Sriracha Quinoa Cakes are packed with flavor and protein that will help get you through the day. They make the perfect party appetizer, but are also a deliciously healthy addition to your lunch.
I'm pretty sure sriracha is the grown-up version of ketchup. And though there will always be a special place in my heart for the tomato-based condiment, I've been replacing ketchup with sriracha in pretty much everything these days. You probably are too, since I'm pretty sure everyone in the world is obsessed with it (aside from my blogging software, which keeps trying to autocorrect it to "smirch"). It's the perfect level of heat, but heat with flavor. I wouldn't be surprised if there was also be some sort of crack or other addictive substance in sriracha, but I'm willing to overlook it just to get my fix.
I made these sriracha quinoa cakes in an effort to bring a little more nutrition into my life. I think I eat pretty healthily (with indulgences and cocktails here and there, too, obvi.). But it's so much easier to eat healthily when I plan ahead, bring my lunch to work, etc. I love my daily lunch salads, but was getting a bit bored and decided they needed something to make them a bit more interesting. I remembered these sweet potato cakes I made and added to my salads last year… but wanted something that would keep me satisfied a bit longer. And involved my favorite condiment. Enter Sriracha Quinoa Cakes!
I'm absolutely obsessed with these quinoa cakes and they are so delicious that I'm actually recommending them to you as a Super Bowl food. Seriously. Alongside all your chips, dip, and chicken wings, serve up a platter of sriracha quinoa cakes and I pretty much guarantee your guests will gobble them up. You know I'm the last person to tell you not to eat cookies and donuts all day long, but these are making me look at healthy eating in a whole new light. And they're giving me a reason to get absolutely giddy about lunchtime. Sriracha. Quinoa. You guys should totally get married. Consider this your official ceremony.
SRIRACHA QUINOA CAKES RECIPE
Not only are these sriracha quinoa cakes delicious and make healthy eating fun, but they're also ridiculously easy. And you can make a batch on a Sunday and eat them all week. Obviously you can switch up the ingredients, adding whatever you'd like!
Basically, all you do is combine all the ingredients (aside from the olive oil) in a large bowl and mix them up. I kind of wanted to eat the mixture and pretend it was a salad. I probably would have, but for the raw eggs. Even then, I still considered it. But instead of eating right from the bowl, you'll want to form the mixture into little patties.
Once the quinoa patties are formed, you'll fry them up in a skillet with a little olive oil.
Let cook for about 5 minutes before flipping and cooking another 5 minutes on the other side, until patties are lightly browned. I served with a little sriracha yogurt, too, since there's never enough sriracha in the world.
Say hello to my new favorite snack. I'm seriously in love with these cakes and am telling you, they're the perfect party food! You could probably even make them with buffalo wing sauce for more of a football party food. Though I'm predicting sriracha is going to rival buffalo sauce for top sauce title.
If you make a batch of these on a Sunday, you can pop them like candy throughout the week. I love them because I get insanely hungry if I don't eat every 2 hours and this gets super annoying when trying to get through a work day with lots of meetings. So, I desperately need foods like this that will keep me full until I can grab food again. I've been adding one of these quinoa cakes over my salads (often with a hardboiled egg, too) for a lunch that is totally filling and satisfying.
I really, really hope I don't get sick of these any time soon because as of right now, I'm planning on making some sort of variety of them every single Sunday to get me through the week.
Though there's ¼ C of sriracha in these cakes, the spice is more of a flavor with a kick and not a lingering OMG so hot feeling. I also love the pretty color the sriracha made them.
Is there such thing as including too much sriracha in your diet? I hope I never find out.
Next up? I'm going to attempt a breakfast version of quinoa cakes. Maybe I'll leave the sriracha out of those ones…. But quinoa cakes with a runny egg? omg YUM.
What's your favorite satisfying workday lunch?
For more great party appetizers, check out these Clam Chowder Potato Skins and these Guacamole Deviled Eggs.
📖 Recipe
Sriracha Quinoa Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs (can use whole wheat if desired)
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup chopped baby spinach
- ¼ cup sriracha
- 2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon fresh lime juice
- Pinch salt
- 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients, aside from the olive oil, in a large bowl.
- Pour a tablespoon in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Using your hands, form 12 patties with the quinoa mixture. Place patties on the skillet, working in batches if necessary.
- Let quinoa patties cook for about 5 minutes before flipping and cooking another 5 minutes on the other side. Cakes should be lightly browned. Remove to a plate and continue cooking remaining patties. You might need to add another tablespoon olive oil to the skillet in between batches.
- Serve with Greek yogurt mixed with sriracha and lime juice.
Emily aka The Three Bite Rule says
looks delicious! On the opposite end of the healthy scale, I channeled my inner WANM and made your peanut butter ice cream!
Monique says
YES!
I love this. I had something similar recently at a brunch and i might steal this. 🙂
Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine) says
Mmm I love sriacha! I am looking for unique ways to eat quiona, I am adding this to my ever-growing "to cook" list, haha.
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
sriacha IS the new ketchup. they sell it in a gallon-sized container at a local ethnic market...my husband wants to buy it. yikes!
Erica @ In and Around Town says
I have been adding Sriracha to everything lately - especially since getting that sriracha cookbook- LOVE IT!
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic says
These include some of my favorite flavors! I haven't made quinoa cakes in a while but I am a big fan 🙂
Megan says
I'm a HUGE fan of all of these ingredients. These need to get made ASAP in my house.
Michelle Collins says
These look awesome! I almost always have a wrap or sandwich for lunch with chips and a pickle. My lunches tend to be pretty routine!
Colleen @ Culinary Colleen says
I'm obsessed with Sriracha. Gotta try these!
Simply Life says
ooh I think I need to start using this- looks great!
Mindy says
We don't eat cheese... if I omit the goat cheese will the cake still stay together?
Sues says
@Mindy- Definitely! It's really the egg that's the binding agent here, so the cakes should be fine without cheese.
Megan says
I actually mix Sriracha into ketchup... so there's always that. 🙂 The quinoa cakes sound wonderful. Love the spinach and goat cheese in there... and the Sriracha yogurt on the side!
Cassie | Bake Your Day says
I'm not sure if you knew, but we nearly live on Sriracha over here. These are PERFECT!
Odetta says
Awesome idea! The more spicy, the better and I agree you could totally serve these at a football party!
Ashley says
I agree - sriarcha has to have some secret addictive ingredient. And it's perfect on pretty much everything. These quinoa cakes sound awesome too!
The Sriracha Cookbook says
Quinoa and Sriracha together at last! I swear I can hear Julie Andrews singing "These are a few of my favorite things" right now! Cheers!
Viva la Sriracha,
- Randy Clemens -
Gia Grossman says
Your recipes are killing it. Sriracha for life! And quinoa too because it's so good for health! Haha.
Sues says
@Randy- Love it! My husband just got me your book for Christmas! I can't wait to start cooking out of it 🙂
Jen says
Sriracha was already on my shopping list this week and I even have some cooked quinoa in my fridge waiting for me to turn them into theseeeeee. Nomss!
beth says
These look delicious! Might just make them this weekend 🙂
Sharon says
These look amazing…delicious and healthy. I just made a batch and am chilling them till my guests arrive. Then I'll fry them up. I cannot wait to taste them!
AllieBeau says
Quinoa patties for the win! I make something similar.
Try with a poached egg on top if you want to breakfast-ify it a bit - so good!
Lucie says
These look delish! I needed an app for a party this weekend and I think these will be perfect. How did you make the sriracha yogurt? Plain yogurt w/sriracha in it?
Sues says
@Lucie- Yup! I would just add a little Sriracha so it still has a cooling effect. Adding a little lime is delicious, too 🙂
RebeccaC says
This is exactly the kind of thing I make when my hubby is out if town and I want a simple easy dinner for one. Definitely bookmarking this one. Yummy!
CindyC says
WOW!! I've been wanting to try these for so long and finally made them and... WOW!! Absolutely love them! Thanks so much! I only fried up half the patties and am wondering if I could freeze the rest?! Any suggestions?
Sues says
@CindyC Hi! I'm so glad you loved these!! I definitely think you could freeze them! I haven't tried, but I do think it would work. Definitely let me know 🙂
Sheila says
Loved these - too hot for me, but with yogurt for dipping they were great. My husband requested sriracha mayo for dipping, so they clearly weren't too hot for him! I used broccoli instead of spinach since I was already making spinach balls for our party and next time I'm going to add even more veggies. I doubled the recipe and made some patties for the first batch but rolled the rest into little balls for the (football, get it?) party. Who knew quinoa would make such a tasty patty?
Margot says
Am making these now and have way too many to eat in a week. Has anyone tried freezing them and reheating later??
Margot says
You can ignore my prior comment - just saw the same question asked and answered!
fabiana says
Has anybody tried these baked instead of pan-fried?