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This crispy quinoa granola is a grain free granola that’s delightfully crunchy and sweet, and packed with nutritional punch.

Just a few days and I’ll be on a plane headed across the world to Laos for 30 very long (and lonely) hours of travel time on my own. How to eat when travelling is in the top of my mind, and I’ve been pondering snacks that can satisfy. Luckily, a perfect idea is just in front of my nose: this crispy quinoa granola we made this weekend.

Making crispy quinoa granola

This recipe was born of Alex’s idea of a crunchy garnish for our curried acorn squash soup. The interesting part is that instead of oats, this recipe uses uncooked quinoa! We were a bit wary of eating the quinoa raw, but being a seed and not a grain, it turned out perfect — delightfully crunchy, sweet, and packed with nutritional punch. It was quite filling, more so than a traditional granola, and a great protein-filled (and gluten-free) treat.

This recipe is easy to put together and a great way to start to explore healthy snacking. Just don’t eat the whole jar in one sitting! Throw it on yogurt, eat it with milk, or just dry as a quick snack on the run.

PS There’s currently quite a bit of talk out there about ethical growing of quinoa. To us, it’s important to know that growers treat farmers, communities and the land with respect and ensure sustainable growing and business practices. We were glad to hear that the company that produced the quinoa we used, Alter Eco, is committed to doing so!

Looking for healthy snack recipes?

Outside of this quinoa granola, here are a few more healthy snack recipes we love:

This recipe is…

This crispy quinoa granola recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free.

Crispy Quinoa Granola

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Author: a Couple Cooks
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 2 ½ cups 1x

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Description

This crispy quinoa granola is a grain free granola that’s delightfully crunchy and sweet, and packed with nutritional punch.

Ingredients

Scale

½ cup almonds
¾ cup uncooked quinoa
½ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup honey
½ cup dried golden raisins (or other dried fruit)
*Note: This recipe can easily be doubled and fit on one baking sheet.

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Chop the almonds. In a medium bowl, combine chopped almonds, dry quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and kosher salt. Stir in the olive oil and honey to thoroughly combine. Spread onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, stirring a few times during baking. Remove from the oven and add the golden raisins (or other dried fruit) and let cool 15 minutes. Break any large chunks into small pieces and store in an airtight container.