Sometimes I make my way into the kitchen with just an idea. It starts out with a mental list of ingredients or chicken scratch on a post it note from the bright pink stack on my work desk when something randomly popped into my head (most likely while writing some boring proposal about facilities work on some college campus). I start combining ingredients, then begin to slightly deviate from the chicken scratch post it, poke through the pantry or fridge and throw some more random ingredients in here and there and before I know it, the dish has morphed into something completely different than what I set out to do.
Sometimes I probably would’ve been better off sticking to the post it note, other times it’s like divine intervention and it was meant to be.
Divine might be a stretch, but this is definitely one of those meant to be times.
Roasted corn, coconut oil, smoked paprika, almond meal and eggs. So weird, so many different flavors and yet, they work together magically in a way I never would’ve thought of on paper.
That’s why I love food. There are so many variations out there to play with. It’s like the world’s biggest blank canvas except instead of coming up with some crazy Bob Ross painting, you get fritters.
Delicious eggy, quinoa, corn fritters. They could be a great savory brunch dish, lunch or a side to dinner. A versatile flavor explosion in your mouth.
So if you have nothing to do this weekend, go play with your food!
- 1½ cup frozen roasted corn (or fresh off the cob)
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup egg whites, plus more on hand for cooking (see directions)
- ½ cup cooked red quinoa
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons almond meal/flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt & pepper
- Combine corn, shallot, garlic, green onion, jalapeno, egg, ¼ cup egg whites, quinoa, almond meal and spices in a medium bowl.
- Stir together until completely combined.
- Preheat a skillet to medium heat.
- Add ½ tablespoon coconut oil.
- Scoop mixture in approximately ¼ cup spoonfuls onto hot skillet and press down into patty form.
- Carefully pour about 1 tablespoon of egg whites over fritter to help bind it together while cooking.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Set aside on a paper towel to drain.
- Repeat the same process in ¼ cup spoonfuls until mixture is gone adding more coconut oil to the skillet as needed in ½ tablespoon increments.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Creative combination! I love when you throw random things together and you end up with a great meal!! I am loving your fritters, they look great! I will have to give this one a try this weekend!!! Have a nice weekend!
I LOVE when that happens with random ingredients. I’ve tasted some pretty nasty things at my own hand in attempts to reach that random-deliciousness perfection. But when you get there, it’s so worth it.
Nothing like something in your mind coming together for the perfect bite!
This idea for cooking is so foreign to me. I have like 5 meals that i make variations on everyday. I’m so boring.
These would go perfectly as a side dish with so many meals – might be good with zucchini as well!
Bob Ross was the man!
I do the same thing – empty content of fridge/pantry into bowl…add eggs….mix. Close your eyes and pray
These look amazing
Yum these look incredible. I had planned to make some zucchini fritters this upcoming week, now I definitely need to rethink the recipe and add in some quinoa. Yum! Thanks for the inspiration
Looks and sounds wonderful! I love that you used almond meal rather than breadcrumbs. I’ll have to try that in some of my patty/fritter recipes.
Anything frittery is a-okay by me! Sweet or savory. The combination of quinoa and corn sounds great! Perfect appetizer, simple to make and all sorts of nutritious! Have a great weekend!
But I LIKE crazy Bob Ross paintings!!!
and quiona. and eggs. and corn
and you =)
ew. typo!
i mean to say quinoa. or keeeeeeeenwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
I didn’t even notice!
these are like little pancakes – with eggs and corn and quinoa and I wish I would have thought to do this.
I *just* made something with corn and had tons leftover but used it all. Had this post come 1 day earlier, I would have made these!
I just luuuv corn fritters, but the traditional way of making them is not so great for my bikini body(ha ha ha). I would eat these as a meal with a salad, yum!
I just ate that exact thing for lunch! With some avocado, greek yogurt and salsa on top.
I want these for lunch right now!
ok i commented, but then something crazy happened so it might post twice…
almond meal is different than almond flour right? they can’t be used interchangeably? Also, coconut oil….is that used for health purposes or can other oil work as well…say evoo? Look at me with all the questions today.
Almond meal is just coarser than almond flour. They can be used interchangeably in this, it doesn’t have to be exact for fritters
Oil wise, honestly I used the coconut b/c I wanted to see how the flavor combo would turn out but you can definitely use another since I know you despise coconut 
HA! I’m so busted!! LOL. Mostly its the texture of coconut that I despise and not so much the actual flavor….so I’ve been thinking of trying out some coconut oil just to see what I think.
And thanks for the insight on the almond flour/meal. I’ve always wondered and since you are my food guru I knew you would enlighten me.
I adore this Gina. Quinoa is my go-to lately and I love a new spin on quinoa cakes!
Just received 72 ears of corn from our CSA. This recipe sounds like one my family would love and one that would use up some of the corn!
woah, that’s a lot of corn!
WOW – 72!? and I thought my 20 ears I got was overwhelming!
These look so great, a lovely throw-together lunch.
great spin on corn fritters and throwing quinoa in the mix! i’m sure it’s hearty and filling with that addition
great ideas always come from chicken scratch 
Oh Gina – you did it again, cooked something with all the ingredients I had in my head too!! Made these last night (except mine were just flour, corn, onion, parsley, spices). These look great & I can’t wait to make more corn fritters (without forgetting to make a sauce) this week with my huge bag of CSA corn I am sure to get!
I LOVE this! I used to never like corn (and I shouldn’t because it’s bad for my Blood Type, oh well) but I recently had Panera’s summer corn chowder and it reminded me just how delicious corn is. So this recipe is perfect. I really wanna make this. And I will. Sooner than later
Thanks!
Soooooooo stoked to try this…BUT (and I feel lame for having to write this) I never end up using the egg yolks that I’ve separated, they literally turn to a hard crust in my fridge. Is there a reason to use just the whites? If so, is there something fun and/or amazing to do with the yolks?
I feel the same way about yolks, that’s why I started buying egg whites in a container. I buy organic whole eggs and I can’t stand wasting half of them, so the egg white carton does the trick when I don’t want to use the whole thing. Other than feeding the yolks to my dog (which she definitely enjoys
) I haven’t found many uses for them. I used the whites only because I thought they were a better binder to pour over the fritters while cooking rather than the whole egg. You could probably try whisking up 2 whole eggs, maybe thinned out with some milk instead of the whites to pour over them and that would cut down the “whites only” portion of the recipe. Hope that helps!
I am obsessed with fresh corn and I was just thinking that I needed to find some more recipes to use it in while it’s still in season. And then I saw this on Healthy Aperture–clearly it was meant to be! Totally going to make this soon.
These sound amazing but just to note – they’re not paleo
Quinoa is a grain…
oh and corn is a grain too! double sadface… i wonder if you replaced the corn and quinoa portions with a different veggies if it would still be good ?
{ 1 trackback }