Ready for some tender and flavorful, Easy, Gluten-Free Vegan Meatballs? These meatless meatballs are made with wholesome and plant-based ingredients, a classic with a healthier twist.
You can serve them with your favorite sauce over pasta, mashed potatoes, or rice or enjoy them as entrée or appetizer.
HOW TO PREPARE THESE VEGAN MEATBALLS
I usually don’t miss the food I used to eat before being vegan; I am more nostalgic about the experiences around that meal, memories, flavors, and aroma. Meatballs with spaghetti were a classic on Sunday’s lunch when I was a child.
So, I was looking to recreate that experience but with better ingredients this time.
These easy Gluten-Free Vegan Meatballs are flavorful, firm, tender, and versatile.
The recipe is easy to follow and make, and it’s highly customizable, such as replacing some ingredients or using leftovers.
The basic ingredients are quinoa, black beans, tofu, oats, and flaxseeds for the texture, as well as some herbs, veggies, and condiments to give them the classic flavor.
This healthy, comforting, and flavorful meal is also Nut-Free and Oil-free.
INGREDIENTS
For the preparation, you’ll need:
- Quinoa: Cooked. It helps with texture, firmness, and binding. Find out how to cook quinoa here.
- Black Beans: I’m using canned black beans, but you can also use cooked ones. If using canned black beans, you’ll need to drain, rinse, and dry them before baking. Black beans add good nutrients, flavor, and texture to this recipe.
- Onion and garlic: because they add a good flavor base to the meatballs.
- Extra firm tofu: for texture and additional protein.
- Flaxseed meal and old-fashioned oats blended: these ingredients help bind the mixture.
- Then, to give the vegan meatballs that classic flavor, you can add dried and fresh herbs and condiments. You can use the suggested ones or include your favorites.
DIRECTIONS
To prepare these Easy Gluten-Free Vegan Meatballs, preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
Meanwhile, press the tofu and cook the quinoa if you don’t have leftovers.
When the oven is ready, add the black beans to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake them for about 10-12 minutes or until they look dry. This step helps to avoid a mushy texture. I learned this great tip here. It’s an extra step, but it is worth it in the end, trust me.
While waiting for the black beans to dry up, sauté the onion and cloves of garlic.
Then, it’s time to add all the ingredients, less the oats and flaxseed meal, to a food processor. Pulse until a textured dough forms. Don’t overmix; we don’t want a paste.
Transfer to a bowl and add the oats, flaxseed meal, and water. Combine well, and form the balls with a 1 ½ tbsp scoop of mixture each (you’ll get about 20 meatballs).
Place them on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This step helps the mixture to hold better and the flavors to blend.
Bake the vegan meatballs for 40 minutes or until golden brown, flipping them halfway.
Serve with your favorite sauce, over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes, or enjoy them as is.
Read the recipe card below for detailed ingredients, measurements, steps, and notes.
What will you love about this recipe? Well, it is:
- Savory and flavorful.
- Tender but firm.
- Not mushy.
- “Meaty” texture.
- Packed with protein and fiber.
- So delicious and versatile.
Let’s prepare these Vegan Meatballs!
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RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS
EASY GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN MEATBALLS
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Food processor
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 can black beans (15 oz or 425 g) drained, rinsed, and dried.
- 1 cup quinoa Cooked and cooled (about 1/3 cup of dry quinoa).
- 10 oz tofu Extra firm: drained and crumbled.
- 1 onion Medium-sized, finely diced.
- 2 cloves garlic Minced.
- 1 ½ tsp basil Dried.
- 1 ½ tsp oregano Dried.
- 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ cup parsley Fresh.
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp tamari Or soy sauce.
- 3 tbsp flaxseed meal
- ¼ cup old-fashioned oats Gluten-Free. Blended to make a crumb texture.
- 2 tbsp water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Wrap the tofu with a dry absorbent towel and place it on a plate. Put something heavy on top, and leave it between 15 to 30 minutes. Some types of firm tofu only need 15 minutes and others 30.
- If you didn’t have cooked quinoa ready or leftovers, it’s time to do it* while you are following the rest of the steps. You have to let it cool completely before using it.
- Add the black beans to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake them for about 10-12 minutes, or until they look dry.
- In a skillet, water sauté the onion over medium heat for around 5 minutes or until translucent and just starting to color (with a pinch of salt). Then add the garlic cloves, and sauté until fragrant. Set aside to cool.
- Add the cooked quinoa to a food processor, along with the sautéed veggies, baked black beans, tofu, dried basil, dried oregano, parsley, paprika, nutritional yeast, tamari, and salt and pepper. Process until a textured dough forms and all ingredients are well combined. Don’t overmix; it doesn’t have to look like a paste. Adjust flavor if it’s needed.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the oats, flaxseed meal, water, mix, and roll about 1 ½ tbsp of it into balls (or the amount you prefer) with wet hands (If the mix is a little dry, add 1 tbsp of water at a time, until you can form the balls). Place them on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes (the more time, the better, for best flavor and texture)
- Place them onto the prepared baking tray and bake the vegan meatballs for 40 minutes or until golden brown, flipping them halfway.
- You can enjoy them as is or serve them topped with warmed marinara sauce (or tomato sauce of your choice), over rice, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and more.
Notes
- *Prep time doesn’t include the time for cooking the quinoa. Read how to cook quinoa here.
- Store the vegan meatballs in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
- These are freeze-friendly. Keep them frozen for up to 1-2 months.
- Warm the sauce first if you’re serving them with some marinara (or any other sauce). Add the meatball and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to infuse, or spoon the sauce over the vegan meatballs and serve. These vegan meatballs can be more fragile when they are in a sauce for long.
WAYS TO ENJOY THESE VEGAN MEATBALLS
You can enjoy them as is or serve them topped with warmed marinara sauce (or tomato sauce of your choice) over rice, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and more. Sprinkle some fresh parsley or some Vegan Parmesan over, and enjoy!
And if you’re hungry for more comforting meals like this one for cold days, try these recipes:
DID YOU MAKE THESE EASY GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN MEATBALLS?
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