Vegan Quinoa Fritters
I love fritters.
Like, LOVE them. I love broccoli fritters and all other veggie fritters. The other day as I was cooking, I was dreaming of fritters, as one does, and was thinking up ways to make them super crispy. I had just eaten a quinoa granola and thought about how great of a crunch it had. Then, BAM! This idea popped in my brain. Has it been done before? Am I a GENIUS?! Who knows, really. But I did know I had to try to make them.
I was a little concerned if they’d turn out since quinoa doesn’t tend to stick together. I thought adding flour and an egg would probably be best, since that is what I’d do if I were making veggie burgers. But because of COVID, homemade pasta the night before and avoiding excess trips to the grocery store, I ran out of eggs. But it worked out for the best since I was able to make it vegan with a flax egg, so even more people can enjoy this creation!
For this recipe, you start out cooking the quinoa as you usually would with water, salt and spices. You can also cook it in veggie broth for even more flavor, but again, COVID, so I didn’t have veggie broth. Once the quinoa is cooked, let it cool and then add the flax egg and flour. Mix, shape and voila! You have the perfect patties to form and pan fry. I cooked mine in olive oil and served with a side greek salad, hummus and balsamic glaze. It was pretty amazing, if I do say so myself!
Vegan Quinoa Fritters
Ingredients:
- 2 cups quinoa White or a combo of red and white work fine
- 4 cups water or vegetable broth
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 tsp dill
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup flour
Instructions:
- Add medium pot to the stove top. Add 2 cups of quinoa to 4 cups of water. Add salt, dill, garlic powder and onion powder to water. Allow quinoa to cook all the way through until all water is absorbed.
- Dump quinoa into a heat safe bowl, allowing it to cool completely. Taste to see if you need anymore salt or other spices.
- While quinoa is cooling, create 1 flax egg with 1 tbsp of flax and 1/2 tbsp water. Combine and let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Once quinoa cools completely, add flax egg and begin to add flour. Stirring as you add. How much flour you add is going to depend on how wet your quinoa is, so add a little bit at a time and stir as you go. The texture you're looking for is enough moisture to bind the fritters together, but dry enough that you can handle the fritters pretty easily.
- Once your quinoa mixture is ready, add 2 tbsp of olive oil in a non stick pan on the stove.
- Once oil is hot, form your fritter and add to the oil, squishing down with the back of a spatula slightly so they are flat. Cook on one side until you begin to see a golden color on the under side. Flip and allow to cook on the other side.
- Once cooked on both sides, add the fritter to a wire rack with a baking dish under it so the fritters will firm up and set. Repeat this process with all fritters.
