These gluten-free and vegan eggplant meatballs are made with the cleanest and simplest of common pantry ingredients. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and a perfect complement to a bowl of pasta, buddha bowl or eggplant parm sub!
There are some recipes that come to me easy. Then there are recipes that take me many, many tries. These vegan eggplant meatballs fall in the latter category but they were definitely worth the extra efforts because holy cow, they came out perfect!
Eggplant can be a tough veggie to work with. Sometimes eggplant comes out too tough, too dry, too stiff. On the other hand, eggplant comes out too soggy, too wet, too inconsistent. It also drinks up liquid which compounds the difficulty even more. It’s very temperamental but don’t you worry! I’ve got you covered with these meatless eggplant meatballs. I’m going to share my tips and tricks with you guys for making these wonderful eggplant bites.
Tricks of the Trade
First, I roasted my eggplant because it truly does make a difference in bringing out the flavor. I’ve attempted these both roasted and non-roasted and I can confidently say they don’t taste great if you don’t take the time to roast them.
Second, I opted to use rolled oats instead of traditional flour or breadcrumbs. In my previous attempts, I used 3 different kinds of flours and each time, the meatballs came out dry and bland. The recipe calls for 1.5 cups of pulsed rolled oats so you’ll need closer to 2 cups of rolled oats to start with.
Third, I added 2 rather non-traditional (yet common household) ingredients to help keep them chewy and soft rather than dry and cotton-like.
Fourth, it’s important you have a food processor. I use the Kitchenaid Food processor. I’ve also tried these chunky without great results. They end up tough in the middle and don’t roll as well. They also tend to bake slightly unevenly. If you don’t have a food processor, get ready to put in some serious elbow grease!
An important step is pulsing the walnuts and the oats in a food processor. It’s important you don’t grind them into a flour but rather, pulse to a crumble leaving some of the ingredient in tact. This helps maintain the chewiness and moisture in the meatball.
There are so many ways to eat eggplant meatballs: in pasta, in a eggplant parm sub, as part of a buddha bowl, and more. This recipe makes about 20 – 24 1 inch meatballs. I use a cookie scoop to scoop the batter evenly and then roll into little balls.
Vegan Eggplant Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 6-8" eggplants
- 3 oz mushrooms shiitake is preferable
- 1/3 cup walnuts, pulsed
- 3-5 cloves of minced garlic
- 1.5 cups rolled oats, pulsed
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 flax eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a baking sheet.
- Rinse and dry your eggplant and mushrooms. Slice off the ends of the eggplant; do not peel off the skin. Then slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds. Then cube it.
- Add cubed eggplant and mushrooms to a bowl. Add 1/3 cup olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix until well coated. Then spread the eggplant cubes and mushrooms on your sheet pan in one layer ( don't let them lay ontop of each other).
- Roast eggplant and mushrooms for 15 minutes.
- While the eggplant is roasting, make your flax eggs and set aside.
- In your food processor, pulse the oats and walnuts separately. Do not grind into a flour. Pulse until a crumble or breadcrumb texture. Set aside.
- When the eggplant and mushrooms are finished roasting, turn the oven down to 400 and set the pan on the oven to cool for a few minutes.
- After a few minutes, add the eggplant and mushrooms to your food processor. Pulse for a minute or two until well incorporated.
- Add the rest of your ingredients to the food processor: walnuts, oats, 2 tbsps olive oil, salt and pepper (I did 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp pepper), oregano, basil, onion powder, fresh parsley leaves, lemon zest, and the flax eggs. Pulse until well incorporated and smooth. The batter should not be chunky.
- Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, roll 1 inch balls and place them on the sheet pan. You should get about 20 – 24 1 inch balls.
- Bake for 25 minutes, flipping at the 20 minute mark.
Notes
Did you make this? Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thewholescoopblog
