I've never made vegan meatballs before and I'm really happy with the result, they tasted and looked amazing. It's not a super easy recipe, but it's not difficult either, actually it's ready in 40 minutes. This also was my first time cooking tempeh, I've eaten it a couple of times, but I've never made a dish using this delicious ingredient.
To make the dough easy to handle I've added breadcrumbs, almond meal and also chickpea flour. You can use only bread crumbs if you want, but I'm trying to avoid gluten, so I prefer to use these ingredients. If you use only bread crumbs or another kind of flour, maybe you'll need to add more or less bread crumbs/flour.
If you're a celiac or you're just on a gluten-free diet, you can use gluten-free breadcrumbs or any kind of gluten-free flour. The chickpea flour gives these meatballs a delicious falafel taste, so if you don't like falafel, add more breadcrumbs or almond meal.
The sauce is made with homemade tomato sauce, coconut milk and curry powder, it's ready in 5 minutes and tastes so good, but feel free to use your favorite sauce.
In the picture above, you can see the meatballs and the sauce freshly cooked. In the rest of the pictures the sauce looks thicker, that's because it was cold after take many photos. Anyway, if you prefer the sauce less thick, add more coconut milk or even water.
Tempeh is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber and vitamins.
To make the meatballs you need to blend all the ingredients in a food processor and make balls with your hands. You can bake or fry them. I prefer to cook the meatballs in a saucepan with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to save time.
When the meatballs are golden brown, add the sauce and cook them for at least 10 minutes. The longer you cook them, the better they'll taste.
The parsley is optional, you can remove it or just use other herbs or spices. If you don't like coconut milk, use another plant milk, take a look at our 9 easy plant milk recipes post to take some ideas.
I try to avoid salt, so I only use it if it's necessary. I recommend you to try my recipes and add more salt if you want.
You can veganize your favorite meals and make new delicious recipes, like these vegan tempeh meatballs, they taste even better, are lighter, healthier and cruelty-free. Being vegan is so easy and I'm happier and healthier than ever!
Vegan Tempeh Meatballs
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- ½ onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon flax seeds + 3 tablespoon water
- 9 oz tempeh
- ¼ cup parsley, a handful
- ½ cup almond meal
- ¼ cup chickpea flour
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoon tomato sauce
For the sauce:
- 1 ½ cups tomato sauce
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
Instructions
- Cook the onion and the garlic (finely chopped) in a saucepan with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until golden brown.
- Blend the flax seeds and the water in a blender. Set aside.
- Add the tempeh to the food processor and pulse to break down. Add the cooked onion and garlic, flax seeds mixture, parsley, almond meal, chickpea flour, bread crumbs, oregano, garlic and onion powder and tomato sauce and mix again. When the dough is ready, make balls with your hands.
- Cook the meatballs in a saucepan with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat until golden brown. Set aside.
- To make the sauce, cook the tomato sauce, coconut milk and curry powder in a saucepan for about 5 minutes. Add the meatballs and cook for at least another 10 minutes.
Kathleen says
Can these meatballs be frozen?
Iosune Robles says
Hi Kathleen! Feel free to freeze them 🙂
Jim Bizier says
I'm going to try this recipe tonight. Can I substitute almond meal with flaxseed meal?
Iosune Robles says
Hi! I haven't tried it myself but I think it could work 🙂
Margaret says
I'm always looking for creative ways to use tempeh--thank you! I wonder, though, don't you advise steaming the tempeh first to ensure against bitterness?
Iosune Robles says
Hi Margaret! That's a good idea 🙂 Thanks! Have a nice day!
Margaret says
I made this using marinara sauce to heat the meatballs in, and it was delicious. I used whole spelt in place of chickpea flour as I didn't have any of the latter. Thanks again.
Jeff says
I was going to get the ingredients for this, but then I saw the fat content: 34.6g with 16g of saturated fat is a lot for me and my family. That is with the coconut milk sauce, right? I don't see anything in the original ingredients that would contribute to the fat content being that high. Thanks for the reply!
Iosune says
Hi Jeff! Yes, it's because of the coconut milk, so you could use another sauce, like my marinara sauce instead: https://simpleveganblog.com/homemade-marinara-sauce/ Have a nice day!
Nicole Hohenstein says
My 3yr old does not like tempeh... she actually despises it if I’m being honest. I’ve tried a variety of recipes to no avail. Because of the health benefits, I was on a mission to create a vegan dish that she would enjoy. I hit the jackpot with this one! I made a few alterations (less onion and marinara vs the tomato curry sauce) and age loved it. THANK YOU!! 🤗
Iosune says
Hi Nicole! I'm so glad your child liked this 🙂 Thank YOU for your comment. Have a nice day!
pavittra says
is there an alternative option to use for the flax seeds and water?
Iosune says
Hi Pavittra! You could use chia seeds as well with some water 🙂
Meg Mauro says
Perfect texture! I used whole quick oats instead of bread crumbs. I use them in my favorite veggie burger recipe and it’s never mushy. I mixed the flax egg with preground flax I made earlier this week and leftover stock instead of water. 20 minutes in my oven on convection at 350 F and I ate half right off the baking tray! I followed the rest of the directions closely. They were bland so I made a list of possible changes to make next time.
Obviously I needed to add more of the spices. What about nutritional yeast,tomato paste,walnuts,sunflower seeds,tahini? Anybody try these?
I make your favorite salad dressing (doubled!) every week! It’s so perfect for work salads. No oily splats on my clothes,no wilted lettuce if I need to leave it(still crispy lettuce after an hour) and no garlic breath all afternoon,LOL.
Well,that’s my first ever online recipe review! Thank you for your simple recipes,I’ll be watching for more!
Iosune says
Hi Meg! Thanks a lot for your valuable comment 🙂 I'm so happy you like our recipes. Have a nice day!
Wende says
You say we can bake these, what temp and for how long do you recommend?
Iosune says
Hi Wende! I've never baked them, but you could try. I would bake them at 350ºF or 180ºC until golden brown. Have a nice day!
Tori says
What could I replace with the bread crumbs to make it gluten free? Could I do more almond meal or chickpea flower? Thanks!
Iosune says
Hi Tori! I think oats, almond meal or chickpea flour could work 🙂
Jean P says
I looove these! The leftovers make a great "taco" in radicchio cups with a cilantro,radish, carrot topping - curry catsup dressing- and avocado slices and a dab of Greek yogurt; Yum!!
Iosune says
Hi Jean! Thanks 😀 Sounds soooo good! But as we're vegans, we would eat them with some vegan yogurt. Have a nice day!
Jean P says
Or possibly cashew cream 🙂 We are not vegan, but I have always loved eating vegetarian or vegan meals several times a week. Even my very carnivore hubby loved these!
Iosune says
Yes, cashew cream is great 😀
Donna says
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for giving us a 'meatball' recipe. I also very much like the tempeh bacon. For sure I will be making these. Thank you SO much!
Iosune says
Hi Donna! You're so kind 🙂 Thanks a lot!!!
Alice says
Since you explicitly ask for comment I have posted here some remarks. I have hesitated to do it, because I know how painful comment can be and I very much appreciate what you are doing. But here it goes. I have made the meatballs and the good thing about them is that they keep their shape when boiled. The balls also tasted well. Personally I like some bite to it, so next time I will leave the tempeh more chunky and mix the dough by hand. I do not think that the combination of curry powder and the tomato sauce worked very well. I can see why you added it. I suppose you intended to counterbalance the slightly bitter tempeh taste. In the Indonesian and Malayan cuisine tempeh is often accompanied by a peanut sauce (sateh sauce) or a soy (ketjap sauce). So next time I will add two tablespoons of peanut butter and some soy in stead of the curry and add some cocomilk. Ginger will work too I think. I have tried this combination with tomato sauce before and it tasted well.
Iosune says
Hi Alice! I love this sauce, but I'll try to use peanut or soy sauce instead, thanks a lot for the suggestions 😀
Allison Allison says
Can’t wait to try this recipe. The sauce sounds innovative and delicious!
Iosune says
Hi Allison! Hope you like it 😀
Danielle Weiss says
thanks!!
Iosune says
You're welcome 🙂
Danielle Weiss says
thanks so much! do you know in what ratios? Not sure of the importance of the chickpea vs almond flour ratios and just use 1/2 cup GF Blend from Bobs and 1/4th of Brown Rice or Buckwheat?
Iosune says
Hi Danielle! You can use the amount of flour that you prefer, if you can handle the dough, it's okay 🙂
Danielle Weiss says
can i replace the almond meal and chickpea flours with another blend? i have brown rice, buckwheat, GF all purpose...
Iosune says
Hi Danielle! You can use any kind of flour, but maybe you'll need to add more or less 🙂
Katie (The Muffin Myth) says
These look great! Tempeh meatballs have been on my must-make list for some time now, and I think this is the inspiration I need to actually do it! I'm going to get my hands on some tempeh this weekend and give it a try, thanks for the recipe!
Iosune says
Hi Katie!!! Tempeh meatballs are soooo delicious, you need to make them! Thanks a lot for your comment 🙂