Beef, Apple and Quinoa balls – delicious nutty flavour of quinoa and natural sweetness of apple with beef in these high protein bites.
High Protein Quinoa Balls
A batch of these, don’t last long in my house. My kids love to dip them in this low sugar ketchup, but I love them with a sweet chilli sauce – soooo good.
These Beef, Apple and Quinoa Balls are great served warm out of the oven or cold, so are perfect for snacks, lunch boxes or taking on picnics.
The Perfect recipe to use up some leftover cooked quinoa. I don’t know about you, but I also cook far too much, so it is super handy to have recipes like this to use up the extra.
Quinoa is so versatile in a lot in many recipes, it is similar in size to couscous, but is gluten free and has a slight nutty flavour to it.
For these Beef, Apple and Quinoa Balls I use some lean ground beef, but you could also use lamb, chicken, pork or turkey, you might want to switch up the apple and try other ingredients that compliment the meat you use. Dried cranberries or apricots for instance go really well with chicken or turkey.
Freezer friendly – these can also be frozen once cooked, and just reheated in an oven at 180c/350f
If you are not dairy free, why not add some grated cheese of your choice to add a yummy cheesy flavour to these. Think wcheeseburger quinoa ball – yum!!
More Quinoa Recipes
Looking for some other quinoa recipes? Check out these:
- APPLE AND CHEESE QUINOA BITES
- ZUCCHINI AND PARMESAN QUINOA BITES
- FETA, RED PEPPER AND SPINACH QUINOA BALLS
- CARROT AND CILANTRO QUINOA BITES
or head on over to my FULL RECIPE INDEX for more delicious recipes for Little Hands
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Beef, Apple and Quinoa balls
Beef, Apple and Quinoa balls - delicious nutty flavour of quinoa and natural sweetness of apple with beef in these high protein bites.
Ingredients
- 500 g (17.5oz) lean ground beef
- 500 g (17.5oz) cooked quinoa
- 1 large apple, grated
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 handful coriander/cilantro
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 large egg, beaten
- olive oil, in spray bottle
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c/350f
- Add to a large bowl the beef, apple, paprika, cumin, tomato paste,freshly chopped coriander and black pepper
- Add the cooked quinoa to the meat mixture along with the beaten egg and work together thoroughly.
- Form into equal size balls and place on a greased baking tray. Spray over the top with olive oil.
- Bake in the oven until golden all over and cooked through. (approx 30 mins)
- These are great served as they are or with a homemade tomato sauce. The mixture can also be used for burgers or a meatloaf.
Notes
Gluten Free • Nut Free • Freezer Friendly
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 273Total Fat: 10.7gSaturated Fat: 3.2gCarbohydrates: 21.5gFiber: 3gSugar: 2.4gProtein: 21.6g
Sydney
If you were going to make this as a mini meatloaf, what do you think the cooking time would (or would it?) change to? I can’t wait to try this for my little girl, I love all of your recipes!
Little Grazers
So sorry for the late reply, it might take a little longer cooking, I would start checking it from the time suggested for the bites 🙂
Lisa
How much is 500 g of quinoa? I’m from USA cannot figure this out. Thanks.
Little Grazers
Hi Lisa – it is 17.5oz 🙂
Angela
Can I make this without quinoa ?
Little Grazers
of course, they just are more of a full meal in one for little ones with the quinoa added 🙂
Eliska
Can it be frozen?
Little Grazers
They sure can
Teresa
How do you heat from frozen?
Little Grazers
Just place on a baking tray and pop in the oven on about 180c/350f till heated through 🙂