FOR THE FULL LIST OF INGREDIENTS, SCROLL TO SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END. BUT BEFORE YOU SCROLL CHECK IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE BLURB.
I made this Lentil Meatball recipe today and I was very pleased with the results, I was looking for an easy lentil meatballs recipe that would be packed with flavor yet fancy enough to be served even at the holiday table and enjoyed by everyone including meat-eaters. They actually remind me of Swedish meatballs.
I knew I found a winner vegan meatballs when I serve them and my husband couldn't stop saying how much he loves them and that they are definitely a keeper! They remind me of Swedish Meatballs, the kind you find at Ikea.
I love making vegan meatballs because they can easily feed a crowd, they are perfect for potlucks, and you can easily estimate the number of people you will be serving and make the right amount for them. My Vegan Tofu Meatball recipe is also a huge hit!
Health Benefits Of Lentils
Lentils are healthy and rich in nutrients and should be included as part of the diet: Want to gain muscles while on a vegan diet? Then you should eat more lentils. They’re high in fiber, protein, and folate. The fact is they can help you live longer, and they’re pretty much the perfect food. The little legumes have 250g of spermidine.
1 cup of cooked lentils contains:
- 226 calories
- 39 grams carbohydrates
- 18 grams of protein
- 16 grams of fiber
- 3.6 grams of sugar
- 0.8-grams of fat
How To Make Lentil Meatballs (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
To make these vegan lentil meatballs, first sort and wash dried lentils. Use green, brown or black lentils for this recipe, saute onion, garlic, herbs, add lentils, along with water or vegetable broth and cook until tender and liquid has evaporated.
While lentil is cooking, make oat flour, followed by finely chopped walnuts in a food processor, then stir them in the lentil mixture along with ground flaxseeds, yeast flakes, and Bragg's Liquid Aminos.
Form into a meatball shape and place onto a prepared baking sheet and baked for 30 minutes. While lentil meatballs are baking prepare the cashew gravy.
How To Make The Cashew Gravy?
The cashew gravy is easy, you basically rinse cashews, and add all the ingredients except the herbs in a high-speed blender and process until creamy.
Pour gravy into a saucepan, add herbs/seasonings and cook over medium heat until bubbly, while stirring with a whisk.
Please note to start by adding 2 tablespoons of the Bragg's Liquid Aminos, then add the extra tablespoon if needed.
How To Freeze Your Lentil Meatballs?
- After baking the lentil meatballs, cool them completely.
- Place the lentil meatballs in a freezer-friendly container and place it in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Make the cashew gravy and cool completely, place in a freezer-friendly container and freeze as well.
- To serve, remove the lentil balls from the freezer and place them in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F. for about 15-20 minutes or until heated through.
- You can transfer the gravy from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before serving to defrost. Heat up the cashew gravy and pour over the reheated lentil meatballs and serve.
These flavorful Lentil Meatballs (Vegan, Gluten-Free) are smothered in a creamy cashew gravy will surely be a big hit at your dinner table especially during the holidays!
I wanted a dish that was very tasty so I adapted the filling from my Jamaican Lentil Patties recipes.
I was going to add gluten-free flour to bind the meatballs and prevent them from breaking up, but to my surprise, the balls were quite sturdy without flour.
Feel free to add about 2 tablespoons of gluten-free flour of your choice, rice, oat flour or sorghum flour should work fine for this recipe.
I added my gravy when I'm plating my dish, just before serving, so that the meatballs aren't sitting for long in the gravy. It is delicious served with rice or mashed potatoes, green beans.
If you are still searching for recipe ideas for the holiday, don't worry we have you covered! Here are 25 DELICIOUS VEGAN RECIPES FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
These flavorful Lentil Meatballs (Vegan, Gluten-Free) are smothered in a creamy cashew gravy will surely be a big hit at your dinner table especially during the holidays!
Check Out More Lentil Recipe Ideas:
- Lentil Shepherd's Pie
- Vegan Lentil Stew
- Jamaican Lentil Patties
- Vegan Lentil Loaf
- Creamy Lentil Pasta
- Loaded Taco Fries
- Vegan One Pot Taco Spaghetti
- Vegan Bolognese
- Lentil Curry Lettuce Cups
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag #healthiersteps — we love to see your recipes on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter!
Get discounted copies of my cookbook Here
Also please leave a star rating ;-)
Need some encouragement on your Healthier Steps journey?
Join our Facebook groups, sharing lots of delicious vegan and gluten-free recipes, health tips, etc., from our members. Please join us and invite your friends Gluten-Free and Vegan For Beginners and Vegan Recipes With Love.
Categories
Nutrition
- Energy:
- 335 kcal / 1400 kJ
- Fat:
- 21 g
- Protein:
- 13 g
- Carbs:
- 25 g
Cooking Time
- Preparation:
- 20 min
- Cooking:
- 1 h
- Ready in:
- 1 h 20 min
Ingredients
Lentil Meatballs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 cup dried lentils
- 2 cups vegetable broth, or water
- 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons oat flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 teaspoons Bragg's liquid aminos
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Creamy Cashew Gravy
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 1 hour then drained
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder, or cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons Bragg's liquid aminos, Start with 2 tablespoon and taste, then add the extra if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Pinch of Cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, thyme, parsley, paprika, and lentils to coat.
- Add water and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cover the pot. Cook until lentils are tender and water has completely evaporated about 30 minutes. (Make sure lentils are dry and not soggy)
- Transfer lentil mixture to a large bowl and set aside. Using a food processor, process/pulse walnuts until finely chopped. Stir walnuts into lentils along with the *oat flour, flaxseeds, yeast flakes, Bragg's Liquid Aminos and salt.
- Preheat oven 400 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper.
- Scoop mixture, using about 1-2 tablespoons. Form into balls and placing them on prepared sheets in a single layer until mixture is all gone. Bake for 30 minutes or until brown and crispy on the outside.
To Prepare Cashew Gravy
- Combine cashews, water, yeast flakes, onion powder, garlic, arrowroot, Bragg's Liquid Aminos in a high-speed blender and process until smooth.
- Pour sauce into a saucepan and add thyme, Italian seasonings, paprika. Heat on medium-high, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until sauce thickens.
- Place meat balls in serving plate. Pour gravy on top and garnish with chopped parsley.
Notes
1. Substitute your favorite marinara sauce for the creamy cashew gravy.
2. Substitute cashews with sunflower seeds for a nut-free creamy gravy.3
3. *To make oat flour, I place rolled oats in a blender and process until smooth. I store it in an airtight container in my refrigerator and I love to use it to make gluten-free pancakes as well.
4. The gravy is thick so you might want to add extra water to make it thinner.
Question: With the nuts in the “meatballs”, does it make them taste nutty?
Not at all.
This is my new favorite!!!! I added a little too much water, lentils were a little on the soggy side so I added almond flour about 2tbl, turned out wonderful! Served with brown rice and steamed zucchinI!!
That’s so cool Laura, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
I really liked these! Thank you for the recipe 😀
I’m so excited you enjoyed them Barb, thank you for sharing your feedback.
can you use tin lentils for this?
That should be fine, make sure to drain the liquid first and add enough dry ingredients to make sure you are able to form into balls.
These are so delicious! I started a plant based diet a few weeks ago and was trying to find a recipe to eat more lentils and this is it! I used gluten free flour in place of the oat flour, and I didn’t make the gravy. The only issue I noticed was the nooch has a distinctive smell when preparing. But I can’t smell it after they cooked so that is good! I am fairly new to the nutritional yeast use too 🙂 I am going to pair these with my chickpea pasta and basil tomato sauce for lunches! Thank you for the recipe!
Becky, I’m so happy you enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing your feedback. I appreciate it. Yes, the nooch has a distinct smell and depending on the brand it might be stronger than others. Sounds delicious with pasta and tomato sauce.
I got reacquainted with these babies this weekend and they are as delicious as ever! I doubled the batch and my, my, my, I’ve been away too long!!!
I also discovered that the extra gravy is DIVINE as a vegan pot pie filler.
I miss being able to cook often so when I had a small window to do so, I had to return to my tried and true favorite recipe site for Michelle’s PHENOMENAL recipes!
**Note pistachios are GREAT in this recipe too!! I’ve done walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts (soaked first), and pistachios – all delicious. Maybe one day I’ll try macadamia nuts too. Michelle your recipes are so versatile! Delicious as is, and adaptable as well! You have a gift and I hope you get your just dessert – vegan of course :)
I am infatuated with this recipe. It satisfies my cravings for warm, savory meals! I have prepared this more than once, and actually love the liquid consistency. I wind up pouring it all over a couple of cups of white or brown rice, and my whole family devours it! I often double the recipe for lunches-thank you so much for this tasty meal 🤗
These lentil balls look great! I was looking for a more interesting way of cooking lentils and I found it!
My only question would be if you could think of anything I can sub the walnuts for…I have a son who can’t have them, but he can have cashews..you think that would work? Or…
Jade pecans would be a great substitute, then cashews. I hope you enjoy.
Made this for Dinner tonight and sooooo tasty ! Will be making this on a regular basis The liquid of the lentils wouldn’t completely evaporate so I drained the excess & the ingredients did bind it all together well & held together in the sauce – very happy with results & amazing taste – thank you for this lovely recipe!
Julie that’s awesome, thank you very much for sharing your experience with us.
I love this recipe!!! The First time I made this, the lentils still had a lot of water in them and the meatballs came out somewhat dry, so I cut back on both the water and the oven cooking time and it came out perfectly. I just made these again and I accidentally blended the lentils in with the food processor instead of stirring them into the walnut mixture, and it came out super mushy but after baking them they were actually more like meatballs so it was a happy accident. Will definitely be making this again!
Becca I’m so happy you enjoyed them, thank you for sharing your experience with them.
This recipe is a staple in my home and approved by my elderly, non-vegan parents. I always use canned lentils and omit the broth, adjust the tamari as needed, and it tastes great every single time. I usually make it into a loaf, but the balls are a family favorite too. Of all the meatless loaf/ball recipes on the web, this is my very favorite.
Jackie, I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing your adjustments with us!
Can this work without the yeast flakes?
Yes it can, for the gravy use vegetable broth instead of water.