Yes, you can have burgers for breakfast! (Though you can also eat these for lunch or dinner if you want.)
Basically, these breakfast burgers are like choose your own adventure – you could swap sweet potato, carrots or parsnips for the squash, cranberries or raisins for the pomegranate, or even try a different grain like brown rice or millet.
If you’d like something more savory, skip the maple syrup and fruit and toss in some cumin, curry powder, onion powder, garlic powder, dried basil, or sea salt.
They’re also extremely portable and freeze well, so you can bake a double batch and pop them in the freezer for later.
What would you add into these to make them extra delicious? Please share your ideas in the comments.
Quinoa Breakfast Burgers
½ cup dry quinoa
1½ cups butternut squash, cut into small cubes (about ½-inch or so)
2 tbsp maple syrup
¼-1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
In a small pot, bring one cup of water to a boil. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.
While the quinoa is cooking, steam the butternut squash cubes until they can be easily pierced with a fork, about eight to 10 minutes.
Mix together the cooked quinoa, squash, maple syrup and pomegranate seeds.
Taste, and add more sweetener if needed.
Using a half-cup measure, scoop the mixture onto a prepared baking sheet and pat down lightly (you want these about ½-inch thick). Or, you could take half of the mixture, roll it into a ball, and then flatten it with the back of a measuring cup.
Bake for 35 minutes, until the tops of the burgers are dry and slightly crispy.
Makes 6 burgers.
