These veggie-packed curried millet cakes make a fun, unexpected, and delicious vegetarian dinner! From The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get quinoa to stick together to form cohesive patties. With eggs, without eggs… I’ve made countless variations, some more successful than others, but now I have just one word: millet.
What is millet?
If you’ve never cooked millet before, you’re going to love it. One of my favorite grains, millet has a delicious nutty flavor and versatile texture. Depending on what water:grain ratio you use while cooking it, it can become a fluffy couscous-like grain or a creamy millet porridge. Like brown rice, it’s a naturally gluten-free grain, so even if you’re gluten-free, you can enjoy these yummy millet cakes!
After making them a few times, these little guys have become one of my favorite millet recipes. Luckily for me, millet is sticker than quinoa, so they bind together really easily. They’re packed with carrots, spinach, and fresh herbs and spiced with curry and garlic. This recipe is so flavorful and foolproof… as it should be since it comes from America’s Test Kitchen’s new book: The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook.
Millet Cake Recipe Variations
Because I knew this millet recipe was well-tested, I messed with it. I knew many of you would ask how to make the cakes vegan, so I tried them 2 ways. In half, I followed the recipe and used an egg and yogurt to bind the patties. In the other half, I used flaxseed and almond milk to veganize them. Guess what – both ways worked! The sticky millet was enough to bind the cakes together, with or without eggs, so it’s easy to make this recipe vegan and gluten-free.
I didn’t follow one other instruction: I baked my millet patties instead of pan frying them as was recommended. We loved them baked, so I can only imagine that pan frying them would make them extra tasty.
So back to the book – you’re going to want this one in your kitchen. Inside, you’ll find over 700 recipes, vegetable cooking tips, ingredient explanations, step-by-step chopping how-to’s, and more. It’s a great resource for vegetarians or anyone who just wants to incorporate more meatless meals into their lives. Many of the recipes are also vegan and gluten-free. Buy it here!
Looking for more millet recipes?
Try this tabbouleh, this millet salad, or this stuffed squash next!
Millet Cakes with Carrots & Spinach
- 1 cup millet, rinsed
- 2 cups water
- salt and pepper
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- 6 ounces (6 cups) baby spinach, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and shredded
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- ¼ cup plain yogurt (vegan version: ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon almond milk)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten (vegan version: ¼ cup ground flaxseed)
- 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
- any sauce or chutney you like - I topped mine with greek yogurt, mixed with salt, pepper, chile flakes and a squeeze of lime, or use this recipe and make a similar vegan version.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the millet, water, and ½ teaspoon salt in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until grains are tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, let millet sit, covered, for 10 minutes; transfer to a large bowl.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and carrots and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, curry powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with millet.
- Add the yogurt, egg, (or flax + almond milk) and cilantro into the millet mixture and fold until well combined. Use a ⅓ cup measuring cup to scoop the mixture, then form into a ½-inch-thick cake, and place on prepared sheet. Repeat. Refrigerate cakes until chilled and firm, about 30 minutes. (15 minutes for the vegan version).
- Drizzle the cakes with olive oil and bake 25-30 minutes or until the edges are crispy and cakes are cooked through.
Recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen’s new book: The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, and is re-printed with permission.
Â
I am just starting out as a vegetarian but hands down my favorite meal is stuffed bell peppers. Perfect filling comfort food
i’m a big fan of nourish bowls. not only are they extremely versatile, but they also prove that a substantial meal can be meatless. though i love to switch up the ingredients, a brown rice base + steamed asparagus + sauteed kale + butternut squash + chickpeas + cucumber + a drizzle of lemon and tahini = pretty phenomenal.
Oh, and for the book entry…we like to make stir-frys with any vegetables thats we have on hand and will also put them over anything (carb-ish) that we have on hand rice/noodles/grits/whatever. Great way to use up veggies and we never miss the meat when we make them!
This looks awesome, can’t wait to try it. If I swap the spinach for kale (because that’s what I have on hand) how much do you think I would need to use to make a good substitute?
Hi Virginia,
I’d say use less kale and chop it pretty small (maybe half the amount, maybe a little more than half?) This baby spinach really cooked down to nothing and it incorporated well into the millet mixture.
My favourite meatless meals are Dragon Bowls- whatever steamed veg I have on hand( yams, broccoli, daikon, etc) greens (spinach, chard, kale), a grain (quinoa, brown rice), lentils, tempeh or chickpeas, and a delicious sauce to tie it all together. Simple and comforting!
I will love to win this book : vegetarian cookbooks are like a passion to me 🙂 they are so inspiring for my everyday cooking !
I think that my favorite meatless meal is a conforting veggie curry : earthy rice, creamy coconut milk, spicy curry paste (green, yellow or red depending on my color mood of the day), coriander, lime… and then being creative with a mix of vegetables that are in season and avalaible in my fridge : my favorite is a mix of sweet potatoes, tomatoes and leeks or the eggplant and cauliflowers one, or the brocoli, carrots and snow peas one 🙂 … I love the endless possibilities of this dishes !!!
I have a lot of favorites, but today I will say, black beans cooked with cilantro and more cilantro on top, and cornmeal crepes. I will try to millet cakes because I love various vegetable cakes, such as these.
Love Millet. We make a type of bread from Millet. Delish with any curry.
I have the same problem making quinoa burgers stick together. Millet sounds like a great alternative!
My favorite meatless meal is a simple pasta dish with roasted artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms. A close second is Tuscan minestrone soup. Really, how can one choose when there are so many new, delicious vegetables to try?
Can you tell me which type of millet did you use? Pearl? Finger millet? foxtail? I will definitely give this recipe a try- looks very good! For the drawing, my favorite meatless meal would be “Kale and Cauliflower Alfredo” served over linguine. It’s absolutely delightful. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I am not someone who will eat a meatless meal very often. But I understand how important it is to mix things up and not eat meat with every meal. Something I enjoy for when I go meatless is stuffed veggies.
Take Squash, my favourite is butternut squash. Fill it with a mix of quinoa, walnuts (or your favourite nut), spinach, dried cranberries, and goat cheese.
You will need to pre-cook the squash a bit before adding in the stuffing as it will take longer to cook and you don’t want to dry out the stuffing too much.
Thanks for the great recipes!
My favourite meatless meal is Paneer Curry (it can be with a tomato sauce, a cashew-based sauce, or a spinach sauce).
Fresh baked challah and honey. Or mushroom pizza: mushroom sauce, truffle cheese, mushrooms, green onion and truffle oil
My favorite vegetarian meal is a roasted vegetable lasagna from the new Barefoot Contessa. It rivals my mother’s recipe that I’ve always made, but is the vegetable counterpart. My husband, who won’t eat goat cheese, even loved it. 🙂
I think my favorite meatless meal is homemade spinach ricotta filled raviolis with kale pesto or eggplant sauce. I made lots of these for our family for our Christmas Eve dinner.
i have to say, my favorite meatless meal is my lemon veggie soup, although these millet cakes look great!
My new favourite vegetarian meal is your Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas and Kale! It is perfect. Thanks so much!
Don’t you want to work at America’s Test Kitchen!? It may just be me but I think that is such an awesome job. Anyway, I’ve heard amazing things about their books. I definitely love millet and I’m pinning this recipe to make later on. My favorite vegan recipes to make are French pastries that have been vegan-ized and any type of soup. I just want allthesoup.
There are so many favorites but with this cold weather I’ve been really loving creamy polenta topped with marinara and sautéed greens like spinach and kale. A fried egg often also makes an appearance.
I love spicy vegetable curries… especially loaded with cauliflower!