These baked lentil meatballs are perfectly tender on the inside, firm on the outside, and loaded with so much flavor! This will be your new go-to vegan meatball recipe! Enjoy these easy vegan meatballs with a big bowl of spaghetti for the ultimate comfort food meal! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and nut-free.
*This recipe was originally published on 1/26/16, but I updated it with new pictures and better recipe instructions on 9/17/19.
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Skip the store bought frozen meatballs, this is going to be your new favorite go-to vegan meatball recipe! These lentil meatballs have so much flavor and they have the best texture! The inside is perfectly tender and moist but the outside is firm but not dry. I guarantee that these lentil meatballs won’t fall apart on you, they have a perfect consistency!
Pair these easy to make lentil meatballs with your favorite noodles and tomato sauce for the ultimate vegan comfort food dinner! Keep reading to find out how to make crowd-pleasing vegan meatballs in just a few simple steps.
How to Make Lentil Meatballs – Step by Step
Step #1 – Start by boiling 3 cups of water in a medium-sized pot. When the water boils, season it with salt and add 3/4 cup of rinsed and drained uncooked french lentils. Reduce the heat to medium and set a timer for 24 minutes.
When there are 12 minutes left on the timer, add 1/4 cup of uncooked quinoa to the pot with the lentils and give it a stir to combine. Let the lentils and quinoa continue cooking together until there is no water left in the pot. (It should take a total time of 23-24 minutes to cook the lentils and quinoa from start to finish.)
Step #2 – Let the cooked lentil quinoa mixture cool for a few minutes. While it’s cooling, add 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed and 3 tbsp of water to a small bowl. Mix it together and put it in the fridge to thicken for 10 minutes.
Then, use a coffee grinder or small blender cup to grind sunflower seeds into a powder.
Step #3 – Pour the lentils and quinoa into a large food processor (this is the 13 cup food processor that I use and love!). Add the roughly chopped cremini mushrooms, diced red onion, old fashioned oats, blended sunflower seeds, tomato paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce, nutritional yeast, Italian seasonings, minced garlic cloves, dried basil, dried parsley, salt, pepper, and the flax egg.
Step #4 – Pulse the filling on high for 1-2 minutes or until all the ingredients are broken down and combined. The mixture will be sticky but that’s normal. A wet batter makes moist lentil meatballs, a dry batter would result in dry vegan meatballs.
Step #5 – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is heating up, line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to scoop the filling out of the food processor into your hand and then use your palms to roll the filling into golf ball-sized vegan meatballs. The filling will make 14-15 large vegan meatballs.
Step #6 – Arrange the vegan lentil meatballs on the tray and bake them for 15-18 minutes, turning halfway through so you get browning on both sides. Serve the hot lentil meatballs with tomato sauce or marinara and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast (or vegan parm) over your favorite noodles or zoodles.
What are Vegan Meatballs Made of?
Instead of meat, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and eggs, vegan meatballs are make with a hearty base of legumes, gluten-free oats instead of breadcrumbs, cheesy nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese, a vegan egg (I used a flax egg) to hold everything together, a vegetable to keep it moist (I used mushrooms), and lots of seasonings for flavor!
This vegan Italian meatball recipe consists of:
- French Lentils
- Quinoa
- Oats
- Raw Hulled Sunflower Seeds
- Cremini Mushrooms
- Tomato Paste (This is my favorite brand because it’s in a glass jar, it’s organic, and has no added salt!)
- Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
- Nutritional Yeast (I love this brand because it’s non-GMO)
- Italian Seasonings
- Garlic Powder
- Dried Parsley
- Dried Basil
- Flax Egg
Is This Vegan Meatballs Recipe Allergy-Friendly?
Yes, this allergy-friendly lentil meatball recipe is vegetarian, vegan, whole food plant-based, oil-free, gluten-free, and nut-free.
What Else Can You Make with This Lentil Quinoa Mixture?
This vegan lentil meatball filling is so versatile! You can use it to make easy vegan meatballs, veggie burgers, and lentil loaf, depending on what shape you form the filling into.
If you have leftover lentil meatballs and are tired of spaghetti, you can use the leftovers to make a vegan meatball sub or you could toss the meatballs in BBQ sauce for an easy BBQ lentil meatballs appetizer!
What Do I Serve Lentil Meatballs With?
If you make these oven baked lentil meatballs with spaghetti or zucchini noodles, you could also serve roasted broccoli, garlic balsamic brussel sprouts, or avocado arugula tomato salad on the side.
Vegan Lentil Meatball Notes
- You can use (1) 14 oz can of lentils in place of the cooked lentils for this recipe.
- You can use white button or cremini mushrooms.
- French lentils are my favorite for this recipe but you could substitute green lentils, brown lentils, or chickpeas instead. Don’t use red lentils because they’re too soft and won’t hold their shape.
- To keep the recipe vegan, make sure you use vegan Worcestershire sauce.
- If you need to use gluten-free spaghetti noodles, I like these organic brown rice noodles (they have the best consistency!).
- You can store the leftover lentil meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can also freeze the lentil meatballs for a future meal.
Tips to Make the Best Vegan Meatballs
- Make sure you use ground flaxseed, not whole flax seeds, for the flax egg.
- If you accidentally over blend the meatball filling, add more oats and mix it until you can shape it into solid balls.
- You can use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to scoop out the lentil mushroom filling into your hand.
- Try to shape the lentil mushroom meatballs filling into golf ball-sized meatballs that are 1 1/2 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches high.
- Depending on how hot your oven is, the perfect amount of time to bake these homemade vegan meatballs is for 15-18 minutes. Any longer, and you run the risk of drying the lentil meatballs out a little bit.
- Turn the vegan mushroom meatballs halfway through so you get even browning on both sides of the meatballs.
More Vegan Lentil Recipes You’ll Love!
49 Super Tasty Lentil Recipes for Lentil Lovers!
Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Pea Pesto Lentils
Creamy Coconut Lentil Chickpea Spinach Soup
One-Pot Sweet Potato Lentil Chili
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Vegan Italian Lentil Quinoa MeatBalls
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Medium-Sized Pot
- Large Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa rinsed & drained
- 3/4 cup uncooked french lentils rinsed & drained
- 5 oz cremini mushrooms (about 5 large mushrooms)
- 1 cup red onion diced (one small onion)
- 1 cup gluten-free old fashioned oats (or gluten-free bread crumbs)
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup ground sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 garlic cloves minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasonings
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink sea salt more to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Start by boiling 3 cups of water in a medium-sized pot. When the water boils, season it with salt and add 3/4 cup of rinsed and drained uncooked french lentils. Reduce the heat to medium and set a timer for 24 minutes.
- When there are 12 minutes left on the timer, add 1/4 cup of uncooked quinoa to the pan with the lentils and give it a stir to combine. Let the lentils and quinoa continue cooking together until there is no water left in the pot. It should take a total of 23-24 minutes to cook the lentils and quinoa.
- Let the cooked lentil quinoa mixture cool for a few minutes. While it’s cooling, add 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed and 3 tbsp of water to a small bowl. Mix it together and put it in the fridge to thicken for 10 minutes.
- Then, use a coffee grinder or small blender cup to grind sunflower seeds into a powder.
- Pour the lentils and quinoa into a large food processor (this is the 13 cup food processor that I use and love!). Add the roughly chopped cremini mushrooms, diced red onion, old fashioned oats, blended sunflower seeds, tomato paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce, nutritional yeast, Italian seasonings, garlic powder, dried basil, dried parsley, salt, pepper, and the flax egg.
- Pulse the filling on high for 1-2 minutes or until all the ingredients are broken down and combined. The mixture will be sticky but that’s normal. A wet batter makes moist lentil meatballs, a dry batter would result in dry vegan meatballs.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- While the oven is heating up, line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to scoop the filling out of the food processor into your hand and then use your palms to roll the filling into golf ball-sized vegan meatballs. The filling will make 14-15 large vegan meatballs.
- Arrange the vegan lentil meatballs on the tray and bake them for 15-18 minutes, turning halfway through so you get browning on both sides. Serve the hot lentil meatballs with tomato sauce, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast (or vegan parm), and serve the meatballs over your favorite pasta.
Notes
- Make sure you use ground flaxseed for the flax egg, not whole flax seeds.
- If you accidentally over blend the meatball filling, add more oats and mix it until you can shape it into balls.
- You can use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to scoop out the lentil mushroom filling into your hand.
- Try to shape the lentil quinoa mushroom filling into golf ball-sized meatballs that are 1 1/2 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches high.
- Depending on how hot your oven is, the perfect amount of time to bake these vegan meatballs is for 15-18 minutes. Any longer, and you run the risk of drying the lentil meatballs out a little bit.
- Turn the vegan meatballs halfway through so you get even browning on both sides of the meatballs.
- Store the leftover vegan meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or freeze them for a future meal.
Nutrition
What is flax egg?
When you mix ground flax and water together to form a paste. It helps hold everything together like an egg would.
Made these today and they were awesomely, My family loved them! Will definitely be maing them again and again…
Yay!! That’s awesome, I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed the recipe!
Made these today….thery were awesome! My family loved them…Will definitely be making them again and again….
I made these for dinner last night, and my husband and I both loved them. I do have a question for you. I baked them as the recipe says, but the cover description says sauteed, and the picture looks sauteed — and very appealing, too. Maybe you just changed it to go”no added oil”, but I thought I’d ask you. Thank you for a very nice recipe.
Super Yummy! I make a lot of different meatless meatballs, and the best way I have found to keep them together is letting all the ingredients get nice and cold in the fridge before you attempt rolling them. I also use an ice cream/ cookie scoop, you get the benefit of consistent sizes and gunk free hands!
That’s a great tip, thank you! I’ll definitely try that next time I make them. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!