too!) I couldn’t believe how satisfying they were! Thanks for another amazing recipe, Katie. 🙂
You had me at pizza! Looks sooo yummy, can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
I just made these for dinner tonight and they were so delicious!! I used regular mild cheddar cheese for most of them and Daiya Jack for some as my brother is allergic to dairy. I also used Great Northern beans because I didn’t have any pinto beans. I will certainly be making these again, all 6 of my family members loved these! Thank you so much for another healthy meal idea, Katie!
I’ve read all of the comments, and it seems no one has the same question as I do: in your ingredients list, is it “1 cup of quinoa, cooked”, or “1 cup of cooked quinoa”. When I make 1 cup of raw quinoa it becomes larger than the 1 cup. Do I use just one of those cooked cups, or do I use all of it? Thanks.
1 cup cooked, so 1/4 cup raw.
So people. Don’t sub kidney beans or oregano. I didn’t have pintos or basil so I did….They do not compare to the flavors that come with marrying basil and pinto! My heart, it aches.
Hi. I’m very keen to make these. Wondering if it will work if I make the balls ready the night before, keep them in the fridge and pop in the oven when ready for them? Can you foresee any issues if I did this or will it be a disaster? Cheers.