The BEST Vegan Meatballs | Candy Potato Soul

These delicious hearty Vegan Meatballs are filled with scrumptious flavors, protein, and loads of fiber. Made with easy and nutritious components, this lentil-based recipe makes the right occasion appetizer, cozy household dinner, or centerpiece for internet hosting dinner friends.

This recipe was written on April 18, 2021. It was up to date with extra recipe info on Sep 3, 2024.

You gained’t consider these lentil meatballs are made with 100% plant-based components! The agency, meaty texture and mix of irresistible savory flavors will excite the tastebuds of meat eaters and herbivores alike. The mixture of inexperienced lentils, hearty breadcrumbs, fragrant spices, recent herbs, nutty dietary yeast, and a slight kick of crushed pink chili flakes make the perfect vegan meatballs.

The meatballs are baked within the oven till crisp on the surface and tender and juicy on the within. There’s a cause they had been certainly one of my most requested meals from purchasers again after I was a personal chef in New York Metropolis!

Lentil balls are scrumptious as an appetizer dipped in marinara sauce, served over spaghetti, or used for Italian subs. They’re tremendous straightforward to make and don’t require any particular gear! This vegan meatballs recipe additionally contains instructions to make an non-obligatory vegan parmesan cheese topping for the final word expertise!

For extra lentil-based recipes, attempt my lentil meatloaf, vegan burrito bowl, or straightforward lentil tacos.  

Elements

• Floor Flaxseed. Used as an egg replacer to create a gel-like consistency that binds the veggie meatballs collectively when combined with water. Search for pre-ground flaxseed within the baking or well being meals aisle on the grocery retailer. 
• Cooked Lentils. I like to recommend utilizing inexperienced or brown lentils to kind the perfect meatball base. Alternatively, use canned lentils – simply rinse and drain them first. 
• Garlic. Provides a savory depth of taste and attractive aroma. Use recent garlic cloves for the perfect style or go for pre-minced garlic to avoid wasting time on prep. 
• Onion. Minced onion not solely provides pungent style, it additionally provides moist texture and chunk to those vegan meatballs.
• Dietary Yeast. Elevates the vegan lentil meatballs with a satisfyingly wealthy and savory umami taste and tacky aroma. I like to purchase it in bulk! Alternatively, combine in your most well-liked vegan cheese model for further tacky taste. 
• Fennel Seed. Supplies a gentle, candy, licorice-like taste. Use entire fennel seeds or swap for a lesser quantity of floor fennel seeds is most well-liked. 
• Dried Thyme. Provides the meatballs a tasty delicate earthy taste. Alternatively, use triple the quantity of recent thyme for a extra vibrant taste  within the veggie meatballs recipe. 
• Sea Salt. Enhances the meatballs’ total flavors. Alternatively, use kosher salt and regulate the quantity to your style choice. 
• Black Pepper. Provides complexity and a contact of warmth. Use freshly floor black pepper for probably the most sturdy taste, however pre-ground pepper additionally works nice. 
• Crushed Pink Chili Flakes. Provides the vegetarian meatballs an thrilling spicy kick. Modify the quantity to fit your style or omit when you choose a milder taste. 
• Breadcrumbs. Assist bind the meatballs collectively to present them construction. Use common, entire wheat, or gluten-free breadcrumbs, ideally unflavored, based mostly on dietary wants. Panko breadcrumbs can be utilized to offer the meatballs with a lighter texture.
• Marinara Sauce (Elective). If desired, serve this lentil balls recipe with a basic Italian tomato sauce, both store-bought or home made (recipe for my straightforward home made sauce beneath)
• Vegan Parmesan Cheese (Elective). This lentil meatballs vegan recipe isn’t full with out savory vegan parmesan cheese made with walnuts and miso.

The right way to Make Vegan Meatballs

• Put together Flax Egg. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the flaxseed and water in a small mixing bowl. Put aside to thicken for at the least 5 minutes.

• Put together Meatball Base. Mix the cooked lentils, garlic, onion, dietary yeast, fennel seed, parsley, thyme, salt, black pepper, chili flakes, and breadcrumbs in a big mixing bowl. Stir a couple of occasions till simply mixed.
• Add Flax Egg. Add the flax egg and stir nicely to mix the components. If the batter doesn’t begin to stick collectively, use clear arms to combine it.

• Mix batter. Switch about 1/3 of the lentil meatball combination to a meals processor and mix till it turns into a thick batter (not an entire puree). In case your combination could be very dry and troublesome to mix, add 1/4 water and pulse. Switch the blended batter again into the massive bowl and stir nicely.

• Kind Meatballs. Scoop out 2 tablespoon-sized balls of the lentil combination, then roll them between your palms till easy. 

• Bake. Place the meatballs on the ready baking sheets. Bake for 25 minutes or till barely browned on the surface and tender on the within.

• Elective: Put together Vegan Parmesan. If utilizing, make the vegan parmesan cheese. Place the components right into a meals processor and pulse till a chunky crumble stays.

• Elective: Toss Meatballs. If desired, toss the meatballs with heat marinara sauce, serve over pasta sauce, and garnish with the vegan parmesan cheese.

Recipe Professional-Suggestions

• Correctly cook dinner lentils. Cook dinner the lentils till tender however retain their form to present the straightforward lentil meatballs the suitable texture. Keep away from overcooking them or they are going to be mushy! 
• Let the flax egg sit. Give the flaxseed and water sufficient time to kind a gelled consistency—at the least 5 minutes (or longer when you have the time)—to create a correct binding that holds the meatballs collectively.  
• Modify the meatball consistency as wanted. If the combination appears too moist, steadily add extra breadcrumbs till you obtain the suitable consistency – the combination must be agency sufficient to carry its form when rolled into balls. 
• Combine nicely. Guarantee all components within the vegetarian meatballs recipe are totally combined for probably the most cohesive texture. Use your arms as wanted to combine, making certain even distribution.
• Don’t overcrowd the baking sheets. Place the ready meatballs with area between them on the baking sheets. This enables the warmth to flow into and helps them cook dinner evenly and brown nicely.

Serving Solutions

Get pleasure from this lentil meatballs recipe in quite a lot of methods – as an Italian basic served over a mattress of scorching pasta with marina sauce, inside a toasted hoagie bun as a meatball sub, as an appetizer along with your favourite dipping sauces, or paired with a few of our favourite recipes beneath:

Storage Instructions

• Refrigeration: Permit leftover meatballs to cook dinner fully earlier than transferring to an hermetic container and refrigerating for as much as 5 days. 
• Freezing: Place cooled meatballs on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze till stable, about 2-3 hours. Switch frozen meatballs to a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze them for as much as 3 months. 
• Reheating: Heat refrigerated meatballs within the oven at 350ºF on a ready baking sheet for 10-Quarter-hour or within the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Reheat frozen meatballs within the oven at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes or till warmed by way of. Be aware: Cowl frozen meatballs with foil for the primary 10 minutes of reheating to hurry up the warming course of.

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