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These easy vegan meatballs have received many rave reviews. Made with the plant-based meat alternative seitan, they are packed with great texture and flavor! They’re ready in under an hour and are perfect for pairing with your favorite sauce and pasta.
save this recipe!Something about a piping hot bowl of pasta, meatballs, and marinara screams comfort food.
Feeling tired of the standard vegetarian meatball options, I decided to create them with seitan. And unlike tradtional plant-based meatballs that often get the texture wrong or fall apart easily, these are so juicy with a very meaty texture.
These meatballs take the same amount of work as classic meatballs. You use a few extra ingredients and simmer them in broth before browning them in a skillet. Let’s meatball!
Reader rating
“Professional chef here, vegan for 2.5 years now. I don’t often say a “wow” out loud in the kitchen, but with these I did. Awesome recipe, thank you so much!” —Matt
Grab these ingredients
These seitan meatballs are made by creating a gluten-based dough and simmering it in a flavorful vegetable broth. Here’s what you’ll need. Jump to the recipe card for exact measurements—this is just an overview!
Dough
- Vital Wheat Gluten and Water: We start with vital wheat gluten, the main component of seitan. We mix this with water to form a dough.
- Chickpea Flour: Chickpea flour improves the texture of meatballs. You can buy it in most grocery stores in the baked goods aisle now.
- Nutritional Yeast: This adds a savory flavor to help replicate the flavor of meat.
- Italian Seasoning and Salt: Italian seasoning brings that classic meatball flavor, and salt elevates the other flavors. Feel free to throw in any other spices you might be in the mood for!
Broth
- Vegetable Broth: We’ll cook the meatballs in a vegetable broth to infuse them with even more flavor. Feeling adventurous? Make your own vegetable broth (it’s super easy!).
- Apple Cider Vinegar: This adds a bit of a bite without overpowering the other ingredients. I like using apple cider vinegar for “pork” seitan, but you could also use white vinegar here.
- Liquid Smoke: Liquid smoke is the final touch that makes these meatballs taste like the real deal.
How to make seitan meatballs
Seitan meatballs are a four-step recipe that starts with creating and simmering the dough. The whole process only takes about an hour to make 25 hearty meatballs! (Jump to the recipe for the full printable recipe.)
Step 1: Create the Dough
In a large bowl, stir together all the dough ingredients until a ball forms. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic and cohesive.
Step 2: Shape the Meatballs
Portion the dough into about 25 pieces, and then roll the pieces into individual small balls. They will expand while cooking, so make them smaller than you think you’ll want them. Let the meatballs rest while you prepare the broth.
Step 3: Simmer the Seitan Meatballs
Add all broth ingredients to a large pot and bring it to a simmer. Gently lower the seitan meatballs into the broth, ensuring that the broth covers the dough (if not, transfer to a smaller pot). Partially cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 4: Sauté and Serve
Remove the meatballs from the pot and let them cool enough to touch. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the meatballs. Cook, jostling the pan often, until the meatballs are golden brown on all sides. Serve with marinara sauce and your favorite pasta!
Try homemade marinara sauce!
When it comes to the marinara portion of this recipe, you have options! You can of course use your favorite store-bought sauce for pairing with the meatballs. But, you can also take things up a notch and make your own homemade rendition! This fresh tomato marina sauce is my absolute favorite to make right at home. The ingredients are simple, and the flavors are phenomenal!
serving suggestions
Whether you’re serving these vegan meatballs, eggplant meatballs, or chickpea meatballs, they can be enjoyed any way classic meatballs are.
- Any Type of Pasta: Of course, meatballs and pasta is a staple! For a quick dinner, try microwave pasta.
- Vegetarian Caesar Salad: Another common menu item at Italian restaurants – a Caesar salad!
- In my Mediterranean meatball casserole!
Easy Vegan Meatballs Recipe | Seitan Meatballs
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten, 120 g
- 1 cup water, 236 mL
- ¼ cup chickpea flour, 30 g
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 15 g
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
Broth
- 6 cups vegetable broth, 1.4 L
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 30 mL
- 1 tsp liquid smoke, 5 mL
To Serve
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, 15 mL
- marinara sauce, pasta
Instructions
- Dough: In a large bowl stir together all dough ingredients until a ball forms. Transfer to a clean surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until dough is elastic and cohesive (it will still be lumpy, that's okay!).
- Shape: Portion dough into about 25 pieces, then roll into small balls (they will expand when cooking, so make them smaller than you think you'll want them!). Let meatballs rest while you prepare the broth.
- Broth: Add all broth ingredients to a large pot and bring to a simmer. Gently lower the seitan meatballs into the broth, ensuring the dough is covered by the broth (if not, transfer to a smaller pot). Partially cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Saute: Remove from pot and let cool enough to touch. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat, then add the meatballs. Cook, jostling the pan often, until meatballs are golden brown on all sides. Serve with marinara sauce and your favorite pasta!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Hi, I’d prefer them to be a darker color. The color of food can be pretty important mentally for how i perceive it, and I made this recipe to make a vegan marinara meatball sub. Is there a way to achieve a darker color? Maybe if I add some of the bouillion directly to the dough and not all of it to the stock? Or if i reduce how much bouillion I use in the water and add a little soy sauce to the dough? Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!
Put in a little bit of Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce! It adds that dark brown color you’re looking for 🙂
Great taste! This is a good protein addition to any pasta.
These were wonderful! I tweaked the recipe a little with seasonings and used V8 mixed with some water to make the dough.
I wonder about your sodium though, it says Sodium: 1746mg for 6 meatballs.
1 tsp of sodium divided by 24 is something around 90 something mg of sodium per meatball…. ( I did not use broth to simmer, just water with seasonings)
Anyway very good seitan!
I’m so happy to hear that you loved it Rebecca! Thanks so much for dropping in to let us know how it went!
Can I substitute the chickpea flour with some other flour (preferably regular flour?)
I haven’t tested this one with regular flour so I can’t say for sure! Seitan traditionally uses chickpea flour 🙂 I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it out!