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You are here: Home / Recipes / Beef, Apple and Quinoa Balls

Beef, Apple and Quinoa Balls

April 11, 2012 By Little Grazers 10 Comments

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Beef, Apple and Quinoa balls – delicious nutty flavour of quinoa and natural sweetness of apple with beef in these high protein bites.

beef apple quinoa bites in a bowl

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!!

beef apple quinoa bites in a bowl

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

Yield: SERVES 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

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

  1. Preheat oven to 180c/350f
  2. Add to a large bowl the beef, apple, paprika, cumin, tomato paste,freshly chopped coriander and black pepper
  3. Add the cooked quinoa to the meat mixture along with the beaten egg and work together thoroughly.
  4. Form into equal size balls and place on a greased baking tray. Spray over the top with olive oil.
  5. Bake in the oven until golden all over and cooked through. (approx 30 mins)
  6. 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

It is the responsibility of the Reader to assure the products or ingredients they use in any recipes from Little Grazers are allergen-free (gluten-free, egg-free and/or dairy-free, for example) or are suitable for your little ones. Little Grazers assumes no liability for inaccuracies or misstatement about products, opinions or comments on this site.

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Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Nordic Ware 43174 3 Piece Baker's Delight Set, Aluminum
    Nordic Ware 43174 3 Piece Baker's Delight Set, Aluminum
  • Wunder Basket Organic White Quinoa, 5 LB Jar, Raw, Non-GMO, Vegan (White)
    Wunder Basket Organic White Quinoa, 5 LB Jar, Raw, Non-GMO, Vegan (White)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 273Total Fat: 10.7gSaturated Fat: 3.2gCarbohydrates: 21.5gFiber: 3gSugar: 2.4gProtein: 21.6g
© Little Grazers
Cuisine: American / Category: Finger Foods
Beef and Apple Quinoa Bites pin image

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Filed Under: apple, Baby Led Weaning, beef, by course, by ingredient, by type, Dairy Free, dinner, Family Meals, Finger Foods, Freezer Friendly, fruit, Fussy Eaters, Gluten Free, grains and legumes, Kids Meals, lunch, meat, Nut Free, quinoa, Recipes Tagged With: apple, beef, quinoa

Previous Post: « Apple and Cheese Quinoa Bites
Next Post: Porridge and Raisin Balls »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sydney

    January 19, 2017 at 4:42 am

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Little Grazers

      February 8, 2017 at 4:05 am

      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 🙂

      Reply
  2. Lisa

    June 20, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    How much is 500 g of quinoa? I’m from USA cannot figure this out. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Little Grazers

      July 17, 2017 at 3:20 am

      Hi Lisa – it is 17.5oz 🙂

      Reply
  3. Angela

    August 17, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    Can I make this without quinoa ?

    Reply
    • Little Grazers

      September 13, 2017 at 8:23 pm

      of course, they just are more of a full meal in one for little ones with the quinoa added 🙂

      Reply
  4. Eliska

    September 14, 2017 at 5:37 am

    5 stars
    Can it be frozen?

    Reply
    • Little Grazers

      September 20, 2017 at 4:20 am

      They sure can

      Reply
  5. Teresa

    October 8, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    How do you heat from frozen?

    Reply
    • Little Grazers

      November 8, 2017 at 2:28 am

      Just place on a baking tray and pop in the oven on about 180c/350f till heated through 🙂

      Reply

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