30-Minute Grandma’s Style Lentil Meatballs (Vegan + GF)
Make these quick and easy flavor-packed vegan lentil meatballs with just 7 ingredients for a delicious vegan dinner ready in just 30 minutes! Based on my Italian grandma’s recipe- turned vegan and vegetarian friendly!
This post is sponsored by the California Prune Board and all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Banana Diaries possible!
Why you’ll love these vegan and vegetarian-friendly lentil meatballs
My family just loves these quick and easy lentil meatballs. They’re the perfect protein-packed (nearly 15 g per serving!) and nutrient rich vegan dinner recipe to serve to both kids and adults, and one that tastes really good. Even to the pickiest of eaters!
It’s one of my favorite vegan dinner recipes to make for everyone (aside from my vegan lasagna recipe, 25 minute vegan baked gnocchi, and quick and easy vegan lentil loaf! These mushroom lentil burgers are also great in the summer!).
And by quick and easy, I mean everything is ready to go in under 30 minutes. How’s that for a weeknight vegan dinner recipe?! It’s also a great dish to serve at a holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas (along with, of course my Vegan Wellington recipe!).
Most of the ingredients you probably have on hand too (and if not, there are some delicious and flavorful swaps!).
Plus, you’ve got a protein-packed and fiber rich plant-based vegan meal that will keep you full and satiated for hours!
These lentil meatballs are also versatile. You can make them as Italian-style vegan meatballs, serve them over homemade vegan pasta, make an opened face sandwich, or even grab a hoagie roll (or make a gluten free bun!) for a vegan meatball sub!
You and your kids are just going to devour these lentil meatballs- whether or not you enjoy meat!
Just 7 simple ingredients:
We’re not using any hard-to-find ingredients. Just simple, plant-based and pantry-friendly ingredients.
- Lentils: You can use green, brown, or mixed lentils here.
- Oat flour: If you don’t have oat flour, you can also make it yourself using rolled oats. Or swap in all purpose flour if you’re not gluten free!
- Garlic
- Onion
- Ketchup: You can also swap in tomato paste if you’d like, though it’s a bit less flavorful.
- Herbs: I like to use rosemary, but you can also throw in some oregano, sage, thyme, or more!
- California Prunes: Like dates, prunes act as a vegan egg replacement. No need to swap in flaxseed or anything else!
Of course, you’ll add in some sea salt and pepper as well!
Last fall, I was invited by the California Prune Board to tour some of their prune orchards and see how a plum gets transformed into a prune (yes, a prune is a plum that’s been dried! And no, they’re not called dried plums, they’re called prunes, and they’re delicious!).
Now, let me tell you, prunes are extraordinarily versatile and can be used in both sweet and savory recipes. I made these gluten free vegan cinnamon cupcakes with them last fall, so I decided to go with a more savory recipe this time around that wasn’t just throwing them into salads (which is still delicious).
So basically prunes and oats together act as the binder of all of these ingredients, and it’s a pretty good one.
Not only that, but the prunes add a really diverse and delicious flavor element to the dish. Don’t worry- these vegan meatballs don’t taste sweet! Prunes in general aren’t overwhelmingly sweet, like a date, which makes them amazing for both savory and sweet recipes!
It’s almost like molasses versus maple syrup. Maple syrup is very noticeably sweet, whereas molasses adds more flavor than sweetness to a recipe.
How to make vegan meatballs that even meat-lovers will love
Yes, it’s true. Much like my vegan lentil “meatloaf,” I had even the non-vegan eaters in my family loving these meatballs.
Even more-so than our family’s passed-down recipe!
The trick is all in the ingredients and how they come together, which is extraordinarily easy. All you’ll need is a food processor, a baking sheet, and a skillet, pot, or saucepan if you want to cook them in sauce after.
Now, if you’re making your own lentils and your own oat flour, just make sure you’ve got those prepped and ready to go. Otherwise, you’ll start by:
- Placing all of the ingredients into a food processor.
- Then blend everything until smooth. It should look like the photos below.
Next up, we have the lentil meatball rolling:
- Simply roll the batter into 2″ sized meatballs and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 25 minutes at 400F.
Next, just cook everything in a saucepan with the marinara and then serve!
Tips for making lentil meatballs
To make sure that your veggie balls come out perfectly each time, here are a few tips:
- You can use store bought prepped lentils or prep them yourself. Either way works!
- If you’re really short on time, you can make the batter ahead of time, and store it in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. Then shape into meatballs and bake when you’re ready!
- Make sure that the prunes you use say just prunes. You don’t want any sweet meatballs!
- For an easy meal prep, make a double or triple batch on Sunday night to serve to you and your family throughout the week!
- Feel free to swap in your favorite herbs or add more: these are very customizable!
How to serve vegan meatballs:
- Over your favorite pasta dish (I love them in this vegan vodka sauce as well!)
- With a side of vegan mashed potatoes
- In a vegan soup (like an Italian wedding soup using vegetable broth!)
- As a meatball grinder
- Over rice and served with your favorite veggie
I hope you love these vegan lentil meatballs as much as I do! If you make them, let me know down below in the comments section, and be sure to give it a rating so that others can find this recipe too 🙂
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy cooking!
More healthy gluten free vegan dinner recipes:
Vegan Gluten Free Sweet Potato Lasagna
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
Print
30 Minute Grandma’s Style Lentil Meatballs (Vegan + GF)
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Make these quick and easy flavor-packed vegan lentil meatballs with just 7 ingredients for a delicious vegan dinner ready in just 30 minutes! Based on my Italian grandma’s recipe- turned vegan and vegetarian friendly!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked lentils (about 3/4 cup uncooked if cooking from scratch)*
- 1 cup oat flour (homemade or store bought)*
- 4 prunes
- 1/2 cup ketchup*
- 3 tbsp fresh rosemary*
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 cup marinara sauce, for cooking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with tin foil. Lightly spray or coat the tin foil with coconut or olive oil to prevent sticking.
- In a large food processor, pulse all of the ingredients together until it’s a consistent batter. It should not be very clumpy, but rather smooth.
- Roll the lentil batter into 2 inch sized meatballs and place the meatballs onto the baking sheet.
- Bake the lentil meatballs for 25 minutes in the oven.
- Serve and enjoy! Follow the below steps for another option of further cooking the lentil meatballs in marinara sauce when serving over pasta.
- Optional cook in marinara sauce: When done, remove from the oven and let cool while you add 1 cup marinara sauce to a medium sized sauce pan.
- Add the meatballs to the pan, toss them in the sauce, then cover and set the heat to low/simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve with fresh pasta or however you prefer!
Notes
Lentils: You can use brown, green, red lentils, or a mix. You can also use store bought pre-cooked lentils.
Oat flour: You can make your own or use store bought. If you don’t need gluten free, you can use all purpose flour.
Prunes: You can swap in dates or 3 tbsp ground flaxseed with 9 tbsp water for a flax “egg” if you prefer.
Ketchup: Feel free to swap in tomato paste if you prefer. It’s slightly less flavorful, however.
Herbs: You can use just rosemary or a blend of rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, or parsley!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 312
- Sugar: 8.5 g
- Sodium: 1097.6 mg
- Fat: 4.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 54.8 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 14.3 g
- Cholesterol: 2 mg
Keywords: lentil meatballs, vegetarian meatballs, vegan lentil meatballs, vegan meatballs, gluten free vegan meatballs, vegan gluten free dinner recipes
I gotta say I was a bit skeptical at first that all the flavors would come together, but WOW! Or should I say mama mia 😉 these are darn good meatballs, vegan or not! The texture and flavor are amazing! Thank you for this beautiful plant-based comfort food 🙂
★★★★★
Aw thank you so much!!! That means the world to me!
Literally the best thing you WILL EVER EAT OMG
★★★★★
My goodness! That’s the best thing to read 🙂 Thank you so much!!
Hello. I will be trying this tomorrow. Is there a reason you chose prunes over dates or flax? Does it come out better with the prunes? I know your notes say that dates or flax can be used also, but want to know why you chose prunes first. Thank you.
Hi Margarita! I personally like using prunes over dates or flax because the prunes have a bit less sweet flavor than the dates and I think they add more flavor than flaxseed. I hope that helps!
I am confused. Do I cook the lentils? If so how? Or used them raw? Do I soak them overnight? Dying to try it!
Hi Sofia! Yes lentils are cooked! I just made that a bit clearer in the directions 🙂 I give the measurements for cooked lentils and what it would be dry (before cooking). 2 cups cooked lentils or 3/4 cup dry lentils before cooking!
Hello! I was wondering what type of lentils would work best. I know that there are different varieties, like, red, brown and yellow.
Thanks!
Hi Emma!! I’ve tried this with a few different varieties- I really love brown the most, but green also work wonderfully! You get a slightly different texture if you used sprouted- same texture difference if you were to eat sprouted lentils vs regular lentils as is. I hope that helps!
I love how adaptable this recipe is! Have you ever tried using black lentils? They’re my lentil of choice these days and what I often have on hand. Thanks!
Oh you absolutely can!! I’ve used black lentils as well, they’re really good! Enjoy 🙂
Can’t wait to try them! Thank you 😊
Very nice recipe chef 👍👏👌. Delicious, I made them with green lentils, I will try black and brown next week also I have added some nutritional yest for cheese taste. Thank you for your effort 🌹🌞😎
★★★★★
Can you clarify the flax substitution please? For the flax egg, when you say 3 tbl, is that 3 tbl ground flax in 9 tbl of water?
Yes correct!
Do you need to puree or soften the prunes before putting them in the food processor?
Nope! They should be soft enough to just puree. But if you find yours are a bit hard, you can let them soak in hot water for 5 minutes!