These vegan meatballs are the perfect comfort food. They’re really easy to make, so delicious, and incredibly healthy! Serve them with spaghetti for a quick and easy dinner.
Why This Recipe Works
Kidney beans, rolled oats, and ground sunflower seeds give the plant-based meatballs an amazing texture and add lots of protein.
What I really love about this recipe is that the meatballs keep their form and don’t crumble when being baked or cooked. However, do not expect them to have the exact same texture as real meatballs.
You can serve them warm or cold. I like them even better when they’re cold because this way they have a firmer texture.
The recipe is very budget-friendly. Especially if you use dried kidney beans and cook them yourself, for example in your Instant Pot. This recipe is perfect if you’re eating on a budget!
The ingredient list for this recipe is pretty short. No hard to find or fancy ingredients. You can find all of the ingredients in any regular grocery store.
This recipe is one of my all-time favorites and I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from readers as well.
What Goes Into This Recipe:
- Kidney Beans – I usually use canned kidney beans, but you could also use dried beans and cook them in your Instant Pot.
- Soy Sauce – Use low sodium soy sauce if you want or tamari for a gluten-free version.
- Rolled Oats – Don’t use quick quick cooking oats. You need rolled oats for the right texture.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Step: Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.
2. Step: Rinse and drain the kidney beans. Put them in a medium bowl and mash them well with a fork or a potato masher.
3. Step: In a medium pan, heat some oil and sauté the onions for 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Step: Put the sunflower seeds in a food processor.
5. Step: Pulse until a fine meal is achieved.
6. Step: Add the sauteed onion and garlic to the mashed beans together with the spices, the tomato paste, the soy sauce, the ground sunflower seeds, and the oats. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Step: Use your hands to thoroughly mix everything. Then form about 12-14 vegan meatballs. (Please note that I doubled the recipe for the photos, so there are more meatballs).
8. Step: Preheat the oven to 350 °F bake the vegan meatballs for about 15 minutes.
9. Step: Carefully turn them halfway through the baking time. They should be crispy on the outside but still a bit soft on the inside. They will get a lot firmer when they cool down.
Pan-Frying Option
Alternatively you could also pan-fry them. In a medium pan, heat some olive oil over medium heat and gently roast the bean balls for about 4 minutes until they are golden.
You’ll achieve the best results with a cast iron pan.
Recipe Notes:
- I prefer to bake the vegan meatballs in the oven. This way they become a lot crispier. Besides, the texture is firmer and you don’t need any oil.
- If you’re short on time, you could pan-fry them as this is quicker. Just be careful when you turn the meatballs.
- I also love to make this recipe for picnics and potlucks. The meatballs become a lot firmer when they’re cold, so they’re the perfect finger food.
- Make sure to sauté the onion and the garlic before you add it to the bean mixture. I’ve tried the recipe without sauteing and didn’t like it because the onions were still crunchy.
- For a gluten-free version, make sure you’re using gluten-free oats and substitute the soy sauce with tamari.
FAQs:
Can I freeze this recipe?
Yes, absolutely! To reheat the meatballs, just put them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until they’re warmed through.
Could I turn these meatballs into veggie burgers?
Yes, you can make patties out of the bean mixture and bake them in the oven. However, you have to adjust the baking time a bit depending on the size of the burger patties.
Try baking them for 20 minutes instead of 15. Check how they are and bake for another 5 minutes.
Can I substitute the sunflower seeds?
Yes, you could also use almonds instead.
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Sina
Vegan Meatballs with Spaghetti
Ingredients
For the vegan meatballs:
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 heaped cup sunflower seeds
- salt
- black pepper
For the chunky marinara sauce:
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 1 can diced tomatoes (14,5 oz)
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- fresh basil leaves, cut into small pieces
- salt
- black pepper
For the spaghetti:
- 9 oz whole wheat spaghetti
For the cashew Parmesan:
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashews
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.
- Rinse and drain the kidney beans. Put them in a medium bowl and mash them well with a fork or a potato masher.
- In a medium pan, heat some oil and sauté the onions for 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
- Put the sunflower seeds in a food processor and pulse until a fine meal is achieved.
- Add the sauteed onion and garlic to the mashed beans together with the spices, the tomato paste, the soy sauce, the ground sunflower seeds, and the oats. Season with salt and pepper.
- Use your hands to thoroughly mix everything. Then form about 12-14 vegan meatballs. (Please note that I doubled the recipe for the photos, so there are more meatballs).
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F bake the vegan meatballs for about 15 minutes. Carefully flip them halfway through the baking time.
- Alternatively you could also pan-fry them. In a medium pan, heat some olive oil over medium heat and gently roast the bean balls for about 4 minutes until they are golden. You'll achieve the best results with a cast iron pan. However, I would recommend the baking version. Not only is this version oil-free, they meatballs also become more crispier and firmer this way.
- Make the marinara sauce: In a medium pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and the carrot. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
- Then deglaze with red wine and allow to evaporate. Add diced tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Before serving add some fresh basil leaves.
- Make the cashew Parmesan: Put the cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder in a food processor and pulse until a fine meal is achieved.
- Serve the spaghetti with the marinara and vegan meatballs and sprinkle with Parmesan and fresh basil leaves.
Notes
- I prefer to bake the vegan meatballs in the oven. This way they become a lot crispier. Besides, the texture is firmer and you don't need any oil.
- If you're short on time, you could also pan-fry them as this is quicker. Just be careful when you turn the meatballs.
- I also love to make this recipe for picnics and potlucks! The meatballs become a lot firmer when they're cold, so they're the perfect finger food.
- Make sure to sauté the onion and the garlic before you add it to the bean mixture. I've tried the recipe without sauteing and didn't like it because the onions were still crunchy.
- For a gluten-free version, make sure you're using gluten-free oats and substitute the soy sauce with tamari.
Brenda
I only used the meatball recipe with my own marina
sauce. I have tried other vegan meatball
recipes that were not so good. My husband and I loved these. They are delicious and easy to make. Thank you for the best recipe ever!
Amber
These look awesome. I decided to do a search for black bean meatballs and found this and am so excited to try them. I do have one question though. Do I have to use oats? I’m not a huge fan and can almost always taste the oat flavor in everything that has oats. Would I still be able to just use normal breadcrumbs?
Trish Harwood
Just made these for dinner. Serving with potato wedges & gravy! Easiest “meatballs” to make. Didn’t have sunflower seeds so substituted a scant 1/3 cup of chickpea flour.
T. bunnett
These were delish! Thanks so much for the recipe – I used the leftovers to make a burger the next day – will definitely become my go to from now on! :)
AJ
Planning on trying the vegan meatballs. Do you think they would come out good if you baked them?
Sheyl
Made this tonight. Extremely good and the kids loved it. I made one change which was put the oats in the food processor.
Marco
What dry wine did you use for the recipe?
Sina
Hi Marco,
I actually don’t have a specific brand. It should just be dry red wine. But basically any red wine would work. :-)
Elizabeth
This is an amazing recipe…easy and comforting, Thank you!
Leslie S.
Oh these look soooo good! I want to try them but I don’t have the oats. Could I substitute stale bread for the oats?
Sina
Hi Leslie, I haven’t tried this yet, but I think this could work quite well. :-) Let me know how they turned out.
Julie
I can’t wait to make this! Could flax seeds work in place of the sunflower seeds? Thanks!
Kathryn Grace
Didn’t make it through all ten of your vegan meals today, but I did get back to this one, and I’m adding it to my list of recipes to try soon. In fact, I’m on my way to the kitchen now to start a pot of beans cooking and hope to use some of them later this week to make your beanballs.
Jaimie
I actually made these tonight and I was just wondering if the meatballs were suppose to be solid? Mine came out very mushy they didn’t hold their shape too well.
Sina
Hi Jaimie,
They’re definitely not supposed to be as solid as regular meatballs. They’re a bit soft, but they should hold together quite well. Alternatively, you could also prepare them in the oven. This makes them a bit more solid. Hope you still liked them though. :-)
jj
I don’t use canned food. Instead, I want to soak dry beans. Do yow much of the dry beans do I need to soak in order to get the comparable amount of canned beans you use in your recipe?
Thank you!!!
Lara
Hey Sina,
I love this recipe and I would like to use it in my upcoming youtube video for vegan meal prep. This will be one of the three recipes I will make. The other 2 are my own. I would love your permission to spread the word about this lovely recipe and your amazing blog. I would of course state lound and clear this is your recipe and put your name and link to the blog in the description and on the screen.
Would that be okay with you? :)
Best regards, Lara
susan
These look delish. Can they be made without the seeds? I cant eat them. Would you sub something else or add something?