In an act of ingenuity and stealing heavily from my recipe for this pesto, I created this vegan Italian meatballs recipe with textured vegetable protein (TVP), sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, bread crumbs and more. They’re pretty easy to make, can be baked or pan fried, and taste awesome with spaghetti and sauce, in a vegan Italian meatball sub sandwich or whatever suits your fancy. Basically, douse them in marinara and mangia!
This recipe makes ~16 balls, but it largely depends on how large you choose to make each one.
A few things…
- I haven’t tested this recipe with sun-dried tomatoes that are not packed in oil. I find the oil adds flavor. If you decide to take the risk of going without the oil, I’d be interested in learning about your outcome. I feel like it wouldn’t be as good, but that’s just my sense.
- You’re going to need a high speed blender, like a Vitamix or Ninja, for grinding everything up. The walnuts might not get pulverized enough in a regular blender or food processor.
- Having tried both baking and pan-frying the vegan Italian meatballs, I want to advocate for pan-frying. It does require a gentle, attentive touch, but the flavor is greatly enhanced.
Please enjoy! And discover other UVK recipes, like Vegan Marinara Sauce, Vegan Pizza Burger, Vegan Cheese Ball with Pecans and Cranberries, Vegan Taco Pasta Casserole, Baked Barley with Chickpeas, Spinach and Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and more.
Vegan Italian Meatballs
1½ cups water
2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1⅓ cup textured vegetable protein (TVP) (I used Bob’s Red Mill TVP)
⅓ cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, patted dry with a paper towel
2 Tbsp oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 shallot, finely chopped
½ cup raw walnut halves and pieces
⅓ cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp salt
Black pepper, to taste
¾ cup plain bread crumbs
2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
2 Tbsp+ olive oil, to pan-fry – optional
1. First you’ll prep the TVP for the vegan Italian meatballs. In a small saucepan, add the water. Bring it to a boil and remove from heat. Pour in the TVP and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Drain off any excess water and set aside.
2. In a high speed blender, add the sun-dried tomatoes, oil, garlic, walnuts, basil, parsley, nutritional yeast, balsamic vinegar and salt. Blend until there’s just some recognizable bits.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add the TVP, the contents of the blender, black pepper, the bread crumbs and the vital wheat gluten. Mix together. Too wet? Add some additional bread crumbs or vital wheat gluten.
4. To cook the vegan Italian meatballs, bake or pan-fry them.
- TO PAN-FRY: In a large skillet, warm 2 Tbsp olive oil. Shape the mixture into balls and add them to the skillet. Being very gentle, brown each ball on all sides. Are they sticking? Add some more oil. Fully cook them through and remove from heat.
- TO BAKE: Preheat the oven to 400º F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Shape the mixture into balls and place them on the sheet pan. Bake at 400º F for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and flip each one. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Serve the vegan Italian meatballs with spaghetti and marinara, on a sub sandwich, or however suits you.