Vegan meatballs can be prepared from a variety of ingredients. The secret is to find ingredients that naturally bind together or use a binding agent. In this recipe, I will share with you how to make delicious eggplant white beans vegan meatballs with tomato sauce. You can enjoy these meatballs with rice, roti, or garlic bread.
For The Vegan Meatballs
The Ingredients
- 1 eggplant finely diced
- ½-cup white beans – you can pre-boil white beans or use canned beans
- 1 white onion finely diced
- ½-cup bell peppers finely diced – you can mix the red, yellow, and green bell peppers if you love colors.
- ½-cup applesauce
- 1-cup oatmeal
- 1-tablespoon garlic paste
- A pinch of 3 of your favorite spices – I use ground cumin and basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½-cup seasoned bread crumbs
Procedure
Using a non-stick pan, heat about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and fry the onions. Add the garlic paste, diced eggplant, and the bell peppers. Add a little water and let them simmer until tender. You can choose to mash with a fork or puree using a food processor once done.
Now mix all the ingredients together except the breadcrumbs.
Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture and shape using your hands. If you feel the vegan meatballs are not sticking together, just add some more oats.
Roll the vegan meatballs in breadcrumbs and shallow fry until golden brown.
Remove them and dry the excess oil using paper towels. Set them aside as we now prepare the sauce.
That was easy, right?
Note
I add oats as the bidding agent instead of flour because I want the vegan meatballs to be healthy for kids too. However, if you don’t have oats, you can use gluten-free wheat flour.
Some people prefer adding breadcrumbs to the mixture. This also works fine. However, rolling the meatballs in breadcrumbs towards the end makes them crunchier.
Instead of shallow frying the meatballs, you can bake them in the oven at 375F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Just remember to spray the baking tin with oil to prevent them from sticking.
For the Tomato Sauce
The Ingredients
- 5 ripe tomatoes – peeled and pureed
- 2-tablespoons of olive oil (or your favorite vegetable oil)
- 1-tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1-teaspoon of chili flakes (optional)
- Spices of your choice – I find dried parsley and basil go well with this recipe (a teaspoon each)
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Procedure
In a large saucepan (enough to accommodate your meatballs), heat the oil.
Add the garlic-ginger paste and sauté until they release their aroma. Be careful not to burn them.
Add the tomato puree and all the spices. Season well with salt and cover the saucepan. Let it simmer under low heat for 30 minutes or until the tomato juice and oil start to separate. Now add the meatballs and cook them in the sauce for 10 minutes until they absorb the sauce flavors.
Serve your vegan meatballs on a bed of rice and sprinkle some chopped parsley leaves to garnish.
Enjoy!
Note
If your tomatoes are not ripe enough, the sauce tends to be acidic. To correct this, add some brown sugar or balsamic vinegar.
Similarly, if the tomato sauce is more than you would prefer, (depending on the portion of your meatballs) scope some into an airtight container and refrigerate. You can use this sauce in other meals, especially pasta.