Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bites
Blog Posts | Dinner | Quinoa | Quinoa Bites | Recipes
I am a wimp when it comes to spice. Okay, I’m a wimp when it comes to other things, too. I can’t handle scary movies. Or books. I freak out when I see a cockroach. I can’t lift heavy things.
But, in this case, my wimpy-ness came up because I can’t handle buffalo chicken. It took me years to be able to tolerate mild salsa. Yes, I’m serious. Green chiles, too.
But, buffalo chicken has become such a popular flavor that it just begged to be turned into a quinoa bite!
So, I took one for the team. I did it for all of you. I dip mine in (lots of) ranch to keep the spice level lower for myself, but they’re actually quite tasty and much healthier than fried chicken wings!
They’re the perfect bite-sized treat to serve for the big game!
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Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bites
Yield:
~24 bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
- 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (we used Frank's)
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together all ingredients.
- Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each), and press down gently to compact.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Notes
Nutritional Information for 4 bites per My Fitness Pal: Calories - 109, Fiber - 1, Fat - 4, Protein - 8, Calcium - 6, Carbs - 11
Great concept, and 3/4 family members enjoyed them lots! Will make again, but with these changes as I found them a bit dry and too Franky (too dominant Franks flavor)
-bake the bits/bites on a cookie sheet rather than the mini muffin tins, which were difficult to remove
-top with more finely grated cheese
-half amount of Franks buffalo wings sauce
-reduce cooking time to 16 minutes
-add a bit of water – 1/4 cup
-reduce gluten free breadcrumbs slightly
-maybe add 1/2 of one more egg
Thx for your recipes! Great job.
I just created a gluten free cookie recipe, and my were they delicious. Dangerously good.
Thank you so much, Ashley! These little guys get addicting fast! I’m so glad you like them!
Just had to tell you these are the most awesome snacks EVER! Made a batch this afternoon and loved it so much that the second batch is in the oven now! I’ll be freezing them for future lunches to take to work. Thanks!
These are officially awesome. Will definitely plan on making them again! Not too spicy either (we used Frank’s), and perfect with some blue cheese dressing for dip. 🙂
I just made these but substituted shredded zucchini for the chicken. They are amazing! My daughter and love them, I don’t think they will last long 🙂
Great idea! I’m so glad you and your daughter like them! They never last long in our house, either. 😉
I just let them cool and they pop right out of the greased muffin tins.
I made these vegetarian with red lentils and I was out of quinoa so I did it with rice. I also made my own homemade buffalo sauce with ghee and olive oil! I used less cheese and they were amazing!!!!! Thank you!!
Hi Lindsay! Yes, you sure can! The texture won’t be quite the same, but just bump up the cooking time to 25-30 minutes and they should be just fine cooked in a regular muffin tin.
is it possible to make these in a regular muffin pan, not mini?
I LOVE when I find a recipe I want to try and have all of the ingredients in the house already! I hope both you and your kids liked them!
These are in my oven right now. I was stoked to see I had every single thing right here including some chicken I cooked yesterday!! Dinner is just about done!! Can’t wait to try them!! I’m new to eating quinoa and I love it…I’m sure my kids are going to love this. They love wing sauce!!
So glad you were able to resolve the sticking problem! I haven’t baked them on a cookie sheet myself yet, so thanks for the tip!
Wanted to share a modification – I always have issues with these sticking to my cookie sheets … so today when I made them I used 2 eggs and 1 c. panko bread crumbs … I scooped them out onto an oiled piece of parchment lining my cookie sheet with a 2T. scoop and just flattened the tops a bit … baked at 375 for 30 minutes … they are perfect and wonderful! No sticking or falling apart!
Hi Jaime – the recipe makes about 24! Was there someplace in the post where I said they made 40? I’ve been looking through trying to double check, but everything I’m seeing says 24! I’m so glad everyone liked them, though!
I made these as an app to bring to a party last night and everyone loved them! I made them just as you said but they only filled 24 mini muffin tins, not 40. Did anyone else have this issue?
I found your site through Pinterest and have absolutely fallen in love with all your quinoa bite recipes. In the past I’ve only tolerated quinoa for its health benefits but I could probably live off of this and your quinoa pizza bite recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
Any thoughts on what I can replace the cheese with?
Made this for my Super Bowl snack tonight. I didn’t have buffalo sauce so I did a sweet chili hot sauce and used cheddar for the cheese. Sooo good, thank you for posting this recipe!
so excited to make these (with a gluten-free bread crumb substitute) as part of our Super Bowl spread! Thanks Becky!!
I am making the recipe right now with Kinnikinnick gluten-free panko style bread crumbs. Highly recommend as a bread crumb substitute for other wheat-free/Gluten-free recipes too!
I love these so much! DO you think you could freeze them afterwards?
You’re welcome! Thanks for coming over to check them out! Hope you like them!
I found your site through Domesblissity. This recipe sound wonderful and I can’t wait to try them, thanks!
Oh yum! I LOVE that idea! I definitely see a BBQ chicken quinoa bite in the future!
Thank you so much! A reader below just suggested using tofu if you want to forgo the chicken. Or maybe a Boca-type chicken-less chicken? I’m not sure how it would work, either!
I’m so glad they were a hit! Love the idea of using half cheddar!
So good to know! I would never have thought to use tofu in place of the chicken!
Interesting! Sorry the others stuck for you! I use a dark metal pan and they hardly stick at all. I’ve used silicone pans, but I prefer the browning that they get in the metal tins. 🙂
You know, I’ve thought about making these without the egg (and possibly the Panko?) to make them more of a one-pan meal. If you left the eggs in and just pressed it into a pan, I’m sure it would taste great, but it would definitely change the texture! Even when I’ve switched from mini muffin tins to normal muffin tins, the texture has changed a lot. I’ll see if I can try this soon and I’ll let you know! So glad your family enjoys them!
Hi Becky,
So, I’ve made this recipe twice and they are a new fav in my family. I freeze 8 at a time in little baggies and then thaw them the night before for my little girls’ sack lunches. The recipe takes so long to make b/c I double the batch. Do you think there is any way to do this in a casserole to save some time?
i use gluten free bread crumbs or I’ve made the recipe w/out. Either way they are delicious.
the ones i made in silicone came out fine, but the others stuck bad. that would have been a useful tip.
I have made these twice, using a cup+ of crumbled extra firm tofu instead of chicken. They make a delicious vegetarian snack, too!
I made this recipe yesterday and it was a home run! I used Frank’s Hot Buffalo and it was kicking! I also swapped out half the mozzarella for half extra sharp cheddar. Can’t wait to try the Quinoa Pizza bites today!
These look AMAZING and we LOVE Quinoa! Before my daughter became a vegetarian almost a year ago she used to love buffalo chicken. I’d like to make them without chicken but with leaving a whole cup of ingredients out, not sure how that would work.
It works just fine. You can substitute in some beans or more veggies if you want to.
I made these yesterday an used BBQ sauce, since we didn’t have any buffalo sauce. They came out great….so try that if you’re not into spicy!
I’m so glad! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Oh yum…great idea to add the celery! I’m planning to make my next quinoa bites in regular muffin tins to save some time, but the little ones are so fun to eat!
I hope you liked them!
Thank you so much! An you’re absolutely right! With the right quinoa to egg ratio and being careful of how much liquid is in the recipe, you can put just about anything in quinoa bites! Your version sounds delicious!
You could always use less sauce (and if you do that, you might want to cut down on the panko, too) and more cheese. I was able to eat these, but I had to dip them in a LOT of ranch to cut down on the spice!
I hope you liked them!
Hmm…that’s a really good question. I’m not sure what else you could use to thicken the mixture enough to stick together! You could always skip the panko and not bake it in the mini muffin tins, but I’ll have to keep thinking on that!
You’re so very welcome! I love eating quinoa in bite form!
Good luck! I actually started off with more sauce, but they were too runny and wouldn’t stick together, so I had to change the ratio!
These look so yummy! I am going to try them this week.
These are fantastic! I added diced mushrooms and celery for extra fiber, and subbed sharp cheddar for the mozzarella. I don’t have a mini muffin pan, so I used a regular muffin pan. With a dollop of sour cream on top, these are perfect!
IM ABOUT RTY THESE
Becky I found your blog through stumbleupon and I just adore it! The quinoa bites are a fave and I find you can take the basic cup of quinoa to 1 egg ratio and throw in anything. Tonight we had bites with spinach, red pepper and chanterelle mushrooms. Amazing!
What would you suggest to substitute for a mild version of this recipe for those who can’t handle spicy?
Making these tonight!
I am on a wheat free diet so I was wondering if you have any suggestions for a replacement of the panko since it has wheat in it? Otherewise I would love to try these out since Quinoa is a family favorite.
Rice crackers in a food processor or even rice krispies cereal would work.
Thank you, thank you!!! These are just what I was looking for! I love all of your bite sized Quinoa recipes! Thank you so much for sharing.
Just made these today, and they are awesome! Although, the next time I make them, I will put more hot sauce in them. 🙂
I’ve never had Quinoa, and I have a very picky family. Think I could sub in some brown rice? And/or what would you suggest?
I’m so glad you liked it! I prefer quinoa in bite-form, too! 😉 I still haven’t tried freezing them, but some people have said it works!
I think brown rice would work just fine. You could also try couscous, which would be even more similar if they’ll eat it! You may want to let them try it with quinoa at some point if you feel adventurous someday. My husband can be pretty picky and was VERY skeptical about quinoa, but he absolutely loves quinoa bites.
I’ve had a hard time with quinoa, I want to like it, but don’t. This is the first recipe that I’ve loved! I’ll be making this over and over! I can even freeze it I bet! Thanks!!
Hmm..that’s a tough one! There’s a possibility your oven runs hotter than mine, so maybe they overcooked and dried out? And if your batter still looks the same next time, you could always add more buffalo sauce or cut down on some of the panko.
So sorry they didn’t work well for you!
These look so good. My boy friend’s sister said she made these and they were wonderful. However, I made them last night and they were really, really dry. I am not sure what I did wrong- any tips for next time?
OH MY GOSH, I made these the other night and they were so delicious… I changed mine up a bit by making a sauce with just avocado and greek yogurt, it was amazing!! !
Thanks again!
xo
Kristen
http://smartcookingoodlookin.wordpress.com
‘stina – I’m so glad you liked them! And thanks for letting me know that gluten free breadcrumbs work!
Thanks for sharing!!!! Tried these tonight using gluten free breadcrumbs instead of panko. They came out great!
I used white onion. 🙂
Any particular kind of onion?
Makes more sense, thanks!
NB, it’s one cup of already cooked quinoa!
One cup of quinoa-before or after cooking it? I cooked one cup, which then turned into about three cups and put it all in and mixed it up. Looks like too much?
we have seen quinoa in our Target and grocery stores. We substituted millet and they were excellent. I’m sure you could even use rice …
Where do you find the quinoa?
We made these for lunch serving them alongside a salad topped with celery, cherry tomatoes and what was left of our chopped chicken … they are fabulous! We used millet since we had no quinoa in the house .. and they are just as great (a bit mushier, but that’s ok by me)!
My favorite things to eat are Quinoa and Buffalo Chicken so this is definitely a recipe I am going to have to give a try. The spicier the better! Thanks for sharing! 8D
Marcia – HA! At least I can handle green chiles now. And I even LIKE them!
Joii – Thank you! I loved the bright red the drops of sauce added to the white of the plates!
Simply Tia – Lol! I’m really trying to like it! My tongue just disagrees with me!
Cathy P – I wouldn’t really describe them as crispy. The panko does add a little bit of crunch, though. 🙂
Anna – Ha! I’m glad that sacrifice didn’t go unnoticed. I appreciate your admiration! 😉
I admire your dedication, taking that bite for the picture 🙂 These look delicious!
Look delicious. Are they crispy?
I’m with you on scary movies and books but you lost me after that. I loveeeeee spicy food!
These buffalo bites look so delicious!
I love how you plated these. Looks so cute!
You had me going for a minute. I though you actually could handle the heat in these! Are you sure we’re related? 😉