Veggie Balls
Servings: 4 (makes 20 balls)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (37.5ml) filtered water
- 1 tablespoon (8g) flax meal
- 1 cup (120g) raw walnuts, soaked and drained
- 2/3 cup (76g) blanched almond flour
- 2 cups (170g/6oz) sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup (37g) diced red onion
- 1/4 cup (12g) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons (12g) nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (7.5g) Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon (16g) tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5ml) balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (12g) Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon (4g) garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon (8g) Celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.25g) red pepper flakes
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing veggie balls for cooking
Instructions
- Make the flax egg: In a small bowl, whisk the filtered water and flax meal together until well combined. Set aside to allow the gel to form.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), and line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
- Pat the drained walnuts dry to remove any excess moisture (or your mixture may be too wet). Place the walnuts into a food processor fitted with the s blade, and pulse until finely ground. (You do not want chunks of walnuts or your veggie balls will be crunchy.) Add the blanched almond flour, mushrooms, red onion, parsley, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, salt, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and flax egg, and process until well combined and the consistency of pâté.
- Using a tablespoon measurer, scoop out the mixture, and with your hands, roll into 20 equal-sized balls. (The mixture will feel wet, but it will hold together when cooked.)
- Transfer the balls to the prepared baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, gently glaze each veggie ball with a tiny amount of olive oil. (Alternatively, spray them with cooking spray.)
- Bake for 15 minutes. Then, brush or spray again with oil. Bake for a further 15 minutes, until cooked through, slightly browned, and firm on the outside. Allow the balls to cool on the tray for 5 to 10 minutes before using.
- Serve out one portion (5 veggie balls), and transfer the remaining balls to a sealed container in the fridge or freezer for future meals or snacks.
Video
Notes
SERVING SIZE: 1 serving = 5 veggie balls.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
Serve these veggie balls plain or with the SK60® Marinara Sauce with other SK60® sauces or SK60® vegetable sides.
ACTIVATING FOODS
Any nuts and seeds (besides hemp, chia, and flax) need to be activated for better digestion. For instructions, refer to the Activating Foods page.
PROTEIN BOOSTERS
*Check the protein content of the core recipe, review your protein needs, then refer to the SK60® Protein Boosters cheat sheet for the appropriate portion size.
plant protein:
- hemp seeds
- watermelon seeds (sprouted)
- SK60® Cheese Sauce
- SK60® Garlic Sauce
- SK60® Aioli
- SK60® Curry Sauce
- SK60® Lemon Tahini Sauce
- SK60® Mayo
- SK60® Sour Cream
- SK60® Ricotta
- SK60® Ranch Dressing
- SK60® Bread
- SK60® Vegan Almond Crackers
- turkey, organic, hormone-free
- chicken, organic, hormone-free
- beef, organic, grass-fed
- eggs, organic, pasture-raised
Nutrition
Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 20.7g | Saturated Fat: 1.5g | Sodium: 648mg | Potassium: 449mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg
I was craving veggie balls … and then this recipe appeared!! Thank you, Tess for being ahead of my cravings!!!
I’m still working out the cooking times as I live at a high altitude and have a convection oven … adding time next time …
Yummy, and absolutely delicious.
These are so morish. My tip to you is pack the others away before you try one or they won’t make it to the freezer
Felt like falafel and thought these would be a great stand in! Made a butter lettuce salad with carrot, tomato, bell pepper and avocado. Topped with pine nuts, SK60 Parmesan and dressed with the lemon tahini sauce as a dressing. It worked!
Hi Tess, I do not have any balsamic vinegar, I thought I did, I have all the ingredients ready in the bowl, lesson learned to not start to prepare until I have prepped all ingredients!!!! what can I use instead or can I omit?
thank you
Melina, you really do need the balsamic vinegar to get the balance of flavors. If you leave it out, the veggie balls are not going to taste right.
Combined with the marinara sauce and WOW, fills the tummy and the merging of flavors is impeccable. Way to go!
Yum yum! Love these! One thing I like to do is double the recipe and make veggies balls plus veggie burgers. Exact same recipe but you can make “meat”balls for a meal and the burgers for another meal. They freeze well too. I reheat them in our toaster oven after defrosting. I should point out that I do not make a double batch by adding everything all together (Tess told us that). Instead, I have two bowls out and put the ingredients into each bowl separately. Still saves prep time ultimately, and leaves me with two different meals.
Would it be possible to use the leftover almond milk pulp (after it’s been dried in a low oven) in this recipe?
Yes, you could replace the blanched almond flour with dried almond milk pulp. Just know that almond pulp has some of the fat strained away, so it does not have the same properties as the whole blanched almond flour. So, the texture of your veggie balls will be different, and you may have to tweak the other quantities a little to get the consistency you like and get the ball to hold together and be moist inside after cooking. I have not tested this recipe using almond milk pulp.
Seriously one of my favorite things thus far! Combination of all the ingredients is amazing! So so good.