Vegan Meatballs (Beetballs) – Seitan and Beet Meatballs
I grew up eating spaghetti with tomato sauce, but (since I didn’t eat meat) the concept of meatballs was foreign to me (and it took a while for products like vegan meatballs to hit the market). It was never something I knew, so it was never something I missed. Recently, however, for some reason I don’t quite understand I got it in my head to make a vegan meatball recipe. I decided to use beets in this recipe, primarily because of their beautiful color, but also I love their soft, sweet flavor. I didn’t try to make this taste like meat (again, I’m not really sure what meatballs taste like), but I wanted them to have the following qualities-
- Flavorful
- Filling
- Beautiful
This recipe was originally made with classic, red beets, but recently I remade them with chioggia beets, which gave our meatballs a different color. Both are beautiful, but just know if you use regular beets the color will be darker and redder.
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What we’re looking for in Beetballs
These vegan meatballs (beetballs) succeed on all fronts! They get their flavor from the sweetness in the beets, joined with onions, garlic and mushrooms. They have the same Italian spices that traditional meatballs might (basil, oregano and more). Their texture comes primarily from the vital wheat gluten that is used to hold them all together. Vital wheat gluten is the protein in wheat, after all the starches have been removed. You can actually produce the gluten yourself, by using water to “scrub” flour repeatedly- I did it once, but I can’t say I recommend it. It took forever, and I didn’t ever manage to get all the starch out. In the vegan and vegetarian worlds, vital wheat gluten is important because it is the stuff seitan is made of. And that’s essentially what these beetballs are- spherical, veggie-filled seitan.
Looking for Beet recipes? Try one of these!
- Golden Beet & Kohlrabi Recipe: Root Vegetable Latkes
- Wood Sorrel, Jicama, and Beet Slaw
- Easy Minestrone Soup with Beets
- Bouquet of Roses Beet & Radish Salad Pizza
- 50+ Vegan Beet Recipes, for Every Occasion
- Easy Baked Beets (Herb Roasted Beets)
- Chocolate Beet Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free)
- Avocado, Persimmon and Beet Tartare
Making Vegan Meatballs (Beetballs)
When you make your own seitan (or beetballs) the texture is created from the gluten holding the mix together. The more you knead, the chewier your beetballs will be. To keep our beetballs tender, we mix most of it up in a food processor, and then just give it a few kneads to bring it all together. After that you will bake the formed beetballs surrounded by well-oiled tinfoil- the result is 12 tender beetballs, with a crusty outside.
These beetballs (vegan meatballs) are incredibly filling, especially if you eat them with tomato sauce and spaghetti like I did. They would also be great in a beetball sandwich, or on their own with tomato sauce.
Vegan Meatballs (Beetballs)
Ingredients
- ½ lb. beets (around 2 small, or one large)
- 2 oz. mushrooms (around 4 button or cremini mushrooms)
- ¼ onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. oregano
- Salt, to taste
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- Oil, as needed for cooking
Instructions
- Cut the beets into small cubes, place in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until you can easily stick a fork through them. Reserve a couple tablespoons of the water for use.
- In the meantime, dice the onion, mince the garlic and chop the mushrooms into small pieces. Add a small amount of oil to a skillet and let it heat up before adding all the garlic, mushrooms and onions. Allow them to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have become translucent.
- Once the beets are cooked, drain them and preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Transfer the beets, and onion mixture to a food processor and blend. Scrape down the sides and blend again. Next add all the other ingredients aside from the oil, and process again. A dough should start to form- add a couple tablespoons of the beet water as needed to get a soft textured dough.
- Take the dough out of the blender and knead just to bring together (make sure you do this on something you don’t mind turning beet colored!). Separate into twelve even pieces, and let them rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten. Lay a piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, shiny side up, and lightly oil. Form each of the 12 pieces of dough into a ball and place on the cookie sheet. Cover with another piece of oiled aluminum foil and roll the edges closed.
- Put in the oven for 45 minutes, before flipping the whole package of beetballs over and returning to the oven for an additional 25 minutes. Serve warm, or reheat as desired.
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These look delicious and I love the colour of them!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks! I’m obsessed with the color too!
I tried these and the flavor was good but the beetballs were very, very rubbery. I am thinking maybe halving the amount of vital wheat gluten could help. This was the first time I’ve ever used it for such an application.
Hi- I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavor, but sorry you found them rubbery. They are definitely nice and chewy, which we enjoy, but if it’s too much for you reducing the amount of vital wheat gluten would likely help. You could also try limiting the amount you kneed, as the gluten will become more chewy the more you kneed it.
Thanks for the recipe, I thought it was great and worked out perfectly. I did add fennel seeds just because I like that sort of thing in ‘meatballs’ and ‘sausages’ and I thought it worked really well 😊
I love the idea of adding fennel seeds- it sounds really delicious, I’ll definitely be trying that next time. Thanks for letting us know you enjoyed them!
I made these this morning and I absolutely love them…I used regular red beets and the color is lovely and the favor wonderful. The dough came out of the food processor soft and smooth and I didn’t really have to knead them at all…just formed into balls and let rest about 10 minutes, then wrapped and baked as directed. I did line the foil with parchment paper as I didn’t want the foil touching them and it worked out great. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked them Patrice! Thanks for sharing your tips!