Butternut Squash Quinoa Patties with Cranberry Orange Sauce

I’m back in Minnesota this week enjoying some time with my Mom. She’s making me pour over  coffee right now. Outside the trees are bare, the wind is cold and well, basically it’s freezing. But alas, this is where I grew up and I’m happy to be spending time with her.

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As I mentioned before, the reason for my visit was based on the fact that my body has been super crazy lately; we’ll be visiting a few doctors and a chiropractor to get things figure out. I was able to go for a 2 mile run on Saturday, but I’m eager to start running longer distances and doing yoga again (I may try today!). Fingers crossed!

On another note, I realize that I’ve been throwing you a lot of cookie recipes your way so I figured it was probably time for a healthy dish.

I created this recipe a few weeks ago when I had a bit of Mom’s cranberry orange sauce from Thanksgiving. Oh my goodness, it is a FABULOUS sauce. She created it when I told her that I no longer desired jellied cranberries with all of that sugar. To my delight, she came up with this recipe and now each year we put a slight spin on it.

This year she decided to add just a touch of bourbon. LOVE.

And the patties? Tasty, simple, easy. You’ll need just a cup of mashed butternut squash (or sweet potato, acorn squash). Mix it together with cooked quinoa, an egg, plus a few herbs and spices. Then cook ‘em up in a pan and serve with extra cranberry sauce. You’ll find that this is an easy gluten free meal, and just look at how beautiful they are. I always feel good when eating pretty, colorful food, don’t you?

To keep up to date with posts and behind the scenes info on Ambitious Kitchen,  follow me on BlogLovin’, Feedly, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. xo!

More healthy vegetarian side dishes to try:

Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Goat Cheese Crema

Healthy Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Casserole with Almond Oat Crumble

One Pot Moroccan Chickpea Quinoa Salad

Famous Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad

Garlic Chili-Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate + Gorgonzola

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Butternut Squash Quinoa Patties with Cranberry Orange Sauce

5 from 2 votes

byby :Monique Volz of Ambitious Kitchen

Leave A Review Print Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

ServesServes 4 servings

Healthy vegetarian butternut squash quinoa patties topped with a homemade cranberry orange sauce. Delicious, gluten free and the perfect easy side dish to make!

Ingredients

• 1 cup mashed and cooked butternut squash*
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (or 1 cup cooked)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• salt and pepper
• For the cranberry sauce:
• 1/2 pound fresh cranberries, rinsed
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon bourbon, if desired
• Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions

• First cook the cranberry orange sauce: Combine cranberries, orange juice, maple syrup and bourbon in a small saucepan. Turn heat on high until it begins to boil, then reduce to medium low, cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the sauce becomes thick. 
• Remove from heat and set aside to cool. You may notice a popping sound; this is the cranberries bursting so don't worry!
• While the cranberries are cooking, you can cook the quinoa: add 1 cup of water and uncooked quinoa to a small saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. 
• Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork; set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• To make the patties: In a large bowl, combine mashed butternut squash, quinoa, onion, garlic, egg, cumin, parmesan, basil, salt and pepper. 
• Form into 4 patties and place in the fridge for 10 minutes to help keep the patties in their shape. 
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat and generously spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place patties in pan and cook for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown, then flip and cook 4-5 minutes longer or until they have nice crispy golden edges. They may be a little difficult to flip so be careful and make sure they are packed tightly.
• Serve warm with a few tablespoons of cranberry sauce over the top and extra basil, if desired. Makes 4 patties and a generous amount of sauce.

Recipe Notes

*Instead of butternut squash, you can used mashed sweet potato.

If you leave off cranberry sauce, each patty will have 144 calories, 3.9g fat, 21.2g carbs, 2.8g fiber, 1.7g sugar and 7.2g protein.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 231calCarbohydrates: 41.4gProtein: 7.7gFat: 4.1gFiber: 5.4gSugar: 15g