Authentic Italian Meatballs Recipe The Vegan Version

Prep time 5-10 minutes | Cook Time 15 minutes | Total Time 25-30 minutes

I have told you about my grandmother from Lebanon, but the other side of my family was Italian. Growing up in an Italian family there weren’t often many vegetarian options and certainly even fewer vegan options at the family dinner table. When I became vegetarian at 16 I tried to explain to my aunt why I wasn’t eating her raviolis (my favorite!) “There’s no meat in those!” she exclaimed, as I stared into her giant sauce pot complete simmering around the large bone she had added for flavor.

I never lost my love for Italian food though, in fact I would say well made Italian food is probably my favorite. This is why it gives me so much joy to be able to bring you some traditional Italian family recipes.

This traditional Italian meatball recipe will teach you how to cook meatballs that have none of the cholesterol or cruelty of the meatballs I grew up eating, but have every bit as much flavor. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Ingredients

• 1 12 ounce package of Impossible Beef (plant based beef)

• 3 cloves garlic diced (fresh) 

• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon of dried basil

• 1 tablspoon of fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese (check out my vegan parm recipe here

• a little less than 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

• 1 vegan egg made from chia seeds- 1 Tablespoon chia + 2.5 T water-(see instructions below)

• 1/4 cup -1/2 cup of a creamy plant based milk like cashew milk or oat milk

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

2. Make up your chia egg first by combining 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 2.5 tablesppons of water, mix it together well and let it sit for about 2 minutes

3. Put your thawed impossible beef into a large bowl

4. Add in the spices (garlic, organo, basil, salt, pepper, and parsley)

5. Add in the parmesan (vegan) cheese and the bread crumbs

6. Mix the mixture up well with your hands

7. Add in about 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of milk and your chia egg

8. Mix very well with your hands, the mixture should be moist and stick to your hands a bit but not so much that you can’t roll the meatballs

9. Roll the meatballs into 1 inch balls, this recipe should make about 16-18 meatballs

10. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 13-17 minutes, you can flip the meatballs once if you want. *Sometimes I will coat my hands with avocado oil then rub the oil on the meatballs, this will give them a bit of a crispier texture. You can also cover your baking tray with parchment paper if you want, this will prevent them from sticking

11. Take them out of the oven and let them cool!

12. Cover them with a really good Italian Sauce, I recommend Rao’s, it really does taste just as good as my Aun’t Mary’s sauce. If you want a traditional Italian spaghetti sauce recipe check out the link to my YouTube tutorial on how to make homemade spaghetti sauce here

    I like to top these with my homemade parmesan cheese. Check out my favorite way to eat these in notes and adjustments below. Enjoy!

Notes and Adjustments

My husband loves to make these into vegan meatball subs. To do that, put three meatballs on a roll, top with sauce, add some good vegan cheese, (I like Follow Your Heart Gouda), put under the broiler for about 30-60 seconds until the cheese melts and enjoy!

Get your ingredients here:

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Get my cat apron here: https://amzn.to/3Vf1itL (amazon)

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Get Follow Your Heart Provolone Vegan cheese here https://amzn.to/3Ru3Xh4 (amazon)