Vegan Lentil Meatballs | 45-second video
What lentils to use?
I adore these little Black Caviar lentils because of their petite size, their dark color and rich earthy flavor. They are meaty little guys, who hold their shape after cooking, and take only 20 -25 minutes to cook. But feel free to use brown lentils or green lentils. Any whole lentils will work great here- just do not use split lentils.
Ingredients you’ll need
Lentil Meatballs:
- Black lentils (uncooked) -Sub green or brown lentils, just not “split” lentils
- fennel seeds
- quinoa
- kosher salt
- granulated garlic
- cilantro
- firm tofu
- olive oil
Coconut Curry Fenugreek Sauce:
- garlic
- ginger
- fresh turmeric (or ground turmeric )
- olive oil
- fresh tomato
- dried fenugreek leaves
- coconut milk (not lite)
- lime juice
- salt, pepper seasonings
TIP: Dried fenugreek leaves truly elevate this dish! We use them often here on the blog- so they won’t go to waste!
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How to make Lentil Meatballs
- Cooked Lentils and cooked quinoa are mixed with cilantro, garlic and spices.
- Tofu is whipped in a food processor into a thick paste, and acts as the binder here. fold this into the lentil quinoa mixture.
- With wet hands, roll into ping-pong-sized balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
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- Bake the lentil meatballs for 20 minutes. While they are in the oven make the coconut curry sauce.
Place lentil meatballs over the sauce and sprinkle with cilantro.
What to serve with Indian Lentil Meatballs?
- Basmati rice
- Naan Bread
- Indian Spinach Salad
- Palak Paneer
- Bombay Carrot Salad
- Authentic Chai!
- Chai Cookies!
Enjoy the Vegan Lentil Meatballs- let us know what you think in the comments below.
Print
Vegan Lentil Meatballs with Indian Coconut Curry Sauce
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: Vegan, Main
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Indian
Description
Ingredients
Vegan Lentil Meatballs:
- 1 cup black caviar lentils (uncooked) Sub green or brown lentils, just not “split” lentils
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- ½ cup quinoa ( uncooked)
- ———
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- ⅓ Cup chopped cilantro
- 6 oz firm tofu, pressed down ( to release water) and patted dry – this acts as the binder ( do not use silken tofu)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Coconut Curry Fenugreek Sauce: ( if you like extra saucy, double the recipe)
- 4 cloves garlic- minced
- 1 T fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tsp fresh turmeric, grated (or ½ teaspoon ground turmeric )
- 1– 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 extra large tomato, finely diced, with juices
- 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
- 1 13.5 oz coconut milk (not lite)
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt, more to taste
- ¼ tsp cayenne, more to taste
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
1. On high heat, bring lentils and fennel seeds to a boil in a small pot with 3 cups water. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer 25 minutes. Drain well.
2. On high heat, bring quinoa to boil in a small pot with 1 cup water. Cover, turn heat to low, simmer 15 minutes, turn heat off, leave covered.
3. Make the sauce. In a skillet or saute pan, over medium heat, saute garlic and ginger in olive oil, until just golden, stirring often to prevent scorching. Add turmeric ( root, or ground) sauté 1 more minute. Add diced tomato, sauté until most of the juices evaporate about 5-8 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, fenugreek leaves, lime, brown sugar, salt, cayenne and pepper. Taste for salt. Bring to a simmer, then turn off heat until ready to serve.
4.Make the vegan lentil meatballs. Pre-heat oven to 400F. In a food processor, place the cooked quinoa, and half of the lentils, and pulse until texture of coarse sand. Place in a large bowl. Add the remaining lentils, salt, granulated garlic, chopped cilantro to the bowl and mix well.
In the same food processor add the tofu (blotted well, borken apart) and 1 T olive oil. (The tofu will bind the mixture and oil will keep them from drying out.) Pulse tofu and oil until a smooth paste, scraping down the sides as necessary. Scoop it into the lentil mixture and mix it in well.
Prepare a parchment lined baking sheet. With your hands, kneed lentil mixture briefly so it’s thoroughly mixed and salt and spices are evenly distributed. With wet hands form small ping pong sized balls. Place on baking sheet and place in the 400 F oven for 20-25 minutes.
5.Warm the sauce and place lentil meatballs in the sauce, and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
Makes 14-16 meatballs.
Double the sauce for extra saucy!
Keywords: vegan meatballs, lentil meatballs, veggie balls, indian lentil meatballs, the best vegan meatballs, the best lentil balls, vegan meatball recipes, lentil meatball recipes
I have made these and absolutely love them. Can I make the balls a few days a head of serving? If so – do you recommend storing them cooked or uncooked. ( I am having company and we will be out the entire day so want everything as prepped as possible!!)
Hi Rebecca, I would make the lentil dough ahead,refrigerate, then roll and bake the day of.
Amazing! Sauce is great! Will be making extra and using in different recipes for sure! Had to use brown lentils bc making on the fly, but still enjoyed SO much! Thank you!
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed these!
My first attempt at any kind of vegan meatball. This was fantastic! Thanks again for another fantastic recipe!
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Great to hear Jo!
Your so hot and so is your cooking!
★★★★★
This might be my favorite recipe ever. I have made so many of your recipes, Sylvia, and I have yet to be disappointed! This, however, is just so absolutely delicious. Thank you for doing what you do 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome Sarah!
Is there anything you can suggest to replace the tofu? Looks yummy!
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Hi Janelle- I’m sorry, I have not tried this without the tofu which acts as the binder here, so would be guessing at this point. If you are not vegan, brown rice, egg, may work but you’d have to play with it.
I just made this recipe and relied pretty heavily on people’s comments and experiences so thought I’d chime in. First, the black lentils are essential in my mind. If you can’t find them in your local store then order them online and wait. I can’t imagine brown lentils providing that same texture and interest. Second, my tofu expired before I got around to using it and we don’t keep eggs in the house so I substituted flax soaked in water and it worked like a charm. I used it sparingly because I didn’t want it to make the texture slimy. For the sauce – I couldn’t find fenugreek leaves even at our speciality store and so I ended up subbing with a 1/2t fenugreek seeds, 1/2t mustard seeds, and then used maple syrup instead of brown sugar. While I really missed the original intent, it was still delicious. Thank you for this amazing recipe (and frankly for all of your vegan recipes – they’ve all been over the top amazing).
★★★★★
thanks Sara!
With what can I replace the quinoa? I dont have any and dont want to go put just for that!!
Cooked Brown Rice? I haven’t tried but suspect it should work.
Just finished making this and wow this is so good! Sauce is amazing and my meatballs turned out perfectly! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I doubled the sauce too. Will definitely be making this again. 10/10
★★★★★
I don’t think this recipe is all that. Sauce was nice but far too sweet, the balls took over double the time to cook and still mushy and not very tasty. This sounded right up my street and I’m disappointed because the reviews were all amazing but I won’t be cooking again
★★
Sorry this didn’t work for you Chloe.
The carnivore boyfriend was skeptical, but when we took the first bite of these meatballs we were in LOVE!!! They were so tender and moist (and wonderfully light, mysteriously somehow?) without the claggy texture I’ve gotten from lentil/bean meatballs in the past, and I was eating the sauce straight from the pan after supper. I’ll be making these again soon and doubling the batch so we’ll have enough for another full meal. To those reading: I wish I’d doubled the sauce as she suggests, since we ended up with more meatball than sauce, after serving with rice. I also bought the type of lentil she suggests, and it was so very worth it, as they are really delicious.
★★★★★
Great to hear!
Does the nutritional information include the sauce? Thanks, this was DELICIOUS!
Yes, it does!
where did you find the info!
★★★★★
I love all your vegan recips but this one is a favourite. Sometimes the lentil balls go a bit mushy when added to the sauce. Still taste great but wondered is it essential to cook in the oven or could they be added directly to the sauce?? Thank you for all the inspiration ❤️
★★★★★
That should be fine Carmel! Try it.
I’m back again 3 years later to rave about this sauce.
I’ve made big batches of it and frozen it for later use, it thaws beautifully.
I’ve never used the meatball recipe again but we’ve used the sauce as a methi malai matter, we used it with cauliflower or potatoes, we’ve used it with spinach and paneer…
My husband is from Sri Lanka so we jazz it up with chilies, cumin and garam masala, but when our (white like me) friends come over we make it true to the recipe.
I will say this sauce is so much better with fresh fenugreek, but even just the dried is awesome. I know fresh fenugreek is hard to find in some places.
★★★★★
The coconut curry sauce was great, but the meatballs were mushy and bland. I cooked for longer than recommended to try and firm them up, but it didn’t work.
★★★
Hummmm, something seems off here. Sorry it didn’t work for you.
Hey having trouble finding fenugreek leaves. Just wondering what a possible substitute would be?
I would just leave them out. No substitution really.
What about using dried fenugreek?
Yes, that is what I used. 🙂
Just made it for a first time, substituted tofu for 1 whole egg. Turned out perfect, flavours are epic!!! It will be one of my regular recipes to make. Thank you sooo much 🌺💝
★★★★★
Just made this for dinner and I think it’s one of the best recipes I’ve ever made! I doubled the sauce and my boyfriend said I should’ve tripled it because he loved it so much 🙂 It sort of reminded us of Malai Kofta we’ve had at restaurants. Delicious!!
★★★★★
Hi! I was wondering if you think cumin seed would be a good substitute for the fennel seed? Thanks!
I think it would be fine- but fennel better. 🙂
Any suggestions on how to make the meatballs more moist. They came out very dry. I was thinking of using chickpea water to act like an egg.
★★★★
Hi Sahara- did you add the blended tofu? That really seems to help. 🙂
INCREDIBLE! The “meatballs” came out even better than I expected. Crispy and delicious.
Next time I’d try a different sauce though.
★★★★★
I just made this and it is wonderful! I love the medling of flavors. Enjoying every bite. Will definately be making again. Thank you!
★★★★★
where is the curry in the sauce?
The spices in the sauce create the “curry” here. 🙂
Hello! We are gluten and soy free, so i was thinking of using flax eggs as a binder in place of tofu. Do you think it will work?
Haven’t tried this with flax eggs, so not sure. Sorry.
Can you prepare lentil balls ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze? Want to make lots for a party! How long will sauce keep areter preparing?
Suace will keep 3-4 days. Not sure how the lentil balls would hold together after freezing, but you could make ahead and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
This was amazing!! I added some chopped spinach to the sauce and put it over cauliflower rice for some extra veggies. I didn’t have tofu so used one egg and breadcrumbs and the “meatballs” held up perfectly! Your recipes are so delicious! My husband and I can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow 😋
★★★★★
Thanks so much Katie- appreciate this! Glad the egg and bread crumbs worked!
Great recipe, great flavors!
★★★★★
The taste of notte the lentil balls and he sauce are good. But after 40 min in oven the inside Of the balls was still mush. I made 25 meatballs from the 1x recipe above and that was with them being pretty sizeable. If I made them golf size I would have had 33/34. What should the inside look like??? I figure it’s okay since all the ingredients were cooked ahead of time but still would be helpful to know. Plus there’s no way to search your comments to know if someone else had this problem.
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Something is off with the measurements. I’m stumped here, sorry.