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Well guys it has been a whole month since that last buffalo recipe…..and I think you’ll really like this Crispy Buffalo Quinoa Bites Salad!
This means I am due to share another.
I think all Mondays should have at least a little buffalo sauce. Well buffalo sauce or margarita chicken and guacamole quesadilla’s. Yeah, one or better yet both of these things should happen every Monday.
That would make for a good Monday don’t cha think?
You know what would also make for a good Monday?
SLEEP!
This is something I do not get enough of and with summer right around the corner the days are getting longer and longer. More light equals more working time and more working time equals less sleep. But you know what I am OK with this. I love the long day’s and I am jumping out of my skin excited for summer to hit around here.
Ah wait. I am getting way ahead of myself here! How am I talking about summer? How is it that Memorial Day is exactly TWO weeks from today? This is crazy.
Oh and since we are talking about Memorial Day I feel I should tell you to prepare yourselves for some good food in the coming weeks. Lots of grilling, lots of fruit, marshmallows and lots of ice cream.
Oh and of course some random stuff scattered throughout. Oh and did I mention ice cream?
It’s gonna be good.
Let’s talk salad today though.
So I am all about quinoa. I mean for one, it is healthy and that’s just awesome. But I really love it cause it is amazing with pretty much anything. It can also be made into cute little balls that are crunchy, moist and… the perfect solution for when you open the fridge only to find that the chicken you thought you had was actually stolen by an older brother the day before!
Yes, this can be a life saver (my older brother’s life that is).
So speaking of buffalo sauce, I think my dad is growing more and more insane as the days roll on.
Remember when I made these buffalo shrimp sandwiches and I told you guys how my dad wanted to start a buffalo restaurant? Yeah, well these quinoa bites sealed the deal for him. He actually said he likes them better than buffalo chicken.
He is dead serious about the buffalo restaurant. He REALLY wants to open one. It’s starting to scare me.
Anyway, the base of the balls is mostly quinoa and then a about a cup of white beans and an egg to help the balls stick together. Then just crisp them up in a skillet and douse them in buffalo sauce.
Oh my gosh the dressing!! It’s a combo of homemade buttermilk ranch and blue cheese dressing and the only reason it’s a combo is because I could not decide between the two (yeah you know me and decisions). I think I spent twenty minutes of my hike going back and forth on which dressing to use until I finally decided to just combine the two. My brain just will not give me a break, it’s always going back and forth.
Then obviously, you NEED to cover the whole thing with extra buffalo sauce and blue cheese, or cheddar cheese if you’re not into the blue. We love the moldy stuff around here though.
Crispy Buffalo Quinoa Bites Salad with Cheesy Ranch
Servings: 12
Calories Per Serving: 489 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Buffalo Sauce and Quinoa Bites
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup hot sauce I use Franks
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 cup cannellini beans mashed
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon peper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup butter milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried chives
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 ounces blue cheese
Salad
- 1-2 cups leftover [baked french fries |https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/double-baked-fries-with-garlic-cheese-sauce-and-bacon/] optional
- 8 cups of butter lettuce chopped
- 2 carrots sliced or chopped
- 4 green onions sliced
- 24 ounces gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Make the dressing. Combine all ingredients except the blue cheese in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the blue cheese and place in the fridge while you make the salads.
- Make the buffalo sauce. Combine the melted butter, olive oil, hot sauce and seasoned salt in a medium size bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside
- In another bowl combine the quinoa, mashed cannellini beans, bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper and 4 tablespoons of the buffalo sauce. Mix well to moisten the ingredients and then form into 30-35 equal size balls (about 1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon of the quinoa mixture). Squeeze the balls together tightly with your hands, being careful.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Add half the balls to skillet and cook until golden and crisp on all sides, about five minutes. Gently (very gently) toss about 10 balls at a time with the buffalo sauce or you can dip each ball in the sauce as well if you are afraid the balls will crumble.
- To assemble the salads, combine lettuce and carrots in bowls or on plates. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then toss. Top with an equal amount of green onions and fries, then add the buffalo quinoa bites on top. Cover in blue cheese, then drizzle with the dressing and add any remaining buffalo sauce. Go to town!
Now, someone please tell my dad this restaurant trailer a bad idea.
Oh my goodness! These bites are amazing…..made some for a party I was invited too. And everyone loved them. Thanks so very much HalfBakedHarvest!
Thank you so much, Vanessa!
As a vegetarian buffalo lover, I’m pretty excited to make these! And I personally think a buffalo themed restaurant or food truck would be amazing.
Haha! Thank you so much! Hope you love this salad!
Amazing recipe!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you!
Do you think these could’ve made without the bread crumbs and with just more quinoa instead?
Hey Taylor, I think the bread crumbs help to bind and hold everything together. I would keep them in the recipe. Hope that helps you and I hope you love this salad!
I’d like to make these without the beans (paleo). Is there something else I could substitute?
Is it two cups of quinoa before or after cooking? I measured two cups and cooked it and it seems like a lot
Hey Jessie, it is two cups of quinoa after cooking. So around 1 cup dry quinoa. So sorry for the confusion. Hope you love the salad! 🙂
I decided to give these a try tonight and OH MY GOD, they were AMAZING! And the best part? It got my super picky boyfriend who thinks if its healthy or meatless, its just snack’s seal of approval! He loved and has already had 2 servings! Thank you for this delicious, filling meal!
These look awesome do you happen to know calories per serving
Thanks Jackie!! I don’t have the nutrition, but you can calculate it online i think. Thanks again!
Hi there – will be trying these on my fussy veggie partner this weekend. Look delicious and I bet will adapt to lots of sauces. Thanks from Erika, Melbourne Australia.
Made this tonight and LOVED IT!!! I’ve missed ‘buffalo’ everything since giving up meat! I made quinoa last night and then today after making the balls, I put them in fridge for 2 hours so they’d firm up a bit. Next time I think I’m going to try and bake them, so I can avoid frying them. Shared on FB too and it’s getting a TON of likes 🙂
Thanks Maria! So happy you loved these. They are one of my families favorite recipes!
Do you think I could make them up and put in the fridge overnight then fry the next day when I’m ready for them? I’m so excited to try them. I want to take them to our GNO!!
Yes!! That is a great idea and it will work perfectly! Hope you love these!
Thanks Emma!
I just made these after finding on Pinterest and they are amazing! Followed the recipe exactly; the only thing I did differently was to stick them in the fridge for about 15 minutes before cooking to make sure they wouldn’t fall apart, but they probably didn’t need it. Go make these!
YES!! Thank so much, Kimberly!! This make me so happy! Thanks for making them!
Made these tonight, however, instead of frying them I pressed the mix into my mini muffin pan and baked them for about 20 min at 400. They came out nice and crunchy on the outside. Great recipe! Thank you!
That is a genius idea!! So much easier than frying! I need to to this! Thanks for trying these and I am so happy you loved them!
Chicken wings were the hardest thing for me to give up when I became vegetarian. I am so going to try to make a vegan version of these. Sounds delish! Photos look great too!
Yay!! Thank so much, Nicole! I hope you LOVE these!
Yum! I love quinoa. This looks delicious! I’ll definitely need to try this soon.
hank you so much. Candice! Hope you love it!