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    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    January 22, 2020 114 Comments

    Vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs

    7.3K shares
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    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!

    Vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs! 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. #itdoesnttastelikechicken #veganrecipes

    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.

    Vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs! 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. #itdoesnttastelikechicken #veganrecipes

    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:

    Walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes add richness and umami.

    Add the sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts to a food processor and pulse until you reach a paste-like texture.

    Add the remaining ingredients to make a vegan meatball dough.

    Add all the remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse, stopping to scrape the sides as needed until combined into a crumbly dough.

    roll the dough into balls to make seitan meatballs

    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.

    steam the meatballs to cook the vital wheat gluten

    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.

    to serve, I like to fry the vegan Italian meatballs in a bit of oil.

    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.

    Vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs! 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. #itdoesnttastelikechicken #veganrecipes

    Serve with dipping sauce, add to a tomato sauce, top on pasta, or enjoy them any way you please.

    Vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs! 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. #itdoesnttastelikechicken #veganrecipes

    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.

    Print Recipe
    4.96 from 48 votes

    Vegan Italian Seitan Meatballs

    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.
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time30 mins
    Total Time40 mins
    Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Pasta
    Cuisine: Italian
    Servings: 4 (makes about 20 meatballs)
    Calories: 343kcal
    Author: Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken

    Ingredients

    • ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes (the kind in oil)
    • ½ cup walnuts
    • 1 ¼ 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 ½ teaspoons onion powder
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon black pepper
    US Customary - Metric
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    Instructions

    To prepare the vegan 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.

    To serve:

    • 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.

    Notes

    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

    Serving: 1(¼ of the recipe, about 5 meatballs) | Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 540mg | Potassium: 728mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 6mg
    Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken


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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Bob says

      June 07, 2022 at 1:46 pm

      5 stars
      Just made this but it's in the fridge waiting for a steamer tray. Smells great. I never used the gluten before. I mixed the nuts beans and tomatoes separately as was tip for another fan and mixed flour by hand. I also used 1tbsp of marmite as a tip from another- sauce stache started it and it works! Fresh garlic onion parsley and oregano and 2 leftover mushrooms. Thank you for the great recipe!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        June 13, 2022 at 9:20 am

        You're welcome 🙂

        Reply
    2. Barbara says

      April 27, 2022 at 7:57 am

      5 stars
      I made these for my non-vegan husband. He said that if I made the outside of the meatballs crispier (probably deep fry before adding the sauce), it would taste like a fancy meat dish from an expensive restaurant. Thank you for the recipe, it is going to be a regular in this household 😉

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        May 26, 2022 at 9:59 am

        Aww that's wonderful! You could also coat them in cornstarch and panfry and that should get the outside more crispy 🙂

        Reply
    3. Jenna Wingate says

      February 04, 2022 at 3:28 pm

      5 stars
      This is such a great recipe. I've been making huge batches and freezing them and then taking out a few to steam in the instant pot in prep for dinner. Makes really great burger patties, too. I've tried a lot of seitan recipes and especially appreciate the simpler ones that I can throw together with a cutting board, a stick blender, and some quick kneading.

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        February 28, 2022 at 9:25 am

        So happy you love them Jenna!

        Reply
    4. E says

      January 20, 2022 at 6:46 pm

      5 stars
      Wow!!! This is a fantastic recipe. I live with my folks and they can be very skeptical of my veggie "meats" but even my carnivorous dad went back for seconds. Love it.

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        January 25, 2022 at 4:27 pm

        Amazing!! Thanks for the review E 🙂

        Reply
    5. Rob says

      December 16, 2021 at 6:40 pm

      This is one of my favorite recipes. I have made two alterations, for your consideration. First, I use kidney beans instead of lentils This makes the "meat" look more like beef. Second, I add a tablespoon of Marmite. I learned this trick from another vegan website. It somehow makes the meatballs taste a little more beefy and adds complexity to the flavor

      Thanks for a great recipe!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        December 20, 2021 at 4:51 pm

        So happy you enjoyed, Rob! I like the marmite tip, I will give it a try. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Terri says

      May 10, 2021 at 2:03 pm

      5 stars
      These are fantastic. We don't like walnuts so I subbed in cashews and used Italian seasoning instead of basil. We are not using oil so I used the dry packed tomatoes boiled for about 5 minutes and used the water from the tomatoes for the 6 Tbs of water. After steaming them, I baked them in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. The outside got a little crunchy and the inside stayed moist. They were so good that my non-vegan spouse asked if I would make another batch tonight to have for lunches this week.

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        May 13, 2021 at 10:03 am

        Haha amazing! Thrilled you enjoyed them so much, Terri 🙂

        Reply
    7. Vicky says

      February 27, 2021 at 4:16 am

      5 stars
      Lovely meatballs! I've struggled to find a recipe that didn't just result in mushy meatballs so this one is fab, I added oregano and fennel as I'm a fan of basil and they turned out really well. Definitely saving this recipe 🙂

      Reply
    8. Laurie says

      February 07, 2021 at 7:18 am

      I made these yesterday and doubled the recipe. After tasting the dough, I added fennel seed to half the batch so I could compare. After steaming, the texture of both was fabulous, but I think the fennel seed adds something special. Thanks for a great recipe!

      Reply
    9. Laura says

      January 26, 2021 at 9:57 am

      5 stars
      I’ve tried a lot of meatball recipes, this one is the best!
      Delicious! I didn’t have the sun dried tomatoes so I substituted a generous teaspoon of tomato paste & fresh garlic. The texture, taste was perfect. Thank you

      Reply
    10. Brooke Salas says

      January 13, 2021 at 10:34 am

      5 stars
      SAM! Oh my freaking word. Ok, so while I always love your recipes and use them almost daily, I rarely comment on things. But these meatballs - BEST mock meat EVER! I am beyond obsessed and literally did a happy dance when I tasted them. I made them with spaghetti and meatballs and my dad (who is vegan skeptical and not a fan of spaghetti) said that they are "restaurant yummy" and wants me to make more for him asap! Girl, this recipe is amazing and instantly shot up to the top of our faves!! Meatballs were something I really missed but never thought much about when I went vegan 4 years ago. But I can honestly say these are better than any meat version I ever ate before! So yummy!

      Reply
    11. Jesse says

      January 11, 2021 at 7:21 pm

      5 stars
      I made these two nights ago and put them in the fridge and and ate them yesterday. I’m not vegan but I try to eat a vegan meal sometimes so I had vegan spaghetti and these not meatballs. It was amazing! I loved the texture and they weren’t too firm and somewhat crumbly. My mom tried one and said they tasted a little like wheat but she liked them and did say they were good! I couldn’t taste any wheat. Easy to make too. The meal was super filling and the macros are great! I used 1 tb nutritional yeast and 1 tb soy sauce because I’m gonna eat them with different sauces so I would rather the balls themselves be undersalted. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!

      Reply
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