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.
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Ooooh, looks like another great recipe! I love the ATK folks, and would love to get my hands on that book! My favorite meatless meal is roasted sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts tossed with a honey vinaigrette and served with chickpeas and quinoa. Yum!
favorite meatless meal is hot pot of wonder soup with tons of kale, tomatoe, carrots,etc.
Nance
Nomss.com
My current favorite meatless meal is a chickpea and spinach coconut milk curry over brown rice. My favorite meatlesss snack involves your sweet potato hummus!
I’ve got a new meatless meal favorite – brined roasted tofu with potatoes from Vegan Dad. I also love pasta with mushrooms!
Mine would be minty millet and pomegranate…an absolute winner and a staple at my home
All of my meals are meatless but I would have to say…. pizza! I like mine with kalamata olives, roasted mushrooms, spinach, roasted garlic, and homemade almond cheese. Yum!
On a cold night like tonight I’d have to say vegetarian meatloaf (a guilty pleasure).
I already entered the contest, but just wanted to add that I made these for dinner tonight and what a great recipe! We were eating greek food, so I swapped the 2 tsp of curry powder for 1 tsp of oregano, and added crumbled feta to the mixture. They turned out awesome!
Thank you for the lovely recipe 🙂
I am so glad someone actually made it. I wanted to hear the opinion on this recipe and instead there are many people commenting on the recipe and their favorite vegetarian meal. Thank you for taking the time to make and rate this recipe.
as a vegan i have countless meatless meals that i love but the one thing most of them have in common is kale and roasted veggies!
Daal Chawal !!! – lentils with rice 🙂
I love America’s Test Kitchen! My favorite meatless meal has to be roasted veggies over a green salad. We eat it at least once a week. It is so simple and filling but can be varied so many ways, it never gets old.
Bean burritos!
Oh goodness… can my favorite meatless meal be deluxe, veggie pizza? It’s hard to beat good pizza. Lately I’ve also been eating more than my share of roasted eggplant and butternut squash with red pepper flakes. I can’t wait to try making these millet cakes!
I’d have to say my favorite meatless meal is a tofu stir fry, or possibly a great oatmeal with all the toppings
My favorite meatless meal is hard to say. I have 2 that I eat a lot. Tempeh Chili and hippie bowls with cooked veggies and quinoa. Clearly I need this book to give me more ideas!
My favorite meatless meal is a nourishing bowl of brown rice, seasoned black beans, avocado, homemade tomato salsa, and sharp cheddar cheese. Delicious!
I love making vegetable tacos. I usually cook a bunch of greens with mushrooms and then add all the toppings. These millet cakes look good -I’m going to try them soon!
Hmm…I think there is a tie for my favorite veg recipe between a baked sweet potato stuffed with a spicy black bean chili and a stir fry bowl loaded with brown rice, veggies and kimchi!
These look awesome. I hear you on non-binding quinoa. One of my favourite veg recipes at this time of year is easily chickpea curry with mustard greens on naked oats or rice, and with a bit of lime pickle for some extra zing. Filling, warming awesomeness.
I love millet! And these little spicy cakes with carrots and spinach sound like a perfect dinner to me! I’ll have to check out the new America’s Test Kitchen Vegetarian Cookbook when it drops here in Australia 🙂
My favourite vegetarian meal (I am 100% veggie) would have to be my black bean and millet stuffed sweet peppers. So good. Or veggie tacos with lots of guacamole!