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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.
Related: DIY Instant Oatmeal | Healthy Granola |Instant Pot Apple Crisp with Granola
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:
- Cinnamon Yogurt Fruit Dip
- Hummus and Veggie Roll Ups
- Garlic Herb White Bean Dip
- Very Verde Cilantro Dip
- Healthy Banana Bread Muffins
- Classic Homemade Hummus
- Healthy Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip
This recipe is…
This crispy quinoa granola recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
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Crispy Quinoa Granola
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 ½ cups 1x
Description
This crispy quinoa granola is a grain free granola that’s delightfully crunchy and sweet, and packed with nutritional punch.
Ingredients
- 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.
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.
Notes
Adapted from the Little Yellow Kitchen
- Category: Snack
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Quinoa Granola, Granola Recipe, Crispy Quinoa
I love this! What a great, gluten-free alternative for breakfast or snacks! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This sounds like such a great recipe to wake up to, and perfect for your Healthy and Whole project!
i love this idea and can’t wait to try it! I make granola pretty much every other week and am always splurging on special gluten-free oats – now I can switch it up with quinoa :) thanks for the great recipe!
WHOA! This looks amazing, I have never thought of using quinoa in this way before, definitely gonna try this out – Thanks :)
This looks delicious, and such FAB ingredients! I had also never thought to use quinoa whole. I just bought the tri-color, so I’m definitely going to give this a shot!
This looks absolutely delicious!
Is the quinoa not bitter? Every time I used uncooked quinoa, the saponin makes it taste bitter. Oooh – I bet you could probably just rinse the quinoa first, then finish the recipe. Hmm…I think I’ll try it. Thanks for the recipe.
Hmm, I didn’t find it bitter, but maybe it’s just me! I would definitely think you could rinse it before making. Let us know if you try it out and how it works out! :)
Mmmm, they serve something really similar to this at every hostel in Peru. I couldn’t get enough! The quinoa was a little more “puffed” but such a great texture and flavor. It’s usually stirred into some yogurt (not a thick Greek-style yogurt) with honey and any dried fruit you like.
Using quinoa in a granola sounds like a perfect idea–I love the idea of a mouthful of different kinds of crunch! :)
How exciting! I do love finding new uses for quinoa.