This vegan meatloaf with an easy tomato glaze is the perfect comfort food! It’s super delicious, hearty, and easy to make. It makes a great Sunday dinner along with potatoes and a salad!
And the best thing is that it’s made with only healthy ingredients! Thanks to the lentils and chickpeas it’s packed with protein, making it a great recipes for vegans and vegetarians! It’s also a good recipe for the holiday season or a festive family dinner!
What You Need For This Vegan Meatloaf:
The ingredient list for the vegan meatloaf might seem very long at first sight, but many ingredients are just staples you probably have in your pantry anyways or dried herbs.
You need:
- cooked brown lentils
- cooked chickpeas
- two onions
- garlic
- ground flaxseeds
- walnuts
- a large carrot
- rolled oats
- tomato paste
- unsweetened almond or soy milk
- soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce (make sure it’s vegan)
- dried oregano, thyme, and rosemary
- fresh parsley
- salt and pepper
As always, you can find the full ingredient list in a separate recipe box at the end of this post.
How to Make Vegan Meatloaf:
The recipe for this vegan meatloaf is a bit more time-consuming than most recipes on my blog. But it’s so worth it! And the preparation steps are very easy and the baking time makes up most of the time.
STEP 1: Sauté the onion and garlic for about 2 minutes. Then add the chopped carrots and cook them for another 3 minutes.
STEP 2: Put about 6 tablespoons of the cooked lentils aside. Put all of the ingredients except for the spices into a blender or food processor and blend until you have a sticky but chunky mixture. It’s very important that you make sure to not overdo it, so the vegan meatloaf will still have some texture.
STEP 3: Add the remaining lentils and season with thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
STEP 4: Place the mixture into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Make sure to let the parchment paper overlap the loaf pan, so it’s easier to remove the lentil loaf once it’s done.
STEP 5: Bake the vegan meatloaf for 30 minutes. In the meantime make the tomato glaze. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well.
STEP 6: After the 30 minutes of baking time are over, take the vegan meatloaf out of the oven and evenly spread the tomato glaze on top. Then return it to the oven and bake it for another 15 minutes at 350 °F.
STEP 7: Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then carefully lift it out with the parchment paper. Slice and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.
Vegan Meatloaf – Recipe Notes:
- For a gluten-free version, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
- You want a sticky but still chunky mixture for the vegetarian meatloaf. It’s very important that you make sure to not overdo it, so the meatloaf will still have some texture. So don’t blend it for too long!
- Properly stored it will keep up to 5 days in the fridge and 8 weeks in the freezer.
- Make sure to let the meatloaf cool down for a bit in the loaf pan before you slice it. This way it can firm up a bit.
Can you freeze this vegan meatloaf?
Yes, this vegan meatloaf freezes really well. Just let the loaf cool down completely and then cut it into slices. Place the slices into freezer bags and freeze them for up to 2 months.
Let them thaw at room temperature and reheat them at 275 °F for about 10 minutes or until heated through.
How long does this vegan meatloaf last?
Properly stored in an airtight container, the vegetarian meatloaf lasts for about 5 days in the fridge. You might even go up to 7 days, but make sure to check for any weird smell.
In the freezer, the vegan meatloaf lasts for up to 2 months.
What to serve with vegan meatloaf:
- garlic smashed potatoes
- mashed potatoes and vegan gravy
- vegan risotto with mushrooms and asparagus
- a big green salad
- garlic mushroom one pot pasta
I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU GUYS!
I hope you like this vegan meatloaf as much as we do around here.
If you give it a try, I’d love to know what you think about it. Just leave me a comment and a star rating below. Your comments really make my day!
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Sina
Vegan Meatloaf
Ingredients
For the vegan meatloaf:
- 2 cups cooked brown lentils (either use one can of lentils or cook them yourself)
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas (either use one can of lentils or cook them yourself)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
- 3/4 cup walnuts
- 1 large carrot, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond or soy milk
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
For the tomato glaze:
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and garlic for about 2 minutes. Then add the chopped carrots and cook them for another 3 minutes.
- Put about 6 tablespoons of the cooked lentils aside. Put all of the ingredients except for the spices into a blender or food processor and blend until you have a sticky but chunky mixture. It's very important that you make sure to not overdo it, so the vegan meatloaf will still have some texture.
- Add the remaining lentils and season with thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- Place the mixture into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Make sure to let the parchment paper overlap the loaf pan, so it's easier to remove the lentil loaf once it's done.
- Bake the vegan meatloaf for 30 minutes. In the meantime make the tomato glaze. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well.
- After the 30 minutes of baking time are over, take the vegan meatloaf out of the oven and evenly spread the tomato glaze on top. Then return it to the oven and bake it for another 15 minutes at 350 °F.
- Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then carefully lift it out with the parchment paper. Slice and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.
Notes
- For a gluten-free version, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
- You want a sticky but still chunky mixture for the vegetarian meatloaf. It’s very important that you make sure to not overdo it, so the meatloaf will still have some texture. So don’t blend it for too long!
- Properly stored it will keep up to 5 days in the fridge and 8 weeks in the freezer.
- Make sure to let the meatloaf cool down for a bit in the loaf pan before you slice it. This way it can firm up a bit.
Very good recipe. Very tasty!
I am planning on trying this but I have a question. #2 says “Put all of the ingredients except for the spices into a blender or food processor.” #3 says “Add the remaining lentils and season with thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley.” What remaining lentils? Do you divide them, half in the blender and half after blending?
Hi Lou,
Sorry about the confusion! I just updated the recipe instructions. You need to leave 6 tablespoons of the lentils aside.
Hope you like the recipe. :)
Great recipe! I doubled and made two so that I could freeze one for an easy meal later. There was so much flavor in this meatloaf. My kids (9 and 5) even ate it all up! I just needed to cook the carrots longer or at least until tender before adding to the mix. And also chop up the walnuts before adding to the mix. I blended in batches but didn’t want to blend too much and that left me with those ingredients to be more full pieces and they had more crunch. Still didn’t mind that really. Again, the flavor is spot on! My kitchen smelled amazing while preparing this meal. I’m saving it to make again for sure!
This was amazing! Tasted so yummy.