This easy No-Meat Balls (Vegan Meatballs) with Mushroom Gravy recipe is the ultimate comfort food – Serve over Mashed Potatoes for the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas or weeknight dinner!
If you’re still looking for a delicious vegan main dish that is sure to be a hit at your dinner table, look no further! These Vegan No-Meat Balls with Mushroom Gravy are not only perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas but also for any day that you’re in need of a cozy and satisfying comfort meal. They’re made from chickpeas and loaded with spices, also, roasted onions and garlic which add amazing flavors. Furthermore, when you serve these meatless meatballs with Vegan Gravy over Mashed Potatoes, they make a hearty plant-based feast that is even better than traditional meatballs.
My favorite Vegan Meatballs
Actually, I‘ve been making these No-Meat Balls for years, and it’s also one of the first vegan recipes of mine that I’ve ever shared next to Vegan Falafel. I’ve already tried different variations, changing a few things here and there to create a recipe that tastes the best to me. Anyway, I’ve discovered that it’s always really similar and very versatile. So you can switch up, and/or add more ingredients to your liking. Above all, it’s about the perfect texture, so they shouldn’t be too wet or too dry, but meaty and delicious!
Easy to make meatless Meatballs with Chickpeas
For these Vegan Meatballs, there are basically only 2 ingredients required – Chickpeas (or beans) and grains, such as (gluten-free) breadcrumbs or oats. For this recipe I decided to go with chickpeas, however, I usually use beans, such as kidney beans, black beans or white beans. Anyways, you can use whatever beans or chickpeas you have on hand. Furthermore, I like to add a flaxseed egg for better binding, however, it will also work without it. Also, I always add onions, garlic, and some spices to make them flavorful. If you’d like to add some Mushrooms for an extra meaty texture, check out my recipe for Vegan Mushroom Meatballs.
How to Make the Best Vegan Meatballs
To make these meatless meatballs the first step is to start by sautéing the onions and garlic in a pan to build flavors. Then secondly, add all the remaining ingredients for the Vegan Meatballs into the food processor or blender and pulse until combined. Then, form the mixture into balls, brush them with a little oil and bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. Optionally, you could also fry them in a pan on all sides until lightly browned before going into the oven.
Mashed Potatoes & Vegan Mushroom Gravy
While your No-Meat Balls are baking, you can boil the potatoes for the Mashed Potatoes and prepare the Vegan Mushroom Gravy. Of course, you can serve this dish without the sauce, but let’s be honest; Potatoes and Vegan Meatballs aren’t quite the same without it, are they? This Vegan Gravy is healthier than traditional gravy, so you can eat it without regrets. It also includes mushrooms which makes it more flavorful and special. If you’re not such a big mushroom fan like me, you can simply omit them.
These No-Meat Balls are very simple but so delicious! They’re also:
- Plant-based
- Healthy
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Protein-rich
- Hearty
- Satisfying
- Savory
- The perfect vegan comfort food!
Serve these No-Meat Balls with other dishes
These Vegan Meatballs not only make a great main dish with Mushroom Gravy over Mashed Potatoes but also with other sides and sauces. You can also serve them with spaghetti and tomato sauce for example, or with rice and a homemade barbecue sauce. Additionally, since these meatless balls are still small, they’re also ideal to serve as a simple side dish or snack with a cashew dip or creamy guacamole. Have fun trying this easy recipe and don’t forget to let me know if you liked it!
Vegan No-Meat Balls with Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
Author:Ingredients
No-Meat Balls:
- 1 14 oz can chickpeas (or beans) drained and rinsed
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (60 g) or gluten-free if desired
- 1 flaxseed egg* optional
- 1 tbsp oil or vegan butter
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil (or vegan butter) to brush & for frying
Mashed Potatoes:
- 2 lbs potatoes (1kg) peeled
- 2 tbsp vegan butter optional
- 1 cup plant-based milk (240 ml)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
No-Meat Balls:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (180°C).
- Prepare the flaxseed egg by stirring 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds into 2,5 tbsp hot water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan and sauté onions for about 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Then place with all remaining ingredients for the meatballs into a food processor or blender. Pulse until well chopped and combined, scrape down the sides in between.
- Form the mixture into 15 balls (it's easier with wet hands) and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the balls with a little oil and bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until lightly browned, flipping through after every 10 minutes.
Mashed Potatoes:
- Cut potatoes in quarters and cook in salted water until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Then drain, return the potatoes back to the pot. Add the butter and mash with a potato masher. Stir in the plant-based milk to your desired texture and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Mushroom Gravy:
- Heat the oil (or vegan butter) in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes until browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and roast for a further minute.
- In a jar, mix the flour (or cornstarch), soy sauce and mustard with a bit of the vegetable broth until smooth, so there are no lumps from the flour anymore.
- Then add the flour mixture to the pan along with the remaining vegetable broth.
- Stir constantly and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until it thickens up to your desired consistency, about 5 minutes. (The longer you cook, the more it thickens). Season with thyme, salt, and pepper to taste. Refine with coconut milk if you like.
- Add the no-meat balls to the gravy and stir to coat.
- Serve vegan meatballs and gravy over mashed potatoes. Enjoy!
Notes
- While the no-meat balls bake, you can cook the potatoes and prepare the gravy, so your meal is ready faster!
- You can use any (gluten-free) breadcrumbs but you'll get the best texture when using panko breadcrumbs.
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Hi, Bianca. Just wanted to say that your recipes are awesome! I’ve made many of them and they are always a success. I made the meatballs, mash and gravy today and it was so good! You are amazing, thanks for this website and your awesome skills! Xx
Thank you so much for your amazing feedback 🙂
I’m very happy to hear that you love my recipes!
Greetings,
Bianca ♡
Love this recipe. It was fun to make the no-meat-balls. And I was happy when they came out the oven smelling and looking good! The mushroom gravy is delicious. I will definetly make it again 🙂
Hi Mandy,
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Thanks for your lovely feedback! 🙂
Much love,
Bianca <3
Is this canned coconut milk or regular coconut milk?
Thank you!
canned! 🙂
Our meatballs weren‘t as pretty as Bianca‘s but it tasted great. We recently started cooking vegan and your recipes make it real easy. It takes us longer than you predict to prepare/cook the food but it totally worth it. I ate so much, I could barely walk 😂
Thanks for preparing a perfect recipe 😘
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you so much! ❤️
We loooooove the recipe, I recently got the book and this was the first recipe to try. The gravy is incredible, yet so simple. Even my boys started to like mushrooms after trying it in the sauce😍
I made the gravy and meatballs 2 times in less then a week, this is going to be one of our favorite dinners since we all went vegan in November – amazing to have such good food without any animalproducts 🥰 thank you for your delicious and quick to cook recipes❤️
Hi Janet, so glad you love my cookbook and the recipes you’ve already tried! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! 🙂
Love to hear that your boys love mushrooms now! 🙂 Lots of love to you! ❤️
Followed this recipe exactly and it was amazing!!! Made it three times already and can’t get enough. Delicious!
So glad that you liked it! Thank you so much! 🙂
I made this tonight for dinner. I used store bought no-meat balls because I had them on hand, but I’ve got to say this is the best mushroom gravy I’ve every made. It will definitely become my go-to recipe. Thanks!
Making it easier is also fine 😀 So glad that you liked the sauce. Thank you so much ?
Hi Bianca,
Would love to make these no-meat meatballs and wanted to ask if can substitute panko breadcrumbs to cornflakes – due wheat intolerance.
Many thanks for help and sharing recipes
Emilia
Hi Emilia,
yes sure, you can do that!
Have fun trying 🙂
I made this recipe for New Year Eve and everybody like it ! We love mashrooms and the falafels was really good ! This recipe is perfect, but with more sauce it will have be more yummy. I will do it again, thanks for the recipe Bianca !
So glad that you liked this recipe! ?
Thank you for your feedback!
Lots of love,
Bianca
These No-Meatballs were fantastic!! Thanks for sharing all your amazing recipes!??
So glad that you liked it!
Thank you 🙂
Much Love,
Bianca
I love vegan meatballs! Yours look so delicious. And the gravy looks super tasty as well.
Much love, Ela
Thank you, Ela!
So glad that you like them too.?
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️