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Vegan Meatballs

5 from 195 votes

These healthy vegan meatballs are hearty, delicious, and easy to make, with just 5 ingredients and no eggs required!

Vegan Meatball Recipe
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The best recipe for vegan meatballs

Both kids and adults love the hearty texture and savory flavor of the homemade vegan meatballs, packed with more than seven grams of protein per serving.

Make up a batch for a quick weeknight dinner or your next vegan pasta night.

The best part of the recipe? Unlike many other vegan meatball recipes, this one needs no oil, no mushrooms or flax eggs, no flour, soy, or nuts, and no meat substitutes!

Also try this Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Black Bean Balls

Vegan meatball flavors

Italian meatballs: For an Italian style version, add up to a teaspoon each of dried oregano and parsley flakes.

You can also add a sprinkle of dried basil and substitute the oats with an equal amount of toasted or panko breadcrumbs.

Cheese meatballs: Add one or two tablespoons of vegan Parmesan or Romano cheese before blending the ingredients.

Or press a small piece or square from a block of vegan cheese into the center of each ball after rolling.

Teriyaki meatballs: Add a fourth teaspoon of powdered ginger to the dry ingredients.

After baking or frying, cover the vegan black bean balls with your favorite jarred or homemade teriyaki sauce.

Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onions.

Vegan sausage meatballs: Before blending the meatball ingredients, add a teaspoon of fennel seeds, a half teaspoon of dried basil, and a shake of black pepper.

Vegan sweet and sour meatballs: As with the teriyaki version above, add a fourth of a teaspoon of powdered ginger in the beginning.

Cover the finished balls in bottled or homemade sweet and sour sauce.

Stir in diced pineapple and cooked bell peppers if desired.

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Plant Based Meatballs Recipe

Vegan spaghetti and meatballs

For classic vegan pasta and meatballs, put a pot of water on to boil while the bean balls are in the oven. I like to salt the water, but it is not required.

Once boiling, throw in your pasta of choice and cook according to the package directions, draining when the noodles are al dente. For best results, do not rinse.

Heat up either jarred or homemade tomato sauce, and stir it with the pasta.

Either stir in the vegan meatballs (my preferred method so they get coated with marinara sauce) or add them individually on top of each plate before serving.

Not a tomato fan? Use Vegan Alfredo Sauce or this Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce instead.

Black Bean Balls (Vegetarian)

Ways to use vegan meatballs

Serve the meatless balls on top of spaghetti.

Turn them into a vegan sub sandwich, hero, or hoagie.

Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, quinoa, or Vegan Mac and Cheese.

Add the black bean balls to stir fries or curry recipes.

Mix with Tofu Scramble for a high protein breakfast.

You can even make vegan meatball sliders or add a pinch of nutmeg for vegan Swedish meatballs and cover them with homemade Mushroom Gravy.

Homemade Vegan Meatball Ingredients

Ingredients for the black bean meatballs

You will need the following five ingredients: cooked or canned beans, quick oats or almond flour, chopped onion, salt, and minced garlic or garlic powder.

Is it okay to substitute a different bean? These can be made with black beans, white beans (such as cannellini or great northern beans), or pinto beans.

Kidney beans technically work but I found the taste to be a bit earthy.

If you experiment with chickpeas or lentils, be sure to report back with results!

Are these grain free or gluten free meatballs? The recipe calls for either almond flour (or almond meal) or quick oats.

If using almond flour, they are grain free and gluten free. Quick oats are naturally gluten free but often share factory equipment with wheat products.

If you or someone you are serving the bean balls to has a gluten allergy, you can buy “certified gluten free” oats to avoid any cross contamination.

Can I substitute rolled oats or white flour? To make the meatballs with rolled oats, pulse the oats a few times in the food processor before adding all of the other ingredients. No other changes are needed.

If substituting flour for the oats, start with one fourth cup of flour and only add more if the mixture is too soft.

Meatless Meatballs Recipe

Plant based meatballs FAQ

Can I use dried beans instead of canned? If you would rather cook your own beans to save money or skip the can, use about one and a half cups of cooked beans.

This will equal the amount of beans in one standard 15 ounce can of beans.

Can you freeze vegan meatballs? You can. Let the bean balls cool before transferring leftovers to an airtight covered container. Store in the refrigerator for four or five days or the freezer for up to three months.

When ready to eat, just thaw and reheat the frozen meatballs on the stovetop or in the microwave or oven.

Do they taste exactly like traditional meatballs? The balls are actually not supposed to taste like meaty non vegan meat balls at all. The recipe is delicious in its own right, not as an inferior stand in for the real thing.

Just like Trader Joes Meatless Meatballs and IKEA plant balls have their own distinct texture and flavor, so do these.

Don’t want to call them meatballs since there is no meat? Simply name them black bean balls or bites, vegan meatless balls, or veggie balls instead.

Where can I buy vegan meatballs? If you are looking for a vegan version that does taste like ground beef meatballs, I have heard good things from both vegetarians and omnivores about Impossible, Gardein, Beyond, and Morningstar Farms Meatless Meatballs.

Look for vegan meatball brands at Whole Foods, Target, Costco, and many regular grocery stores. Beyond Meatballs and Impossible Meatballs are also available at some restaurants, including select Starbucks and Subway locations.

Vegan Spaghetti And Meatballs

How to make vegan meatballs

Step One: Gather all of your ingredients, and drain and rinse the beans very well.

If you are making baked meatballs instead of fried, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking tray with parchment paper for easy clean up.

Step Two: Combine everything in a food processor, scraping down the sides of the machine as needed. Stop processing when the mixture still has some texture but no large pieces remain.

Step Three: Roll into balls. I like smaller meatballs, because they cook more evenly.

Step Four: Either pan fry in a little oil, or place the balls on the prepared baking tray and cook on the oven’s center rack for 10 minutes, then turn each vegetarian meatball and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the desired texture is reached.

Readers also love this plant based Coconut Curry

Vegetarian Meatballs

Nutrition facts for vegetarian meatballs

This healthy vegan recipe is high protein, low calorie, high fiber, and cholesterol free.

The bean balls are also high in iron and potassium, low in fat and saturated fat, and they have no added sugar.

Full nutrition facts and Weight Watchers points are included below.

The meatballs were adapted from this Veggie Burger Recipe.

Vegan meatball recipe video

Above, watch the step by step video showing how to make the recipe.

How To Make The Best Vegan Meat Balls
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Vegan Meatballs

This healthy recipe for vegan meatballs is great for lunch or dinner. Eat them covered in gravy or on top of spaghetti.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Yield 14 – 16 meatballs
5 from 195 votes

Ingredients

  • 1 can pinto beans or black beans
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup quick oats or almond flour
  • 1 tsp minced garlic or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • see the flavor options listed above

Instructions

  • To make vegan meatballs, preheat the oven to 350 F if baking instead of frying. Drain and rinse the beans very well. Combine everything in a food processor until evenly blended. Stop while it still has some texture but no large pieces remain. Roll into balls (small meatballs cook much more evenly), and either pan fry in a little oil, or place on a parchment-lined baking tray and cook on the center rack for 10 minutes, then turn each ball and bake an additional 10 minutes or until desired texture is reached.
    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

For dessert, make these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
 

Have you made this recipe?

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Published on March 6, 2022

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49 Comments

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  1. Nina says

    5 stars
    Lovely recipe thank you! My first time making vegan meatballs and they turned out awesome, I did have too much liquid first from the bean can but I then added more oats and some other things to spice up the balls. It was easy to make the bean balls, and I left them in the oven for around 25 minutes. Even without turning them while cooking, they were a success:) thanks so much, keeper recipe

  2. Catherine L says

    5 stars
    Vegetarian here- I really struggled to find a vegetarian meatball recipe that wasn’t weird, complicated and involve expensive ingredients. This recipe is so delicious! I am so happy I found this! I struggled w the size of the balls and they ended up being v small, it means it took ages to cook them all which is worth considering when you start. In the end, using two teaspoons to make the balls worked the best for me. I added parmesan, fresh parsley, mixed herbs and loads of garlic and omg my life has been made. I might experiment w making small patties next time but this is so delicious thank you so much for sharing!

  3. Luka says

    Hi, do you think using rolled oats is fine instead of quick oats? I’m incredibly new to home cooking stuff like this and I’m still not sure what the difference really is.

    • Luka says

      5 stars
      Nevermind, I just found my answer in the article after reading it for the 1000th time, I dont know how I could miss it so many times

  4. Debbie G says

    5 stars
    Yum……I miss sausage so bad. This < I know will be so much healthier. They are really delicious. Can't wait to try all the variations.
    thank you

  5. Janice Ragan says

    4 stars
    I loved making these meatballs and my vegan son loved eating them. I made them into sweet and sour meatballs and I have a question. They looked great until the sweet and sour sauce heated up. The meatballs fell apart once that happened. Same thing when I tried the plant based “ground meat”. Any suggestions?

    • Holly says

      I’ve been vegan for 7 years and have made many no-meat meatballs. In general, they won’t hold together in sauce if the meatballs are based with beans or lentils. I hear the sauce separately and spoon sauce over each serving. I hope this helps.

  6. Lawrence Allan says

    Hello I’m newly Vegan and was wondering if this same recipe can easily be used for making vegan sausages and burgers too? I prefer to make my own as much as possible. Thanks

  7. Helen Croke says

    5 stars
    Aussie vegan here and I just made these with canned chickpeas adding fennel seeds and dried italian herbs. Love them. Thanks Katie

  8. PJ says

    5 stars
    This Vegan Meatball recipe is outstanding. I prepared exactly to the recipe adding 1 tsp of Italian seasoning. The smell is heavenly as they bake and I had to eat one right off of the tray. The only thing I will change next time is I will sauté my onions first. The onion was too strong for my personal taste (probably the onion I used).
    Tonight, we’ll be having meatball subs and tomorrow night we will be having spaghetti squash with marinara and vegan meatballs. Thank you for this GREAT recipe!

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