These Sweet and Sour Quinoa Balls are great for packed lunches, as a snack or as part of the main meal.
Sweet and Sour oozes kid appeal and these Sweet and Sour Quinoa Balls are no different. Cooked in pineapple juice, vinegar, ginger, garlic, tomato paste and low sodium soy sauce (optional) the quinoa soaks up all the delicious flavours and truly tastes amazing!
I make a lot of different quinoa balls, like these tomato and basil balls, as I find them perfect to have in the fridge to snack on or to serve in a lunch box. This version has to be the boys’ favourite – they really don’t last long!
If you are doing baby-led weaning then these are a perfect finger food. You can just leave out the soy sauce to reduce the sodium levels. I would also make sure to chop the pineapple finely so that there are no big chunks. Cooking them in a ball format saves a lot of mess! I used to hate trying to clean up tiny grains of quinoa when Rory was a baby!
You May Also Like
- Tomato and Basil Quinoa Balls
- Sweetcorn and Quinoa Fritters
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
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Sweet and Sour Quinoa Balls
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce* (optional)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup quinoa (rinsed)
- 100 g (approx. 2 rings) pineapple chopped into small pieces **
- 1 beaten egg
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180c/ 350f / Gas 4.
- Heat oil in pan over medium / high heat. Reduce heat and gently fry the onion until softened (approx. 5 mins). Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a further min. To the onions and garlic, add the vinegar, soy sauce, tomato paste, pineapple juice, water and quinoa then stir.
- Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for 15 mins.
- Turn the heat off and leave the quinoa to sit covered for a further 5 mins.
- Stir in the chopped pineapple.
- Allow to cool and then stir in the beaten egg.
- Form approx.13 heaped tablespoon sized balls and place on a silicon mat / lined baking tray.
- Cook in the oven for 20 mins or until golden.
Video
Recipe Notes
** If making for a baby / young toddler then make sure to chop the pineapple finely to avoid choking. Nutritional information is a ROUGH guide only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator.Ā
Kerry says
Hi Amy, I’m gathering recipes at the moment and making a shopping list. I’ve read some of these comments and was wondering if the Australian measurements are slightly different to the rest of the world? I’ve lived in Perth, Denmark and New Zealand and have noticed that 1 cup is different in each part of the world. Would it make a difference if the recipe said xxx grams of water etc to stop the food from being too soggy?
Amy says
Hi Kerry, thanks so much for your feedback. Yes, I do think some of my early recipes don’t “translate” well depending on where you live. I now always include both gram options and cups but would recommend using grams (due to cup variations). I now need to go through all my old recipes and update!
Katie Jo says
My 9 month old daughter LOVES these!!! They’re great for those nights when I make a dinner she can’t have or we’re running low on time. I have a soy allergy, so I substitute low sodium coconut aminos for the soy sauce. I followed the recipe exactly and before baking, the “dough” was a little crumbly, as expected per the comments I read. I thought about adding an extra egg and wish I had. I will make these again, but I will definitely add the additional egg to bind the other ingredients more.
Amy says
Thanks for the feedback, Katie Jo. So glad your little girl loves them š
Steph says
I made these today for my 1 yo and they are so yummy! I’ll definitely be making them again.
Amy says
Great! Thanks, Steph š
Jenny says
Can I ask if the quinoa needs to be pre-cooked? I can’t quite understand that from the recipe – and haven’t made it yet (plain quinoa) myself! š
Amy says
Hi Jenny, no you don’t need to pre-cook the quinoa. Sorry if the instructions do not make that clear. There is a video of me making them halfway down the post, maybe that will help too. Hope you enjoy them š