I am still working on adjusting my lifestyle to a plant-based lifestyle. Some parts of my diet I find it an easy adjustment, but some meals are a harder adjustment. As much and I love a great veggie spagetti dish, there is something about spagetti and meatballs that scream comfort food. Therefore, I set out on the quest to make a great tasting plant-based meatball.
The problem was that when I searched for vegan or plant-based meatballs, they often required ingredients that I do not have at home (hellooo, aquafaba), still used eggs to bind the lentils or beans, or was fried in a ton of oil (not working for my healthy lifestyle quest). Therefore, I read a lot of recipes and decided to experiment to find the best oven baked black bean meatball that I could make. I am very happy with the result and surprised that after hours of research, I could make the meatballs from start to finish is 30 minutes. That meant that I would cook pasta, sauce, and a side of brocolli while the meatballs were in the oven and have dinner ready and on the table in half an hour.
As a working mom, time while cooking good food is really important to me. Why do we fall into the trap of grabbing takeout on the way home? Because if I have limited time to help with homework, bath, storytime and family time, I DO NOT want to waste time in the kitchen. Creating recipes that work for the busy mom is what I am working on during this quarantine time at home. By the time that I am working in a brick and mortar building again, I want to have an arsenal of recipes that help me save my time, my budget, and my health. This recipe was even preschooler approved.
Easy Oven Black Bean Meatballs
Equipment
- oven
- food processor
Ingredients
Chia Egg Replacement
- 1 tbsp Chia seeds ground
- 3 tbsp water
Meatball Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups black beans or a 15 oz can
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp basil
- 1 tsp coarse salt table salt can be used
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup sweet onion sauteed until soft
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp hoisin sauce can substitute soy sauce or chili sauce
- 1 tsp turmeric ground
- 1 tsp olive oil (optional for the onion saute)
Instructions
Chia Egg Substitute
- Grind chia seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle.
- Mix the chia seeds with the water in a small bowl.
- Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes while you mix your meatballs. The mixture will become gelatinous similar to an egg consistancy.
Meatball Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix the chia egg substitute according to the instructions above. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Soften the sweet onion by sauteing it on the stovetop. (I used 1 tsp of olive oil, but you can use water or vegetable broth if you are strictly oil free)
- Drain and rinse the canned black beans and mash in a medium bowl.
- Pulse the oats in a blender or food processor until they are ground coarsely (you do not want powder).
- Mix the oats into the black bean mash.
- Mix the softened onion and spices into the black bean/oat mixture.
- Mix in the chia seed egg substitute into the mixture to help bind all the ingredients together. This completes your meatball mixture. It does not look the most appetizing, but I promise it will be amazing :).
- Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray or use paper liners.
- Scoop the meatball mixture into the pan to make 12 meatballs. I used a cookie dough scooper to make sure that my meatballs were the same size. I chose not to roll my balls into a perfect ball, but you could certainly roll them in your hands if you desired a perfectly round ball.
- Put into the pre-heated oven and cook for 20 minutes. The outside will be crispy and the meatballs firm when cooked completely.
- Take out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes and serve hot. They will come out of the pan easily with tongs.
- Serve with your favorite pasta.
Notes
WW Disclaimer: I am currently getting back on track with WW (Weight Watchers) on the Blue Plan (Freestyle). According to a WW recipe calculator, each meatball is 1 point on the Blue Plan. The dinner pictured above was 12 points on the Blue Plan (6 pts for 2 oz of pasta, 3 pts for Bertucci tomato sauce, 3 pts for 3 meatballs, 0 pts for broccoli)
