Seitan-Based Vegan Zucchini Meatballs
The flavorful blend of seasonings makes these vegan zucchini meatballs the perfect topper for pastas, subs, salads and more. They’re jam-packed with grated zucchini, held together with a seitan dough. Garlic, thyme, fennel and chili are amongst the spices, giving them a flavor profile not dissimilar to Italian sausage. Soft and tender on the inside, crispy on the out, these meatballs are just like how your vegan Italian grandma used to make.
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Zucchini as a Blank Slate
Zucchini is not the most flavorful vegetable out there, but because of that it is excellent as a blank slate to take on the other flavors in your dish. There’s a reason people make zucchini bread and zucchini noodles- the texture is somewhat versatile, and can change with cooking, and the flavor is neutral and unobtrusive. It can be stuffed, made into noodles, baked into bread, used to form the base of a salad, or shredded and added to just about any dish without detracting from the original recipe. If you’re someone who likes to hide veggies in other foods, zucchini is your best friend. If you’re a home gardener you also are probably familiar with the concept of slipping a little zucchini in any dish you can, in order to make your way through a prolific zucchini crop.
Nutritionally, zucchini is a low-calorie food so it can be great to add volume to a higher calorie dish (although I do feel the need to point out that calories are something we need and I am not a fan of hating on them). It is packed with vitamin A, as well as containing vitamins C, K, and B6. It is a healthy source of minerals as well, containing manganese, potassium, magnesium, folate, copper and phosphorus. Interestingly, when raw zucchini contains more vitamin C and less vitamin A than when cooked. It has the added health benefits of high levels of antioxidants too.
Zucchini can be anything- from pasta to cake to meat- so join us in our adventure to make vegan zucchini meatballs.
Looking for Zucchini Recipes? Try one of these!
- Caramelized Vegan Zucchini Dip with White Beans
- Quick & Crispy Zucchini Fritters
- Zucchini-Ganoush- An Easy Vegan Zucchini Recipe
- Garlic Yeasted Savory Zucchini Bread
- Vegan Breaded Zucchini Recipe (Baked)
- Vegan Sausage Stuffed Summer Squash
- 30 Vegan Zucchini Recipes, Savory and Sweet
Looking for Seitan Recipes? Try one of these!
- Homemade Vegan Seitan Dumplings
- Tandoori Seitan Kabobs with Cucumber Yogurt Salad
- Spicy Black Bean Vegan Deli Slices
- Simple Simmered Seitan Recipe for Stir Frying
- Stuffed Seitan Vegan Holiday Roast
- The Best Vegan Sausage Recipe: Seitan Sausage
- Tomato and Garlic Vegetarian Sandwich Meat
- Vegan Meatballs (Beetballs)
- Simple Vegan Fajitas with Seitan
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Meatballs
The bulk of these vegan zucchini meatballs are made with zucchini and vital wheat gluten, making them some sort of zucchini seitan. In order to integrate the zucchini into the seitan we are going to shred it, add some salt, and let it sweat to remove excess moisture. We are actually going to add that moisture back into the seitan. I know it seems like we’re adding steps that we don’t need to, but it really does make a difference to squeeze the moisture out of zucchini first. When you squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini first and then add it to the dough, the liquid from the zucchini activates the vital wheat gluten to form strong bonds, holding the shredded zucchini inside. If you just shred the zucchini and add it to the dough, as the meatballs cook they will slowly release moisture which will work to weaken the bonds in the gluten and break the meatballs apart. So don’t skip that first step! The remaining ingredients are garlic, onions, and spices, all mixed together. Don’t over mix the dough, as the more you work it the tougher your meatballs will get. Divide the dough into pieces and roll them into balls. Bake on a non-stick mat for a total of 40 minutes to cook them all the way through and get some crispiness on the outside edges. Make sure to gently flip them once or twice while cooking.
Once cooked you can serve in warm sauce, over pasta or rice, with vegetables, on a sub, or even as part of a salad. They are excellent meal prep, as they add a little something special to all sorts of meals.
Seitan-Based Vegan Zucchini Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb. zucchini
- 1 ½ tsp. salt, divided
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ onion
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. fennel seeds
- ½ tsp. oregano
- ¼ tsp. red chili flakes
- ¼ tsp. dried sage
- ¼ tsp. dried dill
- ¼ tsp. rosemary
Instructions
- Start by grating the zucchini, and put it in a large bowl with a teaspoon of salt. Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes to remove some of the moisture. While the zucchini sits, mince your garlic and finely diced the onion. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
- Squeeze the liquid from the zucchini, and reserve both the liquid and the zucchini. Place the zucchini in a large mixing bowl with the onion, garlic, vital wheat gluten and spices. Give a mix. Add back in the zucchini liquid as needed to form a dough.
- Divide the dough into golf ball sized pieces and roll into balls. Place so they are not touching on the prepared baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes, flip each ball gently over and bake for another 20 minutes. Serve them warm. They are great in warm sauce over pasta, or as part of a meatball sub.
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