Beyond Beef is the perfect substitute for ground meat because It's rich, meaty, and smoky. If you love traditional meat-based meatballs and are looking for an alternative, you'll love this vegan version!
These Beyond Meat Meatballs will impress even the biggest vegan skeptics! Perfectly seasoned and versatile, this meatball recipe will become a family favorite of yours.
They can be enjoyed as is, served over spaghetti, or stuffed into subs.
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Ingredients You'll need
- Beyond Beef: If you buy frozen Beyond Beef, make sure to fully thaw it before making this recipe.
- Onion and garlic: Fresh onion and fresh garlic are essential for this Beyond meatballs recipe! Don't substitute them with onion powder or garlic powder. If you want, you can those spices as an addition.
- Nutritional yeast: Authentic Italian meatballs have grated parmesan cheese in them, which gives them a salty and umami flavor. We're re-creating that today with nutritional yeast!
- Breadcrumbs: I use regular breadcrumbs, tough panko breadcrumbs may work as well, but you may need to adjust the amount.
- Parsley: You can also use a mix of parsley and basil for freshness and flavor.
- Soy sauce: It helps by adding umami and saltiness which is usually found in ground beef.
- Tomato paste: For adding depth of flavor.
- Spices: Besides salt and black pepper, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes are all you'll need! You can substitute those with Italian seasoning.
How to Make This Beyond Meatballs Recipe
- Start by heating up some olive oil in a large skillet. Once hot, add the onion and fry over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until golden. Then, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the tomato paste, soy sauce, and spices and fry for 30 more seconds, or until the tomato paste has darkened in color and is caramelized. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. To a large bowl, add all of the ingredients, including the fried onion and garlic.
4. Mix until everything is well combined. I like to use my hands because the mixture is sticky.
5. Using an ice-cream scoop (or a regular spoon), scoop 1 ½ tablespoon from the mixture and form a meatball with your hands. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
6. In the same skillet from before, heat some more oil. Once hot add the beyond meatballs and fry over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
7. Finish cooking the meatballs in the oven for 15 minutes. Once ready, serve!
Cooking Methods
This Beyond meatballs recipe turns out best when two cooking methods are applied- frying and baking. This makes for the best texture and flavor of the meatballs.
However, here are a few other ways you can prepare them.
- Fry: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 3-4 tablespoons oil (or more as needed) and let it heat. Add the meatballs and turn the heat to medium-low. Fry for 5-6 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Once ready, let them rest over a piece of paper towel to get rid of the excess oil.
- Bake: If you don't like frying, you can stick to baking. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and add the meatballs. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Air fryer: This method yields meatballs that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Transfer meatballs to the air fryer basket and cook for 7-8 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through.
Top Tips
- Don't skip frying the aromatics! This is a key step in this Beyond meatballs recipe. It packs layers of complex flavor and umami and makes all the difference.
- Add the breadcrumbs to the mixture a little bit at a time. The worst thing you can do for your meatballs is to make the mixture too dry. Add the breadcrumbs a little bit at a time until you can shape a meatball without it falling apart.
- If you want to make the preparation easier, you can mix everything in a food processor. Just don't over-blend the mixture!
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free breadcrumbs or crushed gluten-free crackers.
Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to vegan meatballs, there are no eggs to help the mixture stick together, so you have to make sure that you don't dry it out by adding too much breadcrumbs. Adding a flax egg can help with that as well.
The main ingredients are pea protein, rice protein, and vegetable oils. A few other ingredients include potato starch, apple extract, lemon juice concentrate, and some flavorings.
Beyond Meat is an excellent source of protein to add to your meals, as it packs around 20g of protein per serving. It's also high in zinc and vitamin B12 and is gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. As with everything, it's healthy when consumed in moderation. It's also a great way to satisfy any craving for meat because it tastes very similar.
If you're in the US, you can find impossible meat products in your local grocery store, or at a health food store. You can also order it online.
Serving
I like to serve this Beyond meatballs recipe with marinara sauce, fresh basil, and vegan parmesan cheese. They're a great side for vegan Cacio e Pepe, and vegan mac and cheese, and pair especially well with garlic bread.
Other things you can do is make a meatball sub, use them for Swedish meatballs, or serve them over cooked spaghetti with tomato sauce (or try our spaghetti squash ?).
Make-ahead and storage
Make-ahead: You can make the meatball mixture 1-2 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you're ready to cook. You can also cook the meatballs and store them for up to 5 days in the fridge.
Storage: It's best to store these Beyond Meatballs separately from any sauce because they can get soggy. Let them cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days.
More Vegan Comfort Meals
- Quinoa Soup with Mini Vegan Meatballs
- Buffalo Chickpea Meatballs
- Vegan Lentil Lasagna
- Vegan Baked Ziti
- Vegan Shepherd's Pie
Vegan Beyond Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, or more as needed (or any cooking oil)
- 1 medium white onion, finely diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb Beyond Beef, thawed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp regular breadcrumbs, or more as needed (use gluten-free if needed)
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until it's fragrant and you can smell it. Stir in the tomato paste, soy sauce, dried basil, oregano, and chili flakes. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute while stirring often, or until the tomato paste has darkened in color and is caramelized. Set aside to cool.
- Pre-heat oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
- To a large bowl, add the thawed Beyond meat, nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, salt, black pepper, and fried onion and garlic. Using your hands or a spatula, mix until well combined. The mixture should be sticky and not too dry.
- Using a cookie scoop or a regular spoon, scoop 1 ½ tablespoon from the mixture, and using your hands form it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the mixture until you have somewhere 15 meatballs.
- In the same skillet from before, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add the meatballs and fry over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Make sure to not overcrowd the pan, work in two batches if needed.
- Transfer the meatballs into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Serve right away!
(Please refer to the post above for instructional photographs and other helpful information for this recipe)
Notes
- Don't skip frying the aromatics! This is a key step in this beyond meatballs recipe. It packs layers of complex flavor and umami and makes all the difference.
- Add the breadcrumbs to the mixture a little bit at a time. The worst thing you can do for your meatballs is to make the mixture too dry because there is no going back. Add the breadcrumbs a little bit at a time until you can shape a meatball without it falling apart.
- If you want to make the preparation easier, you can mix everything in a food processor. Just don't over-blend the mixture!
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free breadcrumbs or crushed crackers.
Nutrition
Post photography by: Petranka Atanasova.
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Boris Sokachev
Very, very tasty! My wife made me some a while back and I've been in love ever since (with the meatballs)
Sherri Hall
Thanks so much, Boris! Happy to hear that! 😉