I often find myself wanting to serve my family spaghetti squash for dinner, but not knowing what to have with it to make it more nutritious and filling. If you’re not familiar with spaghetti squash, it’s a great gluten-free, low-calorie substitute for pasta. It’s also mostly water and needs veggies and a protein source to make it a complete meal. To remedy this problem without topping my spaghetti with processed/oily vegan “meat,” I decided to make some bean balls full of veggies that kids and adults will love.
I can keep these veggie bean balls in the freezer until I decide to serve pasta, throw one on a salad, try a veggie ball sandwich, or whenever Abby asks for one for snack (which has been often!).
Abby loves these veggie bean balls, and I feel good about giving them to her! Each one contains a good serving of chickpeas, flax, onion, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, and Italian seasoning.
Oh, and did I mention they’re so easy to make, a kid can help?
Just throw all of the ingredients into a food processor, pulse a few times, taste, and roll into balls. Coat them in bread crumbs and vegan Parmesan, then bake until golden and beautiful!
Keep the above photo in mind when processing the ingredients. If you over process, you will end up with a paste, which is not as appetizing as being able to see a few pieces of veggies and chickpeas here and there. Trust me!
I’ve used bread crumbs and panko, and these photos are the bread crumb version. Both are good, but the panko gives a better crunchy crust on the outside. It also looks quite different, so don’t be discouraged if yours don’t look exactly like these!
These veggie bean balls smell so good while they’re baking! The combination of the Italian seasonings, garlic, and the vegan Parmesan will make your kitchen smell like an Italian restaurant. Top these bean balls with marinara or serve them as a grab & go snack for kids. Either way, they’re delicious!
If you’re not familiar with vegan grated Parmesan, you should be able to find it at Whole Foods or any other health foods store that carries vegan goods. I use a brand called Go Veggie, and it’s pretty similar to the real thing. Other brands should work, or you can make your own if you’re really committed.
- 1 flax egg (1 T. milled flax + 3 T. warm water, allowed to sit about 10 mins.)
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- 2 medium baby bella mushrooms or 4-5 button mushrooms, chopped
- ½ cup chopped broccoli florets
- ¼ cup chopped carrots (about one small carrot)
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1½ tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. salt, plus more to taste (depends on saltiness of Parmesan)
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 Tbs. nutritional yeast
- 3 T. vegan grated Parmesan, divided
- ¾ cup GF bread crumbs or panko, divided
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Make flax egg and set aside.
- In a food processor, combine the onion, mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, oregano, basil, black pepper, onion powder, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pulse a few times, until veggies resemble large uniform crumbs.
- Add the chickpeas, nutritional yeast, 2 Tablespoons vegan Parmesan, ½ cup bread crumbs, and the flax egg. Pulse a few more times until just combined and everything starts to stick together like a dough. You still want to see bits and pieces of veggies and chickpeas. Do not over process, or you will end up with a paste!
- In a small bowl or dish, stir together the remaining ¼ cup crumbs and 1 Tbs. Parmesan.
- Scoop out large balls (slightly larger than golf balls) of the dough and plop them into the crumb mixture. Roll them around until completely coated and transfer them to the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the dough is used up.
- Bake 22-25 mins, flip the balls, then bake 10 more mins.
- Serve on pasta, a salad, a sandwich or wrap, or just eat them by themselves!
Freeze these veggie bean balls up to 4 months or keep them in the fridge up to 5 days.
Abby was very interested in this photo shoot — probably because these veggie bean balls smelled amazing!
Enjoy!
♥ ♥ ♥
Also try a family favorite, my Lazy Vegan Lasagna!
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