Melty, cheesy, savory homemade quinoa pizza bites. This easy recipe is such a popular appetizer or healthy snack!
Pizza night will never be the same.
Bring a batch of these homemade quinoa pizza bites, and you are pretty much guaranteed to be the hit of any party or family dinner.
The healthy pizza appetizer is simple to make and can be vegan, gluten free, egg free, sugar free, flourless, nut free, soy free, and dairy free.
Also try out this Cauliflower Casserole
Vegetarians and non vegetarians both love the addictively delicious pizza balls, so you know they must be good.
And the bites are easily portable, meaning they’re great for potlucks or game day events. Or serve them as a healthy after school snack.
Kids can’t get enough of the bold pizza flavor and melty cheese filling, while parents appreciate the fiber, protein, iron, and Vitamin C packed into each and every bite.
Pizza Bite Ingredients
The recipe calls for the following eight ingredients: quinoa, beans, tomato paste, dried basil, sweetener, salt, garlic, and onion powder.
Use your favorite brand of shredded mozzarella for the cheese filling. Vegan cheese works too; that’s actually vegan cheese in the photos. The cheese is not required and they’re still yummy if you want to leave it out.
I haven’t tried it yet but would love to know if the recipe also works with rice instead of quinoa. Please be sure to report back if you try!
Quinoa Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (here's How to cook quinoa)
- 1 cup canned or cooked pinto beans
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice
- optional shredded mozzarella cheese (vegan brands work too!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a baking sheet well, then set aside. In a medium bowl, mash the beans completely. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Taste, then add a little more sweetener only if needed. (Mine didn’t need it.) Roll into balls, then break off a piece of the cheese—if using—and push it into the middle before sealing the ball back up. Place the balls onto the baking tray and cook 30 minutes. For a crispy outer shell, feel free to broil a minute at the end.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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More Healthy Meatless Recipes
Or this Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Alyssa @ RenaissanceRunnerGirl says
Can’t wait to try making these…didn’t have a Super Bowl party this year, but they seem great for entertaining because they’re already GF (but don’t seem GF) which is good for my GF-fearing guests.
melissa says
Made these for dinner tonight. I used treeline cashew cheese in the middle( not melty but delicious) . These turned out great! Will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe!
Dana says
I love finding great recipes in the archives… BUT, people might not be reading the comments anymore… Does anyone know if these freeze well? I need to make something ahead of time and then cook it later. I was planning on freezing the little balls to pop in the oven after a 7 hour drive. Experience? Anyone?
Savannah R says
These look amazing! I’m interested in making them en mass to use up some beans I have, but am curious to know if folks here have had success with storing them in the freezer and reheating them, and if so, how they suggest reheating them?
At present, I’m thinking the oven would be the best option after a partial thaw on the counter or in the microwave in order to get a good texture, as opposed to microwaving them entirely.I guess I’ll comment again next week once I’ve made them and tested out the reheating process to report my personal experience.
Thoughts? Experiences?
Melissa says
Making these tonight. Just double checking is it 1/2 tsp of fresh garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder?
Sara says
These are delicious! Tried them out on my roommate’s friends a few weeks back. They were going for these over the regular pizza! I added extra basil and parsley when I made them. Word of advice – use string cheese! I tried with shredded and it was super messy and hard to get the cheese in place. Not impossible, but I imagine it would be a million times easier with string cheese.
Lynett says
How do you feel about a different bean, like maybe Great Northern or cannellini, instead of pinto?
Kathy says
Do you think they would travel camping? I don’t see why not, but I defer to your thoughts…
Beet Juice says
This is one of my favorite recipes! I probably made it dozens and dozens of times.
Daniela says
Hi, what could i use as a bean alternative? It looks great. But we do not gave this bean in beazil. Thanks
Julie Dove says
You can use any beans – black beans, white beans, etc.
noor says
This receipr are 2 good
kajj88 says
Revelation I love reading your statements. At such a high level.
Sophie says
These are great: kid-friendly and a good way to get extra protein into a vegetarian or vegan meal. I make them with dried oregano because I prefer it to basil, and as a resident of the U.K. I find it easier to get hold of cannellini than pinto beans, but they work just fine.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Sophie says
Hi Katie, do you know if it’s ok to freeze these?
CCK Media Team says
You can!
Gwen Frita says
Made a version of this for dinner tonight. Didn’t have tomato paste so I cooked quinoa in a veggie broth & strained tomato sauce in place of water. & used pinto beans cooked from dry. I wanted a larger volume to I doubled the recipe. I also wanted to add a veggie so I finely diced steamed broccoli, dried it out with a towel, seasoned and tossed with cheddar cheese. Because of this the filling was a lot and I ended up shaping them like a gordita or chubby pupusa. They were delicious but a bit dry, probably because I had to cook them longer. I will try this again following the recipe closer except I will use canned re-fried beans instead to make it a bit more easy/fast.