Bring on Vegan Lentil Meatballs for tonight's vegan dinner meal! It's 100% meat-free and gluten-free. It also packs a significant amount of plant-based protein and fiber, making this the perfect healthy meal. Serve with your choice of pasta and pasta sauce!
Combine lentils and salted water/broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Once at a boil reduce, to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside to cool.
In a large non-stick skillet or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped mushroom, onion, vegan Worcestershire sauce and ¼ teaspoon salt. Combine and until liquid has been cooked off, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the lentils and smash the pieces. Next, add the mushroom, onion, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and oat flour. Combine well and allow the mixture to sit for at least 10 minutes to cool off and for the oat flour to absorb the moisture.
Using your hands, scoop one small handful of the mixture, about the size of a golf ball. Repeat until the entire mixture has been shaped. This should yield about 35-38 meatless balls.
To cook in an air-fryer, cook for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F. To cook in an oven, bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. To cook on the stovetop, pour some oil into a non-stick pan and fry the lentil meatballs on all sides until browned and firm.
Gently toss or top with pasta sauce, or serve as-is.
Notes
When shaping the mixture into meatless lentil balls, they will be slightly sticky. That is okay, but it should be dry enough to mold into balls. If the mixture is too wet to shape, add more oat flour.
To makeoat flour, simply pour old-fashioned oats into a blender and blend until flour-like.
Common mushrooms, mushroom caps, Bella mushrooms, or portobello mushrooms can be used in this recipe.
Most fennel seeds are sold already toasted. If they are bright green, they are not toasted. Toasted fennel seeds will have a pale green or brown color to them. To toast them, simply heat them in a dry, non-stick pan for a few minutes.