I’ve been having such fun going through some of our family’s favorite recipes from years ago and giving some of the older images facelifts. When I saw these Millet Cakes I couldn’t believe how long it had last been since I made them and when I watched the kids eating one after another I was thrilled to find an old oldie, but goodie. I hope you have the opportunity to try it too!
I don’t think there’s any good name for this recipe — believe me, I’ve been racking my brain for something better. Millet sounds like some small bug that you might have found in your bed at camp in the 6th grade or maybe a hairdo that is short on the sides and long in back. In reality, millet is a delicious grain that doesn’t seem to appear in too many recipes, but is fantastic for little ones. Kenya loved it so much, I got totally inspired and came up with several recipes using it.
These millets cakes are easy to prepare and take only minutes to cook. Their nutty flavor comes out even more when you add a yogurt tahini sauce for your little one to eat with it. Millet is one of the least allergic and most digestible grains. It’s nearly 15% protein, contains high amounts of fiber and B-complex vitamins and is a perfect in a gluten free diet. When you’re making the millet recipe below you might think you made it wrong because it’s very sticky. Don’t fret, you made it perfectly! The millet needs to be a little sticky in order to form the patties.
These are a great choice to serve in the summer, for parties, or for play dates, especially when it’s your turn to give the neighborhood kids dinner and you want to make something special. And I’m all ears for better names for this recipe, so don’t be shy, send me suggestions. I’d love to hear them!
Millet Cakes
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Millet
- 1/4 cup onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup carrots, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Cook millet according to package directions until cooked through and fluffy.
- Place the onion, bell pepper, carrot, garlic and italian herbs in food processor and pulse and until vegetables are in tiny pieces.
- Heat 2 tsp of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the vegetables. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
- Place the millet, vegetables and egg in a bowl and throughly combine.
- Form patties, about 2 tablespoons each
- Once all the patties are made and resting on a plate, heat 1 tbsp or oil in a saute pan over medium heat and saute the patties for 5 minutes on each side or until golden. Repeat with remaining patties and add remainder oil if needed.
- Cool on a paper towel lined plate and serve.
- *After step 5, place patties on a sheet tray and freeze for 30 minutes. Then transfer to a ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours then follow steps 6-7.
I am vegan too so I plan to add som psyllium husk and/or aquafaba: as long as you don’t make them too big or loose it should work
This is exactly what I was looking for to replace a burger bun: I am getting ready to make some tofu katsu (which is a breaded and fried tofu “burger” ) but I really don’t do well with bread. Last night I ate millet as my starch with my BAS and there is enough left for 2 more meals. I wondered if anybody else had pattied millet. And here you are! Thank you: I am going to change the veg as I don’t have a red bell pepper, but some mushrooms and a green onion and a green bell pepper will be just as great!
Those HEALTHY CAKES sound really good ! I just got through reading the article and I am going to get the grain as soon as possible, Thank You Very Much Bo Self Colita , Tx ( old Indian settlement )
Add me to the camp where they fell apart completely. Looking at the comments, most of the people who liked them also added parmesan. I wonder if that helps them stick together. I have my oldest daughter stir frying them right now to make into a sort of vegetarian hamburger gravy to top our mashed potatoes with instead.
BTW, for anybody with an Instant Pot, cook the millet with water in a ratio of one part millet to 1.5 parts water at high pressure for one minute, then naturally release for 10 minutes and release pressure. Fluff with a fork. And I agree with others that they need a bit more flavor. If I can find a way to get them to stick together and adjust seasoning, they’re definitely something I’d like to make again though. Millet is such a low-cost, healthy food. 🙂
You are correct! I have updated the directions, thanks!
Correction? Shouldn’t this read “After Step 5” rather than step 6?
I would love some Vegetarian recipes using Millet & keen-wa.
Shoot, so that’s that one supposes.
Here’s a name you might want to consider for this millet pattie “Millet Skillet Pattie” — just a thought
[…] out the recipe here. I absolutely loved this recipe! Though I caution against making the vegetables too small. I had […]
Can you use another grain instead? I have a ton or Farro, Freeka and Quinoa in the house.
I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work! Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes!
Looking foward to make this recipe! Can these be baked in the oven instead of pan fried? If so, for how long and at what temperature? I would love to make these in a muffin pan as my little one enjoys eating “cupcakes” 🙂
Definitely giving these a try soon!
Patty Cakes!
Millet Dollar Baby Cakes is my name suggestion.
I added curry powder, turmeric, cinnamon, ricotta cheese, and a pinch of sugar. Mmmmm.
I tried these today, they were delicious but it was difficult making patties, they kept falling apart, was it because I cooked the millet for only 25 mins ? I thought I should stop cooking it as it appeared to be drying up ?
I’d probably call these something like sunshine circles. Thanks for a good millet recipe!
This is a great basic recipe and the cooking time on the millet is right on. I found it pretty bland so changed a couple of things. In the water that I cooked the millet I added a pinch of garlic/onion powder, salt, pepper, celery seed and cayenne pepper (not enough to make it spicy just a pinch). I added about 1/4 cup grated parmesan to the millet at the same time as the egg. Delicious!
[…] Millet Cakes… uhm, patties? … burgers? Maybe there’s no good name for it. ”Yum Yum Lumps” perhaps? […]
Made these last night, and I really wanted to like them. They just seemed really bland. I followed the recipe to the letter. I will try them again, but next time with the tahini sauce you suggested. They definitely needed a little pep added to them.
Oh one more thing…how much millet and water do I need?
Never mind…..just saw how much water and millet is needed….sleep deprivation sucks lol
Does the millet need to be rinsed before cooking?
The millet cakes remind me, in looks, of what mother made from leftover mashed potatoes; we called them potatoe patties so how about millet patties?
Yes, serve hot or warm!
These are supposed to be served hot?
Can I use finger millets?
Yep! Cooking it for 45 minutes gets it to the right consistency to easily form into cakes.
Silly question- cook the millet for 45 minutes?
That should work. Let me know how they turn out!
Would quinoa work instead of millet? I have cooked quinoa in the fridge now….
How about “Momma’s magic millet cakes” for a name? And I’m going to add some kale into the processor with the onions, etc., to sneak in some greens. Thanks for the recipe!
Isn’t it great when you can figure out a way to inucdle your family in this process? I love seeing all the little ones in the playroom at F2F. Reading labels is a real eye-opener, isn’t it? Sugar and sodium are everywhere! And if they take out the fat, they put in more sugar and sodium to get some of the flavor back. Seems like you can’t win! The choices will get easier as you go along. Keep up the great work.
I call them “Millies”
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I made this using a Flax mixture as an Egg Replacer. They were GREAT!
Flax Egg = 2 T. Ground Golden Flax Seed Meal, 3 T. water and 1/8 t. baking powder.
Mix in bowl and let sit for few minutes while it forms a gel consistency.
Thank you for the great recipe!
Would like to try this recipe, but I am
allergic to eggs and onions. Plus I am
gluten free.
would appreciate some help.
Thank You
Eddie
would love to try this recipe but I am allergic to both
eggs and onions. Plus I am gluten free.
thank you for helping me.
Eddie
Would love to make this. It looks so delish.
But I can not use eggs or onions as i am allergic to them.
what can i use in its place. I am also gluten free.
Pleas reply.
thank you for your help.
Eddie
Two other ideas:
This is a delicious mix. Mine fell apart in the pan, so I scrambled it for hash – another delicious idea! I just put the whole hash on a paper towel-lined dish, let the excess absorb off, then covered the dish with another lined with a paper towel, flipped it, let it sit that way, then dug in hungrily.
The patties that hadn’t yet hit the pan were popped into the oven with a spritz of oil on both sides. 350 degrees, just keeping an eye for when I should flip. They’re still cooking, but they look delicious.
Thanks again for the recipe!
Chris,
Puffed millet cereal and millet are two different things. Millet is a whole grain and it would be located near the rice/lentils/beans, etc. Puffed millet cereal wouldn’t work in this recipe.
can i used puffed millet cereal? it was all I could find?
This is a very intriguing post, I was looking for this information. Just so you know I found your blog page when I was browsing for blogs like mine, so please check out my site sometime and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.
Please post more recipes using millet. It is so healthy and hard to find recipes using it! Thanks for this one.
[…] some puree for baby before making the purses Chicken Noodle Soup: Just puree and serve to baby Millet Cakes: Leave out the egg and before forming into patties, set aside some of the mixture to be pureed for […]
I actually made these this past weekend. You can get the Millet at Whole Foods. These were really good. My daughter loved them as well. Thanks for the recipe!
I wanted to say that the recipe was a total hit with my 3 year old and 1 year old. We used a poblano pepper from the garden instead of red pepper, and everything turned out great. When my husband returned from work and there were only two patties left, he was disappointed because he wanted more for himself.
We don’t have any millet right now, but I am going to try this recipe with some Bulgur tonight. We’ll see how it turns out. Thanks for sharing.