Pizza Quinoa Bites are healthy, cheesy mini pizza muffins made with quinoa and your favorite pizza toppings. Perfect for a healthy appetizer, snack or light dinner! {gluten free}
One of my most requested party recipes are quinoa bites. From the Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bites to the Jalapeno Popper Quinoa Bites, quinoa bites are always a fan favorite! They make great finger food appetizers, which is especially perfect this time of year for game day parties. While I am not necessarily a football fan, I am a football party food fan! So in preparation for the big game, I thought it would be fun to channel one of my favorite game day foods (pizza) into a fun little bit-sized treat that is a little healthier ~ Pizza Quinoa Bites!
Pizza Quinoa Bites are very easy to make. Simply cook the quinoa and combine it with tomato sauce, cheese and your favorite pizza toppings, portion into the muffin tin and bake. I especially like that Pizza Quinoa Bites are customizable to with any of your favorite pizza toppings. From mushrooms and onions to pepperoni to spinach, it all works! I also like to serve Pizza Quinoa Bites with sauce on the side for dipping.
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1½ cups water (or broth)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1½ cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup pasta sauce (I used tomato basil)
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups pizza toppings, chopped
- In a medium sauce pan, combine quinoa and water (or broth) and cook according to package directions. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine cooled quinoa, eggs, cheese, sauce, garlic and pizza toppings.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
- Put a heaping tablespoonful of quinoa mixture into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes and then gently remove from pan.
For Sunday Supper this week, we are partnering with Gallo Family Vineyards, with the theme of ‘Supper Bowl’ appetizers, featuring our tastiest finger food and appetizer recipes that every football fan will enjoy. Each blogger selected two wines (a red and a white) to either feature as an ingredient or pairing in our tasty appetizer recipes.
I selected my two of my favorite crowd-pleasing wines – Merlot and Riesling. These wines are very versatile for pairing with a wide variety of foods, which is great for appetizer parties when you are munching on a little bit of everything. There are many wonderful recipes from my blogger friends this week – be sure to check them out and see which Gallo wine they selected!
- Bacon and Cheese Pretzel Bites by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
- Bacon Wrapped Bison Burger Sliders by Nosh My Way
- Baked Southwestern Eggrolls by Flavor Mosaic
- Buffalo Chicken Loaded Baked Sweet Potato Fries by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
- Cheesy Baked Arancini by Take A Bite Out of Boca
- Chorizo Cheese Dip by Casa de Crews
- Cuban Sandwich Sliders by Recipe for Perfection
- Everything Bagel Breadsticks & Smoked Salmon Dip by Foxes Love Lemons
- Kicked Up Texas Caviar by Ruffles & Truffles
- Mini Mexican Tarts by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Mexican Chicken Meatballs with Queso by Curious Cuisiniere
- Philadelphia Cheesesteak Dip by Family Foodie
- Pizza Quinoa Bites by Alida’s Kitchen
- Polenta Crostini with Mushroom Sauce by Brunch with Joy
- Rosemary White Bean Dip by Magnolia Days
- Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings by Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Sausage & Caramelized Onion Pita Pizza by The Messy Baker
- Spicy Sticky Chicken Wings and Onion Rings by Nik Snacks
- Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Sweet & Spicy Mango Meatballs by Peanut Butter and Peppers
For more delicious recipes for game day inspiration, visit Gallo Family Vineyards Blog for: Football Finger Foods, Tips for Hosting Big Game Day Parties, Classic Food and Wine Pairings for The Big Game, and Game Day Entertaining and Pairings!
Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.
Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.
Use this Where To Buy Tool to find where to buy Gallo Family Vineyards near you.
For more information on Gallo Family Vineyards, visit their website and keep in touch on: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Compensation was provided by Gallo Family Vineyards via Sunday Supper, LLC. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Gallo Family Vineyards.
These look delicious! I’ll have to give these a try along with the Jalapeno Popper bites! Great paring 🙂
They look so cheesy and indulgent. I can see it turning a whole bunch of people on to quinoa.
What a great idea! I love quinoa and I love the pizza flavors in these. I agree with Renee. I think this recipe will get more people to try quinoa!
This is such a fun appetizer! I love that you used quinoa!
These sound delicious Alida. Thank you and have a great Sunday.
I’d love a stack of these delicious gems for my lunch! But they’d be a marvelous appetizer for the big game, too! What a delicious way to eat quinoa!!!
Yum! What a creative recipe! I love that you used quinoa!
I can see why these are always requested – they look delish!
I am all about quinoa lately and then you add pizza to it? Heck ya, bring it on!
Love how you can really customize it to whatever flavor combination you’re in the mood for. Great idea 🙂
These look delicious. And I bet the quinoa makes for an addicting texture.
I had some leftover cheesy quinoa and was thinking about your bites, so I stuffed it into mini muffin tins and baked for my boys for lunch – they devoured them! Now I see a pizza version – they’ll flip for this!
This is such a great idea for a recipe! Love adding a little bit of healthy to something that might typically not be 🙂
anything pizza sounds good to me! these would be great for next weekend’s game…
I love all of your quinoa bites but I think these would probably be a favorite for my husband.
I seriously have to try these out – I LOVE the idea!
genius idea! so cheesy and delicious
What a fun idea! I’m always looking for new ways to use quinoa and these little bites would be such a hit at a Super Bowl party.
These are so cool, Alida. They look so fun and kind of decadent, but are made with quinoa! Love it!
I would destroy this whole plate, leaving nothing for anyone else. Such a great party app with vino of course.
can you make these in a regular size muffin cup and increase baking time?