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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.

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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.

What are Vegan Meatballs Made of?

Instead of meat, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and eggs, vegan meatballs are made 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

How to Make Lentil Meatballs

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. 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 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 vegan meatloaf, 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 Vegan Meatballs With?

If you make these oven baked lentil meatballs with spaghetti or zucchini noodles, you could also serve roasted broccoli, garlic balsamic brussels sprouts, or avocado arugula tomato salad on the side.

Notes & Substitutions

Can You Use Canned Lentils? You can use (1) 14 oz can of lentils in place of the cooked lentils for this recipe.
Mushroom Variations: You can use button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, or portobello mushrooms.
Lentil Substitutions: 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 as well.
Make it Gluten-Free: If you need to use gluten-free spaghetti noodles, I like these organic brown rice noodles (they have the best consistency!).
Where Do You Get Vegan Worcestershire? If you can’t find it at your local grocery store you can buy vegan Worcestershire sauce, here.
How Big Should the Lentil Meatballs Be? 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.

Success Tips

Make sure you use ground flaxseed (not whole flaxseeds) 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.
Use a medium-sized ice cream scoop to scoop out the lentil mushroom filling into your hand to make meatballs that are uniform in size.
Depending on how hot your oven is, the perfect amount of time to bake these homemade vegan meatballs is for 15-18 minutes. They will be firm on the outside and moist on the inside.
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.