A long weekend deserves some indulging meals, right? So I made Spaghetti and meatballs! I reckon if I cook this three times a week my daughter will definitely devour it. You don’t need chicken, lamb or beef to make these meatballs. The title alone says it all, doesn’t it? These meatballs are made using eggplant and mushrooms. Although, I am not vegan but I choose to eat meatless meals on most days.
There are numerous ways to make veggie/vegan meatballs. Whether using mushrooms, eggplant, lentils, chickpeas, lotus root, tofu or beans as a base, each recipe has something different to offer. I find that when you want a great meaty texture from veggie meatballs, eggplant and mushrooms work the best. When they are diced, sautéed and used together the result is a phenomenal that you’ll love more than the meat version. Other ingredients I tend to use are walnuts ( which provide both substance and flavor), flax meal and chia seeds (which helps bind the balls) bread crumbs (which helps absorb moisture and give more structure) and herbs like basil, oregano and parsley give that characteristic Italian flare.
These are the most tender, flavorful and delicious vegan ‘meatballs’ that you can enjoy on their own as a snack. But my favorite way is to eat them with classic homemade tomato sauce over spaghetti. If spaghetti is not your friend, you can serve these over spiralized zoodles, quinoa or with a side of salad.
The recipe is easy to make while the most time consuming part being forming the eggplant and mushroom ‘meatballs’. These need to be cooked and prepared differently than traditional ‘meatballs’.
Here are some important tips on making and serving Eggplant and Mushrooms ‘meatballs’
- To get the soft meaty texture I like to use half and half mixture of mushrooms and eggplant. Both, eggplant and mushrooms have high water content so, sautéing in a wide pan helps to maximize moisture evaporation.
- Since meat balls need a binder to hold together, flax and chia egg perfectly work to bind these vegan meatballs. While ground walnuts and bread crumbs also help to hold together, the amount needed depends on the moisture in the veggies. Another key point before adding bread crumbs and other ingredients is ensuring that the vegetables are cool. After mixing all the ingredients chill it at least for 30 minutes and up to an hour before shaping the mixture into balls.
- Pan frying might be the more traditional method to cook meatballs, the best way to cook these eggplant and mushroom ‘meatballs’ is in the oven or an air fryer as the mixture is a bit soft. An air fryer, in fact, is the best way to cook these. It delivers terrific crisp texture with very little oil. I barely use my electric oven and frying wok anymore because the air fryer does the job better and faster for my taste. The balls come out really crunchy on the outside and softer in the middle. Of course, you can use oven if you do not have an air fryer, they’ll still taste and turn out amazing.
- Since they don’t take long to cook in the air fryer start working on tomato sauce and spaghetti at the same time.
- These vegan “meatballs” are best the day they are made to keep the crispness. If you want to make them ahead of time store the sauce and the meatballs separately. Reheat the sauce in pot on the stove and the balls in air fryer or oven on low heat so they crisp up again. Serve the meatballs on spaghetti with warm sauce drizzled on top. If you add them to the sauce and leave in it for too long, they might become too soft and fall apart.
- They freeze well. I prefer to make a double batch of these vegan ‘meatballs’ and freeze what we don’t use.
I don’t want to mislead that these vegan balls taste like traditional meat balls. They are different but they taste splendid in their own way with a great flavor and texture. You won’t hate them I know. I was not writing meatballs in the title but as per my daughter “spaghetti and vegan balls” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. So I changed it to “eggplant and mushroom “meatballs”
I invite you to try them and let me know what you think! You are also welcome to post a picture and tag me on Facebook and Instagram using the #simpleglutenfreekitchen hashtag, so that I can see your take on my recipe.
These eggplant and mushroom 'meatballs, are as fancy as their meat counterpart and yet simple and healthy.
Ingredients
- 1 (450 g) eggplant, diced into 1/2 " pieces
- 1 small red onion, 3/4 cup chopped
- 4 -6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 454 g cremini mushrooms, dice into 1/2" pieces (clean the mushrooms with wet towel to prevent them from getting soggy)
- 200 g walnuts
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs basil, flat leaf parsley and oregano
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp flax meal
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup GF bread crumbs (I used paneriso)
- Tomato Sauce - recipe follows
- Prepared gluten free spaghetti
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 can (28 oz) imported whole Italian tomatoes
- 156 g tomato paste
- 1 tbsp fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil (use fresh)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp coarsely crushed fennel seeds
- Fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Soak chia seeds and flax meal in six tablespoons of water.
- Grounds walnuts in a food processor bowl, set aside until needed.
- To make meatballs, heat 2 tsp olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add onion, and garlic sauté until softened, about 5 minutes, then add the diced eggplant and Cook 8-10 minutes until eggplant pieces are caramelized, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water just to make them tender. Remove in a bowl.
- In the same skillet add mushrooms without oil. Cook on high heat until all the water has evaporated from the pan. Remove it in the bowl holding eggplant.
- Now add, ground walnuts, bread crumbs (use just enough bread crumbs to hold the mixture together. It’s a little hard to be exact, since it depends on the moisture content in the veggies. The trick is to start with 3/4 cup and add tbsp by tbsp until the mixture feels like it will hold and stay together), fresh or dry herbs, seasonings, and flax and chia egg to the eggplant and mushrooms bowl.
- Mix everything with hand. Cover with cling wrap and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium high-heat, warm olive oil.
- Cook onion, garlic and 1 bay leaf. Add canned whole tomatoes. Cook for 15 minutes. Crush the tomatoes with the back of spoon.
- Add tomato paste cook for 5 minutes. Add salt, black pepper, basil and ground fennel seeds.
- Now bring the meatballs out from the freezer. If baking in oven, preheat at 375F and line two cookie trays with parchment paper.
- Using a table spoon, scoop some mixture in your hand (use cling wrap to avoid getting the mixture sticking to your hands)
- Firmly press it 2 to 3 times with your fist. Later roll it into 1 1/2" round balls.
- Make sure to pack the vegetable mixture firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking tray, allowing 1/4-inch of space between the balls. Spray each with oil.
- Working in batches, place oil sprayed balls in a single-layer in air-fryer basket. Cook the meatballs at 375 for 20 minutes, turning them over halfway. Spray more oil if you like (I didn't do it). Repeat with remaining meatballs.
- When using oven place the tray in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until crisp on the outside, turn them halfway through the baking process.
- To serve, add half of the prepared tomato sauce to the spaghetti and stir well.
- Serve spaghetti in plates or bowls, add eggplant and mushroom 'meatballs' on top. Drizzle some tomato sauce. Tear the basil leaves and scatter over, then finish with some fresh black pepper.
Notes
Instead of eggplant and mushrooms, you can also use other vegetables, like lotus root, jackfruit.
To make this recipe nut-free, you can use sunflower seeds or foxnuts instead.
Instead of GF bread crumbs, you can also use gluten-free oats.
Healthy World Cuisine
Balvider, these are amazing. Love that you found a good way for the meatballs to adhere together and using the air fryer is a great idea to give it that delightful texture. Hoping you are doing well. Take Care
Balvinder
Thanks so much, Bobby! Yeah, I am good but you know things change with age. I am just slowing down and enjoying life more.
angiesrecipes
They look mouthwatering! I love the idea of using eggplants in these vegetarian meatballs.
Inger @ Art of Natural Living
You were smart not calling them meatballs to your daughter. I made a garbanzo bean spaghetti sauce years ago and my kids rejected it until I called it “garbetti” . But your “meatballs” certainly look beautiful topping your spaghetti!
Jeff the Chef
How interesting! These meatballs look so meaty, it’s surprising that they’ve vegan. I’ll bet that once you ladle on the sauce, it hardly matters. I’ve had mushroom in the place of ground beef before, and have loved it. But not eggplant, that’d be new to me. Walnut sounds like a great idea, too. Thanks for so many interesting things!
Lisa
These vegetable balls sound delicious! I don’t own an air-fryer. Could they be cooked in the oven?
Balvinder
Thank you Lisa! Yes, of course you can make them in the oven at the same temperature as air fryer, only the cooking time would be different.
Juliana
Oh Balvinder, this is such a great idea, loving the healthy version of “meatballs”…and using the air-fryer, which I am a big fan of it. Thanks for the recipe…have a wonderful rest of the week!
Easyfoodsmith
They look really good and sounds delicious 😋
Monika Dabrowski
Absolutely lovely, great flavours and I am glad these don’t taste like meatballs made with actual meat. They are different and should taste different too!
priya
so so delicious looking meatballs. Perfect treat for vegetarian like us 🙂
sherry
what a fabulous idea to use eggplant and mushies. and they look so meaty:)