Vegan spaghetti and meatballs are made with chickpeas and traditional seasonings and served on top of spaghetti with marinara sauce. It’s homemade comfort food ready in 30 minutes.
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There’s nothing more comforting than a dish of spaghetti and meatballs. It’s a meal everyone in my family can get around without any fuss.
There are many store-bought vegan meatballs on the market, and they are full of added ingredients like textured soy protein isolate, caramel color, sugar, and methylcellulose, to name just a few.
These chickpea meatballs use a handful of pantry ingredients and are just as quick to prepare.
That’s when I knew I had to create a homemade whole-food, plant-based version of meatless meatballs that the kids and I would enjoy!
There are many versions of homemade vegan meatballs. Some include lentils, spinach, chickpeas, and so on. The combinations are endless.
These chickpea meatballs include garlic, diced onion, parsley, nutritional yeast, and panko breadcrumbs. They are moist, flavorful, and, best of all, ready to eat in less than 30 minutes!
💗 Why You’ll Love Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
- All Natural Whole Ingredients
- High in Plant Protein
- Traditional Spices
- Moist on the inside
- Crunchy on the Outside
- Family-Friendly
- Simple Ingredients
- Quick and Easy Meal
- Freezes Well
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Spaghetti: Use the spaghetti of your choice: whole wheat, chickpea, rice, or lentil. Using chickpea or lentil pasta will provide more protein and is also gluten-free.
Marinara Sauce: Use the store-bought marinara sauce of your choice. Check to make sure that it is vegan-friendly.
Chickpeas: One can, drained and rinsed.
Panko Breadcrumbs: Helps to bind the ingredients together.
Nutritional Yeast: Gives the meatballs a rich flavor.
Seasoning: Onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you can use oregano instead
Fresh Parsley: Gives the meatballs just a hint of fresh flavor.
Red Onion and Garlic: Dice the onions and mince the garlic.
🔪 Tools and Equipment
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.
- While the spaghetti is cooking, drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, panko breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, and parsley. Blend until combined and still chunky.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the mixture and roll it into balls until all the mixture has been used.
- Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Add the chickpea balls to the saute pan. Cook for 5 minutes on each side over medium heat.
- Add the cooked spaghetti to a large pot. Pour the marinara sauce over the spaghetti and toss until coated.
- Add the spaghetti to 4 bowls, and top with 3 to 4 vegan meatballs. Serve topped with vegan parmesan and fresh chopped parsley or fresh basil.
📝 Expert Tips
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas; the balls will fall apart if you don’t.
- After you combine all the ingredients in the food processor, you should have a consistency that sticks together. If it’s too wet, add some more breadcrumbs. If it’s too dry, add some reserved chickpea water to help it bind.
- You can also bake the vegan meatballs in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- If you don’t like chickpeas, you substitute them for black beans instead.
❓ FAQS
Most store-bought vegan meatballs are made of soy protein. But other ingredients are added to give them flavor, texture, and the color of meatballs.
Regular meatballs use eggs as a binder. A vegan substitute for an egg would be a flax egg or chia egg. A flax egg is made from 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds and two tablespoons of water. Whisk it together, and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. It will become similar to the consistency of an egg.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Pasta: Serve these chickpea meatballs with marinara sauce and your favorite pasta. I recommend whole wheat pasta, chickpea pasta, or lentil pasta. Serve topped with roughly chopped parsley and a sprinkle of vegan parmesan.
Whole Wheat Bun: You can also sandwich these meatballs between a whole wheat bun, making a delicious meatless meatball sub.
Steamed Veggies or a Salad: Serve them with a side of steamed vegetables or a mixed green salad with your favorite dressing. Try one of these fabulous oil-free dressings!
❄️ Storage
Fridge: Allow the leftovers to cool to room temperature. Transfer the spaghetti to one container and the chickpea meatballs to another. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze: If you’d like to make a large batch of chickpea meatballs on hand during the week, you can freeze them in an airtight container. They will last 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
Reheat: Allow to defrost in the fridge overnight. Place in the air fryer and allow to crisp back up for 5-8 minutes at 350° F until warm.
😋 More Vegan Pasta Recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 15 oz can of organic chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup red onion diced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley roughly chopped
- 32 oz marinara sauce
- 8 ounces spaghetti
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.
- While the spaghetti is cooking, drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Combine the chickpeas, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, panko breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, and parsley in a food processor. Blend until combined and still chunky.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the mixture and roll it into balls until all the mixture has been used.
- Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Add the chickpea balls to the saute pan. Cook for 5 minutes on each side over medium heat.
- Add the cooked spaghetti to a large pot. Pour the marinara sauce over the spaghetti and toss until coated.
- Add the spaghetti to 4 bowls, and top with 3-4 vegan meatballs. Serve topped with vegan parmesan and fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas; the balls will fall apart if you don’t.
- After you combine all the ingredients in the food processor, you should have a consistency that sticks together. If it’s too wet, add some more breadcrumbs. If it’s too dry, add some reserved chickpea water to help it bind.
- Use the spaghetti of your choice. I suggest using whole wheat spaghetti, or if you are gluten-free use lentil or chickpea spaghetti.
- Store the spaghetti and the chickpea meatballs in separate containers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat the spaghetti in the microwave. The chickpea meatballs can be reheated on a dry skillet to crisp back up or in the air fryer.
- Freeze the chickpea meatballs for 2 to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
Nutrition
Marie
What’s happened to the original recipe with the courgettes and oats? I’ve used it endless times.
Alison Corey
I changed the recipe based on feedback and trial and error. I hope you enjoy this new recipe!
Ned
I love vegan options. Our family does that once a week and this was a must try. We loved it so much! Thank you for the recipe!
Sky
These chickpea meatballs are so good! This recipe is a keeper for sure!
Sonia
I love this recipe – this is exactly what I have been looking for… thank you so much for sharing!
Michelle
I love how easy these meatballs are to make and they taste amazing. The whole family loved them! Perfect for a tasty weeknight dinner.
Caroline
These sound like a great meatless option – I like the idea of combining chickpeas which can be drier with zucchini that are quite the opposite. Look tasty!
David
Looks delicious! I use chickpeas regularly for different things but usually just whole, need to remember the potential to use them creatively like this too. Scheduled a Facebook share of this one.
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
I applaud you for taking on these veggie meatballs — and using whole food, real ingredients. It’s sometimes easier to pick up the prepackaged foods, but they rarely taste better or are healthier than what you can make at home.
Sonal
This is a brilliant recipe and especially for people like me who are always looking for vegetarian version of meatballs.. thanks for sharing.
Beth
These look amazing! I’m with you, homemade is always best!