The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
- Originally Published:
- Last Modified: September 20, 2024
- Hannah Abreu
Hi, everyone! I am very excited today to finally share with you this recipe for vegan meatballs. I have taken some time perfecting it to get it right, and I hope you enjoy as much as I do. These are The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs.
How the Ultimate Vegan Meatballs came about...
The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs were born a couple of weeks ago while I was cooking a whole bunch of mushrooms for lunch but once they were cooked they were so little! The disappointment was real! Those mushroom filled the pan and when cooked were just a few grams! I needed to act quickly and finish lunch so I thought: Why not make some meatballs? Yes! Of course!
I processed the mushrooms with some oats, more spices, a bit of water and so on until I had the consistency I wanted. Then I finished cooking in tomato sauce. They were good in terms of flavor, but way too dense, so I had to make them again correcting the amounts but I was out of mushrooms, so the recipe had to wait.
Next day was friday. I was cooking chicken for Shabbath but, who says you cannot make chicken and vegan meatballs? I made up my mind to take advantage of the momentum, so I weighed my ingredients, took some notes and pictures, cooked and reserved the meatballs, that were going to be served for dinner.
We had guests for shabbath and I was mortified. I just was praying the meatballs were at least edible. But, well, if they were not that good, at least I could have some feedback to perfect this recipe and write it on the blog.
The time to eat came and I remember when one of the kids wanted to try the meatballs. They honestly looked like their meaty cousins so much but to avoid any confusion, I told him straight away the meatballs were vegan. He tried it and immediately his eyes opened up!
When he asked for more I realized they were happy open eyes, those that happen when you try something delicious! At this point, everyone started eating the meatballs and I was receiving positive feedback. I was very happy when a vegan guest told me she wanted the recipe for making them like everyday 
That moment I knew they were not only edible, but certainly good. Even my picky husband liked them!
In the week that followed I probably made this recipe every other day, just to make sure the recipe was on point, and now it is just turn to try them. I really really hope you like them.
How to make the Ultimate Vegan Meatballs
The main ingredients in the Ultimate Vegan Meatballs is Mushrooms. Since they can come quite dirty, you’ll start by soaking the mushrooms in cold water for a few minutes, and then finish cleaning with a paper towel or a soft brush to remove any soil, before continuing with the next steps which include removing the excess moisture, mix all ingredients with the help of a food processor, fry or bake and finish cooking in the sauce.
UPDATE: You can totally make this recipe OIL-FREE by skipping the oil entirely and baking these vegan meatballs instead.
When first cooking the mushrooms we want most of the liquid to evaporate. This step is important. Our second most important ingredient, 100% Whole Grain Oats will benefit from some moisture, but if the mushrooms are too moist and you end up adding more oats than recommended (which you totally can) the texture won’t be as desired and meaty as intended.
Once in the food processor make sure you chop the mushrooms enough but not too much. You still want little pieces of mushrooms in there for texture.
Now, the second part of the recipe includes transferring this concoction to a bowl and mix in whole grain oats and water. And you might be thinking “didn’t we just remove the water while cooking the mushrooms? Why are we then adding water back?”. Well, there’s two reasons for this:
- The cooking of the mushrooms with the spices gives a better texture and flavor to the recipe than just adding them raw with the spices.
- Adding the needed water (or liquid) in this second phase of the recipe gives you more control, because you know exactly how much liquid is getting into it, instead of just eyeballing every time the amount of water vs. oats that you need, which can be frustrating and lead to different results every time.
Shaping and Cooking
IF FRYING: make sure the oil is well heated before you start, or the meatballs can lose the shape. Fry until hey are golden brown on both sides, and transfer to paper towel to drain the excess oil.
IF BAKING: Make sure you use a silicone mat or baking paper to line the baking tray. Using just oil or butter won’t work (I’ve tried). Bake them for about 30 minutes or until you see they are firm to the touch, thoroughly cooked and with a nice brown color. Get them out of the oven and let them cool down a bit before you attempt to take them off the silicone mat or the parchment so they don’t break. Once they cool down, they should peel off esily from the baking paper.
If they are not peeling easily is because they are still a bit too wet. Stick the tray for a few more minutes in the oven and then remove them from the baking tray.
You can finish The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs by cooking them in your preferred tomato sauce (Check out our Sweet Potato & Tomato Pasta Sauce) for 5 minutes or so, on low heat. This last step is important to give the meatballs a meaty texture.
Serve them with regular pasta, or try them over zucchini noodles! Delicious!
The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs
Ingredients
- 450 gr Portobelo Mushrooms
- 200 gr 100% Whole Grain Oats
- 180 ml Water
- 1/4 Cup Dried Oregano (It's not a typo, it's 1/4 Cup of dried Oregano)
- 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1.5 Tbsp Sweet Paprika
- 1.5 tsp Salt I use Himalayan or Sea salt
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
- Pinch Nutmeg
Instructions
- Clean mushrooms by soaking in cold water for a few minutes, then rubbing gently paper towel or soft brush. Roughly chop.
- Heat your pan on medium-high heat. Add the oil (you can skip to make oil-free if you prefer), mushrooms and seasonings. Cook until there is no excess water left and the mushrooms are cooked through.
- Process with a food processor, add oregano and pulse to a rough paste.
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add oats and water. Mix well.
- Let the mixture rest in the fridge for 5-10 minutes so the oats absorb the liquid and bind everything together.
- Shape with wet hands and fry (or bake for about 30 minutes in a parchment lined baking tray) until browned and completely cooked through.
