Quinoa Pizza Bites


Cooking with grains, Pork, Sun Oven, Vegetarian

Print the recipe page!  quinoa pizza bites

Just WAIT until you try these! If you’ve ever caught anyone saying they don’t like quinoa then this is the recipe to convince them they like it.   Your family is going to devour these quinoa bites, they really will!  And you yourself don’t have to feel guilty eating them…according to the original post (linked in the next paragraph) their calorie count is just 35 calories per bite!

I found them over at So Very Blessed and thank Becky over there for sharing them.  Becky says they’re “hands down” the best thing she’s ever cooked.

As far as making them with food storage ingredients, they cooperate just perfectly!  I used ground chia instead of eggs, freeze dried cheese and veggies in exchange for fresh.  I’ve tried out two different variations so far… both of which have been great!   They’re so easy to change up based on what you like or what you can eat (even vegetarian) I’m convinced anyone can work these yummy bites into their plan!

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makes 29 bites 

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa (*see note)

2 TBS chia powder (along with 4 TBS water to add mid-recipe) — or 2 eggs

1/2 cup freeze dried onion flakes – or- 3/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup freeze dried, canned or dehydrated veggies of your choice, rehydrated if needed

1 cup chopped pepperoni (*see note)

1 cup freeze dried mozzarella cheese -or- 1 cup regular mozzarella

1 1/2 cups warm water (for rehydrating veggies)

1/2 cup water (not heated, for rehydrating cheese)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1 (4 oz.) can pizza sauce, for dipping

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Instructions:

Preheat your oven or sun oven if using.  Prepare quinoa.  While quinoa is cooking, rehydrate all veggies using warm water.  Rehydrate cheese by combining with 1/2 cup water (room temperature or cool), allowing to absorb for 5 minutes, draining and placing on a paper towel to pat dry.

In a mixing bowl combine all rehydrated ingredients and other ingredients EXCEPT chia powder, it’s 4 TBS water and pizza sauce.  Stir to combine then evenly sprinkle the chia powder over all and stir.  Finally, add the 4 TBS water and stir again.  Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes so that the chia powder can absorb the moisture and gel.  If using eggs, this last step can be skipped.  Just add the eggs to the mixture with the other ingredients .

Scoop by heaping TBS into greased mini muffin cups, pressing down to compact, and bake at 350 (or there about) for 15-20 minutes.  Pull out of the oven and allow bites to cool before serving.  Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

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Rehydrate veggies…

To one cup freeze dried cheese add 1/2 cup of room temperature or cool water.  Stir with a fork about 5 minutes until the cheese is  hydrated.  Drain excess water.  Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and pat with a paper towel until moisture is gone.  Fluff with a fork.

Combine everything except for the chia, it’s 4 TBS water and pizza sauce, in a mixing bowl.  Evenly sprinkle the chia powder over the mixture and stir.  Lastly, add the water and stir.  Allow this mixture to sit for 30 minutes for the chia to “gel” with the water.

Scoop by heaping TBS into greased mini muffin cups, pressing to compact until filled.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Serve with pizza sauce for dipping and (unless you’ve reserved some ahead of time for yourself) get ready to start another batch right away!

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Notes:

  • I found these great mini muffin tins by Wilton that fit perfectly into my sun oven.  The muffin tins can be stacked on top of each other (so easy!) and gives the “electricity free” option of being made in a sun oven.
  • So far (besides this one) I’ve tried them with spinach and mushrooms as well as a cheese only variety for my plain jane.  In the comments from the original recipe there were those who tried it without cheese (saying it was still very good) as well as those who made them using millet instead of quinoa.  So many options; I’m thinking a Mexican variety sounds good too!
  • I store pepperoni sticks that I buy here.  They have an 18 month shelf life! Be sure to remove the paper wrapper before use.  This is how you prepare the pepperoni before using it:

Cooking Quinoa

By using less liquid than the usual prescription of 1:2, you’ll end up with much better quinoa that’s not a big gluey mess.  For reference, 1/2 cup dry quinoa will make 2 cups when cooked — so you can gauge the amount you begin with accordingly.  This is what I do…

If you are using unrinsed quinoa, rinse it first to get rid of it’s natural bitter coating.  The best way to do this is to soak it.  You can soak it up to an hour (or more) without a problem but 15 minutes is good enough if you’re in a hurry.  After soaking, rinse it in a fine metal strainer (or cheesecloth if you don’t have a strainer).  If you’re using pre-rinsed quinoa you can skip this step.

In a pot, add one part quinoa with one and one quarter parts liquid.  This can be broth or whatever you’re gearing the quinoa to be used for, for this recipe I just used water.  Bring this to a boil (covered) and either turn it down to simmer for 20 minutes or transfer it to your wonder oven until all the liquid is absorbed (again, 20 minutes).

BTW, I love that little bundle on the left even more than 100 wonder ovens!! ♥

And here it is, easy, healthy and perfectly cooked quinoa!

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8 Replies to “Quinoa Pizza Bites”

  1. I’d like to try these, but I don’t have the type of cheese you reference. How much “regular” cheese should I use? Also, if I’m using eggs instead of chia, does it matter when I add them, and do I need to let the mixture sit for 30 minutes? Thanks so much.

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