Delicious meat-free chickpea meatballs are ready in about 30 minutes, vegan and vegetarian, and are freezer-friendly, loaded with flavor and protein, and perfect on pasta, in a sandwich, or as appetizers.
These chickpea meatballs are the perfect comfort food! Savory, flavorful, and easy to make with pantry ingredients. Enjoy them on pasta, in sandwiches, even as appetizers. Instead of egg in these meatballs, ketchup provides the needed moisture.
These healthy meatless meatballs are wonderful to meal prep ahead because they keep refrigerated for 5 days, perfect for meals for the week. Like my grilled portobello mushroom steaks, Thai lettuce wraps, and my zucchini pizza bites, these vegetarian and vegan meatballs can be a main or side of any comfort meal.
Why You'll Love This
Spicy, soft, delicious taste. Chickpeas are neutral in flavor, so they are a wonderful canvas for spices in these vegan chickpea meatballs.
Familiar healthy ingredients. Just to repeat, there is no beef or meat in this vegetarian meatball, and the ingredients are budget-friendly and probably in your kitchen right now. Chickpeas, the primary ingredient, are a great source of folate, a mineral that is not that easy to find in food. Each meatball has 4 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber per meatball!
Beloved by everyone. These easy plant-based meatballs are obviously vegetarian but also vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free meatballs. If you like these spicy meatballs, you might want to try my zucchini pizza bites, Italian stuffed mushrooms, and my portobello mushroom steaks.
Ingredients
Chickpeas. Buy canned, unsalted and bpa-free. Drain off the aquafaba and save it in the refrigerator for three days or freezer for dessert recipes such as my copycat, 4-ingredient Milano cookies.
Breadcrumbs, Panko or Oat flour.
Ketchup. Use a brand without refined sugar. Or use jarred tomato sauce - I often use RAO.
Parmesan cheese. Use dairy free parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast to keep the meatballs vegan and dairy free.
Flavorings. Diced onion, garlic powder, parsley, Italian spices such as oregano and basil, salt and black pepper or cayenne pepper.
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
Chickpeas. You can replace chickpeas with other beans. Canned is best, no sodium, and you can use black beans, white beans, or even lentils to make lentil meatballs.
Ketchup. You can use your favorite tomato sauce instead. Be sure it is a quality brand such as RAO marinara because this is a major flavor in your meatballs.
Onions. Dice the onions into tiny bits, or use scallions/green onions.
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Add Vegetables & Fresh Herbs. To the food processor, feel free to add more veggies including frozen peas, raw shredded carrots, or chopped raw zucchini. Also consider adding fresh herbs such as chopped chives or basil leaves.
Step by Step Instructions
For more detail, visit the complete and printable recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Step 1. Rinse canned chickpeas, strain them, chop the onion and parsley. Add everything to a food processor except onions and parsley.
Step 2. Process the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until the chickpeas are broken down. Fold in onions and parsley and process again. You can also just fold in the onions and parsley so they are visible.
Step 3. Scoop meatballs. Use a medium cookie scoop (or measure 2 tbsp) to create 30 meatballs and set them on the baking sheet in rows. You can roll them with wet hands or leave them in the shape of the scoop. Dab or spray olive oil on tops.
Step 4. Bake meatballs uncovered for 30 minutes or until browned. The balls should be cooked soft in center but crusty on the outside.
Step 5. Coat baked hot meatballs in your favorite tomato sauce. Either eat or refrigerate them. They taste delicious hot, but also more flavorful the next day after a night in the sauce.
Recipe Tips
1. Be sure it is a quality brand of ketchup or store-bought jarred tomato sauce such as RAO marinara because this is a major flavor in your meatballs.
2.Make them without a food processor. You can also put all ingredients in a bowl and use your hands or potato masher to knead the mixture that way.
3.Use a cookie scoop to make sure your balls are uniform in size. You can roll into balls or leave them in the scoop shape with a flat bottom.
4.Use nutritional yeast if you can't find dairy free parmesan cheese. Or use regular parmesan cheese if you don't need to keep the meatballs to be dairy free and vegan.
Storage
The meatballs can last in the refrigerator for 5 days, cooked and 2 days uncooked. The meatballs can be frozen uncooked for three months. To freeze them cooked, first toss them in a marinara sauce, and freeze them in single-meal batches for three months.
FAQS
Yes, these are easy to freeze uncooked, but they will be more flavorful frozen in your favorite sauce in single-meal batches.
Baking is best for these meatballs to keep them intact, and lower in unhealthy fats from frying oil.
Of course! I served mine with a conventional marinara sauce, but you can use a curry, white sauce, any sauce you would add any meatballs to.
Not really. The black pepper or cayenne pepper lends some heat. You can increase that or lower it to taste.
The best way is to match the texture you see in my process shots. If the mixture is too wet, add ketchup; too dry, add flour or breadcrumbs. Also don't process beyond 1 minute, and don't over bake either.
Other Comfort Food Recipes
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
📖 Recipe
Chickpea Meatballs (vegan meatballs)
Equipment
- quarter sized baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 can chickpeas, canned
- 1 cup ketchup or quality tomato sauce*
- ½ cup breadcrumbs or panko or oat flour
- ⅔ cup parmesan cheese or 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast and more breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ⅔ cup onion, diced very small or chopped green onion
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon oregano
- 2 tablespoon basil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- pinch salt
Sauce to put meatballs in
- 1 jar quality tomato sauce such as RAO Marinara*
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Instructions
Prep
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Layer a baking sheet with parchment. You can very lightly mist the parchment paper with oil to keep the meatballs from sticking.
Make the Meatballs
- Rinse the chickpeas (I used canned), put in a food processor.
- Add the rinsed chickpeas, tomato sauce, breadcrumbs, cheese and spices into the food processor and process for 1-2 minutes or until all chickpeas are broken down.2 can chickpeas, canned, 1 cup ketchup or quality tomato sauce*, ½ cup breadcrumbs, ⅔ cup parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoon oregano, 2 tablespoon basil, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, pinch salt
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and either stir to combine or use the food processor for 15 seconds just to combine, not to puree.¼ cup fresh parsley, ⅔ cup onion, diced very small
- Use a medium cookie scoop (or measure 2 tbsp) to create 30 meatballs and set them in rows on the lined baking sheet.** They can touch, they might spread a little but not much.
- Brush the tops only with a finger dab of olive oil or avocado oil. Coating just the tops keep them from drying out.
- Bake meatballs uncovered for 30 minutes. The balls should be cooked soft in center but crusty on the outside.
- Serving. Add a hefty amount of jarred tomato sauce to a container and layer the meatballs on top, spooning a little on top when serving.1 jar quality tomato sauce such as RAO Marinara*
Storage
- The meatballs can last in the refrigerator for 5 days, cooked and 2 days uncooked. The meatballs can be frozen uncooked for three months. To freeze them cooked, first toss them in a marinara sauce, and freeze them in single-meal batches for three months.
Allison says
These were really good. Everything was looking perfect until I added the ketchup. It became very wet. I added more almond flour, then more. Needless to say, they were very soft and fell apart in the sauce making a "meat" sauce. I will definitely make these again, but I will use 2Tbsp of tomato paste instead of the ketchup, adding water if needed.
Dee Dine says
So glad you liked them! Thank you for your suggestions! I bet tomato paste and water would also work well.
Allison says
I did make them using the tomato paste. It held up better in the sauce, but not great. It was better to just pour the sauce over them.
Dee Dine says
Thank you Allison! Yes, I increased the breadcrumbs and chickpeas, and a few other tweaks. Here is the original from 2018 if interested.
Allison says
Thanks!
jess says
These meatballs look amazing Dee!
Dee Dine says
Thank you so much Jess!
Angie Smith says
We love these!! Followed the recipe to a T. Perfect! Eating for dinner tonight! Even my meat eater husband loves them!
Dee Dine says
That's the best news, thank you for sharing.
Kami says
These sound delish! Could I use flax seed meal instead of whole flax seed? It is what I already have on hand.
Dee Dine says
Yes, ground is perfect!