Quinoa Pizza Bites Recipe

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These quinoa pizza bites are protein-packed bites that make for the perfect healthy snack for kids and game day snacks! 

In my opinion, these are, hands down, the best things I think I’ve ever cooked.  Each bite is packed with pizza flavor and I can’t get enough of them!  I brought a friend a few to try and they polished them off in a matter of seconds, immediately asking for “30 more, please!”

These would make a great healthy snack for a Super Bowl party, perfect for a kid-friendly pizza night snack, and a great high-protein lunch for lunch boxes.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

The fresh basil adds a big flavor punch, but the combination of the basil, oregano, paprika, garlic, and onion seemed to meld perfectly to bring all of the pizza flavor in a tiny little bite.

You could definitely sub turkey pepperoni to make them a tad healthier, if you were so inclined, but I used the regular pepperoni and these babies are still only 35 calories per bite.  Not bad at all, especially with the protein boost from the quinoa!

It would be easy to adapt these to fit whatever your favorite pizza toppings are – bell peppers, mushrooms, sausage, etc. Just make sure to chop the pieces small so that the bites stick together!

These are kid-friendly, adult-friendly, and make for the perfect party food, especially for watching the big game! You can also make these ahead of time – they freeze great!

I love to grab these for a lunch on the go, fun afternoon snack, or a dinner side.

may need to start making these on a weekly basis.

Healthy Make-Ahead Snacks

I used to make quinoa bites in a mini muffin tin, but I have since found it much easier to use a cookie scoop to make these bites and bake them on a cookie sheet with a Silpat. Silicone baking sheets are way easier to clean than mini muffin tins!

Make a single, double, or triple batch, then freeze them.

For a healthy lunch idea, take a few out of the freezer the night before to thaw, then just stick them in your lunch box in the morning. Depending on your taste preferences, you can eat them either hot or cold.

You can also take them straight from the freezer and heat them up in the microwave.

Looking for more flavor combinations? Here are some more popular quinoa bite recipes!

Check out all of my other quinoa bite recipes!

Quinoa Bites FAQs

Still have more questions? Check out the Quinoa Bites FAQs page for more answers to the most commonly asked questions.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Yield: 40
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa (cook in low sodium chicken broth for extra flavor)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped pepperoni slices (~1/2 of a 7 oz bag)
  • 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp dried crushed oregano
  • pizza sauce for dipping

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix together all ingredients, except pizza sauce, in a medium mixing bowl.
  3. Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each), and press down gently to compact.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Notes

Instead of using a mini muffin tin, you can also use a cookie scoop to form your bites on a cookie sheet to bake.

Nutritional Information for 5 bites per My Fitness Pal: Calories - 175, Fat - 10g, Protein - 9g, Fiber - 2g, Calcium - 10mg, Carbs - 12g

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 157Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 488mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 8g

**This information is just an estimate and may not be 100% accurate. Always double-check the nutritional information using your specific products and ingredients.

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Quinoa Pizza Bites Recipe | Healthy Game Day Snacks

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175 Comments

  1. i’ve made these so many times over the last year and a half and my family and i just love them. thanks so much for the recipe.

  2. Just made these for my gf/df son and he loves them. I omitted the cheese and added diced mushrooms, spinach, and ham. I’m really excited about making another batch and freezing them for when he has a pizza party to attend.
    Thanks so much for sharing!

  3. Maybe it’s the amount of water you add? I make single-serving meals and 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa with 1 cup of water gives me a full cup of quinoa. But then again, I make it in a rice cooker.

  4. Since writing this post, I’ve done a bunch of trials with uncooked vs cooked quinoa and I’ve never gotten 1 cup uncooked to equal 4 cups cooked! My average is 1 cup of uncooked makes 3 cups cooked. 🙂

  5. I have made these more than once and they are awesome. I cook the quinoa ahead of time, and vary it up with different pizza toppings too….pepperoni and onion, sausage and onion, mushroom and onion, whatever you want!

  6. […] this week’s challenge I was thrilled and started searching for recipes using it. I found one for Quinoa Pizza Bites @ So Very Blessed and since I love love love pizza I knew I wanted to try […]

  7. […] made breakfast: banana & blueberry baked oatmeal lunch: quinoa pizza bites snack: my protein bites {these are seriously just so easy!} You can see a final picture of all of […]

  8. I’m so ready to make these! They would make perfect lunches for us throughout summer. I love all the combos you’ve been making!

  9. I hope you liked them! Hmm..the onion definitely adds a little bit of bulk, but I wouldn’t think it would be 8 bites worth! Maybe there is a size discrepancy in some mini muffin pans? Sorry it didn’t make as many as it should have, but I hope the buffalo chicken bites are a success!

  10. Love the idea of these, and have a batch in the oven right now! I actually halved the recipe and omitted the chopped onions, but I only got 12 bites in the oven. Wondering where the miss is? Either way, I hope to try the buffalo chicken variety next! Thanks for sharing.

  11. I used regular, plain cous-cous since I am not a huge fan of quinoa and they turned out just perfect! I baked them for approximately 20 minutes. I also used turkey pepperoni and low fat mozzarella. I stored them in the fridge for the next weeks work lunches…YUM!

  12. I’m so glad you liked them, Kirsten! I’ve never made any of the quinoa bites with couscous, but I’m so glad to hear it worked!

  13. *some* vegetarians eat *some* animal products; not all do. and not all vegetarians who don’t eat animal products are vegan. it depends on whether you’re lacto- ovo- or combination of either/or. eggs are technically pre-chickens; but milk is a by-product of an animal, not an animal product. not to get too nitpicky, but it’s challenging trying to get the inlaws on board – and this may be why. 😉

    but chicken is not a vegetable. 🙂

  14. Hi Jenny!

    I went back and double checked the info for the mozzarella cheese on My Fitness Pal and compared it to the package and you’re right! It should be 320 calories for a cup!

    I have no idea what to tell you on why the recipe yielded so few bites for you, though! I’ve made this recipe quite a few times and always come up with 30-40 bites…I’m sorry about that!

  15. My part-skim mozzarella has 80 calories per 1/4 cup, so 320 calories for 1 cup. What kind of cheese did you use?

    Also, I only got 24 bites out of this using my mini-muffin tin. (I cooked 1 c quinoa in 2 c water and used all of it in the recipe and followed the recipe exactly.) How’d you manage to get 40 bites out of this by filling your muffin tins to the top?

    Of course, since I got fewer bites and since my mozzarella has more calories, mine came to a little more than 250 calories for five bites even though I substituted the turkey pepperoni, which has about half the calories of regular pepperoni.

    Thanks!

  16. These are FANTASTIC! What I did/used is I added a slight bit more cheese maybe 1/4 cup I added my Quiona hot and it melted eveything nicely I only used 1 egg and I added sauce to the mixture as well. But what I think was the TRICK, I used my silicone muffin cups they are the big size I got 12 and what would have been 14 muffins. They came out perfectly held shape no problem. I let them cool for maybe 5 minutes and then dumped them out onto the plate upside down to finish cooling,
    thnaks so much Love these!

  17. I thought they sounded amazing. I have 3 little boys, one of which is so picky with food the look of these actually made him cry. He repeated “I don’t want this! I don’t even like this” until I left the room and when I peeked in he snuck a bite with noone looking and yelled “YUMMMM!” I swear to god people, if little Zachy can eat these and love them, ANY OF YOUR KIDS WILL!!!!

    They were amazing. Thank you 🙂

  18. I haven’t done it myself, but others have said they’ve had success freezing them, both before and after they were baked. 🙂

  19. Someone else suggested gum chewing, too! I never have gum in the house, but am adding it to the grocery list just for this!

  20. I’m so glad you liked them! I love quinoa bites, because it’s so easy to modify the flavors to fit your tastes!

  21. Oh man, I hope it works! It’s so hard to get away from junk food! My husband was raised on fast food, so when I tried to feed him all home cooked meals when we got married, there was a big adjustment period!

  22. I’m so glad your family likes them! And it’s good to know they’d still be good without the pepperoni – I haven’t tried them without it!

  23. The first time I made these I thought the cheese got a little lost. So now instead of the shredded mozzarella, I cut string cheese into small pieces and insert them into the middle of the quinoa bites. This way there’s a bit of gooey melty cheese in the middle when you bite into them. I put a bit of grated parm in the mixture as well. So good! I’ve got a batch in the oven right now!

  24. I just made these the other day. My family likes them very much. I did make a few without the pepperoni in them. They also have a very good flavor. I’m making these for a Superbowl party that we are going to on Sunday.

  25. I’m soooo going to try these! In a quest to eat healthier, I’m having a hard time finding recipes my teenagers will eat. They are so addicted to junk food I can’t get them on the “eat healthy” train. This looks like it will hit their “junk food” spot, without the junk. I can’t wait to try them.

  26. Great recipe! Just made these last night but used slightly less onions and spices, according to my palate. Thank you for sharing this wonderfully healthy and delicious recipe!

  27. Do these and your other quinoa bites have to be served hot/warm.. or are they still ok tasting if they have cooled down?

  28. You’re so welcome! I hope you like them! And I didn’t even know there was a post on My Fitness Pal about them! Thanks for letting me know!

  29. Hmm…shades, huh? I’ll definitely try it!

    You’re so welcome! My husband was pretty hesitant about quinoa, too. Thankfully, it went over really well and now he begs for me to add some sort of quinoa bites to our weekly menu! I hope it goes over well with your husband!

  30. I’m so glad you liked them! Here’s the breakdown I got on MFP

    2 cups cooked quinoa – 444 cal
    1 cup part skim mozzarella – 240 cal
    1/2 pkg Hormel Original Pepperoni – 490 cal
    2 large eggs – 140 cal
    1 cup chopped onions – 60 cal
    minced garlic – 10 cal
    all the herbs together – 16 cal

    total = 1400 cal, then divided by 8 = 175 cal per 5 bites

    Is there a chance you input 2 cups uncooked quinoa instead of cooked? That’s the only thing I can think of that would up the calories that much! Hope that helps!

  31. They sell onion goggles?! How funny! I tried this the other day, but only kept the onion in the freezer for 5 minutes and it still brought tears! Next time, I’ll keep it in there for 10 minutes and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip!

  32. I wear my shades while I chop onions, it seems to do the trick. 😉

    Thank you so very much for posting this recipe. My toddler and I eat gluten-free foods, and are trying to get my husband on board. He’s a bit reluctant but seems to like quinoa, so this is going to be perfect.
    Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  33. They were delicious and a great first try of quinoa! Only issue/question… how did you get only 175 calories for 5 bites??? I used 2 cups quinoa, turkey pepperoni, 1 cup mozzarella, 2 eggs, and then basil, garlic, etc. And I got 204 calories per FOUR bites when I added it to MFP. Interested to know what you might have done differently that I missed…

  34. They do sell onion goggles but I’ve never used them. I just put the onions in the freezer 5-10 minutes before chopping, and there’s no tears. The stuff that makes you cry gets ‘frozen’ so it doesn’t release and bother your eyes – works like a charm every time!

  35. Ooo…I love all of your additions! Your version sounds fantastic! So glad you liked them…sorry they didn’t release easily!

  36. I’ve heard that people have frozen them successfully, both cooked and uncooked, but I haven’t tried it myself yet!

  37. That’s really good to know! I would have had no idea what to suggest as a substitute, though I would think couscous would work, as well!

  38. Hmm…that’s really strange! I’ve never heard of having to strain quinoa after cooking. And, yikes! A tsp of salt is definitely a lot! I’m glad parts of it still tasted okay! You can definitely make these in a normal muffin pan, but my husband and I think it changes the texture a LOT. We much prefer the little ones! 🙂

  39. This was just a store bought jar of pizza sauce. I believe it was just Great Value, but I can’t remember for sure!

  40. Ha! No shame there, Olivia! I’ve been known to make multiple batches back to back! Love the idea of making little quinoa balls!

  41. This was so yummy!! Just made it for my family and they all approve, from the 1 year old up! I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil and sprayed with Pam. Just formed little balls out of the mixture and baked. I mixed it all together when the quinoa was still warm and they held form beautifully. Thanks so much!

  42. I heard that if you light a candle while you’re chopping onions that it helps burn off whatever it is that makes us cry! Seems to work pretty well! I can’t wait to try this next week, just put everything on my grocery list!

  43. I just made these. I was so excited, but they fell apart on me. Boo! I am wondering if my quinoa was too wet. I have only made it once before and I don’t remember having to strain it. This brand asked me to strain it. It also asked me to use a tsp of salt, which I did and it was way too salty. Im going to have to try it again because other than all of that it was really tasty! lol.
    I also used a big muffin tin so that may have had something to do with it. However, to answer a few peoples questions I got exactly 12 out of the mixture in the big muffin pan.

  44. My favorite dairy-free cheeses are made by brands Daiya and Teese. In my opinion, Daiya has the best mozzarella, while Teese has the best cheddar. You can find them online at veganessentials.com, or at Whole Foods, or at many other health food stores.

    Another option is to just mix in some nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor, but you won’t get the cheesy texture.

  45. I am making these today for football Sunday. I’ll let you know if they’re a hit! An FYI for chopping onions: just chew gum! It’s crazy, but it works for me!

  46. I used 1/2c sharp cheddar and 1/2c mozzarella. Omitted pepperoni and added sauteed zucchini and onion instead. Delicious! Made 24 mini muffins and a small ramekin. Topped the ramekin with panko.

  47. Trader Joe’s sells cheeses made of tofu. They have a tofu-rella that’s gotten good reviews… Maybe something worth trying?

  48. Has anyone tried freezing them? I live on my own and don’t need a whole batch but if they freeze well then I can still make them with the recipe as is!

  49. I had the same issue (and that was the only issue, they were DELICIOUS!) I think it was partly because I didn’t squish them into the pan quite enough, but I would still go for an extra egg in the recipe next time.

  50. SO YUMMY!!! Used egg whites, flax seed, and added lots of veggies: spinach, tomato, red, yellow, and green peppers! Also used cut up string cheese because that’s all I had. Five stars! They did not come out of the muffin pan easily, so next time I’ll just put the mixture in a casserole dish. 🙂

  51. Jennifer, I had the same problem, but found when i made the second batch i cooked them a little less, and they came out much easier. I may add an extra egg next time too….or, i wondered if putting a slice of pepperoni in the bottom of each muffin cup and putting the quinoa mix (minus the pepperoni)on top of that would work? I am going to try it, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work…and that would keep it from sticking to the bottom! I think. 🙂

  52. My kiddo is GF/DF — going to use his substitute cheese and give him his yummy pizza flavor without the allergens! Hopefully he’ll love these. 🙂

  53. I have missed pizza because I’m on a weight loss journey and I don’t eat processed foods or dairy or most grains. This is awesome! You know what sounds really good in these? I’m thinking a basil pesto w/parm on top. Or chicken, parmesan, tomato. If you chopped the chicken real small and put sundried tomatoes in it or diced seeded (to remove excess moisture to keep it from getting soggy)roma tomatoes on top. Oooooh Mama! I’m getting hungry now! Quinoa has so much protein in it too. It’s a great grain substitute with added nutrition. I just wish I could find a cheese that worked well that was lactose free.

  54. To copy a post from above, you can use chia seeds either ground or whole in water as an egg substitute. They get that same gooey, eggy texture without adding any real flavor to the dish. Here’s the post:

    austin Monday, March 5, 2012 3:26:00 PM MST

    Allergy free mother of three, I just substituted soaked chia seeds for the eggs. Worked great! If you’re not familiar, soak 3 tbls of chia seeds in 1/2 cup water for 20 min. They seeds form this goo and works great as a binder in cooking loafs, casseroles, pizza bites, etc. you can use ground chia seeds too.

  55. Is there a way that this can be made eggless?! I would love to make these for my family, but they don’t eat eggs!

  56. These sound amazing! What I would give to enjoy pizza again (Celiac’s), thank you very much for sharing!

  57. Don’t have quinoa so we’re using tvp. We’re also skipping the pepperoni. Next time I’m gonna add some tiny pieces of veggies. Yummy.

  58. Always looking for new quinoa recipes! Found you on Pinterest. Can’t wait to try these – thanks for sharing!

  59. I’m thinking if I use sun-dried tomatoes I won’t even need to wait for the pizza sauce. Thanks for the great recipe!

  60. Thank you! I love quinoa, too! I hope your daughter likes them! A few kiddos in our life are pretty fond of them. 🙂

  61. Thank you thank you thank you! I had weight loss surgery in December of last year, and pizza is a total no-go. These are great and totally fit in to my food plan. You are a genius.

  62. Traci, thank you so much for the tip about the onions! I’ll definitely try that!

    Heidi, I didn’t think I’d like quinoa, but both my husband and I have completely fallen in love with it! I hope you guys do, too!

  63. I can’t wait to make these. My husband and I are trying to eat more healthy foods. Never had quinoa but I’ve heard it’s wonderful.

  64. If you keep your onions in the fridge, you will not cry when you cut them!

    thanks for the recipe!

    Traci, WI.

  65. I’ve never made them in a big muffin tin, so I have no idea how many the recipe would make, so I’m not sure how to calculate the calories for it. Sorry!

    Nantucket Daffodil, you can absolutely share it on your blog! Thank you so much!

  66. Cooking these right now! Amazing…they smell so good.

    May I share on my blog if I credit you and give a link back? It’s a keeper!

  67. If I used a bg muffin tin pan how many per serving and calories would it be?

  68. They are baking in the oven right now. It’s hard to find gluten-free pizza that is decent. This satisfies the taste buds without pretending it’s trying to be actual pizza. I’ll have to try it with crushed red pepper next time!

  69. I didn’t need the pizza sauce either, Angela! And I bet the cayenne pepper was a great addition! I’m so glad you liked them!

  70. Thank you for this! I used egg substitute, substituted cayenne pepper for the paprika and skipped the pizza sauce. These are fantastic. I will be making them again!

  71. Thanks for sharing this! My doctor thinks I may have a wheat allergy. Right now I am missing pizza most of all. Yay! I can taste pizza again. I LOVE Quinoa. This sounds delicious!

  72. Jennifer, I’m so sorry they didn’t work for you! My pan is pretty non-stick, so maybe that was part of the issue? And if you want them to be more firmly held together, you can always add another egg or so to keep the ingredients bound more tightly. I’m so sorry! I hate it when I follow a recipe and doesn’t turn out right!

  73. I just made these, but they all stuck in the pan. I sprayed with Pam, but when I took them out, they all became mush.

  74. I’m confused now. Is the quinoa 1cup of cooked or uncooked for this recipe? I’m ready to try it but not sure what to do with the quinoa.

  75. Robin, you’ll need 2 cups of already cooked quinoa. It doesn’t hurt if there’s a little more. I’ve found that when I cook it, I usually get double to triple the amount I started with. I’d cook 1 cup of uncooked quinoa. If you have a little more than 2 cups when it’s finished cooking, you can either use it all in the recipe or save it for something else!

    Hope that helps! 🙂

  76. brinty149, I haven’t tried it, but I think they would work in a normal muffin tin! I would keep the same temperature, but increase the baking time 10-15 minutes!

    Austin – I’ve been wanting to try chia seeds!

  77. For those asking if you can do it without a mini-muffin pan, when I made the cheesy quinoa bites, I simply rolled them into golf ball size balls, flattened them slightly, and baked them on a cookie sheet. It worked fine, though they didn’t hold together perfectly. Now that I have a mini muffin pan, that’s what I’ll use next time.

  78. Allergy free mother of three, I just substituted soaked chia seeds for the eggs. Worked great! If you’re not familiar, soak 3 tbls of chia seeds in 1/2 cup water for 20 min. They seeds form this goo and works great as a binder in cooking loafs, casseroles, pizza bites, etc. you can use ground chia seeds too.

  79. Love this idea! but how would they turn out using regular muffin tins? what temperature would you cook them at for that size?

  80. My hubby made them with no cheese and loved them 🙂

    “Anonymous said…
    how important is the cheese? I’m vegan but this sounds super tasty!”

  81. Hubby LOVED these!! He made them “Indian” using those spices and next we plan on making them “Mexican” with some taco seasoning dipping in salsa and/or guacamole!!

    Awesome recipe!!

  82. Wow–I had to try these, and they were amazing. My children and I couldn’t eat them fast enough. They barely came out of the oven, and these delicious quinoa pizza bites are already gone. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

  83. OH my GOSH! These were sooo good! This was my very first experience ever with Quinoa…I am so impressed! Also if anyone out there on Weight Watchers… these are just 5 points for 5!

  84. These look great for the kiddos. Would you recommend any substitutions for the egg? My daughter is allergic. Thanks!

  85. Heidi,

    I just went to check the recipe and there are 12g of carbs for the 5 bites. I’ll add it to the post! Sorry about that!

  86. Helen,

    That’s so interesting, because everything I’ve read so far about quinoa says that it doubles! I Googled it and saw the one website that I’m assuming you saw as well, but everywhere else says it doubles… I’ll have to pay more attention next time! I’ll add a little disclaimer on the recipe that I used 1 cup uncooked quinoa. Thanks for pointing that out to me!

  87. Hm, no wonder my batch only made 18 bites. I just looked back over the comments and noticed you mentioned that you used 1 cup of uncooked quinoa. When I made them, I looked online to find out how much quinoa expands during cooking and it said 4 times the size. So 1 cup uncooked= 4 cups cooked.
    So I only used 1/2 cup uncooked. I’ll try again using 1 cup uncooked and get more bites!

  88. Just made these, so yummy. I found a package of quinoa/brown rice blend from the makers of Near East. The flavor was Roasted Red Pepper and Basil which worked perfect, so I did not use any seasonings, I also used the turkey pepperoni and used 1 egg and 2 egg whites and that worked well. I will definitely make these again, great after school snack, church potluck item. Thank you for the idea, helps with my pizza fix.

  89. Made these for next week bento lunches. These are great, I even lowered the calories more by using turkey pepperoni and part skim mozzerella. The hubby loves them too. Thank you so much for posting healthy & flavorful recipes. (Love the blog, and your weekly marriage post is inspiring.)

  90. Foodgawker posted this on Facebook and I had to stop by to check it out. I love the fact that the calories are decent. I cannot wait to try this later this week!

  91. Anonymous, I love the versatility of these! You’re so right about being able to substitute any of your favorite pizza flavors in them!

  92. I haven’t tried freezing them yet, so I can’t help you there! Sorry!

    DawnyAngel, I suppose you could make almost a cookie sheet-shaped full pizza and then cut it to serve? I’m not sure! Putting them in the mini muffin tin and gently pushing the mixture down compresses it and helps it keeps it’s shape, so I’m not sure if it would fall apart or not on you!

  93. We tried these last night. Very good. Since my wife’s a vegetarian, I made half the recipe with sauteed mushrooms, and it worked very well. They are like real pizza in that you can substitute whatever you like to go with the quinoa, eggs, and cheese.

  94. WOW..I am going to make these this week-end. My kids are always “drooling” over the pizza bites in the freezer section. I think they will LOVE them! Thank you for sharing! Do you have any idea if the would freeze well? I am just begining to experiment with quinoa.

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