These vegan, Lentil Meatballs with Coconut Curry Sauce are truly delicious! Infused with fragrant Indian spices, they are healthy and full of flavor. Vegan and Gluten Free! Video.
These flavorful vegan, Lentil Meatballs are served over a fragrant Indian-spiced Coconut Curry Sauce. The aroma will drench your kitchen in goodness. The lentil meatballs are baked, rather than fried – so they remain relatively low in fat. Served with basmati rice or a salad, this meal is hearty, healthy and delicious. I also just learned… it also won BEST vegan recipe over at Food 52!
Lentil Meatballs | 60-second Video
Lentil Meatball Ingredients
- Black lentils (uncooked) -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.
- fennel seeds
- Quinoa
- Kosher salt
- granulated garlic
- cilantro
- firm tofu
- olive oil
Indian Coconut Curry Sauce:
- garlic
- ginger
- fresh turmeric (or ground turmeric )
- olive oil
- fresh tomato
- Fenugreek leaves – truly elevate! Use fresh or dried. Note: Fenugreek seeds are a different flavor.
- 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!
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, form, into ping-pong-sized balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake the lentil meatballs in the oven for 20-22 minutes.
While they are in the oven make the coconut curry sauce. I highly recommend making a double batch of the sauce!
Place lentil meatballs over the sauce and sprinkle with cilantro.
What to serve with Lentil Meatballs?
- Basmati rice
- Naan Bread
- Indian Spinach Salad
- Palak Paneer
- Bombay Carrot Salad
- Authentic Chai!
- Chai Cookies!
Enjoy the Lentil Meatballs- let us know what you think in the comments below.
xoxo
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Lentil Meatballs with Indian Coconut Curry Sauce
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 15 lentil balls
- Category: Vegan, Main
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Ingredients
Lentil Meatballs:
- 1 cup black caviar lentils (uncooked) Sub green lentils or brown lentils ( see notes)
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1/3 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
- spray olive oil
Coconut Curry Sauce: ( If you like extra saucy, double the recipe)
- 1– 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic- finly minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh turmeric, grated (or 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric )
- 1 extra large tomato, finely diced, with juices
- 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (FYI: this is different, and better than fenugreek seeds)
- 14-ounce can full fat coconut milk (not lite)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, more to taste
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the lentils. On high heat, bring lentils and fennel seeds to a boil in a small pot with 3 cups water. Cover, turn heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender, 15-25 minutes, depending on their size. Drain well, pat dry.
- Cook the quinoa. On high heat, bring quinoa to a boil in a small pot with 1 cup of water. Cover, turn heat to medium-low, simmer for 15 minutes, until all the water is gone, turn the heat off, and leave covered.
- Make the coconut curry 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 ( fresh turmeric root, or ground) sauté 1 more minute. Add diced tomato, and sauté until most of the juices evaporate, about 5-8 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, fenugreek leaves, lime juice, brown sugar, salt, cayenne and pepper. Taste for salt. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat until ready to serve.
- Make the vegan lentil meatballs. Pre-heat oven to 400F. In a food processor, place the cooked quinoa, and half of the drained lentils (see notes) and pulse until the texture of coarse sand—place in a large bowl. Add the remaining lentils, salt, granulated garlic, and chopped cilantro to the bowl and mix well.
- In the same food processor (no need to rinse) add the tofu (blotted well, broken apart) and olive oil. The tofu will bind the mixture and oil will keep them from drying out. Pulse tofu and oil until a smooth creamy paste, scraping down the sides as necessary. Scoop it into the lentil mixture and mix it all well.
- Form meatballs: Prepare a parchment-lined baking sheet. With your hands, knead lentil mixture briefly so it’s thoroughly mixed and salt and spices are evenly distributed. With wet hands ( or small cookie scoop) form small ping-pong-sized balls. Spray with a little spray olive oil.
- Bake! Place the meatballs on a parchement-lined baking sheet and place in the 400 F oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Assemble: Warm the sauce gently in the pan and place lentil meatballs in the sauce, and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. To freeze, freeze meatballs separately from the sauce on a sheet pan. Once frozen, they should be ok in a zip-lock freezer bag. Full disclosure. These are quite tender and prone to crumbling after they thaw.
Double the sauce for extra saucy! Most people are enjoying this doubled. 🙂
TIP: If using large brown lentils, blend them all with the quinoa for better binding! I like leaving some of the tiny black lentils whole ( for texture and looks) but this doesn’t work as well with big brown lentils.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 lentil balls
- Calories: 295
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 244.4 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 40.2 g
- Fiber: 6.8 g
- Protein: 18.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I’ve made this dish several times and I just love it. I’ve even left out the fenugreek when I didn’t have any and it was still delicious. It’s perfect for these chilly Fall days.
thanks Angie! Appreciate your feedback and glad you are enjoying it!
Oh my goodness, I never leave comments on anything but this was absolutely delicious! The “meatballs” held together beautifully and got nice and crispy in the oven (about 35mins in our crappy oven at 205C). You definitely can’t taste the tofu, not that I’d mind as I love tofu. I added more salt and garlic to the meatball mixture than this recipe, but that might be my tastebuds. I also used two tomatoes and a tiny bit more lime juice. I’m in Australia and couldn’t find these lentils anywhere so I used the small black/green French style ones and they worked great. Depending on how you’re eating this (by which I mean, my partner had it with rice which I think he drenched in sauce) you might find the sauce-to-meatball ratio a bit small. It’s a rich and delicious sauce, but we definitely will have to skimp on it to make it last the rest of the balls (but as I said, could just be we got too greedy with it!). Thank you for this recipe, I will absolutely be making it again! 😀
Hi Robert, thanks! I’m so glad you enjoyed these- thanks for your feedback, always appreciated! I will make a note to double the sauce in the recipe. 🙂 All the best to you!!!
Oh man. I love how decadent yet simple these are!
How long do you think these babies would keep in the fridge and freezer, respectively? If I wanted to freeze them, should I bake them first? This recipe looks so delicious.
Ok for few days in the fridge, and ok to freeze but they may get crumbly when you take them out? I would bake first. ?
5 STARS! Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Thanks Juliana! Glad you enjoyed!
Love this dish! Have just made it as part of Vegetarian November (not a real thing, of course). We loved it. Fab flavour. Thank you!
Oh GOOD! I love it too, makes me so happy that others are enjoying it. 🙂
These sound absolutely delicious! I do have a question for you? My husband absolutely cannot stand coconut of any kind….is there anything else I can substitute the coconut milk with?
Do you want to keep them vegan Shari? Cream would work.
Thank you, vegetarian options would be ok too. I was wondering if a tomato base would be optional. Maybe diced tomatoes?
Sure, try it! let me know how it turns out!
I sure will! And thank you!
Are the lentils meant to be cooked before putting them in the meatball ?
Yes! Make sure to read the instructions all the through before starting! ?
I read the recipe through..where oh where does it say cook the lentils? It designates that they are measure uncooked – as was the Quinoa. It then says mix the quinoa (cooked) and 1/2 the lentils..no where does it say cooked – except in a picture not attached to the actual recipe..I am pulsing dried lentils and cooked Quinoa *until texture of course sand* which made sense if they were in fact dried..but now I have a wierd cooked/uncooked combo that is impossible to eat!!! Sad – I had to order take out 🙁
Hi Wiley, In steps 1 and 2 of instructions it shows how to cook the lentils and quinoa. Sometimes in printing recipes with multiple pages, steps get cut off between pages. I’m so sorry about that. Do you see it now? I see how frustrating this would be.
Plantains!!! or bananas!!! are an excellent binder to use as sub for the tofu. they mesh in with the theme and taste very well!! and most defiantly still vegan! 😉
I am sure you can use eggs, but have not personally tried it. If I were to guess, 1-2 eggs, and you may need add some soft bread crumbs. I would start with one beaten egg, and check the consistency, and see if it sticks together. Add more if necessary. Another idea would be to puree some of the cooked lentils into a think paste. ( perhaps cook an extra cup) I bet the pureed lentils would act as a binder. Any Lentil would work, green, puy, brown as long as the husks are not removed. Remember cooking times will vary from lentil to lentil. Please let me know what you do and how it turns out! I’m curious! Thanks for the questions.
Hi Sylvia, I tried out this recipe and it came out amazing! Just wanted to let you know that this was recipe was a stroke of creative genius 🙂 You can see my post about it here. http://eatpretty.weebly.com/real-food/lentil-meatballs-with-black-soba-noodles-and-fenugreek-coconut-sauce
Thanks!
1 tsp of salt for the meat balls was too much. Otherwise an original recipe.
Thanks for the heads up. Just curious, what kind of salt did you use? I use kosher salt, which is less “salty” than sea salt or table salt. I do like things a bit on the the salty side though 🙂
Lentil Meatballs with Indian Fenugreek Sauce are extraordinarily toothsome. I love to relish them on weekends. Thanks for sharing post.
I made this today and the flavor is amazing! I will definitely be making this again. I’m not a tofu fan either but you can’t even tell it’s in there. The meatballs took longer than 20 minutes to bake but they may have been larger than called for perhaps that’s why. Thanks for a great vegan recipe. I’m on the hunt for more of them.
These look awesome. Any substitution ideas for the tofu? Thanks.
I am not a huge fan of eating tofu. Any suggestions on something else I could use to help it bind? Thanks!
Thats a great question. Do you want it to remain vegan, or are eggs ok?
I love the visual beauty of this dish. The creativity that went into it is also amazing. Love, love your blog.
Thanks Penny!!
Hello. I found this site looking for a tahini sauce recipe. My compliments for the wonderful photos and recipes. Greetings from Italy
Eugenia
Ciao Eugenia!
Just came across your site via foodgawker as your photo caught my eye. Love your site, recipes and photography! Excited to try these.
I have just stumbled across your beautiful site (via this recipe on Foodgawker) – so many delicious recipes! I have been pinning like crazy 😉
These sound so good, and such gorgeous photography. I’m looking forward to shooting some weddings this year…wish you’d be there catering them!
Ah… thanks Grace!!
This looks so tasty! I love veggie meatballs, can’t wait to give this recipe a whirl 🙂
What a beautiful post! I love that you instill secret wishes of happiness and joy in the weddings you cater! That’s so lovely 🙂 This dish looks amazing too, though I’ve never before seen fenugreek leaves. I wonder if some fenugreek seeds could be ground up and added, maybe?
I think that could work, or just leave out the leaves all together!
Oh my goodness that sauce looks divine! I’m actually eating lentil-quinoa “meatballs” right now – they fell apart hence the quotations. Smart idea with the tofu, I’ll try that next time!
I love making homemade meatballs! This recipe looks lovely.