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My vegan meatballs are guaranteed to become a new weekly staple. They’re made with NO beans, legumes, or eggs and come with a spicy, sweet sauce!
Need more vegan recipes? Try my vegan pizza, cabbage steak, and cauliflower steak next.
I try to cook plant-based dinners at least once a week in my house, and my plant-based meatballs continue to be one of my most requested dishes.
With a little help from Beyond Meat, these meatballs turn out incredibly juicy and tender, with an irreplaceable meaty flavor and the perfect balance of spices. And the sauce…don’t even get me started on the sauce! You’ll probably notice most vegan meatball recipes feature a simple tomato or marinara sauce, but not these ones!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- No legumes or nuts. Most vegan meatball recipes call for lentils, oats, or cashews, but these use neither and taste the most like real meatballs.
- They’re nourishing. Just like regular meatballs, these are packed with protein yet relatively low in fat.
- Freezer-friendly. These meatballs make an easy freezer meal. Just take them straight from the freezer and put them in tomato sauce or microwave them over spaghetti.
- Easy to customize. Enjoy them in this sweet chili sauce or tossed in marinara sauce. Personally, I love to use them in my meatball subs!
Ingredients needed
- Beyond Meat beef. My go-to ground beef substitute when I want a true meaty flavor and texture. Impossible Meat is a good substitution, but I prefer Beyond beef.
- Garlic and ginger. Preferably freshly minced for maximum flavor.
- Olive oil. To sauté the meatballs.
- Salt. To taste.
For the sweet and spicy sauce:
- Bell peppers. I used red and yellow bell peppers for more color.
- Onion. Quartered.
- Ketchup. For sweetness, tanginess, and tomato flavor.
- Sweet chili sauce. For the spicy-sweet flavor.
- Hot chili sauce. To add extra heat to the sauce.
- Soy sauce. For saltiness and umami flavor.
- Cornstarch. To thicken the sauce and give it a glossy finish.
- Water. To thin out the sauce.
- Scallions and sesame seeds. For garnish.
How to make vegan meatballs
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Make the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the meatball ingredients. Using your hands, shape the mixture into small meatballs.
Step 2- Sauté. Add oil to a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Sauté the meatballs until fully browned. Place them on a paper towel to soak up excess oil.
Step 3- Build the sauce. Clean the frying pan and add more oil. Sauté the onion and peppers for 1-2 minutes, then add the remaining sauce ingredients. Let simmer until thickened.
Step 4- Combine. Add the meatballs back to the pot and coat it with the sauce.
Can I bake these in the oven?
Yes, if you’d like a more hands-off recipe, you can make them in the oven.
Start by preheating the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Once the meatball mixture has been made, shape them into balls and place them on the baking sheet. Bake them for 20 minutes or until they’re browned. Serve them with the sauce.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the meatballs. So they stay perfectly round.
- Use tomatoes. If you don’t have ketchup, use canned or fresh tomatoes for the sauce. Since tomatoes are juicy, you won’t need to add extra water.
- Add nutritional yeast. If you are afraid your meatballs will crumble and fall apart, add a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast. It’s a good binder with more flavor than breadcrumbs.
Variations
- Add spices. Season the meatballs to match whatever spices you’re serving them with. If I’m serving them with red sauce, I like adding fennel seeds or dried herbs.
- Swap water for vegetable stock. Using vegetable stock for the sauce helps create a richer flavor.
- Use any sauce. These meatballs can be served with any sauce of choice: marinara, cream, etc. Prep the meatballs as instructed, then toss them through your favorite sauce. I’ve tested them with my pomodoro sauce and also sugo– both fabulous tomato-based options. If you don’t follow a super strict vegan diet, my cottage cheese alfredo is also a fab idea.
Storage instructions
To store: Place leftover meatballs in sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
To freeze: Meatballs, cooked or uncooked, are best frozen without the sauce. They will last for up to six months. If they are already in the sauce, freeze them in a shallow container for up to two months.
To reheat: Heat over the stovetop with a splash of water to thin out the sauce, or microwave in 30-second intervals until warm.
Frequently asked questions
IKEA offers several types of meatballs, including vegan ones. These plant-based meatballs are made from pea protein, potatoes, onion, and apples.
Plant-based meatballs can be a great source of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. While they may be lower in protein than real meatballs, they’re also lower in saturated fat.
More vegan dinners
Vegan Meatballs
Video
Ingredients
- 24 ounces ground beef substitute I used Beyond Beef
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Sweet and spicy sauce
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 1 small onion quartered
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/4 cup hot chili sauce or more sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the beyond beef, ginger, garlic, and salt. Using your hands, shape them into small meatballs.
- Add olive oil to a large non-stick pan and fry the meatballs until fully cooked on the outside. Remove them from the heat and place them on a paper towel to mop up excess oil.
- Clean the pan and add extra oil. Sautee the onion and bell peppers for 1-2 minutes, then add the ketchup, sweet chili sauce, hot chili sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch and water. Let it simmer until it has thickened before adding the meatballs back in and coating them in the sauce.
- Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds.
I never heard for such beef substitute. I thought that beef is beef haha.
Hi Arman, your balls look great! I am cringing a tad though on those raisins in there. Any way I can get around them? Looking forward to trying these. Thanks bunches!~ 🙂
Hi Toni! 🙂 Definitely omit them- It’s perfectly fine! 🙂
Thank you for replying. Happy that I can omit the raisins 🙂 All the best to you Arman. I will be keeping tabs of your site now that I found you 🙂
I made these last night and they were wonderful!! Everyone loved them even my skeptical husband. I made two changes. I used Quorn crumbles and regular potatoes because that is what I had. I followed the recipe exactly. It made about 18 two T size meatballs and I fried them in a little EVOO to brown on each side. These really reminded me of Samosa. So much so that I may make these again and leave out the crumbles and add frozen green peas. Thank you so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to make it again!
Diane! I’m so glad you tried it out with Quorn as that’s the original inspiration yum! and samosas…you’ve left me with a craving!!!
Sweet potatoes, carrots, raisins, spinach…. I’ll tell you what I’m impressed with your ingredients. You manage to put some clever and creative combinations together and it all works. I’m sure these are wonderful too.
Also amen to reading the instructions. Sometimes you gotta tweak things to make sure it’s all on point.
Right? Thanks love muffin. 🙂
Did I see raisins?! Very good idea, friend 🙂 happy Monday!
You bet! Try it out! 🙂
I love meatballs of all kinds, I don’t discriminate♡ So of course I love the meatless variety and these look delish!! Love that they are spicy and sweet! My favorite combination! Yum! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks for your kind words, Cheyanne! 🙂
Yummy, it’s wonderful day for me now.Your Vegan Sweet and Spicy Meatballs recipe is so good. It looks delicious and nutritious. All I can say, this is totally perfect and for sure my family love this. I cannot wait to prepare this for eating . Feeling excited to serve this. Your other recipes are also great I love it.Thanks for sharing, nice post indeed, keep updating . I felt hungry… 🙂 Also can you please promote my site?
Hi Tarin! Sorry, I don’t do site promotions.
Cheers,
Arman
I didn’t even know they had any GF products. Now I can participate in the Gardein fad! WOOT! And spicy is the only way. YES kick that spice all the way up to volcano status! Too bad my dumb feather of a stomach can’t handle it so spice is on the “do not eat” list. Somehow Cholula always sneaks into my meals though. I guess I should get stronger locks for my door.
YES!!!!!!!!! What? Argh, Eva what CAN you eat? My poor Chicago bear.
This is all truth: hummus, potatoes, and chicken. Agh! Enjoy all of the delicious things in life for me, would ya?! And now that you’re in America: tell me if the Doritos Locos taco from Taco Bell really IS Jesus as a taco!