Vegan Italian Meatballs
If you are looking for a quick and easy dinner idea, then these delicious Vegan Italian Meatballs will hit all the high notes. Ready in under 20 minutes, you are guaranteed to love these dairy free meatballs. This recipe can be made Top 8 Allergy Friendly, including info for gluten free meatballs.
Servings: 15 meatballs
Calories: 144kcal
Ingredients
- ¼ cup smashed avocado (about ½ an avocado)
- 5 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs (use GF crumbs if needed)
- ⅓ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped (about 3-4 big leaves or 6-8 smaller ones)
- ⅓ cup packed sun dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon oil from sun dried tomatoes jar
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon pink salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 2 cups chickpeas, cooked (or 1 can drained and rinsed)
Coating
- 2 tbsp vegan parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoon panko bread crumbs (use GF crumbs if needed)
- ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Smash avocado and mince garlic. Roughly chop sun dried tomatoes and basil.
- In a very large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and over medium low heat, saute minced garlic for 1-2 minutes. Do not let brown.
- In a food processor, add the sauted garlic with the smashed avocado, sun dried tomatoes, basil, panko bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon sun dried tomato oil, vegan parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Blend well. Scrape down if needed.
- Add chickpeas and blend just until no large pieces remain. You want it to be chopped well, but we aren't making hummus.
- Taste a small piece and add more salt, pepper if needed.
- Using a small scooper or your hands, form 15-16 balls.
- Roll balls into the coating mixture and place on a plate.
- Add remaining oil (3 tbsp) to the same large skillet you cooked your garlic in over medium low heat.
- Add meatballs to the skillet. (If you only have a small skillet, you'll need to do batches, adding more oil if needed. Do not overcrowd your pan)
- Cook meatballs for 1 minutes. Carefully flip over and cook on opposite side for 1 minute.
- Then, shake the pan around so the other sides get browned. Cook for 3-4 more minutes.
- Remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add to any sauce, on a sub (hoagie) roll, or eat by themselves.
Notes
**Nutritional facts are just estimates. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates.
**Please see notes in post for making Top 8 Allergy friendly
Nutrition
Serving: 1meatball | Calories: 144kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Sodium: 164mg | Potassium: 201mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 3.5mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1.2mg