Walnut Meatballs (Vegan) Recipe

Submitted by Enjolinfam

"A very healthy alternative to meatballs. I'm always looking for yummy vegan food and I'm especially looking forward to trying this one. Many of my favorite vegan recipes come from the Micheff Sisters, Brenda Walsh, Cinda Sanders and Linda Johnson, on 3ABN. This is one of Brenda's recipes. Suggestions: These walnut balls can be made ahead of time and frozen. Can also use them in other sauces such as spaghetti sauce. Try making them a little smaller and using them for an appetizer. For “crispier” texture, fry them in a little canola oil instead of baking them.UPDATE: We finally tried this and were not disappointed! Made this with my Quick Vegan Pesto Alfredo Sauce (Recipe #246616) and Onion Herb Foccacia Bread (Recipe #246431)and it tasted terrific! I could see how frying them in a little oil would make them taste better plain, but I couldn't tell that much of a difference with them in the sauce and it's so much healthier having them baked. I'm going to try to make these again this weekend with a vegan gravy and hope it turns out just as good! I've had it now with sweeet and sour sauce and it tasted really nice."

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photo by magpie diner

Ready In:: 45mins
Ingredients:: 9
Yields:: 32 1-inch balls
Serves:: 32

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ingredients

1 medium onion
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely minced
2 teaspoons chicken-flavored vegetarian seasoning (I use McKay's chicken seasoning, this is a vegetarian seasoning that tastes like a Chicken bouillon )
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 ¹⁄₂ cups saltine crackers, finely crushed
1 cup walnut pieces (walnuts chopped)
1 cup rolled oats
1 (7 ounce) package extra firm tofu

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directions

In food processor, purée the water and onion until smooth. Pour into large mixing bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients, mixing well until mixture holds together.
Coat hands with nonstick cooking spray.
Shape mixture into 1-inch balls.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Remove from oven and place meatballs on a platter. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve hot with a variety of dipping sauces, such as Sweet and Sour, Marinara, or your favorite.

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Reviews

I think this is a really inventive recipe, more of a 4 1/2 star for me. It's easy to put together with your food processor and my kids liked them. I thought the seasonings were a little lacking, (altho I love the fresh garlic & onion), I added some extra herbs and a little braggs. It's great that they're baked - what I found is that they were pretty mushy inside, the tofu didn't firm up as well as I would have liked. But that could be due to my specific ingredients, maybe my tofu wasn't firm enough....I'd just adjust next time to use less water. I think the leftovers that I'm about to freeze will be firmer. Really versatile recipe, I served over noodles & broccoli with Recipe #418644. Thanks!!

magpie diner
Excellent. This was my first attempt at making vegan meatballs. They did fall apart after simmering in sauce in the crock-pot, but we enjoyed them anyway. Next time will probably take them from the oven and top with spaghetti sauce on our plates.

SonoGirl
Quick, easy and anyone can make it good.

MacaroniBoy

See Also
Vegan Curry Chicken Recipe
These are very good. Used them in #403282 over fettuccine noodles. I agree that they would work in a lot of different recipes. I followed the recipe to a "t". Next time I will use my food processor to crumble the crackers, etc. Thanks so much for sharing!! :O)

susanratz
Delicious! I whipped these up to throw in my spaghetti sauce. I added some Italian seasoning and used Recipe #202044 instead of chicken-flavored seasoning. My 6 yo DD had a blast helping roll these, and everyone at the table thought they rocked--the baby included. We ate half and threw the rest in the freezer for next time. I could see these being great with many different sauces; I'd like to try them as a Swedish meatball type dish, for example.

Serah B.

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Tweaks

Delicious "meatballs": great texture and flavour! And I loved the fact that they were baked in the oven and so low in fat. I used 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 chicken stock instead of the water - which of course rendered them no longer Vegan. Since I was unfamiliar with the chicken-flavoured vegetarian seasoning listed in the ingredients, I simply omitted that, but I did add some cumin. I wasn't sure what to make of the reference to "8232" in step one, so I ignored that. We enjoyed these with tzatziki and a green salad, and they were equally good next day, at room temperature, in a pita bread wrap, again with tzatziki and salad greens. Thanks, Enjolinfam, for sharing this yummy recipe.

bluemoon downunder

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Enjolinfam

44 Followers
158 Recipes
28 Tweaks

Update: We've moved back to the states, and are experiencing the joys of living in Wenatchee, WA for the first time! I'm spending most of my time in the kitchen canning, freezing, and drying fruit now and loving it!We are a couple, Jason and Mollie, that loves to cook together. We have two wonderful DD's, Enjoli (9) and Emily (7) that make life so much more fun! I, Mollie, studied Nutrition so I try to make most of our meals healthy while still tasting great! Our girls love helping us cook...and eat! We're vegetarian and love eating healthy without missing any flavor! We try to eat mostly vegan, so we have many vegan recipes posted. We are world traveling missionaries and students that have visited many countries and have lived in the States, South Korea, and are currently in the Philippines. So we always need to adjust our menu based on the food available. Zaar has been a tremendous help!<img src="http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/385678/CIMG0152%20%282%29.JPG"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa130/nowsonexitmusic/unratedpart.jpg"><img src="http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm286/celticevergreen/indianbanner.jpg"> <img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/tgifford/Game%20Room%20Banners/AM%20Banners/KBparticipation.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa130/nowsonexitmusic/vegbannerbasetemp-small.jpg?t=1232859306"> <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/AMpageSticker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa130/nowsonexitmusic/soupbanner-small.jpg?t=1227755026"> <img src="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/flower753/Food/my3chefsnov2008.jpg"> <img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa130/nowsonexitmusic/turmerictag-small.jpg?t=1225271033"> <img src="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj81/HokiesLady65/123HitAMpage.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/IWasAdoptedfall08.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PACfall08partic.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa130/nowsonexitmusic/mushroombanner-smallpic.jpg"> <img src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4902/41213577264b44m3kh4.png"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Ingredients/Other/BreakfastanytimeSTCK.jpg"> <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t237/akplongmeadow/AdoptATag2-2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Sharon123/NZT-2-AnnaciasZaarTagbanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Annacia's banner for Zaar Tag"><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Sharon123/Copyoftag300-banner.jpg" border="0" alt="Susie's Banner for Newest Zaar Tag"> <img src="http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap2/group09okra.jpg"><img src=http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap2/group10peppers.jpg><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa130/nowsonexitmusic/banner-smalltemp.jpg"> <img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Ingredients/CROCKPOTSTKR.jpg"> <img src="http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8756/babyhuntsman1lz7.jpg"><img src=http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap1/group07kiwi.jpg><img src=http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap1/group02banana.jpg> <img src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4902/41213577264b44m3kh4.png><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/duch*eSS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%204/ZWTAB-tg.gif"> <img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/kiwidutch/My-3-Chefs%20banners/my3chefs2008Small.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Ingredients/Camera-ChefsJPEG.jpg"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/duch*eSS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%204/ZWTAB-tg.gif"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/CopyofCopyofskewered.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/personal/FRENCH-foodfun.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg"><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/tgifford/participation%20banners/coolmonday-particiation.jpg" border="0" alt="Cookathon for Cool Monday (1)"><img src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e347/Saturn6666/Other/tagforpage1.jpg"><img src="http://www.satsleuth.com/cooking/Swap14.JPG"><img src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/ANNMAG/01226~Tofu-Posters.jpg">

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FAQs

What is the secret to firm meatballs? ›

Massage your meat

Get your hands into your mixing bowl and combine the ingredients for your meatballs using your fingers. The heat from your hands will help release the proteins in the meat which will in turn help the mixture stick together when it cooks. Don't overmix, just a few minutes will do.

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How do you keep vegetable meatballs from falling apart? ›

A: Vegan meatballs made with fresh vegan mince won't fall apart. Methyl cellulose (which is used in most vegan meat subs) helps to bind the meatballs together.

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How to make meatballs that aren t dry? ›

Making sure you have a high fat content in your meatballs is the best way to ensure they stay juicy and don't dry out. Our ideal ratio is 80/20, with 20% being fat.

Explore More ›

What makes meatballs dense? ›

A small amount of breadcrumbs, no more than 1/4 cup of fine crumbs per pound of meat, hold in the juices. Adding, more bread crumbs makes for a heavy and dense meatball so keep the bread crumbs to a minimum. *I recommend ground meat that has at least 20% fat to create the right texture and taste.

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What does adding milk to meatballs do? ›

Milk: Milk adds moisture, ensuring the meatballs don't dry out during the cooking process. Onion: An onion lends bold flavor. Meat: You'll need a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground pork. Egg: An egg adds moisture and helps bind the meatballs together.

Why do you put baking powder in meatballs? ›

The addition of baking soda is a key to making them light and tender. I prefer to fry meatballs in a skillet on the stove to get a better crust versus baking in the oven.

Show Me More ›

What keeps meatballs moist? ›

Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.

Tell Me More ›

What is the best binder for meatballs? ›

An egg is usually a good start, as that can help with the tenderness and texture, but the king of meatball binders is breadcrumbs soaked in milk (also known as a panade). Soaking the breadcrumbs first makes them pliable and soggy, which allows them to easily and evenly mix into the ground meat.

Learn More Now ›

Why put water in meatballs? ›

Water: Slowly add water to the mixture before you roll the meatballs. It'll keep the meatballs nice and moist. Some reviewers prefer to use milk. Olive oil: Fry the meatballs in olive oil.

View Details ›

What happens if you put flour in meatballs? ›

Coating cutlets in flour provides a golden-brown exterior (and some thickening power if you're making a sauce in the same pan!), but using flour as a binder for meatballs or meatloaf will result in a paste-like mixture that won't be as delicious.

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Why did my meatballs come out mushy? ›

Cook's Illustrated explains that adding too many eggs will put your meatballs at risk of having a soggy texture. Any additional and unnecessary liquid will also cause difficulty mixing and forming meatballs. Adding a single egg should be enough to do the trick, with two being the maximum for each pound of meat you use.

Walnut Meatballs (Vegan) Recipe - Food.com (2024)

ingredients

directions

Questions & Replies

Reviews

Tweaks

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

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FAQs

What is the secret to firm meatballs? ›

Why do you put baking powder in meatballs? ›

References