The addition of sweet potato to these easy, nourishing, low fat quinoa pancakes lends an almost caramelized sweetness. Topped with your favorite naturally-sweetened, sugar-free syrup you’ve got a wonderfully delicious low fat, healthy carb meal perfect for the Trim Healthy Mama. Not a THM? Use real maple syrup for a divine breakfast treat.
Quinoa is such a healthy source of carbs. It’s packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and even protein to help it have less of an impact on your blood sugar. Since it’s a slower-burning carb source your blood sugar is more likely to remain stable.
If you’re a diabetic, you know how some foods affect your blood sugar but not other people’s. If you’ve not tried quinoa before, be sure to test your blood sugar after eating to see how it affects yours. Including additional protein may also be helpful.
Sweet Potato + Quinoa For The Win!
On a whim one morning, I added half a baked sweet potato to this simple batter for quinoa pancakes. It’s loosely based on my Spicy Quinoa Fritters recipe, which is a savory option.
Combining cinnamon, vanilla, and a bit of THM Super Sweet to the mix resulted in the most divine quinoa pancakes I’ve ever had. Something about that sweet potato gave the pancakes an almost caramelized flavor – without being cooked in a ton of fat.
Need help converting sweeteners? This handy Sweetener Conversion chart from THM will help.
When you’re watching your fats and carbs, that is a definite win!
A small pat of grass fed butter and some sugar-free syrup, such as the Fuel Pull Pancake Syrup in the first THM Cookbook (pg 480), or this Rich Buttered Sugar Free Maple Syrup from Nana’s Little Kitchen, make these quinoa pancakes a healthy breakfast treat.
You could also give this Sugar Free Blueberry Syrup from Wonderfully Made and Dearly Loved a try. Adding blueberries is always a great way to boost your brainpower, and combined with the Vitamin A in sweet potatoes (plus all the nourishing goodness of quinoa) you’re fueling your body with antioxidants too.
These yummy sweet potato and quinoa pancakes also reheat well, so make a bunch to have on hand for quick snacks or breakfasts.
Soak Your Quinoa For Optimum Nutrition.
Quinoa is not actually a grain, but a seed (also called pseudograin). Grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds contain antinutrients and should be soaked to neutralize them. Doing so will make the nutrients more bioavailable as well as increase the digestibility of the foods.
If you have an Instant Pot, Lindsey over at All The Nourishing Things (formerly Today in Dietzville) has an excellent tutorial on how to make fluffy, soaked quinoa in your Instant Pot. It’s so easy, and makes the most delicious, perfectly cooked quinoa! Here’s a photo of my first try…perfection!
You can still soak your quinoa and cook on the stove top if you don’t have an Instant Pot, it cooks much more quickly than brown rice (another reason I prefer quinoa over rice). Learn how here.
Traditional Cooking School is a great source of information on soaking grains, fermenting, and many other healthy, traditional food preparation methods. Sign up for some eCourses while you’re there too! I love being a part of the team at TCS, such a helpful and wonderful community.
Need a great source for healthy, organic quinoa? Wildly Organic is my go to!
How To Enjoy These Delicious, Nourishing Sweet Potato & Quinoa Pancakes.
If you follow a healthy, low-glycemic way of eating such as the Trim Healthy Mama Plan you’ll want to be sure to use an on-plan syrup like I mentioned above.
Alternatively, you could just sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and your favorite granulated stevia product, such as THM Gentle Sweet.
Be sure to add additional protein to this meal, as 2 pancakes will only provide 8 grams of protein. Adding a scoop of collagen to your coffee or tea, having some non-fat Greek yogurt, or a smoothie made with whey protein powder are great options for additional protein.
You could also have an Egg White Omelette (that looks like the real thing) if you don’t have any special ingredients like collagen or whey on hand.
Let’s Make Some Sweet Potato & Quinoa Pancakes!
Sweet Potato & Quinoa Pancakes
The addition of sweet potato to these easy, nourishing, low fat quinoa pancakes lends an almost caramelized sweetness. Topped with your favorite naturally-sweetened, sugar-free syrup you’ve got a wonderfully delicious low fat, healthy carb meal perfect for the Trim Healthy Mama. Not a THM? Use real maple syrup for a divine breakfast treat.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mashed baked sweet potato
- 1/4 cup egg whites
- 1 cup soaked, cooked quinoa
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon THM Super Sweet, or preferred sweetener to taste
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon mineral salt
Instructions
In a bowl, combine egg whites and sweet potato and mix well.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well to combine, check for sweetness and adjust as needed.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until water droplets sizzle on the surface.
When hot, spray lightly with cooking spray or coat with a small amount of butter or coconut oil.
Scoop out a heaping 1/4 cup measure and plop into the pan, smoothing it out until it is uniform in thickness.
Cook for several minutes, until browned on the bottom, and flip.
Cook for 2 or so minutes and remove from pan.
Repeat for each pancake, or cook all at once on a large griddle.
Notes
If you follow a healthy, low-glycemic way of eating such as the Trim Healthy Mama Plan you'll want to be sure to use an on-plan syrup like the Fuel Pull Pancake Syrup in the first THM Cookbook (pg 480), or this Rich Buttered Sugar Free Maple Syrup from Nana’s Little Kitchen.
Alternatively, you could just sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and your favorite granulated stevia product, such as THM Gentle Sweet.
Be sure to add additional protein to this meal, as 2 pancakes will only provide 8 grams of protein. Adding a scoop of collagen to your coffee or tea, having some non-fat Greek yogurt, or a smoothie made with whey protein powder are great options for additional protein.
You could also have an Egg White Omelette (that looks like the real thing) if you don't have any special ingredients like collagen or whey on hand.
The fat grams in the nutrition information is fat naturally present in the ingredients. You can have the full amount of added fat for an E meal (check the plan book for full details).
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 pancakeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 88Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 170mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g
Nutrition information is approximate and based on the best knowledge available at the time of recipe publication. Your results may vary due to differences in ingredients.
J C says
Is that 1 cup of quinoa before or after cooking?
Looking forward to trying it out!
Dawn Yoder says
1 cup of cooked quinoa, hope you enjoy it!
Sherry Griffin says
I have been wanting to try making some quinoa and finally did over the weekend because I wanted to try this recipe.
I used a non-stick skillet sprayed with Avocado No-Stick spray, but they still stuck (because of my pan, not the recipe) and fell apart when I tried to turn them. Since they wanted to fall apart anyway, I just helped them along by chopping them up and dividing it into 2 bowls—one for this morning and one for tomorrow. I topped it with some sugar free syrup and IT WAS DIVINE!! I didn’t mind one bit that they didn’t stay in pancake form. Goodness! If they had been any better I would have eaten the entire thing!! I made a Choco-Nut Secret Big Boy shake to go along with it for my “added protein,” (and veggie) to my meal. I also added 2 tsp Duo Greens and 1 T. instant coffee granules to the shake for extra oomph. I am wonderfully full and definitely looking forward to repeating this breakfast tomorrow morning. Thank you for such a delicious recipe!
Dawn Yoder says
Hi Sherry! I’m so glad you enjoyed my recipe and thanks so much for taking time to come back and tell me.
Nonstick skillets can be so fussy but I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it. Sounds like a great rescue, good job!