Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes
This delicious sweet corn tamale cakes recipe is a healthy copycat makeover of the classic Cheesecake Factory dish! They’re packed with flavor, easy to make, and have the perfect blend of wholesome ingredients. Served with a light and refreshing black bean salsa, this recipe is perfect for an appetizer or light dinner!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 276.4kcal
Ingredients
Corn Cakes
- ½ cup quinoa
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup reduced sodium vegetable broth
- 1 large egg beaten
- ½ cup frozen corn kernels thawed
- 2 scallions finely chopped (¼ cup)
- ¼ cup shredded low fat mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 Tbsp 1% milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp hot pepper sauce I used Tobasco
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- olive oil cooking spray
Salsa
- 15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained 1 can
- 1½ cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and finely diced
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- ¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
- Lime juice to taste
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
Optional Toppings
- prepared salsa
- sliced avocado or prepared guacamole
Instructions
Corn Cakes
- Mix quinoa, water, and broth in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 min. Fluff with a fork.
- Combine quinoa and remaining cake ingredients except oil in a medium bowl.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray with olive oil cooking spray. Scoop a generous 1/4 cup of the quinoa mixture at a time and drop onto skillet, flattening into pancake shape with back of spatula (makes 8 cakes).
- Cook the cakes until they’re browned on one side, about 5 min. Flip carefully and cook about 5-10 min longer.
Salsa
- Mix together all salsa ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Let marinate for 5-10 minutes.
Serving
- Serve two corn cakes with ¼ of the black bean salsa mixture and any of the optional toppings you like!
Notes
- Use a measuring cup or large cookie scoop to make the griddle cakes uniform in size.
- Don’t forget to spray the pan with cooking spray, so the cakes don’t stick when you try to flip them over.
- Flatten the cakes out slightly, so they resemble a pancake. This allows them to cook evenly and gives you the best result possible.
- For faster prep, use a food processor to help you chop up all the ingredients for the salsa and the cakes!
- You can make the black bean salsa the night before to save time. You can also batch cook the griddle cakes and freeze them so you can use them anytime!
- Nutrition Facts do not include optional toppings.
Nutrition
Serving: 2corn cakes | Calories: 276.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 45.9g | Protein: 16.1g | Fat: 4.2g | Sodium: 175.9mg | Fiber: 10.5g | Sugar: 1.1g