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Prep time
50 minutes
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Cook time
40 minutes
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makes
about 20 meatballs
Author Notes
There’s no time I don’t want a meatball. Whether served with pasta or atop a sub roll, you simply can’t say "I’ll pass" to a meatball. Unless, of course, you’re vegan. At first blush, vegan meatballs are an oxymoron, but as we all know by now, meatless options aren't as impossible as they may seem. These vegan meatballs have a similar flavor profile to classic Italian meatballs (garlic, oregano, fennel), but, thanks to lentils, require no ground beef, veal, or pork. Nutritional yeast also tackles the salty-cheesiness you might crave in an Italian-style meatball (but if you’re a vegetarian and you want to swap in grated Parmesan, be my guest). To ensure that vegan meatballs stick together during their journey from the skillet to the oven to the plate, they’re bound with chia “egg,” which is a term in the vegan community for chia seeds soaked in water until they gel, forming a distinctly eggy texture that also adds a ton of fiber to the finished product. But don’t be nervous: Like chicken eggs in meatball mix, they’re totally flavorless in the finished product.
When it comes to serving vegan meatballs, you can go classic Italian-American, covered in marinara with a plate of spaghetti or crusty bread, but the beauty of these meatballs is that they’re ready for anything: You could serve them on top of a thick swipe of tahini sauce or romesco, with a vegan pesto or another fresh herby sauce, even with rice or another cooked grain and pickled vegetables. —Rebecca Firkser
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Ingredients
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Kosher salt
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1 1/2 cups
dried brown or green (not French/Le Puy) lentils, rinsed, drained, and picked through
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2 tablespoons
chia seeds
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3
garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
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1
medium red or yellow onion, peeled and quartered
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3/4 cup
panko
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1 tablespoon
nutritional yeast
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2 teaspoons
dried oregano
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2 teaspoons
fennel seeds
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1/2 teaspoon
red pepper flakes (optional)
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Freshly ground black pepper
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6 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
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Marinara sauce, for serving (optional)
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Cooked pasta or toasted bread, for serving (optional)
Directions
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Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add a few big pinches of salt and stir in the lentils. Cook until tender but not mush, about 15 minutes, then drain well. While the lentils are boiling, combine the chia seeds with 5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes—it will become gelatinous. Transfer the cooked lentils to the bowl of a food processor along with the garlic and pulse until finely chopped and starting to mush but not completely puréed. Scrape into a large bowl.
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Place the onion in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (but not puéeed!), then transfer to the bowl with the lentils. (You should have ¾ to 1 cup, or 6 to 8 ounces—if you have more, save it for another use.) Stir in the chia mixture, panko, nutritional yeast, oregano, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes (if using), a big pinch of salt, and lots of black pepper. Pick up a handful of the mixture and squeeze it in your hands—it should hold together without trouble.
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Form the mixture into 1½-inch balls with your hands and place on a sheet pan. Transfer the pan to the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes.
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Heat the oven to 400°F. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium or large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Sear half of the meatballs on all sides (be careful turning them—they’re more delicate than a regular meatball!), 6 to 9 minutes total, adding another splash of oil to the pan if it starts getting dry, then return the meatballs to the sheet pan. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil to the pan and repeat with the second batch. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, until warmed through and dried out a bit. Serve with marinara sauce, pasta, bread, or your preferred meatball accoutrements.
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