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We weren’t always vegan, so we understand how difficult the transition can be. On this blog, I want to make the switch to vegan food seamless. We asked the community how we can help, and providing vegan-ized classic meals was at the top of the list. That’s why we created this delicious recipe for homemade vegan meatballs. What’s more, this is our first recipe using Impossible Burger (TM) plant meat. We were very impressed with the results!
Note: we’re not getting any payment or other incentives from
Impossible Foods for this post.
What makes a Meatball?
The ingredient list for our vegan meatball recipe is simple. I used:
- Impossible Burger (TM) plant meat
- Onion + garlic
- Salt + pepper
- Fresh parsley
- Breadcrumbs
- Vegan parmesan
- Veggie broth
- One flax egg
Vegan Meatballs are not Impossible
Firstly, a flax egg is the recipe’s secret for binding the meatballs together. Making flax eggs is easy – mix one tablespoon of ground flaxseed with three tablespoons of vegetable broth and leave it to sit for five minutes to form a thick gel. The flax egg will mix with the Impossible Burger plant meat and other recipe ingredients, holding them together during cooking.
Next, puree the onion and garlic in a food processor and blitz them until almost puree. If you leave these ingredients as large chunks the meatballs may fall apart.
Finally, there are the breadcrumbs. These are often described as a binder. However, their role is actually to retain moisture. Basically, the breadcrumbs soak up the veggie broth and hold it in. As a result, you prevent the meatballs from getting too tough and dry.
We dump all these ingredients into a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and some vegan parmesan (for a little umami kick). Next, everything gets really well mixed. You want the mixture to be smooth and homogenous to help it stick together. Now, prepare the vegan meatballs by rolling the mix into bite-sized balls (smaller than a golf ball, but larger than a grape). Be sure to wet your hands before rolling to stop the mixture from sticking.
Baked or Fried?
We’ve tried two different cooking methods for these meatballs and both gave great results.
Oven: pre-het the oven to 425F. Then line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and place the meatballs on it. Bake the meatballs in the oven for around 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Frying: coat a pan with a little oil (or even better, spray oil) and warm over medium heat. When the pan reaches temperature, add the meatballs and fry until golden brown. However, note that this method tends to flatten the meatballs on the sides. Therefore, if you prefer a rounder effect, use the oven. Note: if you want to avoid adding additional oil altogether you can cook without it by adding a splash of water to the pan whenever the meatballs start to stick.
Meatball Buddies
Now that you’ve made vegan meatballs, how will you enjoy them? You may already have a plan, but if not here are some ideas:
- Paired with a lip-smacking marinara sauce and pasta.
- On their own with ketchup or mustard (provide toothpicks to make them into finger food).
- Smothered in vegan gravy.
- Psuedo-Swedish, with gravy, mashed potato, and lingonberry jam (time for that IKEA trip). However, don’t fret if you can’t get the jam – cranberry sauce makes a great substitute.
- Or anywhere that meatballs are usually found!
We hope you enjoyed this recipe for Vegan Meatballs using Impossible Burger plant meat. If you tried it, please let us know what you think with a comment and eating. Every bit of feedback helps make the blog even better!
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How to make Delicious Vegan Meatballs
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 32 vegan meatballs 1x
Description
It’s time for vegan meatballs! Our recipe uses Impossible Burger plant meat, and the meatballs are so “meaty” that non-vegan versions a thing of the past.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 3 tablespoons vegetable broth
- 1 large onion, peeled and cut into quarters
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 12oz (0.75lb)/ 340grams Impossible Burger plant meat
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Cooking oil spray (if cooking using on the stovetop)
Instructions
- Prepare flax egg by mixing together ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons of vegetable broth in a small bowl or mug. Allow to thicken for 5 minutes.
- Add onion and garlic to a food processor and blitz until pureed.
- Into a large mixing bowl add flax egg, pureed onion and garlic, Impossible Burger plant meat, bread crumbs, vegan parmesan cheese, parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
- If you’d like to cook the vegan meatballs in the oven, preheat oven to 425F/218C and prepare a baking tray by lining it with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- Form the the vegan meatball mixture into 32 balls (around 1 inch/2.5cms wide). (see notes for rolling tip)
- To cook the vegan meatballs:
- Oven: place vegan meatballs on the lined baking tray and bake in the oven for around 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Stovetop: place vegan meatballs into a medium hot skillet, which has been coated with cooking oil spray (see note). Fry until golden brown on all sides.
- Transfer vegan meatballs to a bowl and serve will warm. Enjoy!
We recommend serving your delicious vegan meatballs with our marinara sauce as a dipping sauce, with pasta, gravy or anywhere that meatballs are usually found!
Store vegan meat balls in a sealed container in the fridge and consume within 3 days. Reheat as needed.
Notes
- Wet your hands before rolling the vegan meatballs to stop the. mixture from sticking.
- Cooking the vegan meatballs in the oven will result in the balls retaining their round shape.
- If you want to avoid adding additional oil altogether you can cook without it by adding a splash of water to the pan whenever the meatballs start to stick.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Keywords: vegan meatballs, meatballs recipe, Impossible burger recipes
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9 Responses
Hi Cody! I’m so sorry to her that this recipe didn’t work for you. I have reviewed the recipe based on your feedback and reduced the vegetable broth. Thanks for letting me know!
Failed. Recipe was a sloppy mess… if I was looking for a sloppy joes recipe, this would be gold.
★
Wow that’s sooo good to hear- so glad everyone enjoyed the plant-meat balls!
Tried this recipe for my first attempt at making Impossible Meat meatballs. After reading the dialogue above between Karina, Rachel, and Jami, I decided to cut down on the liquid amount of broth to achieve the right consistency to have moist, solid meatballs, using 1/3 C increments. This recipe does not disappoint I must say!!! My family, we’re mostly meat-eaters, but with Covid, food supply issues, we have started to look for meatless meals that taste great. Stumbled on the “Impossible Meat” at a local Burger King, I inquired, and they told me about the “Impossible Meat” brand. This is the difference between night and day in taste, texture, how easy it is to use (just like ground beef) from other meatless options available. You must simply try this recipe, my daughter said tonight “These are on par with the meatballs you make with meat, they’re that good”. AND they look pretty too!!!
★★★★★
Thanks for the feedback Jami, we’re sorry they came out a little too mushy. You are on the right track with adding less liquid next time, we suggest starting with adding it 1/4 cup at a time until you reach the right consistency.
Hi Karina – thanks so much for the feedback. We haven’t tested this recipe for making meatloaf, but please let us know if you try it!
I just want to say I doubled this very easily. I made spanish chipotle meatballs with this. followed the recipe, only thing is i added raw rice to the raw meat and fried them. prepared potatos, onion and carrot in a pot with tomato sauce chiptole and water and then let that boil. then I added the meat balls last for like 10 minutes and they came out perfect! almost the exact same i used to eat as a non vegan with hamburger meat. Will try this recipe again for spagetti and meatballs. My only question is, do you think this would work for meat loaf? I miss meatloaf so much!
★★★★★
These tasting amazing! Because they were so mushy they came out more like little patties but the flavor was amazing! Next time I’ll use less stock.
They are in the oven but the mix came out really liquidy. I could not form them. I had to just plop them on the cookie sheet. 1 cup of water? or was that a mistake in the recipe?
Thanks!