Buffalo Cauliflower Quinoa Meatballs
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Add a spicy kick to meatless meatballs with these vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Quinoa Meatballs. With simple ingredients, like cauliflower, quinoa, garlic, and breadcrumbs, they’re sure to be a hit for the whole family!
I’m going to say it up front: these buffalo cauliflower quinoa meatballs DO take longer than 30 minutes to make, but they’re so, so worth it and you’ll have plenty of leftovers.
I got the inspiration from my Cauliflower Quinoa Meatballs and wanted to add a fun twist to it, aka buffalo sauce.
I do want to talk about this recipe in detail. I’ve received a couple comments on my original recipe about these not turning out, and I want to make sure we’re all on the same page here. I’ve made this recipe twice, and my original recipe at least four times and they’ve never not turned out, so let’s walk through it.
HOW TO MAKE QUINOA MEATBALLS
Step 1: Start by preheating the oven to 375° and cooking the quinoa and cauliflower over the stovetop in two separate saucepans. Note: you can absolutely use bagged cauliflower rice; however, you’ll have to use 2 bags and you’ll have to squeeze the moisture out of it by pouring the cooked rice into a cheesecloth and squeezing the water out completely. While the the quinoa and cauliflower are cooking, you can prepare the buffalo sauce by whisking vegan hot sauce, melted vegan butter, garlic powder, and chili powder together in a bowl and setting it aside.
Step 2: Once the quinoa and cauliflower are cooked, you’ll remove them from the stovetop and place HALF of the cauliflower in the food processor, along with the garlic cloves, and pulse for 5-10 seconds, allowing it to crush up. Next, remove it from the processor and place it into a large bowl. Repeat this process with the second half of the cauliflower. Once all of the crushed up cauliflower is in the large bowl, stir in the quinoa.
Step 3: Stir in the oregano and breadcrumbs. EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve since made these three more times and I’ve found it best to add HALF of the buffalo sauce into the mix at this point. So, while stirring in the oregano and breadcrumbs, also stir in half of the buffalo sauce. Once everything is good and mixed, place the bowl in the refrigerator for about 25 minutes, allowing the mixture to cool down and be a bit more manageable. While you’re waiting for the mixture to cool, you can do the dishes, or if you’re like me, you can check social media for the 45th time that day and leave the dishes for later when dishes are the last possible thing you feel like doing. Tip: don’t be like me.
Ok great! Now the mixture isn’t as hot and we can start to work with it.
Step 4: Grab a large skillet to place the meatballs on. You can use a spoon to scoop the mixture up, but truthfully I just used my hands. I’m not going to lie and say this isn’t a bit messy, but it’s not too bad and I imagine kiddos would make excellent helpers. Essentially, you’ll want to grab a handful and start shaping it into a meatball, pressing back and forth on the mixture and then gently rolling it to finish, placing it on the skillet when you’re done. The size of the meatball shouldn’t matter, though mine were a bit bigger than golf ball size.
TIP: If the mixture seems too wet, add flour (whole wheat, all purpose or oat) 1 tbsp at a time. This should help hold everything together. If for some reason the mixture is too dry, add water 1 tbsp at a time to moisten it up a bit.
Step 5: Place the skillet over the stovetop and cook the meatballs so that they’re slightly golden brown; this will assure they stay together during the baking process (I tried skipping this step once and it didn’t work—the meatballs turned out mushy). This step is crucial.
TIP: Be careful when turning over the meatballs. They need to be browned on all sides, but gently turn them or some of the quinoa may slip out.
Step 6: Last, after the meatballs are browned, spoon a small amount of buffalo sauce overtop of each meatballs while the meatballs are still in the skillet, carefully turning the meatballs to make sure they are covered in the rest of the sauce.
Step 7: Once all of the meatballs look good, transfer them to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are firm.
This recipe takes a little longer, but it makes almost two dozen meatballs so you should have leftovers!
If you make them, be sure to tag @thealmondeater on Instagram—I love to see your creations!
MORE VEGAN DINNER IDEAS:
Finally, these cauliflower quinoa meatballs are great on their own, on salad, with a side of brussels sprouts. The possibilities are endless!
Buffalo Cauliflower Quinoa Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 cauliflower head
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- Optional: 1-2 tbsp flour, whole wheat, all purpose or oat
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 1/4 cup dairy free butter
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Cook quinoa according to instructions on the package (with water over stovetop); at the same time, cook cauliflower in a separate pot over stovetop.
- While those are cooking, prepare the buffalo sauce: melt butter either in microwave or over stove and then stir in hot sauce, garlic powder and chili powder; set aside.
- Once the quinoa is done cooking, set aside; once the cauliflower is done cooking, drain and place HALF the cauliflower, along with the garlic, into the food processor and pulse for 5-10 seconds.
- Remove and pour cauliflower into a bowl before adding the second half of cauliflower to the food processor and repeating the process, removing and placing into the bowl.
- Stir quinoa, breadcrumbs, oregano, and HALF of the buffalo sauce together with the cauliflower and then place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, allowing everything to cool off a bit.
- After 15 minutes, remove from refrigerator and, using your hands, form mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs, placing the meatballs directly onto a large skillet. If the mixture is too wet, add additional flour 1 tbsp at a time.
- Drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil on the skillet and then cook meatballs on medium-high heat, making sure to be careful when flipping them over, until they're golden brown on all sides.
- Pour a small amount of the rest of the buffalo sauce overtop of each meatball, making sure they all get covered with the sauce but you don't want them to be soaked with sauce or else they will get soggy.
- Remove meatballs from skillet and place on a baking sheet; bake for approximately 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
These sounds amazing and awesome and I NEED to try them. Lovin’ these photos, Erin!
I’m so trying these! Will have to figure out a GF filler instead of breadcrumbs but that shouldn’t be too terrible! Buffalo is such a fun flavor I don’t use enough of!!
Hey! Just wondering what you used as a GF sub for the breadcrumbs? 🙂
You could most likely use Italian seasoning and flour in place of breadcrumbs, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Are used whole wheat pank crumbs in my recipe. Can you tell me how many calories are in each meatball? I will be doing weight watchers I would like to know how many points for each meatball
I used Ian’s gluten Free panko breadcrumbs, delicious!!!!!
Oh how I love cauliflower. Is there anything that cannot be done with it? I feel like I should plant it and grow in my backyard I eat so much of it and don’t even talk to me about warm weather. We’ve been hitting records of 90’s the last two weeks in Phoenix!
Ah man!!!! All hail cauliflower and…buffalo! The look crazy good <3 Fantastic idea my friend!
Thank youuuuuuu. I agree, cauliflower is the best.
Oh my these look soooo good… buffalo sauce is my favorite, I’m bookmarking this recipe for sure!
Thanks Sarah! I agree–buffalo sauce is so good.
I’ve had the meatless meatballs from gardien and they were pretty good but I have yet to try to make some for myself. I love that this recipe uses both quinoa and cauliflower. Isn’t cauliflower such a beautiful creation!?
It really is though!
Oh my goodness these look and sound amazing. Your photos are stunning!! I’ve been wanting to experiment with cauliflower, this is so creative
Thanks lady! Cauliflower is seriously amazing and I tend to forget how many things can be made with it (i.e. cauliflower crust which I STILL haven’t made…).
Mmm these look delicious! I seriously need to do more with cauliflower. I always forget about it, but there’s so much you can do with it. And the weather! Oh my gosh, I was in heaven. I love spring so much and it needs to hurry itself up and get here.
Yes! You love spring/summer just as much as I do, and I’m SO ready for it. And yes–cauliflower is so versatile!
How did you know I’ve been craving buffalo-flavored *anything*? (Well, to be exact, buffalo chicken spaghetti squash that Lesley made me last time I was home.) Definitely attempting these sometime soon… you know, when I actually feel like cooking again. xo
I’m psychic 😉 And yes attempt them! Maybe even 1/2 the recipe so you don’t have meatballs to feed an army AND then they won’t take as long to make. If not, go all in and have leftovers for days.
I am absolutely drooling over this recipe and these photos! These sound and look absolutely delicious!
Thanks Alexa! Buffalo sauce is my favvvvvv.