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Spaghetti Squash, Quinoa and Parmesan Fritters - delicious, healthy snack that everybody in your family will love!
Quinoa tastes AMAZING in this recipe! If you like quinoa you will like it even more after making these savory mini cakes.
How to wring out spaghetti squash
To make these spaghetti squash cakes, you will need to precook the spaghetti squash in the oven as described in the instructions below.
IMPORTANT STEP: After you baked the squash, cooled it, and scraped it with a fork to remove the flesh in long strands, wring out the spaghetti squash by wrapping 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. Then, mix in the spaghetti squash with the rest of the ingredients:
How to cook spaghetti squash cakes on stove top
The key to making fritters successfully and making sure they don't stick to the pan is to heat your skillet very hot before adding fritters.
That means that you will need to heat the skillet before even adding oil (otherwise oil will burn). Once the skillet is heated and very hot, add oil which should sizzle immediately and roll all over the pan. Then add tablespoonfuls of fritters. They should not stick at all.
They would stick, however, if your skillet is not hot enough. Experiment and you'll see. 🙂 Get your skillet very hot only for the first batch of fritters, then you can reduce the heat because the skillet will already be heated through enough.
Note that the recipe includes spinach which I mainly add because it makes fritters more colorful, and it also adds nice flavor. You can see that spinach is OPTIONAL in my ingredient list, as I mainly add it for color.
If you ever made crepes, you will find that making fritters is very similar to making crepes in terms of how hot you want to get your skillet for the very first batch of fritters.
These fritters taste amazing with a dollop of sour cream on top:
Or just plain - you'll love them either way:
Spaghetti Squash, Quinoa and Parmesan Fritters
Ingredients
Spaghetti squash fritters
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ 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
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- ¼ cup spinach fresh, finely chopped (OPTIONAL)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Garnish
- 2 green onions chopped
- dollop of sour cream or Greek Yogurt
Instructions
How to cook spaghetti squash:
- 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):
- Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Now, on to how to make fritters:
- 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 ½ teaspoon of salt. Mix very well until all the mixture has uniform consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, even though it should be just perfect.
- Heat a large skillet on high-medium heat until VERY hot. Only then add olive oil. It should sizzle and smoke right away. 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. 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. 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.
- Serve as is, or top with the dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and chopped green onions (delicious if served this way!).
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I just made these, replacing the flour with Panko and added extra basil - instead of frying I cooked them in the waffle iron! My kids and husband couldn't get enough.
I can't do flour are there any alternatives? Almond meal/flour???
I used arrowroot powder which is like nutrional yeast and it worked great 🙂
I'm always looking for recipes that involve quinoa to make it looking like I"m trying to be healthy;-) This one I'm for sure going to make! Thanks for sharing!
I make mine in Coconut Oil and definitely freeze them in individual servings for later use in some wax paper!
So if i only have one half of squash i should cut the ingredients in half right?
Just made these and they were awesome! I actually used some leftover spaghetti squash from the previous day and didn't use spinach but did put some fresh parsley in it. Yum!
I guess this may be obvious to most people, but I need clarification on the amount of quinoa. As written, "2 cups quinoa, cooked" would indicate to me that you start with 2 cups raw quinoa, then cook it. But this seems like a lot. Should it be 2 cups cooked quinoa?
Just in case anyone else is looking for the answer to this question. I searched a few other recipes online & yes.... you cook the quinoa & then measure out the 2 cups.
Made this for Meatless Monday & my husband actually put back the leftover chicken fingers & had these fritters w/a nice serving of Brussel Sprouts! They were very good. I'll maybe add a little more onion or seasonings next time. I baked them in the oven, too.
If you do 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups water the quinoa doubles and is 2 cups cooked when finished
Tried these tonight and they were awesome! I modified the recipe slightly and wanted to pass along my changes in case anyone else wanted to try them...
I made my quinoa in a rice cooker and added some minced garlic and chicken boullion cubes when cooking for a little extra flavor.
Also, I had some leftover corn in the fridge (about a 1/2 cup) so I dumped that in to the mixture.
I fried 2 of the fritters as per the directions - no problem! Delicious! But, because I like to avoid fried foods whenever possible, I spooned the rest of the mixture into a small non-stick muffin pan. I'd estimate each cup took a generous tablespoon full of the mixture. I baked it at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Yield: 24 delicious little squash bites!
They came out perfectly and tasted just as delicious as the fried fritters. I'm planning on throwing them in the freezer and taking out a few at a time whenever I'm in the mood.
Thanks for a GREAT receipe! Loved it!
Jill
i like the idea of baking them like you did. I don't like frying either. thanks for the tip, cant wait to try !
wonderful idea...i was going to try baking on a cookie sheet but your muffin idea is great thank you!
I thought these were just ok. I don't foresee making them again in the future.