Millet Patties | Tasty little Bites

These Millet and green pea patties are a tasty appetizer that you can whip up easily with only a handful of ingredients. They are packed with flavor, while also providing an array of health benefits and perfect for any occasion. I love the fact that I can just pick these up with my hands and shovel them into my mouth plain or serve them to family and friends with beetroot yogurt sauce!

You can watch the recipe in action in this video on my YouTube channel.

I am sure that everyone is now aware of this underrated ancient grain, Millets. Like quinoa and amaranth, millet is a seed that cooks like grain. I never thought it would gain so much popularity and would become expensive. This “super” grain is having a moment this year. The United Nations declared 2023 to be the international year of Millets, praising the grain’s ability to grow in arid soil with minimal inputs. Millet has been a staple food in many countries around the world for thousands of years. This ancient grain is nutritious, delicious, and easy to cook. There are several varieties of millet. The most readily available type of millet in Canada is the Proso millet and that’s the star ingredient in this recipe.

The flour in the bowl next to millet is not for this recipe

I had been playing around with the basic formulation of this millet patties recipe for a while. Most patty recipes have some kind of flour, breadcrumbs, potatoes, or eggs.  I didn’t want any of that. I wanted to make a recipe that comes together quickly with minimum ingredients and fits most dietary needs, and that is exactly what I ended up with here. I used flax seed meal as a binding ingredient. Also, Peas have enough starch to bind these patties together.

Start by cooking millet and defrosting the peas–either by letting them sit in the fridge overnight or at room temp for a couple of hours OR by giving them a minute or so in the microwave.  Note that if you use fresh peas, you’ll need to cook them to soften a bit before adding to this recipe.

After the millet is done cooking, everything is ready to go in the food processor. Once you get a nice cohesive mixture, half of the millet is added in grain form, to generate some crispiness. Shape into patties. Use a small cookie scoop to get even-sized balls.  Then shape patties by pushing them firmly together with your hands. When pan frying the patties, don’t move them around. Let them firm up before turning them. If possible, only turn them in once. The best way to cook these is on an electric griddle. The large surface area allows you to cook a large batch of patties at the same time in less oil and also makes the flipping easier! They get cooked evenly inside and out, with a thin crisp exterior. And while flipping they hold together well.

When reheated the millet patties become quite tender but if you like them crisp then consume them right away! Or I recommend heating them in an oven or Air-fryer. The thing I love about these patties is that these are great hot, cold, or room temperature. You can keep them in the fridge for several days, or in the freezer for up to a month or so.

I love serving them with a beetroot yogurt sauce for a healthy snack or appetizer. I’ve earlier shared a recipe for a lovely, quick dairy-free beetroot hummus but honestly, they taste much better with beetroot yogurt dipping sauce.

You can save or screenshot the recipe card below for when you’re ready to make these and you can watch a step-by-step video of how I make these over on my YouTube channel. And when you make it kindly post your image on social media with the hashtag #simpleglutenfreekitchen and leave a comment below. It will be super helpful to me and other readers.

I am bringing these tasty little bites of millet to Angie’s linky party, Fiesta Friday.