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
Butternut Squash Quinoa Patties with Cranberry Orange Sauce
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
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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.
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Remove from heat and set aside to cool. You may notice a popping sound; this is the cranberries bursting so don't worry!
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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.
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Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork; set aside to cool for a few minutes.
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To make the patties: In a large bowl, combine mashed butternut squash, quinoa, onion, garlic, egg, cumin, parmesan, basil, salt and pepper.
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Form into 4 patties and place in the fridge for 10 minutes to help keep the patties in their shape.
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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.
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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.
23 comments
This looks awesome! Can we make it without Parmesan?
Yes, definitely. The patties may just be a bit harder to flip. Enjoy!
These look wonderful! Hope you’re feeling better soon 🙂
Thanks Gaby!
Mmm mmm this is such a yummy way to eat veggies! And I love that sauce!
Just made these and they are so easy so inctedibly delicious and so satisfying! I didn’t make the cranberry sauce but they are good enough on their own too! Definitely a repeat recipe in my busy household! Thanks Monique!
Aw, good – so glad you liked them, Maya!
these look delicious!
The first time I ate quinoa I really did not like it…..I immediately threw away a whole packet of the stuff. how wrong I was to neglect the protein packed grain which is so versatile and tastes great partnered with contrasting flavours which complement the grain. This is such a great recipe!
The recipie tasted great, but for some reason I just could not flip it. It crumbled and turned into something more like a loose hash than a patty. Maybe I didn’t mash the squash well enough?
Oh no! Sorry you had trouble. Another tip is to put the patties in the fridge or freezer before cooking to help them stick together better.
is it ok to use the basil spice instead of fresh basil? how will the measurements change? thank u!
Yes! Try 1 tablespoon chopped basil.
Ok, so i have a stupid question. Do you cook the butternut squash before you mash it? I’m going to try this tonight. Btw, I love your recipes so far. This will be the 3rd one I’ve tried. Thanks – Vicki
One more thing, in your instructions where you say what to combine, you forgot the garlic… I went ahead and roasted my butternut squash before mashing…I figured it out. 😉
Thanks for letting me know – fixing!
Just had these for dinner and LOVED them!! Made them with sweet potatoes this time — I’ll try butternut squash next! Thanks so much — and I absolutely loved the way you made the cranberry sauce with orange juice! Sadly, no bourbon on hand 😉
This was great. It will be a new addition to the menu this year. And you were right, hardest part was flipping the patties..wonderful recipe
These look great! I needed a vegetarian entree to take to a Thanksgiving meal this year! Can I make these in advance and store them for 1-2 days?
That should be just fine! I would just wait to top with the cranberry sauce until you’re serving 🙂
favorite to make during thanksgiving!
This took way too much work for the mediocre taste. They kept falling apart no matter what I tried. So I’m left with a big sloppy mess that looks like scrambled eggs.
Pass on this one.
So sorry you had this issue. Try adding more breadcrumbs next time and feel free to spice them up with whatever you’d like!