Chia Quinoa Protein Bars are an almost-perfect protein bar! With a chewy-granola-like texture, and a hint of subtle sweetness, they check off all the boxes for taste and texture. Plus, they have all-natural ingredients and are super-easy to make. Wholesome, filling, and ultra satisfying!
As someone who is always on the lookout for convenient forms of protein, the one thing I have struggled to find time and time again was a good-tasting, all-natural protein bar that didn’t contain all of the unnecessary sweeteners, gluten, or dairy found in most store-bought brands.
These chia quinoa protein bars are easy to make. Like my Quinoa Granola Bars, they're perfect for a quick snack or post-workout meal.
They're also gluten-free and can be made vegan-friendly (just skip the honey), so they're perfect for anyone with dietary restrictions.
Let's Talk Ingredients
For these quinoa chia seed protein bars, I recommend using white quinoa. Red or black quinoa will work, but they are firmer, which can affect the final texture.
Make sure your flaxseed is ground so your body can actually absorb the nutrients.
I like raw almonds, coarsely chopped, though sliced almonds work too. Almond butter ties everything together, but peanut butter or another nut butter works just as well.
Tips and Tricks
- Try toasting the quinoa and oats: This is optional, but it adds a nice flavor to the bars. If you're short on time, you can skip this step.
- Grind the flaxseed: You could also use whole flaxseed, but they will not be as easily absorbed and the texture can be off-putting. I like to grind them so that I'm getting the most nutrition possible.
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This recipe was contributed in 2016 by Danielle Krueger, who is the writer, photographer, recipe developer and taste tester over at The Lean Clean Eating Machine. Make sure you head over to her website and say thanks!
30-Minute Chia Quinoa Protein Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry quinoa I used white, but you can use any variety
- ½ cup chia seeds I used black chia seeds, but any kind will work
- 2 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1 cup rolled oats gluten free
- ¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- ½ cup raw almonds; coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup brown rice syrup
- ½ cup almond butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine quinoa, chia seeds, flax seed, rolled oats, cinnamon, salt, cardamom and chopped raw almonds. Stir to combine.
- In a small, microwave-safe dish, combine almond butter, brown rice syrup and honey. Stir to mix, then microwave for 1 minute to soften.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a plastic spatula to thoroughly mix. Wet ingredients may begin to firm up, in which case you will need to use clean hands to knead the mixture together.
- When finished, transfer your mixture to a parchment lined baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 glass Pyrex dish), and pat down mixture with a plastic spatula to make a single, even layer.
- Bake on middle rack of oven for 15 minutes.
- When finished, remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- After ten minutes, remove bars from the pan by lifting up the sides of the parchment paper. Place bars on a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Cut finished bars with a sharp, non-serrated knife or pizza cutter.
- Wrap cooled bars in saran wrap and store in refrigerator until ready to eat.
Suzanne says
These look so good! I've never seen quinoa as a base in something sweet! There are so many fun spins you could put on this!
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Wendy Polisi says
They should keep for about a week.
Jennifer says
The only honey I have is red chili honey. It gives a great pop to the flavor.
A down side to these is having to pick chia seed out of your teeth for the rest of the day.
Ruth Brown says
These are absolutely yummy! But I had the same problem with crumbling as others have posted. I used date syrup in place of the brown rice syrup. (Had thought about using maple syrup; jut saw your note below; glad that I didn't.) I may try it again with an increased amount of the wet ingredients. And I'll use what I have crumbled up in yogurt parfaits! 🙂
Nicole P says
Recipe worked great for me in my Pampered Chef granola bar silicone sheet. I baked for 10 minutes, didn’t see any colour change so did the full 15 minutes, got a little over baked. So if using a bar silicone sheet like me bake less. Stuck together great with the one change I did, no brown rice syrup so I added another quarter cup honey, not overly sweet or honey tasting at all. Also didn’t have cardamom so out nutmeg instead.