30-Minute Vegan Lentil Meatballs
This vegan meatballs recipe is the ultimate in plant-based comfort food, and it’s easy to make!
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Vegan meatballs are the ultimate comfort food, and a great recipe like this one is essential for old and new vegans alike.
The best thing is, this recipe is broken down into minute-by-minute steps so even the most novice vegan chef can follow along with ease.
- Minutes 1-6: Prepare your ingredients and preheat the oven.
- Minutes 7-10: Make your meatballs and pop them in the oven to bake.
- Minutes 11-15: Fry onion and garlic to make the base of your sauce.
- Minutes 16-21: Add the rest of your sauce ingredients and let it reduce down.
- Minutes 22-29: Cook your chosen pasta in boiling water (you may need to start this step while your sauce is simmering if the pasta has a longer cook time.)
- Minute 30: Drain your pasta, serve and enjoy.
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Rating:
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 4)
- For the meatballs
- 0.25 0.25 x 400g tin green or brown lentils, drained and rinsed
- 25 25 g dried soya mince
- 75 75 ml hot water, to soak the mince
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp bouillon powder
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp oil
- 0.5 0.5 tbsp ground flaxseeds
- 1.25 1.25 tbsp water, to soak the flaxseeds
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp ketchup or tomato paste
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp mushroom ketchup
- 0.5 0.5 tsp onion powder
- 0.5 0.5 tsp garlic powder
- 0.5 0.5 tbsp gram flour
- 0.5 0.5 tbsp fresh parsley
- 0.25 0.25 tsp dried Italian herbs
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- For the tomato sauce
- 0.5 0.5 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 0.25 0.25 x 500ml carton passata
- 0.25 0.25 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp sugar (any)
- 0.5 0.5 tsp dried Italian herbs
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- olive oil
- red wine
- To serve
- 90 90 g Linguine, or any dried vegan pasta
- vegan-friendly garlic bread
Method
Minutes 1-6
1. Boil a kettle full of water.
2. Measure out and prepare all the ingredients.
3. Preheat oven to 200˚C (Gas Mark 6, 400˚F).
4. Add 300ml boiling water to soya mince.
5. Add 5 tablespoons cold water to ground flax seeds.
Minutes 7-10
6. Make meatballs by completing steps A, B and C:
A. Place the lentils in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.
B. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients to the bowl and mix throughly.
C. With wet hands, shape the mixture into roughly 20 even sized balls and place on a baking tray lined with oiled baking paper.
7. Bake meatballs in the oven at 200˚C (Gas Mark 6, 400˚F), for 20 minutes.
Minutes 11-15
8. Start making the sauce by gently frying the onion and garlic in a saucepan with a splash of olive oil.
Minutes 16-21
9. To finish making the sauce, fry the onions and garlic until translucent, add the balsamic vinegar and red wine and allow to bubble and reduce for a few minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients.
Minutes 22-29
10. Add pre-boiled water to saucepan with a pinch of salt – cook pasta for 8 mins (check pasta pack for exact cooking time).
Minute 30
11. Drain pasta and toss with a little olive oil.
12. To serve, top a portion of pasta with sauce and meatballs, and sprinkle with vegan parmesan.
Nutritional information per 100g: Calories 105, Fat 3.0g, Saturates 0.7g, Carbohydrates 12g, Sugars 4.4g, Protein 6.8g, Salt 0.32g
In a rush? These quick vegan meals can be made in 30 minutes or less.
