These easy Vegan Meatballs with lentils and walnuts are comforting and satisfying when you want something hearty and substantial. They are perfect with pasta or zoodles and vegan marinara sauce. Plus, they are gluten-free.
Lentils and walnuts give these vegan meatballs lots of texture and moisture without animal products. They hold together beautifully and have such great flavor with a bit of crunch from the walnuts.
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These veggie meatballs are comforting and satisfying when you want something hearty and substantial, and they pair perfectly with pasta or zoodles and vegan marinara sauce! Be sure to try these meatballs with vegan colcannon.
If you are looking for more hearty meals, try my healthy vegan meatloaf recipe, made with lentils and walnuts, and these lentil black bean burgers! Try Gnocchi with Vegan Sausage and Sage for another comforting dish with a meaty texture.
I will for sure try them again because I love them so much after I baked them, thanks!
- Hilda
Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this vegan meatball recipe. These are the best vegan meatballs with walnuts, lentils, and fennel seeds! Head to the recipe card to find the complete ingredient list.
- Lentils - use brown or green lentils. Drain them well before adding them to the recipe.
- Flaxseed meal - I combine ground flaxseed with the other ingredients instead of mixing it with water to make a flax egg.
- Fresh parsley - for color and flavor. You can use dried parsley in a pinch, but fresh is better.
- Psyllium husk - a binding agent common in gluten-free baking/cooking, psyllium husk is essential for holding everything together. You can find powdered psyllium husk at the grocery store in the supplement section near the vitamins, in the bulk section at a natural foods grocery store, or online.
- Fennel seeds - for flavor. Adjust the amount to suit your taste. We love fennel here, so if you're not a fan, omit it and use oregano instead.
- Walnut halves - chop these in the food processor unless you prefer to do it by hand.
A complete ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are some substitutions you can try when making these plant-based meatballs:
- Lentils - You can use brown rice, black beans, or kidney beans instead.
- Coconut oil - use olive oil or avocado oil instead.
- Walnuts - you can try sunflower seeds, almonds, or pecans.
- Fennel - You can use oregano instead; I'd start with ½ teaspoon dried oregano or an Italian seasoning mix.
- Seasoning - Instead of fennel, use ½ teaspoon of oregano or Italian seasoning.
- Spicy - Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper or stir in Calabrian red pepper chile paste.
- Deluxe - Add a sprinkling of nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan cheese on top.
- Flavor - add garlic powder or onion powder, or both. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste.
How to Make These Vegan Meatballs
It's easy to make these gluten-free vegan meatballs. Here are the steps:
- Cook the lentils - to save time, purchase precooked lentils. However, they don't take long to make - about 25 minutes! Once cooked, cool them quickly on a baking sheet on the counter.
- Make the meatball mixture
- Assemble the meatballs and bake
- Step 1: Preheat the oven according to the recipe card below.
- Step 2: Chop the walnuts in the food processor until no large pieces remain. Add the remaining ingredients: salt, parsley, garlic, coconut oil, Medjool date, shallot, ground flaxseed, psyllium husk, fennel seed, poultry seasoning, freshly ground black pepper, and cooled lentils. Pulse several times for a few seconds until the mixture comes together.
- Step 3: Place the meatball mixture in a large bowl.
- Step 4: To assemble the meatballs, roll them up to the size of a golf ball, 12 portions for hearty meatballs, or make 16 slightly smaller meatballs-place in the preheated oven to bake.
- Step 5: After half an hour, the meatballs will be golden brown. Take them out of the oven and let them cool briefly before serving.
These meatballs stay together well; they are tender and do not fall apart.
How To Serve
- These gluten-free vegan meatballs are a great addition to any dish. You can serve them on top of spaghetti with your favorite sauce, add them to a sandwich, make a meatball sub, or put them in a wrap with some greens.
- Serve them on top of zoodles (zucchini noodles) with my Vegan Marinara Sauce. This sauce is hearty, flavorful, and slightly chunky, making it the perfect accompaniment to these meatballs.
- If you will serve them with zoodles, prepare the zucchini noodles, one zucchini per person. This can be done while the meatballs are baking. I use this spiralizer; the green attachment is perfect for zucchini.
Recipe FAQs
Let leftover meatballs cool, place them in a single layer in an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.
To freezethem (without sauce), let them cool first, place them in a freezer-safe container, and then in the freezer for up to 1 to 2 months. To thaw, put them in the fridge overnight.
Reheat them in the oven at 350°F for approximately 20 minutes.
The edible part of walnut is called meat. The word meat originates from the Old English word mete, which meant food in general. The term meat does not refer to animal flesh exclusively, nor does butter refer to dairy-based butter exclusively. If we can have almond milk, peanut butter, and veggie burgers, why not meat-free meatballs or vegan meatballs?
Related Recipes
If you try this recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Recipe
Easy Vegan Meatballs with Lentils and Walnuts
EQUIPMENT
- 2 baking sheets
- non-stick silicone baking mats
- wooden spoon
- cookie scoop
- spiralizer
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup dry green lentils rinsed until water runs clear
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt divided
- 2 cups walnut halves
- 4 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
- 1 Medjool date pitted
- 1 large shallot minced approx. ⅓ cup
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed (leave whole)
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place lentils in a medium pot and cover with 2 cups of water, add ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover loosely. Simmer until lentils around 20 minutes, until lentils are soft but not falling apart. If they are not done at this point, check every 5 minutes until done. Strain any liquid. Let cool on a baking sheet.1 cup dry green lentils, 2 cups water, 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
- Place 2 cups walnuts in the food processor. Briefly pulse a couple of times until small pieces remain with no large chunks. Add remaining 1 teaspoon salt, parsley, garlic, coconut oil, Medjool date, shallot, flaxseed meal, psyllium husk, fennel seed, poultry seasoning, and black pepper in the food processor. Add 2 cups of the cooked lentils, Process in bursts until the mixture holds together. Place the mixture into a bowl and stir the ingredients briefly to make sure they are combined.2 cups walnut halves, 4 tablespoon fresh parsley, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil, 1 Medjool date, 1 large shallot, 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal, 1 tablespoon psyllium husk, 1 teaspoon fennel seed, 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- With a cookie scoop, make balls that are approximately 2 inches in size. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until they start browning. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes before serving.
NOTES
- This recipe makes 12 to 16 balls. If you would like the meatballs to be less calorie-dense, make smaller meatballs than the ones pictured. I have made 16 slightly smaller meatballs and they are just as delicious!
- If you are serving these with zucchini noodles, spiralize one zucchini per person.
- Refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days or freeze for 1 to 2 months
- The calorie count is for the meatballs only; the marinara and zucchini are not included.
NUTRITION
Resplendent Kitchen offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site as a courtesy. Although resplendentkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information from online calculators, these figures are estimates.
Hilda says
I will for sure try them again because I love them so much after I baked them, thanks!
Emily says
Thank you so much, Hilda, it sounds like there was too much water, did you use psyllium husk powder? I'm so glad you enjoyed them! When you have a moment, I'd love it if you would add a star rating! Thanks for trying this recipe!
Jean says
They did hold together better than most vegan meatless balls. As written I mostly tasted fennel. The texture was a bit crunchy from the large quantity of walnuts. I did not mind, buy the children were a bit turned off by that. Thank you so much for the recipe, I will adapt to fit our personal tastes a bit better.
Emily says
Thank you for taking the time to review this recipe, Jean! I'm so glad that they held together well and that you will adapt the recipe to your preferences!
Holly says
What a unique meatball recipe! I wasn't sure how they would turn out but these vegan meatballs were delicious and paired well with our pasta olio dinner.
Emily says
Thanks so much for your review, Holly! I am glad you enjoyed them!
Andrea says
Such a yummy recipe! So good!
Emily says
Thanks very much, Andrea! I'm glad you like it!
Shilpa says
I love anything with lentils and this was delicious and flavourful. Thanks for sharing
Emily says
Thank you very much, Shilpa! I appreciate the feedback!
Aleisha says
Absolutely delicious! Thank you 🙂
Emily says
Thank you so much for your review and for trying this recipe, Aleisha!
Kayla says
Yum! This hit the spot! These were perfect!
Emily says
Thank you for your review, Kayla! I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Chantry says
So perfect with spaghetti! Yum
Emily says
Thank you for the 5-star review, Chantry! It sounds like you enjoyed this recipe. We hope to see you back soon!