Broccoli Cheddar Fritters

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Broccoli Cheddar Fritters- Easy fritters made with quinoa, broccoli, and cheddar cheese. This easy and healthy fritter recipe can be served as a snack or appetizer.

Broccoli Cheddar Fritters

Broccoli Cheddar Fritters

In our cookbook, there is a recipe for Cauliflower Quinoa Fritters with Romesco Sauce that I LOVE! The other day I was going to make them, but I didn’t have cauliflower, I only had broccoli in the fridge. I decided to mix things up and make Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Fritters and I am so glad I did.

These fritters are delicious. The broccoli cheddar combo is perfection! And the boys gave them two thumbs up, which made me super happy! I am always looking for new ways to get them to eat their veggies. Broccoli Cheddar Fritters to the rescue!

Broccoli Cheddar Fritters Ingredients

Fritter Ingredients

  • Cooked quinoa
  • Broccoli florets
  • Eggs
  • Panko breadcrumbs
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Green onions
  • Garlic
  • Salt and pepper
  • Nonstick cooking spray or olive oil, for frying
Broccoli Cheddar Fritters Recipe

How to Cook Quinoa

Quinoa is one of our favorite grains! It’s just as easy to cook as rice, and it’s high in protein. I love it’s slightly-sweet taste and fluffy texture. Here’s how to cook perfect quinoa:

  • Start with a rinse! DO NOT skip this step. Quinoa has an outer layer that needs to be rinsed off or it could leave you with a bitter, soapy flavor. No thank you! I use a double mesh strainer since quinoa is so small.
  • Heat a little olive oil in a pan and toast the rinsed quinoa for about 2 minutes.
  • Now add 1 ¾ cup water and a pinch of salt to the pan. Bring it to a rolling boil then lower the heat, cover it, and leave it alone for 15 minutes.
  • Now pull it from the stove but leave the lid on! Let it stand, covered, for an additional 5 minutes. This ensures all the water will absorb!
  • This makes about 3 cups of cooked quinoa, so you’ll have a bit leftover after making Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Fritters.

Forming Fritters

Making the fritter mixture is actually really simple: just combine all the ingredients! I let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before forming it into fritters. This makes it easier to handle! Once ready, pull the mixture from the fridge and form the dough into 3-inch discs, about ¾” thick. Now they’re ready to cook!

Easy Broccoli Cheddar Fritters

How to Cook Broccoli Cheddar Fritters

You can cook the fritters in the oven, air-fryer, or fry them up in a skillet on the stove. I have made them all three ways and all ways work well. I personally prefer the oven or air-fryer because it’s healthier than frying and less messy, but frying does create a nice, crispy fritter. You can’t go wrong! Here are the instructions for each method.

Baked in the Oven

  • Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and place a wire rack on a large baking sheet. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Line the fritters up on the greased rack and spray the tops of the fritters with nonstick cooking spray, too.
  • Bake them for 20 to 25 minutes or until the fritters are golden brown and slightly crispy. Delicious!

Air Fryer

  • Start by spraying the fritters with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer them to the air fryer, placing them in a single layer and making sure they are not touching.
  • Cook at 400 degrees F until golden brown and cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes. 

Skillet Fritters

  • In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. 
  • Fry the fritters for 5 minutes on one side and then flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes on the other side. They’ll look golden and crispy! Add more olive oil as needed while frying.
  • Place the fritters on a large plate that has been lined with paper towels and cover them with aluminum foil while you finish cooking all of the fritters. 
Broccoli Cheddar Fritters with sauce

Dips for Fritters

Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Fritters are so fun to dip! Here are some great options for dipping fritters:

More Broccoli Recipes

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Broccoli Cheddar Fritters

Broccoli Cheddar Fritters- Easy fritters made with quinoa, broccoli, and cheddar cheese. This easy and healthy fritter recipe can be served as a snack or appetizer.
4.58 from 7 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa
  • 1 cup broccoli florets steamed and chopped
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 3 green onions sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • Nonstick cooking spray or olive oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, broccoli, and beaten eggs. Add the breadcrumbs, cheddar cheese, green onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir until the mixture is well combined and moistened.
  • Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This will make it easier to form the fritters.
  • Form the mixture into fritters, pressing and flattening with your hands. The fritters should be about 3-inches wide and 3/4-inches thick.
  • You can bake, fry, or air-fry the fritters.
  • For Baking: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place a wire rack on a large baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place the fritters on the greased rack. Spray the tops of the fritters with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until fritters are golden brown and slightly crispy.
  • For Frying: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Fry the fritters for 5 minutes and then flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the fritters are crispy. If you need to add additional olive oil while you are frying, you can. Place the fritters on a large plate that has been lined with paper towels and cover with aluminum foil while you finish cooking all of the fritters.
  • For Air-Frying: Spray the fritters with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer fritters to the air fryer, placing them in a single layer, making sure they are not touching. Cook at 400 degrees F until golden brown and cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes. You might have to cook in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
  • Serve the broccoli cheddar quinoa fritters with marinara sauce, ranch, avocado ranch, plain Greek yogurt for dipping. You can also dip the fritters in tomato basil soup.

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 39mg, Sodium: 330mg, Potassium: 135mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 197IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 71mg, Iron: 1mg

Have you tried this recipe?

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Photos by Dishing Out Health

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. Had all the ingredients on hand, so tried this out tonight with some leftover tzatziki sauce. It was fantastic!

  2. 5 stars
    I made them today and it was a hit. My 5 and 3 yr old ate them with ranch dressing. Will definetely make them again.

  3. Hi Maria:

    This looks like a really tasty recipe. About how many fritters does this recipe make?

  4. 5 stars
    Made these fritters last night for dinner,delicious & fairly easy. Next time I may add some grated carrots & I might fry up the onion when I cook the quinoa.
    Thanks,
    Martha Collins
    Nelson, NH

  5. Sorry for the duplicate question but I just want to be sure as I am a novice cooker and never have made quinoa. Do I use 1C dry quinoa, rinse, toast, then add 1.75C water? The recipe calls for 2C cooked but I also read that the 1.75C water will create ~3C cooked quinoa so I was still questioning. Thanks!

    1. To cook the quinoa, you will use a 2:1 ratio of liquid to quinoa, or 2 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of dry quinoa. If you cook 1 cup of dry quinoa you might end up with a little extra quinoa that you can use in salads, etc.

  6. This recipe turned out really well – the crisped-up quinoa makes for a really crunchy fritter, which was loved by all in our little family. Thank you for sharing!
    We had some trouble at first with forming the fritters by hand, but found out that instead of shaping them beforehand you can just dollop spoonfulls of batter right into the pan, flatten them out just a bit and let them sit undisturbed until a firm crust has formed on the bottom. After flipping we pressd down a bit to flatten them further. This turned out to be our route to broccoli-fritter-happiness 🙂

  7. I never have luck getting recipes like this to stick together. This looked delicious and I had everything on hand, so I gave it a whirl. Tasted good, but had trouble getting them to stick together to look nice look the pic. Any tips?

    1. I used a biscuit cutter and then used a spoon to smoosh them in place while in the cutter. Stuck together quite well.

  8. 5 stars
    Thanks for giving an air fryer option for cooking. We had these for dinner! Dipped in Taco Bell Chipotle sauce. 🙂

  9. 3 stars
    I had trouble forming them so I used an ice cream scooper. But even then, they fell apart in the pan :-(. The flavor was good though. Maybe I’ll try again and will cook the quinoa more.