Vegan Black Bean Meatballs (Easy & Healthy)

Woman using wooden spoon to place vegan meatballs into a pan filled with tomato sauce

Vegan Black Bean Meatballs (Easy & Healthy)

Make these Italian-flavored vegan black bean meatballs with homemade marinara sauce for a family-approved meatless dinner! This recipe idea is so easy, healthy and comforting and can be served over pasta or zucchini noodles.

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Keyword low carb vegan dinner, meatless monday, plant protein

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 259

Author Alena Schowalter

Ingredients

Black Bean Meatballs

1 flax egg 1 tbsp ground flax mixed with 2 tbsp warm water
5 oz button mushrooms 140 g
1 small carrot roughly chopped
1 cup rolled oats 90 g
¼ cup fresh parsley 7 g, chopped
½ teaspoon thyme dry
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 ¼ cups cooked black beans 215 g, drained
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

Herbed Marinara

1 red onion diced
3 garlic cloves minced
3-4 tablespoons vegetable broth
1 teaspoon oregano dry
¼-½ tsp cayenne
2 14- oz cans crushed tomatoes 800 g
3 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

To serve (optional)

2 medium zucchini 500 g, spiralized or shaved into noodle-shapes
Spaghetti cooked
Nutritional yeast
Fresh basil leaves
Vegan cheese shreds

Instructions

Make the vegan meatballs

Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C and line a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Combine ground flax and warm water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to create an egg replacement.
Add mushrooms, carrots, oats, parsley and spices to your food processor. Pulse a few times to break everything down, then add the black beans.
Process until a crumbly mixture forms, then add the soy sauce and flax egg; pulse until just incorporated.
Form the mixture into small balls with your hands. Place the meatballs onto the prepared baking sheet, making sure they are not touching each other, and roast for 20 minutes. Check after 10 minutes and flip them to ensure they bake evenly.

Make the marinara

While the meatballs are roasting, add onion, garlic and a splash of vegetable broth into a medium-sized saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
Season with salt, pepper, oregano and cayenne and cook for around 4-5 minutes, until the onions are soft and fragrant, stirring occasionally.
Add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, then stir to combine. Turn the heat down to low and let the marinara simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the meatballs are done in the oven.
Gently submerge the meatballs in the sauce and cook just until the sauce starts to bubble, around 2-3-minutes.

Serving suggestion

Serve the baked meatballs and herbed marinara over zoodles (zucchini noodles) or spaghetti and top with nutritional yeast or vegan cheese shreds. Enjoy!

Notes

You can swap black beans for kidney beans or white beans. Adding some TVP is great for more protein and chewy texture!
Make the vegan meatballs heartier by adding a handful of nuts or seeds to the food processor when making them and frying them with some oil in a skillet instead of baking them.
Any leftover black bean balls can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days and frozen for 2-3 months.
Nutrition information has automatically been calculated for the meatballs and tomato sauce only.

Nutrition