For years I’ve been searching for a soy-free vegetarian meatball to add to my pasta dishes and sandwiches. After many failed attempts to make various versions of the vegetarian “meatball”, I have finally found the answer – Vegetarian Walnut Meatballs! These walnut balls are packed with protein, easy to make and perfectly freezable.
The first time I made them I added them to my invisible vegetable pasta sauce (named by my daughter). For the kids, I used traditional spaghetti noodles and for the grown-ups, I used zucchini noodles. It was a hit with my family!
What I like about this recipe is that you can adjust it to fit your dietary needs. Simply swap out the traditional bread crumbs with a gluten-free variety. In addition to making a GF version, you can also make them vegan with a flax egg and vegan parmesan.
To achieve the right consistency, you will need a food processor or a Nutribullet. Learn more about my favorite kitchen gadgets to see which tools I can’t live without!
Not only do these meatballs hold up really well in pasta, they are the perfect addition to all kinds of recipes. They are seriously the answer to meatless Monday.
What to make with vegetarian walnut meatballs:
- Simmer them in red sauce and put them on top of spaghetti all covered with cheese.
- Make mini meatballs and add them to homemade vegan Spaghetti-O’s
- Vegetarian Sweedish meatballs – recipe coming soon
- Meatball subs
- Lunchbox meatballs with barbecue dipping sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup yellow onion
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1/4 grated parmesan cheese*
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs*
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir frequently.
- Put walnuts in a food processor and pulse for 5 - 10 seconds.
- Heat skillet and add olive oil and finely chopped onion
- Saute until translucent
- Add rice and spices to skillet. Cook until fragrant 1-2 minutes
- Add egg, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, 1/4 parmesan and the ingredients from the pan to the food processor.
- Pulse until combined
- Form walnut mixture into "meatballs"
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes turning once
Notes
* Make this recipe vegan - use one flax egg in place of regular egg and vegan parmesan
* For gluten-free option replace bread crumbs with GF bread crumbs
If you are still trying to decide if going meat-free is something you can actually do, check out Plant-Based Cooking for Beginners.
