Easy Vegan Meatballs
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"This is an amazing recipe. It will now be my go to recipe for spaghetti & meatballs. Very moist and flavorful!"
- CHRIS -
Whenever someone is hesitant to try eating more meatless meals, one of my favorite things to do is show them just how comforting and hearty plant-based eating can be. A plant-based diet is so much more than a bunch of salads. Plant-centered meals can be just as hearty and stick-to-your-ribs-y as meals with animal products. And this big ole plate of spaghetti and vegan meatballs is a perfect example of that. Let's make meat-free meatballs!
In this post:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Move over traditional meatballs! These vegan meatballs are here to steal the show.
I worked for years to perfect a meatless meatball recipe that kept the ingredient list as short as possible, only used pantry staples, and was still hearty, meaty, and delicious. This is it, my friends! I know you're going to love it. Let me show you how easy vegan meatballs can be!
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- No specialty ingredients. These vegan meatballs are made using only ingredients that are regularly kept in my pantry. I'll bet you have most of them on hand, too!
- Gluten-free adaptable. As long as the oats you use are gluten-free, it only takes one simple swap of tamari in place of the soy sauce to make this recipe completely gluten-free.
- It's quick and easy. You can have these meat-free meatballs on the table in under 30 minutes!
One of my favorite ways to serve these is with spaghetti sauce or arrabbiata sauce and garlic bread! Add a side salad with Italian dressing and you've got yourself a fancy-feeling yet weeknight-friendly meal.
Step-by-Step how to make Vegan Meatballs
1
Pulse.
Put chickpeas, onion, walnuts, oats, and garlic in the food processor and pulse everything together until it looks like the texture of ground beef. It should still be coarse and chunky. You don't want to overmix it!
2
Mix.
Dump that meaty mixture into a large bowl and add the rice, ketchup, soy sauce, and seasoning. Then stir it up until it's well mixed.
If you want a smoother texture...
...add half the vegan meatball mixture back into the food processor, and pulse until very smooth. Add the pasty smooth mix back into the bowl with the coarse half and stir well to combine.
3
Cook.
Heat a few tablespoons of avocado oil (or another oil with a high smoke point) in a large skillet over medium heat. Then roll the meatball mixture into 1-inch balls and pan-fry them in the skillet until golden brown all over. Serve!
Vegan Meatballs protips
featured review
"These were AMAZING! Kids ate them too with no complaining!"
- ERIN -
WATCH Me make vegan meatballs
📖 Recipe
Vegan Meatballs
Ingredients
- 14 ounces chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ½ large onion roughly chopped (about ⅓ cup)
- ½ cup walnuts toasted is great, but not necessary
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats gluten-free, if necessary
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1 cup cooked brown rice wild rice is great, too
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce use coconut aminos or tamari if gluten-free
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- Additional spices if desired (see notes)
- Avocado oil or other high heat oil, for pan-frying
Instructions
- In the basin of a food processor, pulse together 14 ounces chickpeas, ½ large onion, ½ cup walnuts, ½ cup old-fashioned oats, and 1 clove garlic until it forms a coarse meal about the texture of ground beef. Don't overmix. You should still see a few small chunks.
- Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl, and add in 1 cup cooked brown rice, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons chili powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and any Additional spices you're using. Stir until well-mixed.
- If you like a meatball with smoother texture, transfer half of the mixture back into the food processor, and pulse until very smooth and pasty-add back to the other half of mixture and stir well to combine.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of Avocado oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Form the meatball mixture into 1" balls and fry in skillet until golden brown on all sides-about 10 minutes total. Don't overcrowd the pan-you'll probably want to work in 2-3 batches.
Video
Notes
- This is great base recipe, but you can doctor these up with spices however you see fit-add two tablespoons of Italian seasoning plus two tablespoons of nutritional yeast for serving over pasta with tomato sauce. Add Montreal Steak Seasoning for great cocktail meatballs to serve as appetizers. The possibilities are endless!
- We use avocado oil instead of something like olive oil because the avocado oil has a higher smoke point and won't get smoky and burnt during pan-frying. You can also use grapeseed oil, safflower oil, or another high-heat oil.
- If your meatballs aren't holding together, feel free to add either an egg (if you're not vegan) or a flax egg (mix one tablespoon ground flaxseed meal with three tablespoons warm water and let thicken for five minutes) to the meatball mixture. I didn't find this necessary for my meatballs to stay together well.
- For an extra boost of flavor, cook your brown rice in veggie broth or even not-beef broth.
- If you want to skip pan-frying, you can just put the formed meatballs directly on the baking sheet and bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and firm.
- Add these meatballs to your saucepan right before serving. The longer they swim around in the sauce, the more tender they become.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions about Vegan Meatballs
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I have tried many different kinds. Ones I have made and others have. I will be trying therein a few weeks. I'll let you know how we like them. Seems not many people write back so I'll be sure to let you know. They look very good.
Thanks for this recipe! I doubled the batch and froze them. Now I have them handy to heat them up with pasta sauce or BBQ sauce. Definitely my favorite plant-based meat recipe and I (used to) love meat!
These are delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Next time, I might try and add some parsley or spinach to add a little greens.
I was wondering what kind of oats you used? (instant, old-fashioned rolled, quick oats, etc...)
Old-fashioned rolled. 🙂
great!I have never made a recipe with oats in it, so I was at a loss as to what I should buy. Thank you! 🙂
Oh my goodness! I'm not even vegetarian and these are phenomenal! I might get addicted to this stuff, LOL. If this is what vegan food tastes like, I think I could become a vegan!
I'm cooking these vegan meatballs tonight with a friend! I can't wait. I'm vegan and I cook lots of delicious meals but I've never tried meatballs.
Let me know how you like 'em. Have a great dinner with your friend. 🙂
I am just switching from vegetarian to vegan. Those look totally scrumptious! Will try them out for sure. Thanks for the recipe!
Hope you love them. They are one of our favorites!
Just wondering if you've tried freezing these at any stage: either after shaping into balls, or after baking?
Thanks so much!
I would say freeze them before baking. I think they'd freeze great! Let me know if you try it out.
Awesome! I can't wait to try these out. I'm making a freezer-full of goodies for my boyfriend and I'm trying to sneak in healthy versions of his favorite comfort foods. These look delicious and meaty enough to trick him into enjoying it 🙂
I made these tonight! They turned out really delicious, thanks so much for the recipe! 🙂
yummmmmm yumm. My meat-eating boyfriend loved them!
http://lovesveggies.blogspot.com/2011/06/homemade-marinara-and-vacation-r.html
YAY! So glad you liked them! I can't wait to try them on a meatball sub. YUM.
I made these last week and I'm making them again tonight! Probably going to repost on my blog too -- I'll be sure to link back to you. Absolutely delicious! I used smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder, so they had a bit of a southwestern kick. Delicious!
I like your vegan meat balls a lot. Thanks to you I know what I will have for dinner this week 🙂
Wow, good grief. These would cost me a fortune to try to make.. I'd have to buy Lentils, Wheat Germ, Wheat Flour, Kosher Salt, Balsamic Vinegar, Nutmeg, Mustard--whole packages of them even though I only need a little bit. Any ideas on how to sample recipes on a dime?
Wow, that is so crazy because everything in this recipe are pantry "staples" for me. The only thing I had to buy are then lentils, and that was only because we were out!
Do you have co-op or health food store nearby with bulk bins? That is how I test out recipes. You can buy 1 teaspoon of many of the spices (plus the flour, wheat germ and lentils) for only pennies. And then if you like it, you can invest in the full-size containers.
Sweet! There's a WholeFoods a few miles away. I'll see if they have the bulk foods section. Great idea!
This recipe is about as frugal as you can get. I buy various beans and brown rice by the 25# bags. Not only saving money but the planet too by avoiding all the plastic and cardboard from small expensive packages.
I'm going to try the recipe. It sounds REALLY good.
Thanks
I noticed a few people including you mention "Lentils" I don't see lentils in the recipe I printed out...I only see "Chickpeas"....is there a mistake?
I believe that is from the old recipe, before Cassie updated it a few months back!
Bookmarked- thank you!
I'm vegan and I'm soooooo making these - wonderful! Thanks for the recipe and beautiful photos:)
Let me know how they turn out!
Thanks for the recipe! I'm going to have to try this one. I love cooking with lentils. I just made some lentil Sloppy Joe's the other night they turned out pretty fab. They really do have the texture of meat and I actually enjoyed them more than I anticipated.
I'm not a hardcore vegan but I follow mostly a vegan diet because I feel best when I eat that way. Combine lactose intolerance with a generally fussy digestive system and vegan eats are the way to go for me.
But I agree with you, I think flexitarian is a very healthy choice. Most Americans eats WAY too much meat and dairy and I think there's been a bit of a movement lately in the direction to follow a more plant-based diet. Have you seen the new documentary Forks Over Knives yet? I'm dying to see it!
Anyway, that's all for now. Great post! 🙂
Oooh! No! I loooove food documentaries. Thanks for the recommendation!
These look delicious! I'll definitely have to make these! Thank you. 🙂
No problem! Let me know if you try any variations on them. 😀
Looks amazing -- thanks for sharing!
No problem! Let me know if you like them.
that looks amazing! i think i need to try those vegan balls!
Let me know how you like them!
I like how the green leaves spell out "Al" on the top meatball.
Love reading this BTHR, its my guilty pleasure.
Hope all is well! Much love!
HAHA! I didn't even notice that. That's awesome!