Quinoa Meatballs Baby Finger Food is a protein-packed wonderfully nutritious finger food for older babies, toddlers and kids. The whole family can eat these too! Just add the quinoa meatballs to your favorite pasta and tangy tomato sauce. These beauties are extremely freezer-friendly, so make a large batch to have on hand for any crazy weeknight.
I’m having so much fun coming up with fun finger foods for my lil man. This week I have been sharing my ‘bite-sized’ adventures that I created for my nephew, lil Z. So far I have shared these bites:
Now, we are going to take a bite out of these bad boys!! Let me introduce you to Quinoa Meatballs Baby Finger Food 
They aren’t all that good-lookin’ but man let me tell you they are good! I didn’t even add any salt to them (because Z isn’t supposed to have added salt in his food) and they tasted good. I took this picture at 8 am and still couldn’t help myself from taking a bite LOL!!
I found this recipe from the same source that I found my other two Z bites recipes, Cooking Quinoa. Wendy’s informative post called, Quinoa Meatballs & Gluten Free Kids gives some great tips on cutting down the chaos at meal time with gluten-free kids. My meatballs aren’t gluten-free as I used regular breadcrumbs, since Z has not shown any gluten intolerance. You could very easily make them gluten-free by using Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
Here is the recipe for Quinoa Meatballs Baby Finger Food:
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 lb. ground beef or turkey
- ½ cup breadcrumbs (see note for gluten-free option)
- ½ red onion, grated with a box grater
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. fresh cracked pepper
- Pre-heat oven to 420 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. If using foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, ground beef, breadcrumbs, red onion, garlic, eggs, parmesan cheese, cilantro, paprika, chili powder and black pepper.
- Shape into 1" balls and place on prepared baking sheet.
- Cook until browned and crispy, about 18-20 minutes.
- Either enjoy immediately or prepare to freeze.
- If freezing: Cool for a few minutes and then remove and place on cooling racks to cool completely.
- Once cool, place meatballs on a baking sheet and place in the freezer.
- Freeze for at least 4 hours to overnight.
- Once frozen, place in freezer bags or vacuum seal bags and store in the freezer until needed.
- To heat: microwave on defrost setting for 1 minute and then on high for about 30 seconds.
Add your favorite pasta and tangy tomato sauce to the meatballs for a meal to feed the whole family.
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We eat a lot of quinoa (it’s a staple for a lot of families in Peru) – this looks like a great way to cut down on meat while still getting plenty of protein.