Quinoa, Spaghetti Squash, and Bacon Fritters

Quinoa, Spaghetti Squash, and Bacon Fritters – perfect snack, breakfast, or lunch! This might become your favorite way to eat quinoa or spaghetti squash! These little cakes are perfect on their own, and you can also dress them up with sour cream or Greek yogurt.

I love making mini-cakes or fritters with spaghetti squash, and I already have 2 other recipes of spaghetti squash fritters:

• Spaghetti Squash, Quinoa and Parmesan Fritters – this one is very similar to this recipe, but it’s without bacon, perfect for those who want meatless spaghetti squash recipe.
• Bacon Spaghetti Squash Fritters with Parmesan – this one is with bacon, but without quinoa, super delicious!

Cooking tips about spaghetti squash

• To ensure these fritters turn out well, make sure to wring out the cooked spaghetti squash strands really well before forming the fritters (more detail on that in the recipe instructions below).   You will want to get rid of as much liquid from spaghetti squash as you can.
• Cooked spaghetti squash can be refrigerated for 5 days. I prefer to cook spaghetti squash, refrigerate it and make fritters the next day or 2 days later – that allows spaghetti squash to drain the liquid out and get dryer, which is preferable for fritters.

How to fry fritters on the skillet

To be successful at frying any fritters, it’s VERY IMPORTANT to heat your frying pan until very hot.

Then add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (or olive oil) and start frying the fritters. If they frying pan is hot enough, they should not stick and should be easy to flip. It might take practice and your 1st batch of fritters might not be perfect, and even then they are very eatable and delicious. Fry them for about 1-2 minutes until golden-brown on one side:

Then, flip them other to the other side with a spatula and continue frying for another 1-2 minutes:

Your Quinoa, Spaghetti Squash, and Bacon Fritters are ready!  Enjoy!

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Quinoa, Spaghetti Squash, and Bacon Fritters

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

Quinoa, Spaghetti Squash, and Bacon Fritters with Greek yogurt and chopped green onions.  Delicious snack.  Great recipe for spaghetti squash lovers!

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 14 fritters

Calories: 194 kcal

Author: Julia

Ingredients

Spaghetti squash fritters:

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup flour (for gluten free version, use multi-purpose gluten-free King Arthur flour)
• 2 cups spaghetti squash , cooked and wringed out (see below)
• 2 cups quinoa , cooked
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• ¼ cup spinach fresh, finely chopped (OPTIONAL)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 strips bacon , cooked, drained of fat, and chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

For garnish:

• 2 green onions chopped
• dollop of sour cream or Greek Yogurt

Instructions

How to cook spaghetti squash

1. The recipe requires 2 CUPS COOKED spaghetti squash. First 5 steps describe how to cook spaghetti squash (this can be done 1 or more days in advance):

2. Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.
3. Cut the squash in 2 halves, scrape out the seeds and the fiber out of each half. Spray oil over the cut sides of the squash. Spray the baking sheet with oil and place the squash on the baking sheet cut side down.
4. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. Remove it from the oven when it's cooked through and soft, and let it cool. Flip the squash so that cut side faces up – that will speed up the cooling. After squash cools, scrape squash with a fork to remove flesh in long strands and transfer to a bowl. Let it cool.
5. Important: Wring out the spaghetti squash by wrapping small portions of it in paper towels and squeezing hard with your hands over the sink. Be careful not to drop the spaghetti squash into the sink if the paper towel breaks. Try to get rid of as much liquid as you can.
6. Cooked spaghetti squash can be refrigerated for 5 days. I prefer to cook spaghetti squash, refrigerate it and make fritters the next day or 2 days later - that allows spaghetti squash to drain the liquid out and get dryer, which is preferable for fritters.

How to make fritters:

1. In a large bowl, using electric mixer, beat 2 eggs on high speed for 1-2 minutes. Add flour and continue beating for about 30 seconds to combine. To the same bowl, add spaghetti squash, quinoa, Parmesan cheese, finely chopped spinach,and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix very well until all the mixture has uniform consistency. Add chopped bacon and mix. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

2. Heat a large skillet on high-medium heat until VERY hot. Only then add oil. It should sizzle and smoke right away. 

3. Using a tablespoon, spoon the tablespoon-ful of the batter for each fritter and drop on the skillet. Using a spatula, correct the shape of each fritter, making it flatter and rounder. Cook until the bottom side of each fritter is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. 

4. Using spatula, flip fritters to the opposite side, and cook 1-2 more minutes. When flipping the fritters, you can use a spoon on the opposite side of spatula to help push each fritter onto the spatula and then flipping. 

5. Turn off the heat and let the fritters sit in the skillet (uncovered) for 2-3 more minutes (check the bottom to make sure it's not burned - if it is too dark, remove fritters from the skillet immediately). Do 4 fritters at a time.

6. Serve as is, or top with the dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and chopped green onions (delicious if served this way!).

Nutrition Facts

Quinoa, Spaghetti Squash, and Bacon Fritters

Amount Per Serving

Calories 194 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 8g 12%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Cholesterol 32mg 11%

Sodium 173mg 7%

Potassium 192mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 21g 7%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Protein 7g 14%

Vitamin A 2.8%

Vitamin C 0.8%

Calcium 6.2%

Iron 9.1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.