These easy Air Fryer Quinoa Balls with Buffalo Sauce are the perfect vegetarian alternative to meatballs. These easy, protein filled bites will be a hit with the whole family!
Ingredients in Buffalo Quinoa Balls Recipe:
- OLIVE OIL
- ONION– either white or yellow will work fine
- CARROT
- GARLIC POWDER– I prefer this to using fresh garlic as it is easier to evenly disperse among the quinoa balls.
- QUINOA-this is dry, uncooked quinoa
- BREADCRUMBS-for this recipe I used regular (not panko) breadcrumbs
- KOSHER SALT
- GROUND BLACK PEPPER
- CHICKPEAS
- EGGS
- BUFFALO SAUCE
How to Serve Air Fryer Quinoa Balls
My favorite way is to serve “meatball style” along with some egg noodles, sliced celery and topped with some crumbled blue cheese.
These would also be great for a party simply served with skewers or possibly on mini buns for some slider sandwiches.
Love Buffalo?
If you love the buffalo flavor of thee quinoa balls, be sure to check out our Buffalo Egg Salad for an easy, spicy twist on egg salad.
Or check out this easy Instant Pot Buffalo Cauliflower Chili for another spicy vegetarian hit.
Air Fryer Buffalo Quinoa Balls Recipe
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 ½ cup water
- ⅔ cup quinoa
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 cups canned chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup buffalo sauce divided
Instructions
- Pulse the onion and carrots in a food processor a few times to finely chop.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and garlic powder and saute for around 3 minutes. Add the water and quinoa and bring to a boil.
- When boiling, cover, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 18 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Transfer to a plate to cool for 5 minutes.
- Combine the quinoa, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, chickpeas,eggs and ¼ cup of the buffalo sauce in a food processor. Pulse until chickpeas are beginning to mash and the mixture is combing together.
- Using a ¼ cup scoop for the meatballs one at a time, rounding with your hands and setting aside.
- Pre-heat the air fryer at 340 for 4 minutes.
- Line the basket of the air fryer with air fryer parchment paper. Place the meatballs in the basket of the fryer leaving a small space between the meatballs (depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to do this in batches). Set to 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 8 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Repeat as needed with any remaining meatballs.
- Place the remaining ½ cup of buffalo sauce into a bowl. Using a fork, dip the meatballs in the buffalo sauce and gently turn to coat. Repeat with remaining meatballs.
Notes
Serve immediately. Leftovers will keep for several days in the fridge.
Air Fryer Quinoa