Are you ready to try the meatiest vegan meatballs you’ve ever come across? Juicy, tender, flavourful, perfect for enjoying as an appetizer with a dipping sauce and even better for topping pasta. These vegan Italian seitan meatballs have quickly become a go-to recipe in my house!
Not only are these super easy to prepare (just 10 minutes prep time), but once they are steamed they can be stored in the fridge for 5 days or they can even be frozen for another time. Perfect for making ahead of time or for meal prep.
The secret to getting the meatiest texture is to use vital wheat gluten. Vital wheat gluten is a flour made from the protein in wheat, and it’s what gives bread its bouncy stretchy texture, and what makes pizza dough so awesome. Using it in combination with lentils, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, and various spices makes these seitan meatballs so meaty and flavourful it’s pretty astounding.
For those of you who love counting macros, one serving (5 meatballs) contains a whopping 39 grams of protein!! Or 8 grams of protein per meatball.
Unfortunately, vital wheat gluten is a very special ingredient and there is no substitution for it. So if you are gluten-free this isn’t the recipe for you. You could try my beanball recipe found in my cookbook Fuss-Free Vegan which has a gluten-free option.
To make vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs:
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts to a food processor and pulse until you reach a paste-like texture.
Add all the remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse, stopping to scrape the sides as needed until combined into a crumbly dough.
Pinch off some of the dough and roll into a vegan meatball about the size of a golf ball and set aside on a plate or dish. Repeat until all the dough is used up and you have made about 20 meatballs.
Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the meatballs to the steamer basket, cover and steam for 25 minutes, gently turning the meatballs halfway through. The meatballs will expand a bit when they steam.
Once the steaming is done, you can either prepare them right away (see below), or allow them to cool completely and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for later.
Steaming the seitan is what gives it the perfect texture. Once they are steamed you can basically treat them as if they were raw meatballs and pan-fry them before serving.
To do this add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the meatballs and fry a couple of minutes per side, turning as needed until they are golden all over and heated through.
Serve with dipping sauce, add to a tomato sauce, top on pasta, or enjoy them any way you please.
I love making pasta with tomato sauce from my cookbook Fuss-Free Vegan, adding the seitan meatballs on top, and garnishing with Parmegan. And I’ve also served them as a little appetizer with a few sauces for dipping. Let’s just say that anyway I prepare these vegan Italian seitan meatballs, they have disappeared immediately.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
Juicy, tender, flavourful, perfect for enjoying as an appetizer with a dipping sauce and even better for topping on pasta. Easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time or frozen for later.
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (the kind in oil)
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (there is no substitution for this)
- 1 cup cooked lentils (I used canned)
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
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Add the sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts to a food processor and pulse until you reach a paste-like texture. Add all the remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse, stopping to scrape the sides as needed until combined into a crumbly dough.
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Pinch off some of the dough and roll into a vegan meatball about the size of a golf ball and set aside on a plate or dish. Repeat until all the dough is used up and you have made about 20 meatballs.
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Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the meatballs to the steamer basket, cover and steam for 25 minutes, gently turning the meatballs halfway through. The meatballs will expand a bit when they steam. Once the steaming is done, you can either prepare them right away (see below), or allow them to cool completely and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for later.
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Steaming the seitan is what gives it the perfect texture. Once they are steamed you can basically treat them as if they were raw meatballs and pan-fry them before serving.
To do this add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the meatballs and fry a couple of minutes per side, turning as needed until they are golden all over and heated through. Serve with dipping sauce, add to a tomato sauce, or enjoy them any way you please.
Vital wheat gluten is essential to this recipe, and there is no substitute. Therefore this recipe cannot be made gluten-free. For a vegan gluten-free meatball recipe try my bean ball recipe in Fuss-Free Vegan which has a gluten-free option.
Steaming tips: you need to steam the vegan meatballs before using them. I recommend getting a steamer pot if you plan to make seitan often, or you can use a DIY method if you do not have a steamer.
Cleaning tips: vital wheat gluten is very sticky and can destroy dish brushes and cloths. So what I like to do is save old clothes, sheets, or towels that are too shabby to donate, and cut them into rags. I use these rags to clean up after preparing a seitan recipe and discard the rag once finished.
To make vegan meatballs oil-free: sub the sun-dried tomatoes in oil, for the air-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Note that the walnut/ sun-dried tomato mixture will be more like a fine crumble in texture instead of a paste. Then simply fry them without oil in a non-stick pan, adding a little water or broth if needed. Note: I tried baking the vegan meatballs but this just made them dry and hard so I do not recommend this.
To substitute walnuts: I love walnuts for their flavour in this recipe but you could substitute them for any nut or seed such as pecans, cashews, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken.
Can’t eat legumes. What would be a good IBS safe sub for the lentils?\
Thank you
These are amazing and so easy to make and the taste is better than any store bought vegan meatballs. I have had a few disasters trying to make setian but your recipes have encouraged me to keep trying I have made the steak and the chicken tenders and both turned out fantastic I now have a freezer full of setian success story’s. Thank you for your fantastic recipes and keep them coming.
Haha! That’s amazing. Thrilled you love my seitan recipes cazzie 🙂
Hi Sam,
I just got my first bag of vital wheat gluten and decided to try these meatballs. I followed your directions except for three things. I only had packaged sun dried tomatoes with no oil so I added a little water to the walnut tomato mixture. I added only one tablespoon of soy sauce because my lentils had added salt. Third I cooked them in the instant pot for 20 minutes. When done they looked like perfect little meatballs. I tasted one. The flavor was really good but they were extremely dry. My guess is they got over cooked in the instant pot. I served them with pasta sauce but they were still dry. I would like to try them again. Any thoughts on how to keep them from being so dry.
Thanks,
Trish
Glad t know it comes out ok in the instant pot, Did you use the sauté setting? Maybe add a few tablespoons of your favorite oil. I used chipotle peppers instead of the sun dried tomatoes also added fresh basil onions and oregano. Indeed delicious!
I also made these in the Instant Pot after reading your comment about them being dry I made a couple modifications. I think the oil with the sun dried tomatoes helps keep them moist so maybe add a tablespoon of oil next time (I used olive oil). I also reduced the amount of vital wheat gluten to 1 cup. I then put a 2 cups of water and a lightly oiled steamer basket in the Instant Pot. I then placed the meatballs on the steamer basket, and cooked at High Pressure for 20 mins, quick release. They seemed a bit “soft” right off the bat but after browning them in a pan and simmering in tomato sauce they were perfect.
Sam, you scored again! I made these for dinner tonight and they came out fantastic. Can’t wait to have family over for a spaghetti dinner, with garlic bread and the trimmings! The flavor was spot on and the tooth stood up great. Your site has become my go to site for great Seitan dishes. Thank you for sharing your experience and these unbelievably good recipes. AJ
Aww that’s wonderful! So happy you enjoyed, AJ!
These were sooo good – the texture and flavor was wonderful! I’m going to try more flavor variations in the future. I also happened onto a pretty easy cleanup for the sticky food processor. I do a ‘first’ cleaning/rinshing with COLD water, a little dish soap and just use my fingers to get all the spicy stuff to wash into the sink disposal. The cold water seems to coagulate the gluten mixture residue, making it easy to rinse off. Then I do a second full wash with hot water and soap for a full cleanup. Hope that helps anyone!
Make that “rinsing” and “sticky” stuff! Sorry for the typos
I have never made anything with vital wheat gluten before. The consistency of my meatballs came out very doughy and stretchy. Is that supposed to happen? The texture is all one consistency and not very grainy like a meatball. The flavor seems right thought. I don’t know if it made a difference, but I added the lentils while they were still hot to the mixture.
I really love your recipe’s! Your chili was amazing! Would love some feedback from anyone on the seitan meatball. It came out very doughey and stretchy. I did a little more research and I may have over processed it or it could of been that I needed to cool down my lentils. I want to try this recipe again, because the flavor was amazing, but maybe seitan is supposed to be gooey like play dough, in that case…probably not something I can eat.
Hmmmm… the texture came out perfectly for me. They were grainy enough to feel meaty, not gooey, but still held together well. Did you follow the instructions carefully? The only thing I can think of is if you used hot water; that might make the gluten go super gluey. I would definitely recommend trying them again though. They were delicious!
I think the lentils should have been cooled, since the balls are supposed to be steamed to set. ‘The hot lentils may have made the dough set to soon making it more elastic.
These were so delicious! I’ve been wanting to try making vegan meatballs forever, and I decided today was the day. I’ve enjoyed so many of your dishes that I thought I’d see if you had a meatball recipe… and you do!! I was worried they’d be dense since they didn’t expand a lot when steaming, but they were just perfect. They hold together well and the flavour is amazing! They were wonderful simmered in homemade tomato sauce and served over spaghetti!
Yay!!! So thrilled you gave them a try and love them, Emabean 🙂
I just wanted to check back in and say that I made these as sausages. I wrapped them in foil and steamed them, then browned them in a little oil and served them with scrambled tofu and toast. Everyone loved them that way too!
These were so good and easy to make. Only change was I used half an onion as I didn’t have onion powder. The whole family loved them. My son asked if they could be made like burger patties and I don’t see why not so will make those next time with the same recipe. Thank you so much.
Awesome!!
Made these today and as with all your recipes – easy and delicious! I had to freeze a few to stop me from eating the entire batch. Thank you!
Haha! Amazing!!
Hello,
First of all, I would like to thank you for your recipes. So far, I’ve made the seitan steaks and chicken tenders, which both turned out really good. In your recipe for meatballs, do you measure the walnuts whole or ground? Thanks in advance
Wonderful! So happy you love them. I measure them whole 🙂
This recipe sounds wonderful! I don’t have any lentils, dry or canned. Can I substitute with another bean? Red beans, white beans? Thanks!
You can use other beans but you might want to mash them first so they blend well. ENjoy!
Easy recipe. Great texture!!! I made 25 and they were quite large. Next time I would add a bit of salt. I only had frozen dehydrated tomatoes so I added about 1 T of olive oil. Steaming seitan is the ONLY way to go. Not sure if you rinsed and drained your lentils. I did NOT and it all came out fine.
WOnderful Margie! Yes, I agree, steaming is the only way. 🙂
So many comments by people pleased with this recipe. I’m a new vegetarian, missing my spaghetti and meatballs. Can’t wait to try this but….
I don’t see seitan listed in the ingredients list. Am I missing something?
Thanks
Never mind. I was confusing seitan with tempeh.
Can’t wait to try your recipe now that it makes more sense to me
Hi Jane, this recipe is to make your own seitan. When you make a meat like food using vital wheat gluten, that is called seitan. So in this recipe you are making your own homemade seitan meatballs 🙂
Rookie mistake. I’m off to buy some vital gluten! Thanks.
I love your cookbook — several of the recipes favourites and in regular rotation. I’ve become concerned about eating too many products with textured soy protein and wanted to make my own meatballs rather than relying on the products in the grocery store. I have a cookbook dedicated to seitan, but the the thought of wrapping each meatball in foil just didn’t appeal. And then I saw this recipe. My flexitarian husband loves them and I think they’re superior to the products I’ve had before. They were also easy to make! I made a batch last week for company and they were a big hit. I made another batch yesterday for freezing. Thank you so much! If you’ve got another cookbook in the works I think this should definitely be included.
So very happy you love them so much, Laureen!!
OMG – what sorcery is this? I could not believe how AMAZING these meatballs were! We’re already huge fans of your other seitan recipes, but these meatballs are in a league of their own. Truly epic! Thanks so much!
After steaming and pan-frying, I popped them into the slow cooker with my sister-in-law’s yummy meatball sauce (1/2 c vinegar, 1 c brown sugar, 1 tsp soy sauce, 3/4 c ketchup). Left them simmering on the low setting for a couple of hours and the final product was oh, oh oh, soooo incredibly delicious! Could not stop eating them!
Can’t wait to try them in stew next, then spaghetti! Will have to make a new batch first though! 😉
Haha! That’s wonderful, Faye! So thrilled you enjoyed them so much 🙂
Hi Sam,
Love the seitan balls 🙂 I pan-fried some straight after steaming (very good!) and have frozen some. Do you think the frozen ones should be fully defrosted before pan-frying?
Thanks,
Kata
Yes I would defrost them first. Glad you enjoyed!
These were so good! I made them tonight with a Swedish meatball sauce and mashed potatoes. Your seitan recipes truly cannot be beat! The sausages and steak are some of our favorite things so make. I always use my instant pot for the steaming part. Thanks so much for sharing your amazing recipes with us!
Aww thank you so much, Hope! So thrilled you love all my seitan recipes so much 🙂
Made the meatballs tonight, and they were awesome! Followed the recipe exactly as written and then steamed and pan fried them. Thanks for the great recipe!
ou’re most welcome, Jeri! Thrilled you enjoyed it!
These meatballs are really great) They are so tasty and pulpy, that my boyfriend ate the six ones at the dinner) I am from Russia and there we discovered seitan only several years ago. I found a lot of recipes with gluten, but all of them were not perfect. And all of them had a specific taste of gluten. But your recipe is amazing, sun-dried tomatoes make meatballs very juicy and savory. And lentils and nuts make an ideal texture. Thanx a lot for this awesome recipe, you are cool, I Love your site))
Aww thanks so much, Tanya! Thrilled they are a hit 🙂
SAM!!! The hits just keep on coming! I’ve never left so many comments in all my LIFE as I have on so many of your recipes. Now you KNOW I think you’re a genius…but these, these are NEXT LEVEL! I’ve been looking for a meatball that tastes aaamazing holds up well in sauce & by the kitchen gods, you DELIVERED! I followed the recipe exactly ‘cept for adding a li’l vegan beef stock powder in lieu of salt & for beefy authenticity. BOOOM – sooooo freaking GOOOOOD! Hubby said “if I didn’t know they weren’t meat, I wouldn’t know from tasting them”. I can’t wait to try these in a meatball sub, with Thai flavours in a laksa type soup…dammit, on everything really! And they took nearly no time to prep for steaming. You’re one in a million Sam! Tagging you on insta shortly. 😀
Hahaha!! THank you so much, Tova!!! I’m thrilled you love them so much 🙂
This is the best vegan meatballs recipe. I was trying to find a recipe that is working and I found it. I made meatball subs with it yesterday and we loved it here. I will use them in pasta and many other meals. Thanx
Yay!! SO happy you love it, Emilie 🙂
I freaking love all your seitan recipes sooo much! My non-vegan husband says if all vegan food tasted this good he could live on it! 😉 Your meatballs recipe is the best one I have tried! YUM YUM YUM
Oh ya!!!! Thank you so much, Zuana! I better keep making more vegan food to help your husband go vegan! 😉
I’m excited to make these, but before I do, I was wondering if it’s necessary to use nuts at all? I read where you give suggestions for substituting walnuts, however I’d prefer not to use any if at all possible.
The nuts add richness and depth of flavour. I suppose you could skip them if you want, but I wouldn’t!
These are GREAT and so much better than a lot of the frozen options at the grocery store, not to mention cheaper. Super easy to make.
All the recipes from you that I’ve tried so far are delicious. Keep ‘me coming!
Yay!! Thrilled to hear that, Natasha 🙂
Easy to make with pantry staples and an excellent texture and taste – what’s not to love?!
Aww yay!! THanks, Carly 🙂
Hi Sam, I’ve just gone to make these today but there’s no ‘Metric’ conversion button like there usually is! Please, please add it in – I hate trying to work out the conversions and love your site for having it built in.
Carly
Added!
Thank you!
You are a blessed lady. Your recipes never stop to amaze me. I love seitan and these will be wonderful. But I’ve got to come up with a way to make a steamer as I do not own one. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thsnks in advance.
Hi Sonya, thank you so much! Yes, I have DIY steamer methods linked in the notes of the recipe already 🙂 Enjoy!
Wow thank you, I feel kind of dumb I seen your method before [email protected]
Hi, I just made these today. Pretty much vebatum except for using fresh garlic and Onion. (I don’t stock powdered).
They were delicious, but I wanted to say that I used an Instant Pot to do the steaming. And they came out perfect. I used low pressure for 22 minutes and a 10 min natural release. Just put an inch of water below a steam rack – put the balls on the rack seal the Instant Pot and set the parameters.
Thanks for a great recipe. They taste so “meaty” 🙂
That’s a great tip, thank you, Lauren! Thrilled you loved them so much too 🙂
All I know is Sam is a special person to work so hard to come up with vegan recipes to help
people. I do not have time to do what she does and so appreciate all she does. As every person is unique, not every person will like the same thing and need to be kind to one another and treat a person the way you would want to be treated.
This recipe looks great and right on time. Looking forward to this one, Sam! Hugs!
Aww thanks so much, Marie! So happy you love my recipes 🙂
I’ve made other vegan meatballs, but my husband said these were the best! Great texture and flavor.
Yay!! Thrilled they were such a hit 🙂
These look amazing, can’t wait to try! Are the sun-dried tomatoes really important for texture or more for flavour? I’d love to do a seitan “meat”ball with more Asian flavours, just wondering whether I’d need to substitute with something similarly textured or if a mix of e.g. ginger garlic and green onion might work…
I like them both for texture and flavour. You’re welcome to experiment tho. Enjoy!
Hey Sam,
Thanks for the recipe! They look delicious, and like everything else you make, I’m sure they are!
I hope I didn’t overlook this in your tips. I am on a keto lifestyle, can I substitute mushroom powder for the lentils, to lower the final carb count? Or do you have another low carb suggestion?
Hi Delores, so happy you love my recipes! A keto diet, even a vegan keto diet, is actually very harmful to your health, so I would never recommend that for anyone. Legumes on the other hand, have been proven to be extremely healthful and slimming too! The lentils in this recipe add not only flavour, but also texture. Another type of legume might but not likely mushroom powder. Hope that helps!
Thanks Sam.
Hello again Sam,
I quickly researched the website information that you provided and I am adjusting my style of eating to include some good carbs, and of course, much less fat, as indicated. I will also pass this information on to others that I know who are trying to adapt to this UNHEALTHY eating style.
Wow, great recipes, and great health advice.
Thanks again.
You’re most welcome, Delores! So glad I could help and lead you in a healthier direction. I highly recommend the book How Not to Die if you’re looking for the best health advice 🙂 ENjoy!
Hi Sam, my shero, can you suggest what type of lentils are best (or the ones you used)?
I just used canned lentils and it doesn’t actually say what kind on the can! My guess is that they are brown. But any type of lentil, as long as it’s cooked until soft should work just fine 🙂
Thank you, this post is perfectly timed! I just tried making a batch of delicious “meatballs” last night and after baking them nice and crunchy, they completely disintegrated in the sauce. My kids were really excited to have spaghetti and meatballs and I’ve been trying to find a homemade version instead of relying on Yves packaged ones. I know if it’s your recipe it will be excellent. Thanks for alm you do Sam!
Aww thanks so much! I hope you love them 🙂
What color Lentils do you suggest using? Thanks!
It really doesn’t matter as long as they are cooked until soft. I used canned and I believe they are brown lentils, although it doesn’t even say!
How important is it to use the oil packed sundried tomatoes? Can you use rehyrdrated sundried tomatoes or at least packed in water for an oil free version?
Never mind…I just read the footie notes 😉
“To make vegan meatballs oil-free: sub the sun-dried tomatoes in oil, for the air-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Note that the walnut/ sun-dried tomato mixture will be more like a fine crumble in texture instead of a paste. Then simply fry them without oil in a non-stick pan, adding a little water or broth if needed. Note: I tried baking the vegan meatballs but this just made them dry and hard so I do not recommend this.”
Yes, I leave lots of helpful tips in the notes so you can always check there for info 🙂
Do you think chestnuts could be sub for walnuts?
Would it be ok to substitute sunflower seeds, or maybe roasted soybeans, for the walnut? Deadly tree-nut allergy here.
Made your chicken tenders the other night, BTW. My carnivore wife said “you could fool me with these”. I sauted strips in BBQ sauce and made a bbq sandwich from it. Delish.
Dude….did you read the recipe?! She answers the question!
“Dude” I went straight to the recipe. I was trying to read it during my short lunch break and didn’t look at the recipe notes.
Yes I have recommendations for walnut substitutions in the recipe notes 🙂 And that’s amazing! Glad they were a hit 🙂
Best to cover the balls while steaming or leave them uncovered? Thanks!
Cover them! Sorry about that, I have added that to the recipe 🙂