Halloumi and Quinoa Keftedes

Halloumi and quinoa keftedes are not your average "meatball". It's my take on a Greek meatball using halloumi and quinoa.

I really struggled with the name for this recipe and post!

The recipe all worked out fine it's just that I wasn't sure what to call this creation.

I thought about using "balls", patties and even meatballs!

But meatballs didn't really work as a name, as there is no meat in this recipe.

Halloumi and quinoa fritters would have been the best option but alas these were baked, not fried.

Finally, I decided on "keftedes" the Greek word for meatballs. Ironically, "keftedes" is used a lot in many recipes where there is no meat.

In the end, call them what you like!

Ok. Now that we have the name out of the way, how did my halloumi and quinoa keftedes taste?

Surprisingly these were good!

I mean they have halloumi in them, how can they not taste good!

🥘 Ingredients

I've flavoured them with a little red capsicum, parsley, mint, dill and a little cumin.

To give them a little bulk and to keep them together I've used a combination of tapioca flour and a small amount of almond meal. Again, not wanting to sound like a broken record - any binder will work.

To accompany them I made a "spur of the moment" dipping sauce made from sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts.

Overall, a worthwhile experiment and one recipe I will be attempting again.

• ½ red capsicum, finely diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 250 g halloumi cheese, grated 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• ½ cup mint, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoon dill, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 tablespoon tapioca flour
• ¼ cup almond meal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper

🔪 Instructions

• In a hot pan with a little olive oil, sauté the capsicum, onions and garlic for 3 mins until softened. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
• In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, the softened capsicum/onion/garlic, halloumi cheese, eggs, herbs, cumin, tapioca, almond meal and seasoning. Mix well with your hands, cover and place in the fridge for half an hour.
• Using wet hands roll into 24 equal-sized balls. Place on a baking tray and cook for 20 mins, making sure to turn the tray around halfway through.
• Allow to cool for 10 mins before serving with semi-dried tomato dip.

📖 Variations

Just recently I posted my tomato fritters - "domatokeftedes" recipe which was completely vegetarian. You may wish to tackle those - although they do involve frying.

If you're strapped for time you can try my quick and easy lentil cakes - super easy and all done in a food processor.

💭 Top tips

Shaping them was "interesting". I used wet hands (like I do with regular meatballs), and while they were a little fragile, they kept their shape.

📖 Recipe

Halloumi and Quinoa Keftedes

5 from 1 vote

AUTHOR: Peter G

A very different but delicious creation of Greek-inspired vegetarian fritters made with halloumi and quinoa - sun-dried tomato dipping sauce included.

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Prep Time :25 minutes mins

Cook Time :20 minutes mins

Total Time :45 minutes mins

Cuisine Modern Greek

Servings 25 fritters

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the fritters:

• ▢ ½ red capsicum, finely diced
• ▢ 1 red onion, finely diced
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic
• ▢ 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ▢ 250 g halloumi cheese, grated
• ▢ 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ▢ 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• ▢ ½ cup mint, finely chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoon dill, finely chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 4 tablespoon tapioca flour
• ▢ ¼ cup almond meal
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon white pepper

For The dip:

• ▢ 100 g sun-dried tomatoes
• ▢ 50 g walnuts, shelled
• ▢ 1 tablespoon molasses, Greek grape molasses you can substitute with pomegranate molasses
• ▢ 1 pinch salt
• ▢ 1 pinch pepper
• ▢ 60 ml olive oil, extra virgin

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Instructions

 

For the fritters:

• Preheat your oven to 190 deg C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
• In a hot pan with a little olive oil, sauté the capsicum, onions and garlic for 3 mins until softened. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
• In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, the softened capsicum/onion/garlic, halloumi cheese, eggs, herbs, cumin, tapioca, almond meal and seasoning. Mix well with your hands, cover and place in the fridge for half an hour.
• Using wet hands roll into 24 equal-sized balls. Place on a baking tray and cook for 20 mins, making sure to turn the tray around halfway through.
• Allow to cool for 10 mins before serving with semi-dried tomato dip.

For the dip:

• Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Garnish with extra chopped walnuts and serve immediately with the quinoa keftedes.

Notes

The technique to get a round ball is a little "tricky". Once you have the mixture in your palm form into a round shape and "cup" with your other hand.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 fritter | Calories: 61 kcal | Carbohydrates: 4 g | Protein: 3 g | Fat: 4 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Souvlaki For the Soul

Made this recipe?Let me know how you went and tag @souvlakiman on Instagram!