Yield: about 12 balls

Vegan Lentil Meatballs

These hearty meatless meatballs are made with lentils, walnuts, and veggies. Packed with Italian flavor, these vegetarian/vegan meatballs are delicious over zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, or your favorite marinara pasta.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cup chopped crimini mushrooms
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked brown or green lentils
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (gluten free if needed)
  • 1/4 cup old fashioned oats (certified gluten free if needed)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 tablespoon flax meal
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • marinara sauce for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute the onion until softened. Add the mushrooms and bell pepper and saute until softened. Add the garlic and saute another minute longer. Remove from heat.
  3. Place the lentils, onion-mushroom mixture, breadcrumbs, oats, walnuts, flax meal, seasoning, fennel, salt, pepper, and tomato paste into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture just comes together when pressed but is still a bit chunky. Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray and place the "meatballs" into the wells. Coat balls with the spray and bake until browned and firm, about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through and coating again with cooking spray. Let cool 10 minutes.
  4. Serve with warm marinara sauce and pasta or zucchini noodles.

Notes

To preserve the nice browned "crust" on these meatballs I like to keep them dry and add them on top of the sauce just before eating. Make ahead: These lentil meatballs can be made early and reheated on the stovetop or in the oven until warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator without sauce. Nutrition information is approximate and calculated by a third party app. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 meatball
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 99Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 243mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g
 

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