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
- Diet: Vegan
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
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
This was my first attempt at a fully Vegan meal I searched high and low for the Black lentils and Fenugreek leaves, I was glad I made the effort. A delicious meal! If all vegan meals are like this my transition will be easier than I thought.
Thanks
Tracy
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed!
This was the best vegan dish I have ever made and my first vegan meatballs as well! The meatballs are so surprisingly “meaty” from a consistency perspective. The sauce is comforting and warm. I added a touch of garlic and onion powder to the sauce for added flavor. Another winner from this site!
★★★★★
Awesome- thanks so much!
Excellent recipe. Family raved over it.
★★★★★
Great to hear Ken!
Hi Sylvia, the recipe is fantastic, except that I confused about the balls. In the video, it shows 24 balls. These are the size of ping-pong balls as you recommend. Yet in the recipe it says to makes 14 to 16 balls. I first made those balls and they are more the size of small tennis balls.. So how many balls should the recipe make?
★★★★★
Hi Evie- it has been such a long time since I’ve made these- I can’t remember, I’m sorry! I want to say around 16-18 ping-pong-sized balls. I would aim for ping pong-sized, they will hold together better when small like that. 🙂
Thanks, I shared them with a friend, who loved them. Definitely double the sauce.
Perfect Evie!
First, want you to know, I’m LOVING reading your recipes, salivating as I go. My question on this one: is there a substitute for the tofu? I’m not vegan. In fact, is there a usual sub for pressed tofu as a binder? Can I use eggs (one or two?) or chia or flax?
So happy I found you!
Hi Judy, I think you can sub something else like eggs and bread crumbs- but I haven’t tried so not sure of the amounts. Feel free to give it a whirl! The tofu, even if you are not vegan works really well here- and is undetectable in the finished dish. I prefer it. 🙂
This was very good! Def double the sauce. It’s so good. Paired qirh farro and roasted broccoli. I only had brown/green lentils, and I will def try this again with beluga. I didn’t have Fenugreek or fennel seeds, and it was still great. I added Garam masala to the meatball mixture. My carnivore hubby gave it an 8 out of 10 (huge win).
★★★★
Awesome Jenni!
This was delicious! I used precooked lentils from Trader Joes and put it in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes to dry it out a bit. I doubled the sauce and added about 5 oz. of chopped kale to get some greens. I ate it with pita but I think rice would be better to sop up the sauce. I will be making it again!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed it!
Loved this recipe ! So flavorful . Would you suggest freezing uncooked or cooked meatballs for leftovers ?
★★★★★
Great question. I think I would freeze them cooked. But haven’t tried, so guessing here Nikolina!
hi Sylvia, I have made this for my family of 5.
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Great Patrick! Glad this worked for you!
It’s a curry dish, but doesn’t call for curry, is that correct?
Yes, Terryl you make the curry blend with the spices.
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.
Perfect!! Thanks:)!
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!
★★★★★
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!
★★★★★
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.