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Maybe lentils don't exactly have the sexiest reputation. They're not out here getting cookbook deals or showing up on luxury restaurant menus with a little microgreen hat on. But these vegan lentil meatballs? In under 15 minutes of hands-on prep time, they're about to completely change what you think a lentil is capable of.
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
Swap in gluten-free breadcrumbs for the regular ones, tamari is already doing the soy sauce job here, so that's the only change needed.
Air fry these instead of oven baking, 14-16 minutes and you're done instead of standing around the stove.
Dried lentils are one of the cheapest ingredients out there, so this whole dinner costs next to nothing to make from scratch.
Bake these instead of frying, they still come out golden and crisp without needing a skillet full of oil.
Nutritional yeast is the only slightly offbeat item here, and it's sold in most regular grocery stores now.
This isn't vegan chopped liver you are making here. A few short pulses is all it takes fam. You want the lentils mostly broken down but still with some texture.
Plain water gets the job done technically but it's leaving so much flavor on the table. Vegetable stock turns the whole thing up a notch.
If frying, give your meatless meatballs personal space in that skillet otherwise they steam instead of fry and you lose the crispy exterior.
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
Now let's address the struggle bus before it even pulls into the station. A lot of lentil meatball recipes out there either crumble like they are made out of age-old particle board, or turn into dense little blobs.
The trick is balancing moisture, binder, and extra flavor so you get something that holds together but still feels like a legit tender meatball that your non-veg dinner guests aren't going to clown you over.
Sure, marinara over spaghetti is the forever classic and she never misses, but serve lentil meatballs over vegan carbonara or vegan pesto pasta, and they go crazy well too. Heck, they are mighty rad as the meatball of choice in your vegan Italian wedding soup bowl toozlers. Whichever direction you go pleaseee get some vegan garlic bread involved for sauce mopping purposes because skipping that step is genuinely a tragedy I cannot be part of.
Oh wow. These little balls of yum are ….yummy. Cooked them in airfryer. Then made the gravy from Swedish meatball recipe. Recommend! Thanks Chef Adam.
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🥰 Why you'll adore this lentil meatballs recipe
✊ Vegan AF: Like all my vegan Italian recipes, this one leaves beef where is belongs (inside someone else's living body). The cows are out there somewhere having a completely normal Tuesday with zero idea how good dinner turned out without them.
🛒 So Cheap to Make It's Almost Embarrassing: Dried lentils are genuinely one of the cheapest ingredients on the planet. The fact that this dinner tastes THIS good with simple ingredients is honestly a little embarrassing for expensive ingredients everywhere.
😌 Even a Distracted Cook Can Nail This: Cook the lentils, dump everything in a food processor, roll into lentil balls, bake them until firm and golden. If you can press a button and roll something between your palms, you are already overqualified.
🌾 Easily Gluten-Free Too: One single swap is literally all it takes, grab gluten-free breadcrumbs instead of regular ones, and these easy lentil meatballs are completely gluten-free
Tested and Approved Worldwide: All my vegan recipes survived the full American Gladiator-style trials of over 1,000 home cooks before it made it anywhere near you.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🫘 Lentil Meatballs Ingredients
The Lentils
Brown lentils are really the perfect thing for these, and have the right color too. But green lentils work as a swap too.
Anyway, brown ones are the same that I use in my vegan lasagna and Moroccan lentils so you might already have some lurking in your pantry if you are a regular on this site.
Vegetable Stock
Lentils are basically flavor sponges and they deserve better than plain water, honestly. Unsalted store-bought is low-key impossible to find, so if you aren't going to make some yourself, grab low sodium stock and just go a little easy on the tamari when you get there.
Nutritional Yeast
Grated vegan parmesan cheese works as a sub but either powdered or flake-style nooch is an easy way to pack more umami in these. Tbh I put this stuff in everything; my vegan Italian sausage, vegan pepperoni, and vegan chicken parm all depend on it heavily.
The Soy Sauce
Tamari is the gluten free friendly option here so if you're keeping things GF make sure you reach for that specifically. Regular soy sauce works perfectly fine otherwise and coconut aminos are a fine if you want to make them soy-free.
The Breadcrumbs
I always make these with panko when I've got it because the texture is just noticeably better and less bready and dense. GF bread crumbs work almost exactly the same, and gluten-free panko is out there somewhere if you squint hard enough at the internet.
Marinara Sauce
Your favorite marinara sauce in a jar is totally fine and I will never judge you for it but my quick vegan pasta sauce with these veggie meatballs is just a whole different level of delish and worth the extra 20 minutes. Pesto geek? My spinach pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, walnut pesto, and pistachio pesto all go absolutely slappadocious over these too, just saying.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯 Variations
Tofu Meatballs
These tofu meatballs are lighter in texture than the lentil ones but equally as saucy and satisfying over pasta.
Chickpea Meatballs
Hearty, slightly crumbly, and packed with Calabrian chilies, these walnut chickpea meatballs have a ton of attitude and vibe.
Black Bean Meatballs
Obviously, black beans and walnuts are the base for these gluten-free vegan meatballs. Super-nice over greens with some vegan bolognese.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖 How to make lentil meatballs
Craving lentil meatballs like right now, immediately, yesterday? Scroll on down to the printable recipe card. But if you want the full VIP breakdown with tips that'll make these turn out perfect every single time, stick around because we're getting into it.
Step One
Words of Wisdom, Lentil It Be:
Combine the lentils and vegetable stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer over low heat, cover, and cook for 26 minutes until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Remove from heat, keep covered, and let cool completely for about 30 minutes.
Step Two
Purple Drain:
After the lentils have cooled, dump them into a wire mesh strainer to drain off any excess stock that they didn't absorb.
Step Three
Blend It Like Beckham:
Transfer the cooled lentils to a food processor along with the garlic, onion, tomato, fresh parsley, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and tamari. Pulse until the lentils are mostly broken down.
Step Four
Crumb On Eileen:
Add the breadcrumbs and continue mixing until a firm, shaggy meatball dough forms.
Step Five
Ball of Duty:
Shape the mixture into evenly sized balls, pressing firmly so they hold together.
Step Six
Ball Me Al:
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange the meatballs on a parchment-lined baking pan lightly coated with oil, then drizzle with the remaining oil. Bake for 18 minutes, turn with a spatula, and continue baking for 6-8 minutes until golden brown and crisp on all sides.
Air Fryer Option: Pop the meatballs in the air fryer at 375°F for 14 to 16 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through until golden and crispy on all sides.
Step Seven
Ave Marinara:
Warm the marinara sauce in a separate pan over medium heat until heated through. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce and simmer briefly to coat. Serve warm, garnished with chopped parsley over pasta or in a sub.
👉Top tips
- Don't Pulse the Food Processor Into Oblivion: This isn't vegan chopped liver you are making here. A few short pulses is all it takes fam. You want the lentils mostly broken down but still with some texture.
- Cook Your Lentils in Vegetable Stock Not Water: Plain water gets the job done technically but it's leaving so much flavor on the table and I simply cannot let that happen to you. Vegetable stock turns the whole thing up a notch, but if you're completely out of stock grab some bouillon paste, dissolve it in the water, and just dial the tamari back a little later in this vegan recipe so the saltiness stays in check.
- Don't Crowd the Pan: If you are frying these instead of baking them, give your meatless meatballs actual personal space in that skillet otherwise they steam instead of fry and you lose the crispy exterior that makes these things so good. Cook in batches if needed, the extra 5 minutes for better meatballs is a super-easy choice to make.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
To air fry, cook at 375°F for 14-16 minutes with a flip of the balls at the halfway point.
Nope. They aren't made out of the dead bodies of poor animals! So I am 100% cool with these not tasting like that. In many ways, I feel like these are yummier. Maybe that's just me?
Anyway, if you specifically want a super meaty vegan meatball, check out my vegan Swedish meatballs recipe.
Absolutely, just use gluten-free breadcrumbs or a similar binder like oat flour, and make sure to use tamari instead of some random soy sauce, since most of those contain gluten.
🧊 Refrigeration
Store the lentil meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, ideally with a bit of sauce to keep them from drying out.
❄️ Freezing
Allow them to cool completely, then place meatballs in a freezer-safe container in a single layer or separated by parchment, and freeze for up to 3 months.
🌡️ Thawing
Transfer the meatballs to the refrigerator and thaw overnight, or reheat gently from frozen in sauce over low heat.
🔥 Stovetop reheating
Place the meatballs in a pan with marinara over medium heat, cover, and warm for about 5 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally until heated through.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Italian recipes:
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Lentil Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
For the Meatball Mix:
- 1 cup dried brown lentils
- 2 ½ cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- ½ cup onion diced
- ½ cup tomato diced
- ⅓ cup parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- ½ cup breadcrumbs regular or gluten-free
To Bake & Serve the Meatballs:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- Chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Combine the lentils and vegetable stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer over low heat, cover, and cook for 26 minutes until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, keep covered, and allow to cool completely, which should take about 30 minutes.
- After the lentils have cooled, dump them into a wire mesh strainer to drain off any excess stock that they didn't absorb.
- Transfer the cooled lentils to a food processor bowl along with the minced garlic, diced onion, tomato, chopped parsley, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, oregano, thyme, ground black pepper, and tamari. Pulse until the cooked lentils have mostly broken down.
- Add the breadcrumbs and continue to mix until a firm shaggy meatball dough mixture forms.
- Shape into evenly sized balls (roughly 4 teaspoons in size), pressing firmly so they hold together.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange the meatballs on a parchment-lined baking pan lightly coated with oil, then drizzle with the remaining oil. Bake for 18 minutes, turn with a spatula, and continue baking for 6-8 minutes until browned and crisp on all sides.
- If frying, heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the meatballs in a single layer. Cook, turning every couple of minutes until browned and crisp on all sides.
- Warm the marinara sauce in a separate pan over medium heat until heated through. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce and simmer briefly to coat. Serve warm, garnished with chopped parsley over pasta or in a sub.
Notes
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Meg says
Oh wow. These little balls of yum are ….yummy. Cooked them in airfryer. Then made the gravy from Swedish meatball recipe. Recommend! Thanks Chef Adam.