Lentil Meatballs – Vegan

Try these vegan lentil meatballs on pasta, hoagies, or just by themselves. You’re going to love this delicious, meat-free protein that you can make ahead and freeze for those days you don’t have time to cook.

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About Lentil Meatballs

This all started with a desire for something to go with spaghetti. I was tired of marinara with veggies and I wanted some healthy vegetarian protein. After some experimentation, I came up with these tasty and versatile lentil meatballs.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegan lentil meatballs.

• Lentils – use the cooked from dry type or canned ones. Lentils are the main source of protein in this recipe. They take on the flavors of the other ingredients.
• Crimini mushrooms – are hearty and flavorful, plus they provide the umami flavor that makes these lentil meatballs so satisfying.
• Sushi rice – sticky when cooked, this rice helps the meatballs stick together. Go here for my favorite post on how to cook any kind of rice in an Instant Pot.
• Nutritional yeast – provides a savory, cheesy flavor. Read more about the benefits of this ingredient here.
• Vegetable broth – used to cook the lentils, providing more flavor than water.
• Seasonings – cook a bay leaf and Italian herbs with the lentils and add balsamic vinegar to the lentil mix in the food processor.
• Egg replacer – helps keep the mixture together, so you can form the mixture into shapes more easily. I have used both Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer and Bob’s Red Mill Flaxseed Meal with good results.
• Fresh garlic or garlic powder – either sauté fresh garlic with the mushrooms or use garlic powder with the ingredients in the food processor.

Making Vegan Lentil Meatballs

1 – Cook the Lentils

• First, you need to cook the lentils unless you’re using canned lentils.
• Using an Instant Pot, cook the lentils with the vegetable broth (or bouillon), a bay leaf, and the Italian seasoning for 15 minutes on high pressure.

2 – Cook the Sushi Rice

• I cook the sushi rice in an Instant Pot, using a 1:1 ratio of rice to water and cook them for five (5) minutes.
• Set it aside until the other ingredients are ready to combine.

3 – Sauté the Mushrooms

• Add some oil and the mushrooms to a skillet.
• If you plan to use fresh garlic, add it along with the mushrooms.

• Saute the mushrooms with a little oil until they are brown.
• Remove them from the skillet and set them aside.
• Drain any excess liquid.

4 – Drain the Lentils

• Drain the excess liquid from the lentils. I used a mesh sieve for this.
• Remove the bay leaf from the cooked lentils.

5 – Add Ingredients to Food Processor

• Put the cooked lentils plus the rest of the ingredients in a food processor.
• Pulse until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Step 6 – Form the Mixture into Balls

• Spoon out the mixture and use your hands to form 1-inch balls.
• Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

7 – Cook the Lentil Meatballs

• Bake the lentil meatballs in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes.

Can You Freeze Lentil Meatballs?

You bet! These lentil meatballs are as good thawed out from being in the freezer as they are the day you made them. This makes them a perfect last-minute meal. Microwave them for 45 seconds to a minute and serve them with spaghetti or any way you would eat traditional meatballs.

Serving Vegan Lentil Meatballs

What do you do with these delicious lentil meatballs when they’re ready to eat? Here are some ideas. Try them with pasta and bell pepper sauce.

Make a vegetarian hoagie and serve it with air-fryer potatoes.

Serve them with spaghetti and your favorite marinara sauce.

Dealing with Excess Liquid

You want the mixture to be thick so it will be easy to form into balls. Excess liquid can result in meatballs that aren’t as round as you might like. This factor can be hard to control and I’ve tried a couple of things to deal with excess liquid:

• Double the amount of rice. This step might do the trick, but if it doesn’t, try this tip below.
• Add 1/2 cup of seasoned croutons and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or so.
• I advise against using bread crumbs because they alter the taste. The seasoned croutons don’t take away from the other seasonings.

Tips for Making Lentil Meatballs

• I usually make the lentils first and set them aside until the rice and the other ingredients are ready. You can make them the day before to save time.
• Be sure to drain as much of the excess liquid from the lentils as possible before you combine them with other ingredients in the food processor.
• Drain the mushrooms after cooking them.
• Don’t use an ice cream scoop. It’s a tempting idea but the resulting lentil meatballs are too big. I used a soup spoon and formed them into balls by hand.
• If you use canned lentils, omit the bay leaf. Drain them thoroughly and add them to the food processor, but don’t omit the other seasonings such as Italian seasoning.
• Use vegetarian Worcestershire sauce instead of balsamic vinegar if you prefer. Regular Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. Who knew?

Similar Recipes You Might Like

If you like lentils, try lentil tacos. Mexican bean patties and Cannellini bean patties are two more recipes that use bean protein. The bean patties are good in sandwiches or with sauces.