Simple Lentil Meatballs {GF Vegan}

Hooray for meatballs without the meat. No soy, no gluten, no seitan, these Simple Lentil Meatballs are simply made from lentils and almonds. Soft, hearty, extremely delicious, and full of plant-based protein.

Each meatball has about 5 grams of plant-based protein. That's 20 grams in that bowl of pasta shown above. Add that to a bowl of pasta and you got all kinds of healthy "good" carbs, vitamin C, micronutrients, fiber, essential enzymes and protein. No dairy or meat needed. In addition to being high in protein these meatballs are full of healthy fiber. 

Simple Lentil Meatballs Ingredients

• almond meal/flour
• cooked lentils
• shallots
• garlic
• fresh cilantro
• garam masala spice
• sea salt
• nutritional yeast
• vegan butter
• young coconut meat

Lentil Meatballs Instructions

In a nutshell, I just threw all the meatless meatball ingredients into a food processor and once it turned into a dough paste type of thing it was ready to cook up. So simple. And you can play around with your own spices and herbs. But here are more specific instructions:

1. Using a food processor bowl blend all of the ingredients.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Using your hands make small balls with the lentil meatball dough. Add a touch more almond flour to help roll into balls. Place balls onto the lined cookie sheet.
4. Saute the balls in oil on the stovetop.
5. Place the balls back onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake the meatballs for about 30 minutes.

These meatballs are so easy, no need to sauté any onions or garlic first, and the only fat I used was vegan butter. I'm obsessed with Miyoco's European style cultured vegan butter. Have you tried it yet? Holy moly. And it's free of cholesterol, lactose, egg, gluten, and palm oil and made without GMOs.

Lentil meatballs taste light and airy but also hearty and spicy. They truly are drop-the-mic delicious. Simple, fresh, and easy to whip up.

Tip: try using the Trader Joes already cooked lentils to save you time! If you do that, you just made your life a whole lot easier and dinner prep time so much more tolerable.

Suggestion: They go perfect with my Magical no-cook tomato sauce. You will want to try this combo, trust me!

Your kids will love them, too. Eat them on top of salads or inside a big collard green like a taco. They are versatile little meatballs. Store them in an airtight container and throw them in your kids' lunch boxes along with some tomato dipping sauce or leftover pasta.

LENTIL MEATBALLS RECIPE

Soft, wholesome, extremely delicious, and full of plant-based protein and fiber.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine gluten-free, Italian, vegan

Equipment

• Baking sheet
• Food processor

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup Almond meal/flour
• 2 cups Lentils
• 3 tablespoon Shallots chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 handfuls Cilantro sprigs
• 1 ½ teaspoon Garam masala spice
• 1 teaspoon Chunky sea salt or ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup Nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoon  Vegan butter + extra for sautéing
• ⅓ cup Young coconut meat (approx 1 young coconut) meat scraped

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a food processor bowl add all of the ingredients.
• Pulse and scrape the ingredients over and over until you have a smooth dough. Not too wet and pasty but more like a clumpy dough. I know when my dough is ready because the dough starts to ball up and roll around in the food processor as one large blob.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough by forming small balls using your hands. If it seems too wet (it shouldn't stick to your fingers) then add a touch more almond flour. Place balls onto the lined cookie sheet.
• Before you bake them you'll first want to sauté / cook them in a large skillet using butter or olive oil. You will want to toss them to be sure they roll around and cook evenly. About 5 minutes or until they start to brown.
• Place the balls back onto the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake the meatballs for about 30 minutes. Keep checking on them. You want them cooked all the way through.
• In the meantime prep your noodles and marinara or your salad.
• Once thoroughly cooked, let them cool before serving.
• Store leftovers in the freezer until ready to use. Bake them at 375 degrees F until they are warmed all the way through.

Keyword butter beans, creamy pasta sauce, lentils, meatballs, meatless, vegan meat

recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker.