You’re going to love these wholesome and flavor-packed vegan eggplant meatballs baked to perfection and served with homemade marinara and zucchini noodles. It’s a delicious and low-carb vegan meal the whole family will love.
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Vegan meatballs, friends!
Growing up, my mom made a vegetarian meatball that I absolutely loved. In fact, it wasn’t until I was much older that I realized meatballs were, in fact, made with meat. Who could have guessed?
Probably everyone.
Once I learned where meatballs came from, I lost a taste for even my mom’s vegetarian meatballs. Only recently, since having kids, have I rediscovered them in all their vegan glory. My rediscovery started with Gardein’s meatless meatballs. And while I love these, I even more recently decided it was time to start making my own.
Let’s take a closer look.
Recipe Video
Ingredients & Substitutions
Inspired by that childhood recipe, I started testing out some of my own meatball recipes, and eventually, I came up with these Italian Eggplant Meatballs.
Here is everything you need.
- Eggplant – Eggplant is one of those amazingly underrated vegetables that can be the star of so many vegan entrées. I love it in curries, on pizza, and of course, vegan eggplant parmesan. And knowing how well the flavors of Italian cooking and eggplant go together, I decided they would make the perfect base for these vegan meatballs.
- Olive Oil
- Bread Crumbs – For a gluten-free recipe, use gluten-free bread crumbs.
- Garlic
- Flat-Leaf Parsley
- Fresh Basil
- Vegan Parmesan – For this recipe, I recommend Violife parmesan. It is creamy, melty, and tastes exactly how I remember parmesan to taste. I find their cheeses at Whole Foods but you can also check out this map to find Violife near you. If you don’t have access to Violife, you can make your own parmesan.
- Italian Seasoning
- Flax or Chia Egg – Flax eggs have strong binding powers due to their protein and do not leave any unwanted taste or texture. If you don’t have flax seeds, you can use a chia seed egg for a similar effect. To make a chia seed egg, combine 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water and let it sit until it becomes thick and gelatinous.
- Salt and Pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One: Sauté the Eggplant
Chop the eggplant into 1″ pieces. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add eggplant along with 1/4 cups water. Sauté for 10 minutes until eggplant is slightly brown and tender.
Step Two – Blend the Ingredients
Transfer the eggplant to a food processor along with all the other ingredients. Process until you have a uniform batter. Be careful not to overprocess or the meatballs will become gummy. Some texture is desirable.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Step Three – Roll and Bake
Roll the meatball mixture into balls 2 heaping tablespoons in size and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until meatballs are browned and crispy on the outside.
Serving and Storing
Serving – Serve them over pasta with a homemade marinara sauce for a classic spaghetti and meatballs dish, stuff them in a baguette for a delicious meatball sub, or serve them as an appetizer at your next holiday party. This article is no way is vegan but does offer some creative suggestions on how to serve meatballs.
Storing – Store leftover meatballs in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, these meatballs can be cooked in marinara sauce directly from the freezer.
Tips and Tricks
- Thoroughly sauté your eggplant to bring out the rich flavors.
- Do not over-mix your eggplant mixture or you’ll end up with a gummy paste.
- Adjust the spices/herbs as you desire. The flavors in this recipe are highly flexible.
Frequently Asked Questions
For sure! There are all kinds of things you can use to make vegan meatballs. I recommend trying tempeh, mushrooms, or chickpeas.
Yep! Let the meatballs cool completely before freezing them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once they are frozen all they way through, the meatballs can be transferred to a large ziplock back. When ready to eat, these meatballs can be cooked in marinara sauce directly from the freezer.
In addition to serving this recipe over zucchini noodles, you can also serve meatballs over pasta, as an appetizer, in a meatball sub.
More Vegan Eggplant Recipes
- Moroccan Stuffed Eggplants
- Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
- Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Pizza
- Eggplant Chickpea Curry
- Kung Pao Tofu with Eggplant
Eggplant Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
Eggplant Meatballs
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 3 cloves garlic,
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tbsp fresh basil
- 1/4 cup vegan parmesan
- 1 1/2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 flaxseed or chia egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pepper, to taste
Everything Else
- 12 oz Marinara Sauce
- 2 large zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Chop the eggplant into 1" pieces. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add eggplant along with 1/4 cups water. Sauté for 10 minutes until eggplant is slightly brown and tender.
- Transfer it to a food processor along with all the other ingredients for your eggplant meatballs. Process until you have a uniform batter. Be careful not to overprocess or the meatballs will become gummy. Some texture is desirable. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Roll the meatball mixture into balls 2 heaping tablespoons in size and place on the prepared parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until meatballs are browned and crispy on the outside.
- When the meatballs are done, add them to a saucepot with marinara sauce until the marinara sauce is heated all the way through. Toss with zucchini noodles and serve with fresh parsley and vegan parmesan.
Video
Notes
- Thoroughly sauté your eggplant to bring out the rich flavors.
- Do not over-mix your eggplant mixture or you’ll end up with a gummy paste.
- Adjust the spices/herbs as you desire. The flavors in this recipe are highly flexible.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Lisa says
These were pretty good! The only issue I had was that “one large eggplant” is kind of vague. If there was a weight noted, I’d know if I was close. I had smaller eggplants from my garden & I think ended up using too much because mine were mushy in the middle after baking for the maximum time. I will try again & make adjustments.
Gina says
I made these last night and they were delicious!!! I added onion to the mixture because my grandmother always put onion in her meatballs, and instead of a flax egg, I used Bob Redmill’s Egg Replacer and they stayed together perfectly. Also, I had to saute the eggplant for around 20 minutes to achieve nicely browned pieces. I will definitely make these again. The meatballs were very tasty and easy to make.
Julie says
Delicious and so easy. I used dried herbs b/c that’s what I had. The mixture was a little dry so I added a little olive oil as a binder. So good! Next time I will use oats in place of the bread crumbs b/c my husband is gluten sensitive. Overall a super yummy recipe!
Kim says
Can these be frozen and if they can would it be after or before cooking them?
Carolyn says
Hi love the flavor of the eggplant mixture! The meatballs were nice and crispy on the outside but should they be really gooey on the inside after baking them for 30 minutes? Please advise !
K says
Too much bread crumbs. My instinct was to not put it all on but I changed my mind last minute and put it all in. What do you do if the mixture is too dry? I added a 1/2 flax egg to it but ended up mixing by hand as I was already over mixing. The batter was still dry. In the future I would blend all ingredients except for eggplant then pulse the eggplant in. Mine aren’t as dark as your either and they don’t appear to be browning.
Marysia says
I’m so glad I found this recipe. I grew Japanese eggplant in my garden this year. My family loves these meatballs!