January 24, 2018

Greek Vegetarian Meatballs

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These baked greek vegetarian meatballs make for a simple and healthy meal or appetizer! Protein packed and freezer friendly, they’re made with chickpeas, walnuts, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Dairy free and gluten free.

Greek Vegetarian Meatballs on a large white platter with tzatziki sauce in a small bowl.

Meatballs, meatballs, meatballs! Filled with veggies and protein and herbs, oh my!

They’re dinner meatballs, game day meatballs, everyday meatballs.

Okay, okay, I’m stopping now. I promise.

BUT. My point is that these little balls are fun, flavorful, freezer-friendly AND you have so many options for putting them to use.

Serve them with dipping sauce for game day, with roasted veggies for dinner or really, with just about whatever your little heart can dream up.

Anyway, let’s discuss what’s actually in these meatballs, yes?

They’re filled with plant-based goodness like chickpeas, walnuts, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. AND there’s some lemon zest, minced red onion, garlic and fresh parsley to pump up the flavor even more.

Your food processor does the majority of the work mixing it all together, and then we roll into balls before baking away in the oven.

They’re simple, fresh, healthy. Greek vegetarian meatballs, you rock.

An overhead view of Greek Vegetarian Meatballs on a white platter with pita bread to the side.

Tips & Tricks For These Greek Vegetarian Meatballs

  1. First up. For my vegan / egg free friends – I think these meatballs would work well with a flax egg in place of the regular egg. I haven’t tested this myself though, so please share if you give it a go!
  2. A cookie scoop is super helpful when shaping the meatball mixture into the balls. It makes the process a bit quicker and you’ll wind up with meatballs that are all the same size.
  3. If serving these for a party or game day, I like to serve with tzatziki for dipping and some pita bread on the side.
  4. But if serving for dinner, I LOVEEEE to enjoy with a bunch of roasted veggies (in addition to the listed tzatziki and pita bread). I like to use eggplant, zucchini, broccoli and red onion, which pair well with the flavors in the balls. Chop the veggies up to about the same size and then toss with olive oil, salt and pepper on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast at 400ºF for about 25ish minutes, or until tender. Serve with the meatballs, tzatziki and some warmed pita bread. Yum-o.

How To Store

Fridge: Let the meatballs cool completely then place in an airtight container in the fridge. They’ll keep like this for about 4 days.

Freezer: Make the meatballs as directed then let cool to room temperature. Pop em’ in a container or freezer-safe baggie then store in your freezer. When ready to enjoy, thaw out overnight in the fridge and then reheat on a baking sheet in the oven right before serving (at 350ºF for about 10 or so minutes).

A bowl filled with roasted veggies, Greek Vegetarian Meatballs and tzatziki sauce with a fork.

Additional Greek Recipes You Might Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? Rate and review it down below! I’d love to hear from you.

Baked greek vegetarian meatballs! Simple, healthy, protein packed and freezer friendly! Made with chickpeas, walnuts, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes!

Greek Vegetarian Meatballs

Yield: about 27 to 29 meatballs
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

These baked greek vegetarian meatballs make for a simple and healthy meal or appetizer! Protein packed and freezer friendly, they’re made with chickpeas, walnuts, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Dairy free and gluten free.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

  • 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • ¼ cup raw walnut halves
  • ¼ cup minced red onion
  • ¼ cup minced sun-dried tomatoes (pat them dry first!)
  • ¼ cup packed fresh parsley leaves
  • 4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • juice of ½ a medium lemon
  • 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • ⅓ cup oat flour (or all-purpose or white whole wheat)
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

For serving:

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. To the bowl of a food processor, add the chickpeas, walnuts, red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pulse until the mixture is well combined and finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  3. Add the spinach to the bowl (break it up with your fingers first!) and pulse until combined and the mixture pulls away toward the sides of the bowl.
  4. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add in the flour, salt and pepper. Mix until combined and the flour is mostly absorbed, then taste and season with additional salt / pepper as needed.
  5. Add in the egg and mix again until well combined (if the mixture is too wet to form into balls, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Don’t add too much, or you’ll dry them out! I usually don’t add any.).
  6. Form the mixture into balls about 1 ½ inches in size (a cookie scoop works great here) and place on the prepared baking sheet.
  7. Bake for about 27 to 30 minutes, until firm and lightly browned.
  8. Serve as desired.

Notes

*To keep this recipe dairy free, use your favorite plain unsweetened dairy free yogurt in the tzatziki sauce. Alternatively, a tahini sauce is also delicious here for dunking / drizzling!

**To keep this recipe gluten free, skip the pita bread! Or use your favorite gluten free bread instead!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 265Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 734mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 10gSugar: 11gProtein: 13g

Nutrition data shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator and is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered a substitute for a medical professional’s advice.

© Ashley / Cook Nourish Bliss
Cuisine: Mediterranean / Category: Main Dish
Appetizers, Dairy Free, Freezer-Friendly, Game Day, Gluten Free, Main Dish, Meatless, Recipes (ALL), Soy Free, Vegetarian, Weeknight
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