These healthy veggie burger sliders are made with nutritious ingredients like quinoa, baby spinach, carrot and red onion. They make for a great party appetizer that you can feel good about eating!
Did any of you watch the College National Championship between Alabama and Clemson’s talented football teams? Chances are that you were just as surprised as I was – along with all of the betting sites – at the way Clemson kicked Alabama’s butt. That’s why I love football: You never know what’s going to happen!
My football coaching dad had a player at his high school that went on to play really well at Bama. He left as a junior last year and got drafted to the Dolphins (where he’s been playing great), so I couldn’t help but think how perfect it was that he left after Bama won the national championship in 2017, versus losing 16-44 this season.
Speaking of football, the Super Bowl is coming up in just a couple of weeks. Even though my team (the Giants) was far from Super Bowl contenders this year (or the last bunch of years for that matter…), I still love watching NFL playoffs. My husband’s team, the Eagles, eeked their way into the playoffs as Wild Card contenders, much to my dismay. As I write this, their next playoff game hasn’t happened yet, but I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that they’ll lose to the Saints. I think I’m rooting for either the Rams or Chiefs to take the title this year.
Had enough football talk? Okay, sorry! Let’s talk football food then. Because even if you are totally disinterested in football, I think that football food is something we can all get behind. Am I right?
I am such a fan of finger foods and mini sized bites. What can I say, I think I just like trying small portions of a lot of different foods. Hence my reason for loving sliders. Sometimes I don’t need a whole burger; I just want a mini sized taste. Plus how cute are these babies?!
I’ve been really craving burgers lately, and I think I temporarily satisfied my burger dreams by creating these quinoa veggie sliders. They feature lots of wholesome Mediterranean diet ingredients, including quinoa, carrots, fresh lemon, baby spinach, chickpeas and olive oil.
By the way, I just read that other day that the Mediterranean diet has been named the best “diet” for 2019. It’s a delicious and nutritious way to eat, I tell ya!
Anyways, once we cook the quinoa, combine it in a food processor with the other ingredients, and mold them into mini burgers, it’s time to cook the burgers in a bit of olive oil. This is also when we whip up the lemon tahini sauce, which is made of tahini, fresh lemon, sea salt, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. I was inspired to pair the burgers with a lemon tahini sauce after seeing Deborah recently share a recipe for a greens and grains bowl with a tahini dressing (yum!).
I like to tuck my sliders in mini burger buns and add tomato and avocado on top, but you could also serve them atop greens, or use them as the star ingredient in a wrap or pita. These sliders would be perfect to make for the Super Bowl, but really, they’re great any day of the year!
Quinoa Veggie Burger Sliders Topped with Lemon Tahini Sauce {vegan}
Ingredients
For the burgers
- 2/3 cup dry red quinoa
- 1 cup packed baby spinach
- 1-15 oz can of chickpeas
- 3/4 cup Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
- 1 large carrot
- 3 TBSP fresh parsley
- 1/4 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil for the burger mixture + 2 more TBSP for sautéing the sliders
- 1 TSP salt
- 1/2 TSP pepper
- 1/2 TSP paprika
- Pair with mini burger buns tomato, lettuce, cheese, avocado, etc.
For the tahini sauce (optional)
- 1/4 cup tahini
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- 2 TBSP water
- 2 TSP agave nectar maple syrup or honey works too
- 1/4 TSP fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cook the red quinoa according to directions. Once the quinoa is done cooking, allow it to slightly cool.
- Meanwhile, chop the baby spinach and parsley, peel and finely dice the carrot, and mince the red onion and garlic. Place the ingredients in the food processor.
- Add the quinoa to the food processor and pulse until the ingredients mostly combine into a chunky mixture.
- Add in the chickpeas, paprika, 1 TBSP of the olive oil, salt and pepper, and process the mixture just until it forms a mostly combined mixture. It should be a bit sticky and thick.
- Add in the panko bread crumbs, and pulse for just another 10 seconds.
- Mold the mixture into around 15 slider patties.
- Warm 1 TBSP of the olive oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Place half of the sliders onto the skillet, and cook on both sides until lightly browned. Repeat this process again for the second batch of sliders.
- While the sliders are cooking, whip up the lemon tahini dressing: In a bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients until smooth.
- When your burgers are ready to go, throw them in slider buns, add avocado, tomato, or whatever other toppings you’d like, and drizzle the lemon tahini sauce onto each slider. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Tell me… Will you be watching the Super Bowl this year? Football fans, who are you rooting for to make it to the big game?
Well you know I love everything about these sliders! They look great to me
Thank you, and thanks for the tahini sauce inspiration!
Football and vegetarian football food=perfect for me!
You and me both! I made some awesome food yesterday to munch on during the NFL playoff games.
Ah, I could talk football with you all day! Based on the clues, I’m going to guess your Dad coached Minkah Fitzpatrick? He was a great player at Bama…and a real pain when Bama played my LSU Tigers! I was definitely surprised at the result of the championship game this year. No one saw that coming! And as far as the NFL, my Saints took care of your husband’s team this past weekend…but I think I lost a couple years off my life while it happened. Haha!
I love me some football food, and these sliders sound delicious! I do eat meat, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good veggie burger in there, too. That lemon tahini sauce sounds like a magical addition to these sliders. I’ll have to give these a shot! Enjoy the games this weekend – but don’t pull for the Rams too hard, ok? 🙂
You are correct! My dad attended the draft when Minkah went to the Dolphins.. pretty cool! It’s fun when he has past players that I can follow along in college and the NFL.
Oh my gosh, yes the Saints/Eagles game was pretty crazy. My husband was not a happy camper!
I was shocked to see Bama lose so bad this year! They are always on top. It must have been your dad’s awesome coaching that helped them out before. 😉
This quinoa sliders look like the perfect football food! YUM.
Thanks friend! I definitely think they’re up your alley.
Oooo these veggie sliders sound SO GOOD. I love the sound of that lemon tahini sauce!
And yay for football food! My husband is a huge patriots fan (he grew up in Boston) so that’s all I really watch but I do always have fun making the food! haha
Well then your husband must have been happy with the outcome of last night’s game! I was bummed… another year in a row of the Patriots making it to the SB! Sigh.
My team is nowhere near the super bowl but I always look forward to the big game! This burgers looks amazing Nicole and I’m loving that sauce!
So then we’re in the same boat as football fans… we can’t always have teams that make it! Unless you’re a Patriots fan in this era haha but even so, my Giants beat them in 2 Super Bowls in kinda sorta recent years!
I’ve never heard of these but they definitely look like a great snack idea!
Thank you, Kristina, and thanks for stopping by!