Maple Garlic V-balls
Meatballs, but make it vegan = V-balls! These balls were a popular staple for catering events at my former Vegan restaurant Grow Your Roots for many years. The Maple garlic version would always please the biggest crowd, including all the meat eaters! They are a great dish to bring to a potluck (post pandemic) or enjoy on a movie appy night at home with friends and fam!
You can also make these without the maple garlic sauce and use them for your fav Spaghetti & 'meat'balls dish!
They also have a wheat free, gluten friendly option too. You can sub the bread crumbs for gluten free bread crumbs and the all purpose flour for oat flour.
You can also double the recipe (about 70 balls) and freeze half of them for a future appy or dinner!
Make the v-balls first, then when they're in the oven, you can whip up the sauce, so that it's all hot and ready to douse the balls in when they come out of the oven.
Last suggestion ......meatball subs!?
V-balls (Vegan meatless meatballs)
Serves Makes 35 2-bite balls
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP oF Braggs lIquid soy, or any soy sauce
- 2 cups of boiling water
- 3 cups of textured vegetable protein (TVP)
- 7 large button mushrooms, washed & quartered (include stems)
- 3/4 cup of raw walnuts
- 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast (nooch)
- 1 tsp of ground pepper
- 1 tsp of dry oregano
- 1 tsp of dry parsley
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 cup of all purpose flour / or oat flour for wheat/gluten free
- 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs (or gf breadcrumbs)
- 1 TBSP of vegan Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpad liner
- In a glass measuring cup or glass bowl, add in the TVP, the soy sauce and then pour the boiling water on top. Cover with a plate or saran wrap and let sit for 5 minutes
- Meanwhile, in a food processor, process the mushrooms into fine bits, then transfer to a large bowl. Then, process the walnuts as well to fine bits and add into the bowl with the mushrooms
- Add the nooch, spices, flour, bread crumbs and the hydrated TVP to the bowl and mix well. Add in the Worcestershire and mix.
- Form the meatballs (I like to use a cookie scoop) and roll into balls (it's normal if it's a bit sticky and place them onto the baking sheets
- Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, then flip them all, then bake another 12 minutes
- Transfer the balls to your serving dish and pour the Maple Garlic sauce on top of them to serve immediately OR top cooked spaghetti noodles with the balls then pour tomato sauce on top right away
** If you've doubled the recipe and want to freeze them, let cool completely before freezing. Otherwise they'll keep in the fridge too for 5 days
Classic Maple Garlic Sauce
Think Honey garlic, but vegan and more Canadian ;)
Serves Makes about 2 cups of sauce
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of maple syrup
- 1/2 cup of Braggs soy sauce, or any soy sauce (Braggs is just my favourite)
- 4 tsp of minced fresh garlic
- 4 tsp of minced fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1/4 cup of cornstarch
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients into a medium pot & whisk very well to combine, making sure there aren't any lumps of cornstarch stuck
- Bring the mixture to a medium boil and whisk continually until it's thickened
- Turn off the heat and remove from the stove, pour over the hot baked meatballs right away into a serving dish
- Sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week
