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Learn how to make these delicious eggplant meatballs. They’re vegan, oil-free, and the perfect meatless recipe to share with your friends and family.
A hearty and savory flavor-explosion, and definitely THE must make recipe when you need to impress a crowd. These are perfect for kids, adults, friends, family…anyone you want to share these precious little bites with 😉
If you are craving more Italian-inspired recipes, here are some of our favorites:
- Vegan Broccoli Rabe & Sausage Pasta
- One-Pot Lentil and Mushroom Bolognese Sauce
- Easy Italian Seasoned Tempeh (6-Ingredients + Gluten-free)
- Vegan Baked Ziti with Ricotta Cheese (Easy + Oil-Free Option)
- Easy Vegan Ricotta & Spinach Stuffed Shells
- Easy Vegan Eggplant Rollatini (Gluten-Free with Oil-Free Option)
Make sure you tag me on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan or twitter @sweetsimpleveg and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of my recipes, I love to see your photos!
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Vegan Eggplant Meatballs (Oil-free)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 34 meatballs
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make these delicious eggplant meatballs that vegan and oil-free, with a gluten-free option. They are the perfect meatless recipe to share with your friends and family.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds (or flaxseed meal)
- 3 tablespoons water + more for cooking
- 1 cup white onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 unpeeled Italian eggplant, diced
- 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs (ours were fine in texture; or plain breadcrumbs of your choice)
- 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped and packed
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped and packed
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- Optional but recommended: 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the chia egg by mixing the chia seeds and 3 tablespoons of water together in a small bowl, and set aside for about 15 minutes to thicken.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F on convection* (or 400°F conventional). Line 2-3 large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the meantime, in a medium pan over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of additional water. Once heated, add in the onions, garlic, and celery, and cook until translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes (adding more water as needed to prevent burning). Transfer to a large bowl.
- In the same pan, add another 3-4 tablespoons of water along with the diced eggplant. Cook, stirring often, until it is soft and had reduced by about 1/2, which will take about 8 to 10 minutes. Be sure to add more water as needed to prevent burning.
- Once cooked, transfer the eggplant to the large bowl along with the garbanzo beans. Mix until everything is uniform.
- In a food processor, transfer about 1/2 of the mixture from the large bowl and pulse until chopped and uniform, but NOT pureed. Transfer this mixture to another bowl (just for the time being) and then process the remaining mixture.
- Add everything back into the large bowl and add in the remaining ingredients along with the chia egg. Adjust salt and to taste.
- Using a cookie scooper (about 1 1/2 tablespoons large), form the meatballs and transfer them to the lined baking sheet. We yielded 34 meatballs that were about 1-inch in diameter.
- Transfer the meatballs to the oven and bake until firm and browned, about 24-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve the meatballs as desired and enjoy!
Notes
- This can be made gluten-free with gluten-free breadcrumbs.
- You can cook the vegetables with oil instead of water if desired.
- We have also tested this recipe cooked in an air fryer and pan fried on the stovetop, and we have found that the oven yields the best results.
- We prefer to use a convection oven for these but if you have a regular oven, they still work well!
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Entree
- Method: Oven
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What’s the best way to reheat these? I made them ahead of time due to knowing work was going to make me too lazy to cook haha.
You could use an air fryer, toaster oven, or on the stove top with sauce!
You could use an air fryer, toaster oven, or on the stovetop with sauce!
I had a lot of eggplant to use up so I did a search and came across this recipe. I had to use dried herbs because I did not have fresh ones but the meatballs turned out amazing. They are full of flavor and I am really impressed with the texture and how well they stayed together. I look forward to making them again with fresh herbs.
i made these without celery (substituted with more onion and a bit of red pepper) and with dried instead of fresh herbs (just cause I didnt have any in the house).
they came out great and the texture is really convincing as “real” meatballs.
chris and jasmine u guys r the besttttt !!!
the best.
The flavor is good but they are very mushy on the inside. I wouldn’t call them vegan “meatballs” since the consistency isn’t like that at all.
Thank you for your feedback on our recipe! We will get to retesting this and improve it based on your experience!
These are amazing! I added chopped walnuts. So good!!!!
I made this today and it turned out extremely well! The only flaw was I didn’t have a food processor and had to chop the eggplant/chickpeas as fine as I could , it caused the balls to not really stick together and it turned out more like a “ground beef” once I mixed everything together but hey it all still worked out haha. Thanks for making the instructions easy to follow and sharing this idea! 🙂
We are so glad that you liked this recipe! 🙂
Hi there, not sure if I missed it but I didn’t see the nutritional yeast, liquid smoke, chia egg, garlic powder or bread crumbs in the directions. Just wondering if there is a specific order to mixing them in or does everything go into the food processor all at once? And is the liquid smoke in addition to the tempeh bacon or added only for flavor if “bacon” isn’t used at all. Recipe looks delicious 🙂
Hi MJ! They are added in step 6 with “the remaining ingredients”. Thanks for noting that, I will add specifics now!
As for the smoke, we still like to add it even when we add the tempeh to make it super smoky but it is optional!
What type of eggplant are you using? I just have the large variety here, not the slender cucumber size. Would I just use one in my case?
We are using the large variety! I will update the recipe to reflect that 🙂 For your case, I would say you will need 1-2 depending on how many will yield 10.5 cups or so as the recipe calls for, unless you are making half a batch!
I have Ichiban Japanese egplant from the garden, so I am thinking 3 of these verus 2 traditional eggplant?
That should work! 🙂
These turned out amazing!! I loved them! They were definitely a hit! Do you think these would be good to freeze and then thaw and bake? I am trying to figure out a way to save them and eat later since the recipe makes so many! Thanks!
Hi Jennie! Yes, you can definitely freeze these. We would suggest that you fully bake, cool, and then freeze the meatballs (freezing them uncooked may cause the texture to change). I hope this helps!
Hi..just wanted to know if the meatballs could be made in advance and frozen
Hi Debi! Yes, these can be made in advance and frozen. We would suggest that you fully bake, cool, and then freeze the meatballs (freezing them uncooked may cause the texture to change). I hope this helps!
I do not use anything with soy, is there something I can use in place of the tempeh?
You can simply use more chickpeas! 🙂
How much more chickpeas?
I would use 1/4 cup 🙂
I am going to try these tonight but have one question. Do we cook the tempeh bacon first? Or cook the bacon first and add?
Just add it as is! 🙂 No need to precook it
I am super excited to try this for dinner tonight! But just to verify, I will need to add the chia egg to the mix before adding it into the food processor?
yes! so make it in a small bowl on the side so it can thicken completely before using 🙂
I’ve been drooling over these for the past week. I cannot wait to try them!!
I can’t wait to hear what you think!
I made these and the outside is firm but inside is kind of soft still, will this harden as it cools?
Yes it should slightly! But they are more pillow-y in texture overall 🙂
Hmm I definitely did something wrong then! My boyfriend loved them and said they were great, but I thought they tasted off. Like too firm on the outside and too mushy on the inside. Do you have any tips/suggestions? Maybe I initially overcooked the eggplant? I didn’t really time it.
Hi Lisa,
I am not sure of what could have caused that, did you use a convection or regular oven? I think that overcooking or over processing the eggplant mixture may have had an effect if that is a possibility. You could also try making them smaller so that the inside cooks more easily. Let me know if this works for you!
Can I use seitan instead of tempeh? I live in China and tempeh is not available in the part of China I live in.
I have not tested that yet but seitan is great for adding texture and I think that it will add a lot to these meatballs! If you do try it out, let me know how it goes 🙂
Total yumminess! ????
I’ve got ground flax seed in the fridge. Could I use that (1T flax to 1T water) in place of the chia seeds?
Btw, do you know how long flax seed and nutritional yeast last and the best ways to store them?
Ty.
Hi Lucy! Great question, gRound flax would definitely work, just be sure to use the same ratio of 1 tablespoon to 3 tablespoons water. AS for storage, the refrigerator would be the best 🙂
WOW… Jasmine, these meat(less) balls look amazing!!! I can’t wait to make this using your recipe…I’m going to make them for a girls night out event I’m attending in a few weeks…THANK YOU!!! xoxox
Julie I am so excited for you to try it, thank you SO SO MUCH for the inspiration 🙂