Learn how to make Easy Vegan Mushroom Meatballs right in your own kitchen! Tender, hearty and packed with flavour, these gluten free meatless meatballs are perfect for pastas, sandwiches, casseroles and more!
I can't believe this is the first vegan meatless meatball recipe on the blog considering how many different kinds of vegan meatballs I used to make back when I was in university! They're perfect for meal prep and was a great way to switch up proteins in my pasta meals. I especially enjoyed them in the winter time when I was craving some serious comfort food.
I've made chickpea meatballs, tofu meatballs, lentil meatballs and these mushroom meatballs- and I was juggling which one I wanted to share first but my heart just said mushroom meatballs pleaseeeeee. They're tender, juicy, moist and packed with so much flavour. Ah, I'm craving these as I'm typing right now!
Ingredients in Meatless Meatballs
The base of these Vegan Meatballs are made with mushrooms which is one of my favourite ingredients to replace meat with in terms of texture and flavour. Typically, meatballs use breadcrumbs but I opted to use a combination of gluten free oats and walnuts which helps absorb the liquids and create texture.
These vegan meatballs are packed with flavour thanks to the onions, garlic, vegan Worcester sauce (or soy sauce/tamari), nutritional yeast, parsley, oregano, thyme, red pepper fakes, salt and pepper. Because there are a lot of flavours going on here, if you don't have one or two of the ingredients it's not a huge deal and you can still make this recipe.
And don't worry about these meatballs crumbling apart because we have the trusty flax egg holding everything together.
How to Make Vegan Mushroom Meatballs
If you've ever made meatballs with actual meat before, it's a little bit more tricky. You run into the problems of them coming out dry or even being under cooked *danger!!*. Thankfully these vegan meatballs are easy to make and even if they're a little undercooked, they're still tasty and edible. Let me give you a run down:
- Fry the garlic, onion and mushrooms until softened over medium heat.
- Add in the vegan Worcester sauce, dry herbs, salt and pepper, and cook the mushrooms down until the pan is as dry as possible without burning. You basically want most of the moisture cooked off.
- Add the oats and walnuts into a food processor and pulse blend to make a course meal (kind of like bread crumb consistency). And then transfer that into a bowl.
- Blend the mushroom mixture until just combined but NOT into a paste! You should still be able to see bits of mushrooms and onions.
- Add the mushroom mixture, nutritional yeast and flax egg into the same bowl with the oats and walnuts. Mix well until combined. The mixture will be wet but rollable. If it's TOO wet, add in some more ground oats, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Divide the mixture into 10-12 portions (around 38-42g each), roll them into balls and place on a baking tray. Bake for 20-22 minutes, rotating the tray half way.
You can also pan fry or air fry these mushroom meatballs! Check out the notes in the recipe card.
How to Serve Meatless Mushroom Meatballs
Heat marinara sauce (or sauce of choice) in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Place the mushroom meatballs in the sauce and stir them around to cover it with the sauce. Let it gently simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Go traditional and serve it with pasta! Or get fancy and make vegan baked ziti, vegan meatballs subs, put them into bagels (my fav is avocado + marinara + vegan cheese + mushroom meatballs *YUM*), add them to soups and more!
Tips & Tricks to Making Vegan Mushroom Meatballs
- Cook off the Mushroom Until Dry: Mushrooms release a lot of moisture, so be sure to cook them until the pan goes dry.
- Mixture too Wet: Depending on how much you cook off the moisture, you may need to add more oats. I like to grind up some extra oats just incase but you can also use oat four or whole oats. The mixture should be moist, but still rollable.
- Finish Cooking Meatballs in Sauce: This step adds more flavour and helps finish cooking the mushroom meatballs.
How to Store Meatless Mushroom Meatballs
- In the Refrigerator: Keep separate from the sauce. Once fully cooled after baking, place in an air tight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- In the Freezer: After baked and fully cooled, place them into air tight reusable container/bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To re-heat, place them into simmering sauce until cooked through.
Helpful Equipment to Make This Recipe
- Food Processor: for the oats, walnuts and mushroom mixture.
- Baking Tray: to bake the mushroom meatballs.
If you're craving some serious comfort food, this is for you- I hope you try and love them as much as I do! They're seriously so tasty and are the perfect meatless meatballs for any dish that calls for meatballs!
Craving More Pasta? Try these recipes!
- Vegan Pesto Ricotta Stuffed Shells
- 3 Week Night Pasta Meals (in Under 15 Minutes)
- Mushroom Pasta with Soy Butter Garlic Sauce
If you recreate this Vegan Mushroom Meatballs recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
Hungry for more? Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest for more deliciousness!
Vegan Mushroom Meatballs
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 meatballs 1x
Description
Learn how to make Easy Vegan Mushroom Meatballs right in your own kitchen! Tender, hearty and packed with flavour, these gluten free meatless meatballs are perfect for pastas, sandwiches, casseroles and more!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 2.5 tbsp warm water
- 1 8 oz package of crimini mushrooms, sliced (225g // button or chestnut mushrooms can be used as well)
- 1 medium onion, diced (115g)
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced (9g)
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcester sauce (15g)
- 1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast (12g)
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp thyme
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ⅔ cup + 2 tablespoon gluten free rolled oats (72g)
- ½ cup roasted walnuts (62g)
Instructions
Meatballs:
- Into a small bowl whisk together ground flax seed and water. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Over medium high heat, add the onion and garlic into a large pan and fry for 1 minute. Add in the mushrooms and fry until mushrooms have softened. Add in the vegan Worcester sauce, dried parsley, oregeno, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and continue to cook until most of the moisture has evaporated. Turn off the heat and set aside. Pre-heat oven to 350 F (180 C)
- Add the oats and walnuts into a food processor and blend until a course meal forms. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the cooked mushroom mixture into the food processor and blend until combined. Do not over blend, you should still be able to see bits of mushrooms and onions.
- Into the large bowl with oats and walnuts, add in the mushroom mixture, nutritional yeast and flax egg. Use a spoon and mix until combined. If the mixture looks too loose or wet, add in some more oats.
- Divide the mixture into 10-12 portions (around 38-42g each), roll them into balls and place on a baking tray. Bake for 20-22 minutes, rotating the tray half way.
To Serve:
- Cook pasta according to instructions. Heat marinara sauce over medium heat in a saucepan.
- Place meatballs into the marinara sauce and let it lightly simmer for 3-5 minutes while the pasta cooks.
- Plate pasta, top with meatballs and top with remaining marinara. Garnish with vegan parmesan, pepper and herbs of choice.
Notes
- To Pan Fry: add oil to large frying pan. Place mushroom meatballs into the frying pan and cook on medium until browned and heated through.
- To Air Fry: spray air fryer basket with a little oil. Place the meatballs into the air fryer basket and air fry at 400 F for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked. Shake the basket half way to make sure they're evenly cooked.
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: vegan, gluten free
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 meatball
- Calories: 74
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 218mg
- Fat: 4.1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.5g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 7.7g
- Fiber: 1.7g
- Protein: 2.9g
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: mushroom meatballs, vegan meatballs, gluten free meatballs
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
Okonomi Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you purchase something through my amazon affiliate links, I earn a small commission that helps me produce consistent content at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my plant based kitchen!
Jesse says
Hi, you mention air frying directions in the post but I don't see them in the recipe card? Can you add them?
Lisa Kitahara says
Hi Jesse!
Just updated. Thank you!
Kristina Hamilton says
This recipe is fantastic! Very easy to make and I couldn’t help but eat a few before putting them in the pasta sauce 😆 Made zero modifications 👍🏼 I was also very excited to see there are air fryer instructions! (Which is so convenient in my opinion) Will definitely make again but double batch to freeze for later! Thank you for the yummy vegan recipe !! I also saw your Vegan MABO Recipe which I’m sooo excited about. My mom is also a Japanese and I grew up eating this dish. I can’t wait to make it 💓
★★★★★
Mary Lou says
This recipe is EXCELLENT. I've already made it twice. The only thing I subbed was Worcester, using Bragg Liquid Amino Acid instead. My partner and I couldn't get over the texture being so close to meatballs and the flavor is AMAZING. I loved that it was easy to make. I can't wait to make it again.
★★★★★
Rebecca Rose says
Just made the meatballs and they were superb! This was my first recipe from your blog but it won't be the last! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
★★★★★
Koko says
I made this recently for the first time and I loved it!! The texture was GREAT (so moist!), and very easy to make. I tried air fryer method and it was easy and quick! I usually don’t make same recipe repeatedly, but I will make this again for sure :))
★★★★★
Leanna says
So much flavor!! Will be on the menu weekly!
★★★★★
Lisa Kitahara says
So happy to hear you loved these!!
Nancy says
Can you opt to leave out the Walnuts?
Lisa Kitahara says
It does add texture or else it might just be too soft, but you can try! If you're allergic, perhaps try sunflower seeds 🙂 Enjoy!
STGrrl says
Maybe sub for roasted cashews (worked for me) almonds, pine nuts or peanuts. I wonder if non nut options might include maybe fried and cooled vege mince/ground not beef that was pre marinated in Worcester sauce. For meat eaters, mince/ground meat. Or toasted pumpkin seeds - maybe toasted sunflower seeds. Or half homemade Toasted breadcrumbs and half cooked rice...but you would need to intensify the spices etc. however, I have not tried an alternative other than other nuts when I don’t have enough walnuts.
★★★★★
STGrrl says
Oooops I meant half homemade toasted breadcrumbs and half cooked rice.
★★★★★
Colleen says
These were excellent!! I followed the recipe exactly (I chose to bake them in the oven). I made “meatball” subs and my non-vegan husband was impressed. Great flavor and texture.
Thanks for the great recipe.
★★★★★
Lisa Kitahara says
So happy you enjoyed Colleen! Oh my, that sounds so good I'll definitely have to try making subs too!!
OpsMomma says
I made a double batch second time around hoping to have leftovers but my husband and I finished them off.....they are that good!!
★★★★★
Patricia Kimathi says
These are so good. I added a dash of cardamon because my favorite store bought version had it as one of the ingredients. I never post to someones website but this reminded me of the comfort food from my youth. I will be back to your site.
Lisa Kitahara says
Love the addition of the cardamom! Thank you so much for the review:)
Gloria says
Hi, what could I do if I don’t have nutritional yeast on hand? Thank you!
Lisa Kitahara says
You can omit it but there will just be a little less flavour 🙂
Imogen says
I made these tonight and only subbed the worstshire sauce for soy and they were amazing! Texture and taste was spot on! Will be making a double batch next time
★★★★★
Anne says
I substituted with ground cashews. Always my go to if out of nutritional yeast.
STGrrl says
Made these.... an excellent mushroom meatball. Don’t be tempted to make them bigger ... this makes for too much soft texture inside, stick to the recs. I make a triple batch *because*, then cook, cool and freeze into meal portions. Serve w sauce & spag, cream sauce, halves on pizza, form into burgers and cook - enjoy.
STGrrl says
These are fab...don’t be tempted to be lazy and make them bigger...this leaves too much soft texture Inside. Serve w tomato and pasta, cream sauce, mushroom ball subs, Use like you would use a super tasty falafel, halves onto pizza, form into burgers, or Just cook, cool and freeze. I make a triple mix.
★★★★★
Fiona Dale says
These vegan mushrooms meatballs are the best I've ever tasted. So many complicated tasteless recipes out there, I almost gave up. Thank you for sharing this easy and tasty recipe!
★★★★★
Angela says
Hi Lisa. This recipe is amazing. Just cooked the "meatballs" in some homemade marinara sauce. I used ground chia seeds instead of flaxseeds, quick cooking oats instead of rolled oats, omitted the nutritional yeast and used raw walnuts instead of roasted ones. They tasted great! I can't wait to eat these with some spaghetti tomorrow! Thanks a lot for this fantastic recipe!!
★★★★★
Jennifer Feliu says
These mushroom meatballs were fantastic! I definitely will make them again! The only change I made was I used pecans instead of walnuts . It was so good I eat the entire recipe.to myself.
Vicki says
I have made these two or three times and everyone loves them. I’m wondering if you have ever used this mixture to make burgers. I I would love to try it but don’t know how long to cook them. Any advice would help
★★★★★
Lindsay says
If you want to freeze to cook later, is it best to form uncooked balls and freeze or cook them as balls and then freeze? Hope that made sense. Lol this looks amazing!
Fiona Dale says
These mushroom meatballs are amazing! 2 modification though, reduced salt by half, and toast the oats as well. The smaller the meatball the better. Thin burgers work too. Prepare jars of the spices ahead of time so you don't have to measure them out each time. You can freeze the mixture in freezer bags till ready to use. Defrost, shape into small meatballs or thin burgers and Airfry for 10 minutes at 385F. I have an Instant Pot 6 QT Airfryer.
Wait before you remove them from the Airfryer otherwise they will stick and break apart when removing them since I don't use any oil. Serve with Arrabiatta sauce on konjac spaghetti noodles. Yum!
Thank-you so much for this recipe!
★★★★★