These Vegan Meatballs are legit the real deal! They’re meaty, don’t break apart, friy up nicely, golden and crisp on the outside and keep a juicy interior. To top it all off, I made an insane tangy, herby, garlicky, creamy tomato sauce with a side of spaghetti to serve. Scrummy!
One thing I miss quite a bit since giving up meat are meatballs. Not that I ate them often, but it’s just so difficult to form meaty balls that stick together and remain intact after cooking, that I miss the ease of making a savoury ball smothered in tangy tomato sauce. Though today was a cooking milestone for me because I realised the beauty of seitan! Next up, seitan Bangers and Mash!
Questions about Vegan Meatballs
What is seitan?
Seitan is wheat gluten. It normally comes in the form of powder or flour and is combined usually with water and seasoning and cooked to imitate the flavour and texture of meat.
How to make vegan meatballs?
To make vegan meatballs you will need wheat gluten, onion, garlic, nutritional yeast, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, soybean paste, smoked paprika, mustard powder, garlic salt, and soya mince (optional). The onion and garlic will be cooked until soft and then combined with the remaining ingredients to form a seasoned dough. be sure not to over-knead as this will impact the texture. This will then be rolled into rough ball shapes, wrapped in clingfilm or foil and the steamed or boiled for around 1 hour. Once theses are firm, they can be lightly fried to give that fried, golden brown colour before being added to a sauce of your choice. I used tomato sauce to serve with spaghetti but they can be used in any dish that requires meatballs or just eaten as they are with a salad or dip – your choice.
Is seitan gluten-free?
Since seitan is literally wheat gluten, it is unfortunately not gluten-free.
Vegan Meatballs Substitutions
- Coconut sugar can be replaced with apple sauce, bananas or stevia as an alternative sweetener. If moist fruit is used, substitute half of the pumpkin puree with an equal quantity of fruit puree.
- Oat flour can be replaced with any other flour including coconut flour, almond flour or wheat flour.
- Chocolate can be omitted and replaced with 90g cocoa powder, in addition to 65 ml oil or 90g nut butter to retain a moist texture.
- Pumpkin swirl topping can be omitted.
These Vegan Meatballs are…
- Meaty
- Moist
- Succulent
- Made with vital wheat gluten
- Vegan
- Plant-based
More Recipes to Try…
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Vegan Meatballs Recipe
Vegan meatballs
Ingredients
- 140 g wheat gluten seitan
- 125 ml water
- 1 small onion
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp soybean paste
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp gram flour
- 100 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 50 g textured soy protein
Instructions
- Soak the mushrooms in boiling water for at least 1 hour.
- Drain and place in a food processor along.
- Blitz in a blender into coarse pieces roughly the size of minced meat bits.
- Place into a large bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients, mixing thoroughly with your hands.
- Fry the onions in the oil until soft.
- Blitz in a food processor along with water, onion, vegetable oil, nutritional yeast, tomato puree, vinegar, sugar, soybean paste, salt, smoked paprika, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic salt, black pepper and gram flour.
- Slowly fold the vital wheat gluten, mushrooms and textured soy protein into the puree and roughly mix until ingredients well incorporated and no dry bits or flour remain.
- Divide into 20 balls.
- Wrap around firmly with clingfilm, and then in foil.
- Steam for 35-40 minutes.
- Remove from the steamer and take off all outer packaging.
- Fry or grill for a few minutes before serving in your preferred sauce.
Nutrition
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[…] The job’s definitely a good ‘un! After getting more familiar with seitan in recipes like my Vegan Meatballs, I decided I had to push the boat […]