Spicy White Bean-TVP “Meatballs”

Saturday night I had white bean meatballs at Haven.  Sunday I was obsessed. I needed to make my own.

JL’s Spicy White Bean-TVP “Meatballs”
Makes 10 – 12 meatballs
PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cup cooked (or canned) white beans (I cooked my beans in the rice cooker with a clove of minced garlic, two dashes of thyme and 1 part vegetable stock and 3 parts water.)
  • 1/2 cup TVP
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed
  • 2 T sesame seeds
  • 2 T stone ground wheat flour
  • 1 t salt
  • 2 T nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 t sweet basil
  • 1 t thyme
  • 1 t Sriracha

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 375F
  • Re-hydrate TVP in 1/2 cup of vegetable stock (for about 10 minutes)
  • Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to desired consistency
  • Spoon about 1.5 tablespoons of mixture per meatball, rolling in the palm of your hands.
  • Place meatballs on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, turn, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  • Let meatballs sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

While the “meatballs” were baking I prepared a buckwheat pasta and a simple marinara sauce (fire roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste concentrate, a splash of water, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of sea salt and a dash of oregano).

I loved this dish!  Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

I should have tried to make 10 -12 meatballs but I was thinking big.  I suggest you scoop about 1 tablespoon of the mixture per meatball. With that, you may need to keep an eye on them and/or reduce the heat in the oven to 350.

The meatballs passed the “omni” test, too.  My omnivore husband, who on Sunday evening either makes his own big (meat-based) meal or orders in pizza, decided to have what I was having.  Victory! P.S.  The meatballs reheat great — enjoy them as leftovers!

Do you have a favorite vegan “meatball” recipe? Feel free to share links!

 

10 thoughts on “Spicy White Bean-TVP “Meatballs””

  1. Yum!  I have a kind of strange, but good one… I use my 3 Ingredients Veggie Burger Mix and basically nuke it til it’s dead to dry it out, then reconstitute it in sauce..  http://melomeals.blogspot.com/2011/01/frugan-3-ingredient-veggie-burger.html  kind of strange, but it works really well. 

  2. i would love to find an ideal vegan meatball–hoping this might be it….i have been dying to find a TVP alternative, because i love the texture, but not crazy about the process in which it’s made (and it might be that i don’t understand the process very well–maybe you do?) but i might freeze a block of tofu, then defrost to get that spongy texture, then dehydrate, and then pulse in the cuisinart to get a TVP like product……..putting an extra block of tofu on my list right now….i’ll let you know how it turns out….

  3. Those look very good.  I haven’t found a “meat” ball recipe I like…so I will have to give this one a whirl.  My omnivore husband has a requirement that they be hearty like real meat.  I have my fingers crossed.  Thanks for the recipe!

Comments are closed.