These delightful vegan meatballs take inspiration from the famous Spanish tapas dish ‘Albondigas’.
You can make this gluten-free using tamari instead of soy sauce and skipping the crusty bread at the end.
We used passata because we love the smooth consistency, but you can substitute this for tinned tomatoes.
These vegan meatballs go perfectly with crusty bread, but we’ve also served them with grains like buckwheat and quinoa.
It’s important to avoid over-processing the meatball mixture because they’ll turn into a ‘mushy’ texture. Simply pulse until you can roll the mixture together into your hands and it doesn’t fall apart.
You’ll also want to leave the meatballs to rest after they’ve come out of the oven. They’ll become firm and it’ll help prevent them falling apart in the pan.
Spanish-Style Vegan Meatballs ✌️
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Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F fan-assisted. For the meatballs, first add the beans and garlic to a food processor, along with the oats, walnuts, soy sauce, pinches of salt and pepper, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika and oregano. Pulse a dozen or so times until the mixture is combined, but avoid turning it into a mulch.
Roll the mixture into 16 evenly-sized balls and transfer them to a tray. Brush each ball with olive oil, bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove the balls and leave them to rest on the side.
Meanwhile add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a large pan on a medium heat. Then add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan, along with the smoked paprika and pinches of salt and pepper. Fry for 2 minutes. Next add the passata and granulated sugar. Stir, bring the sauce to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will be ready when it has thickened slightly and the sauce is no longer bitter. If necessary, cook the sauce for an extra 5-10 minutes with the lid off.
When the sauce is ready, add the meatballs, turn the heat down and gently stir them into the sauce. Serve with chopped fresh parsley and freshly ground black pepper, alongside some crusty bread.
Notes
Nutritional information per serving: Calories 385kcal / Protein 12.2g / Fat 22.8g / Sat Fat 3g / Carbs 30.7g / Sugar 11.6g / Fibre 9.8g
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Thanks Tiffany! So the walnuts are really important for texture, so the best substitute that isn’t another nut is probably seeds i.e. sunflower seeds. However we haven’t tested this so we can’t be 100% certain it will work. Hope that helps!
Hi Roxy & Ben, I’ve been vegetarian for 35 yrs & the last few have been vegan, as I’ve increasingly become aware of dairy exploitation of animals. Thankfully I’ve hated eggs since childhood!
At any rate, I was wondering how much trouble these “meatballs” are to make without a food processor. I may be inheriting one in the not too distant future, but never broke down & bought one for myself. Should I just wait until Aug or so to attempt these, or are they easy enough to mix by hand? Also, I have pecan trees (organically cultivated, of course) & pecans are a bit softer than walnuts, so possibly that would facilitate hand mixing…? I do have a blender tho!
Thanks for any input, as my spouse loves meatballs in tomato sauce, & I refuse to cook animals!
I made these today without a food processor. I started it off in a liquidiser but it was too dry to make much difference. I did add a splash of water but ended up taking the mixture out and pestle and mortaring it. The albondigas were a bit chunky (but nice) and delicious.
Hey Tom! Yes you can definitely make these without a processor. You’ll need to chop the nuts as small as possible, then mash the beans using a potato masher. The texture will be more chunky but they should still stay together (we’ve made burgers like this plenty of times) 🙂
These meatballs were SO delicious, I used ground almonds instead of walnuts as I had lots of that at home and wanted to use it up and it came out really well. Next time I think I will put them in the oven for a little bit longer, or maybe turn the heat up, just to give them a little bit more of a firm bite as I don’t think I cooked them in the oven for long enough so mine were quite soft, but the flavour was amazing!!
Thank you for the recipe, I enjoyed these tasty vegan meatballs. However my daughter found them too spicy so I’ll be reducing the amount of cayenne pepper next time.
First vegan meal for the family. Excellent will be doing it again. Only downside was the meatballs broke up in the sauce and were a bit soft even though I followed the recipe. Any advice would be very welcome.Jacqui
Hey Elaine. The meatballs should be nice and firm out of the oven and they should hold their shape well. They’ll become a little softer in the sauce, but we quite like that. Maybe try processing them a little less so the texture isn’t as soft? Hope that helps 🙂
Hey, they tasted great, but came out of the processor to “pasty” and couldn’t mold them with my hands as they were sticking and had to use my hands. Did I process them too much or didn’t drain the canned beans well enough?
These were very tasty but I left them sitting in the tomato sauce for 5 or 10 mins and they broke up as I tried to serve them. If I made them again I think I would take the meatballs out of the oven, serve them up and pour the sauce over them.
Hey Elaine. Ah yes, the longer you leave the meatballs in the sauce, the softer they’ll become. But they should still hold their shape. Likewise, you can also pour over the sauce instead like you suggest. Glad you still found them tasty 🙂
So I am having my last lie in before term starts, day 3 of veganuary, see this recipe & am literally about to get up and make them for our meal, later. How exciting to be on such a learning curve! Walnuts and oats – amazing!
Hi. I love the idea of meatballs but I cannot eat oats or wheat and my husband has a nut allergy. What can I substitute for both items? Gluten free please. I do hope I can still cook them as they look fabulous.
Rice flour might work to bind them and perhaps something like quinoa to give the texture/ bite you’d get from the walnuts. Not sure if they would hold together but I’d imagine you’d get broadly similar flavours to the original.
These are so delicious… thank you for sharing the recipe. The flavour of the meatballs is so rich and satisfying and the sauce is beautiful. Very happy!
52 Comments
These look sooo good!! Can’t wait to make these!! Is there another substitute for the walnuts? We have nut allergies in our household.
Thanks Tiffany! So the walnuts are really important for texture, so the best substitute that isn’t another nut is probably seeds i.e. sunflower seeds. However we haven’t tested this so we can’t be 100% certain it will work. Hope that helps!
It would be nice if you made the recipe printable
Hi Roxy & Ben, I’ve been vegetarian for 35 yrs & the last few have been vegan, as I’ve increasingly become aware of dairy exploitation of animals. Thankfully I’ve hated eggs since childhood!
At any rate, I was wondering how much trouble these “meatballs” are to make without a food processor. I may be inheriting one in the not too distant future, but never broke down & bought one for myself. Should I just wait until Aug or so to attempt these, or are they easy enough to mix by hand? Also, I have pecan trees (organically cultivated, of course) & pecans are a bit softer than walnuts, so possibly that would facilitate hand mixing…? I do have a blender tho!
Thanks for any input, as my spouse loves meatballs in tomato sauce, & I refuse to cook animals!
I have the same question on food processor use as Tom
I made these today without a food processor. I started it off in a liquidiser but it was too dry to make much difference. I did add a splash of water but ended up taking the mixture out and pestle and mortaring it. The albondigas were a bit chunky (but nice) and delicious.
Hey Tom! Yes you can definitely make these without a processor. You’ll need to chop the nuts as small as possible, then mash the beans using a potato masher. The texture will be more chunky but they should still stay together (we’ve made burgers like this plenty of times) 🙂
Came to ask the same question as Tiffany, I’ll try with sunflower seeds. My vegan son has tree nut allergies, but this recipe looks delicious.
Just made these – turned out really well, I loved the walnuts and oats as texture plus great to have whole foods rather than processed
Thank you!
These meatballs were SO delicious, I used ground almonds instead of walnuts as I had lots of that at home and wanted to use it up and it came out really well. Next time I think I will put them in the oven for a little bit longer, or maybe turn the heat up, just to give them a little bit more of a firm bite as I don’t think I cooked them in the oven for long enough so mine were quite soft, but the flavour was amazing!!
Thank you so much Ana 🙂
Thank you for the recipe, I enjoyed these tasty vegan meatballs. However my daughter found them too spicy so I’ll be reducing the amount of cayenne pepper next time.
Thanks Susan. Absolutely, you can adjust the spice level to your liking 🙂
Another seriously amazing dish. Had them with sourdough to mop up all that lovely sauce. So tasty
Thanks Lisa!
What’s Passata
Can you freeze meatballs
Yes definitely!
First vegan meal for the family. Excellent will be doing it again. Only downside was the meatballs broke up in the sauce and were a bit soft even though I followed the recipe. Any advice would be very welcome.Jacqui
Hey Elaine. The meatballs should be nice and firm out of the oven and they should hold their shape well. They’ll become a little softer in the sauce, but we quite like that. Maybe try processing them a little less so the texture isn’t as soft? Hope that helps 🙂
Hey, they tasted great, but came out of the processor to “pasty” and couldn’t mold them with my hands as they were sticking and had to use my hands. Did I process them too much or didn’t drain the canned beans well enough?
These were very tasty but I left them sitting in the tomato sauce for 5 or 10 mins and they broke up as I tried to serve them. If I made them again I think I would take the meatballs out of the oven, serve them up and pour the sauce over them.
Hey Elaine. Ah yes, the longer you leave the meatballs in the sauce, the softer they’ll become. But they should still hold their shape. Likewise, you can also pour over the sauce instead like you suggest. Glad you still found them tasty 🙂
Hi, can you post any nutritional info for these recipes? Thanks for the recipe! For more binding I might try some vegan egg or vital wheat gluten.
Hey Grabrielle. Yes we’re planning to update all of our recipes with nutritional information soon. Sorry for the delay.
So I am having my last lie in before term starts, day 3 of veganuary, see this recipe & am literally about to get up and make them for our meal, later. How exciting to be on such a learning curve! Walnuts and oats – amazing!
Hi. Do you think this would work ok with other beans? I have kidney beans but not black beans at the moment.
I have made this with kidney beans and it was lovely.
Hi. I love the idea of meatballs but I cannot eat oats or wheat and my husband has a nut allergy. What can I substitute for both items? Gluten free please. I do hope I can still cook them as they look fabulous.
Rice flour might work to bind them and perhaps something like quinoa to give the texture/ bite you’d get from the walnuts. Not sure if they would hold together but I’d imagine you’d get broadly similar flavours to the original.
They look so good, but I am seeing that many of the foods have nuts in them and I am allergic. What can I substitute the nuts with?
Hi. Can you provide the salt content per portion please. I know soy sauce contains a lot so wondering what the nutritional value is.
Thank you
I also would like this. Am on a lo salt diet and this seems to be the only thing missing. Would love to make but need salt content first!!
Do you know the calorie content please
Hey Kath we’ve updated this below the recipe thanks!
Hello, I am going to give this recipe a try. Can you freeze the meatballs and cook at a later date? Thanks
Yes definitely!
Would these work as burgers?
Possibly but we haven’t tested this sorry!
I’m an athlete and keen to have a break down of the recipe eg: protein, carbs, fat etc… is this possible?
We’ve updated this below the recipe thanks!
These were so easy and tasty, thanks so much for this delicious recipe. I think I will go and make them again right now.
Thanks Sue!
Can the cooked meatballs be frozen?
Yes definitely!
I am going to freeze them without the sauce, to have on hand for vegan guests, add sauce later should that work
Yes definitely. Just be sure to defrost them fully before cooking them in the oven 🙂
Really delicious
Very nice for my first day of Veganuary 2022
Masha Allah so delicious
These are so delicious… thank you for sharing the recipe. The flavour of the meatballs is so rich and satisfying and the sauce is beautiful. Very happy!