HEALTHY VEGAN MEATBALLS

I made this recipe months ago but since a wasn´t posting content, it stayed “hidden” within my recipe folder. I was planning on sharing it in a few weeks, but I made it again yesterday and oh boy…I decided, I shouldn´t make you wait so long.  These vegan meatballs are not only healthy, but also incredibly delicious.

This recipe is also super simple to make and it actually has only 2 main ingredientes: rolled oats and lentils. Then I add other things for extra flavor like mustard, barbecue sauce, onion powder, garlic, smoked paprika and salt. I also add a very small amount of nuts to improve the texture. You could obviously fry them, if you wanted to, but since we want healthy vegan meatballs and this blog is all about the oil-free lifestyle, we will just bake them 😇. Finally, we toss them together with a beautiful savory sauce and there you go: healthy vegan meatballs that will knock your socks off. They pair perfectly with some fat-free fries and a salad. And if instead of the salad, you add some cooked collard greens for a calcium boost…I can only say: perfection 👌🏻

I have made this recipe using kidney beans instead of lentils and it is just as yummy. So feel free to use either of them.

Concerning nutrition, these healthy vegan meatballs are high in B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, folate,  copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc. If you serve them with a cup of cooked collard greens you will be adding a whopping 260mg of calcium to the dish. Not bad. Not bad at all 💪🏻.

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HEALTHY VEGAN MEATBALLS

Prep 15 mins

Cook 30 mins

Total 45 mins

Author Sonia Raga

Yield 16 pieces

This healthy vegan meatballs are gluten-free, low-fat and baked instead of fried.

Ingredients

For the vegan meatballs:

• 1 cup rolled oats (90g)
• 1 and 1/3 cup cooked lentils or cooked kidney beans (approximately 240g)
• 1/4 cup walnuts (around 8 halfs)
• 1 tablespoon mustard sauce
• 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of onion flakes or 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

For the sauce:

• 1 and 1/2 cups soy milk (355ml)
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon miso
• 1 tablespoon whole rice flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
2. Add rolled oats, walnuts, garlic, onion powder (or flakes), smoked paprika and salt to food processor and pulse to break down. You DO NOT want it become a flour, so don´t pulse for too long.
3. Place in a large bowl.
4. Add the lentils (or kidney beans) to food processor and pulse a couple of times. You just want to break them down so do not pulse to many times or for too long, otherwise you will end up with a paste.
5. Add the lentils and kidney beans to the bowl and combine everything using a fork. Do not mashed it, just combine.
6. Scoop out around 1,5 tbsp amounts of dough and roll into balls (I used a mini ice-cream scoop).
7. Add the balls to a baking sheet and add to the oven to bake for about 20 minutes.
8. While the meatballs are baking, let´s prepare the sauce.
9. Add all the ingredients into a sauce pan and stir until well combined.
10. Cook on medium heat while stiring constantly. The sauce will be ready as soon as it reaches  your desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will get. Once it´s ready, turn off the heat and wait until the vegan meatballs are done.
11. Add the vegan meatballs to the sauce and stir.
12. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

• If you make these vegan meatballs the day before, they are even more delicious.
• You can keep them in the fridge up to 2-3 days. You can reheat them in the oven or in a non-stick pan.If the sauce becomes very thick, just add a splash of water or non-dairy milk.
• For a lower sodium version, skip the added salt and the soy sauce.

Courses Mains

Cuisine low-fat, gluten-free