These vegan eggplant meatballs made with tender sautéed eggplant, crispy panko breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings, smothered in rich tomato sauce.
I promised a while back to provide some recipes to go with my marinara sauce. Of course, the obvious choice would be any kind of pasta, but I like to be a little more creative than that.
These “meatballs” are great on their own, served aside a big plate of pasta, on a sandwich, on top of a big mound of garlicky greens…you get the idea.
A versatile vegan side or main dish. Whatever you’re into!
I have my grandfather to thank for this one. He’s an excellent Italian cook. At some point during my teens he invited the whole family over for a big pasta dinner. I figured there’d be meat involved, but that wasn’t an issue for me. I was happy eating pasta, salad, bread, or whatever other non-meat items came along with the dinner.
But my grandfather decided to be extra accommodating. When I arrived he was cooking up a version of these eggplant meatballs. He’d seen them prepared on a cooking show and thought he’d give them a shot for me. He looked a little downcast and informed me that he didn’t think they turned out right.
I tried one and informed him that he was sorely mistaken — they were awesome!
I think he expected them to be meatier, since they were intended to be a vegetarian version of meatballs. What actually came out, to my tastebuds at least, was more like an eggplant Parmesan flavored ball of vegetarian goodness! I happily enjoyed my eggplant meatballs alongside my pasta that night, and took the leftovers home to make an amazing eggplant meatball Parm grinder.
Vegan Eggplant Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 tablepsoons ground flax seeds
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium Italian eggplant (about 1 pound), very finely diced (1/2 inch or smaller) and optionally peeled
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 cup panko
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- marinara sauce for serving
Instructions
Whisk the flax seeds and water together in a small bowl, then allow the mixture to sit for at least 10 minutes.
While the flax mixture sits, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about five minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until very fragrant, about 1 minute more.
Add the eggplant and continue to cook for about an additional 10-15 minutes, flipping occasionally, or until the eggplant is soft and browned in spots. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 375° and coat a baking sheet or large cast iron skillet with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
Place the eggplant mixture into a large mixing bowl, along with the flax mixture, and stir in all remaining ingredients. Mix well (hands work great here), and then shape the mixture into 1-inch balls (about 20 of them).
Arrange the meatballs on the baking sheet or in the skillet and bake for 30-35 minutes, turning once or twice during baking in order to brown all sides.
- Serve with marinara.
Recipe Notes
While these are great served with sauce, I don't recommend storing or letting them sit in the sauce for too long, as they're pretty delicate and will fall apart.
Dawn @ Florida Coastal Cooking says
August 6, 2013 at 9:41 AMThese look really hearty. I bet they would freeze well!
Alissa Saenz says
August 6, 2013 at 12:18 PMI haven’t tried freezing them, but that sounds like a good idea! They usually go quick, so I don’t get a chance ;)
I might try making a double batch next time and freezing half!
Caitlin says
August 7, 2013 at 2:19 PMThis looks delicious! I love your blog :)
Alissa Saenz says
August 7, 2013 at 4:17 PMAwe…thank you and doubly thank you!!! Both wonderful compliments…you totally just made my day!
Sarah Reid says
August 9, 2013 at 5:37 PMYum!! How many did you get from this? I’d love to serve it for Christmas Eve to our Italian family!
Alissa Saenz says
August 10, 2013 at 11:23 AMI got about two dozen. They’re pretty small though, as you can see from the photos. I love the idea of serving these for the holidays – might try it out on my family as well :)
Sarah Reid says
August 13, 2013 at 7:51 AMThanks!
Maureen Covino says
November 12, 2018 at 2:20 PMAlissa great recipes keep them coming I did not change my password thank you
Maureen.covino
Marisa says
August 21, 2013 at 8:11 PMI made these tonight and they were absolutely delicious! I grew up on my Italian Grandpa’s meatballs but recently went vegan, I’d be totally okay eating these for the rest of my life. Thank you for the recipe!
Alissa Saenz says
August 22, 2013 at 8:47 AMYou’re welcome! So glad they worked out for you, and thank you so much for sharing. I love hearing how my recipes turn out for others, and of course, success stories always make me very happy!
topshef says
October 4, 2013 at 10:29 PMI want to make this! I love eggplant and my mom makes something close to this but she uses whole (small size) eggplants and uses indian cooker to boil/steam it. And, this looks awesome. Def. will make it. love it!
Alissa Saenz says
October 5, 2013 at 11:27 AMThank you! I was thinking of trying this out with some different eggplant varieties. Steaming sounds good as well. Hope you enjoy them!!!
Knappattackick says
November 16, 2013 at 3:06 PMSo I totally cheated and I decided to chop up some LightLife italian “Smart Sausages” (2 links) which I had in the fridge and throw that in – oh and I used nutritional yeast powder instead of flakes, but other than that I followed everything else in the recipe and oh man were these good!! Fabulous recipe! Will definitely make again!
Alissa Saenz says
November 16, 2013 at 10:37 PMAwesome! Veggie sausage actually sounds like a really good idea for some additional texture and protein – I might try it myself next time I make these. I think with the nutritional yeast the only difference between powder and flakes is the density, so you probably just got a little extra cheesy flavor. So glad these worked out for you and thanks for sharing your results :)
Deborah Smith says
October 29, 2017 at 6:52 PMHi ! May I have your recipe for the homemade Marinara Sauce please??
Alissa Saenz says
October 30, 2017 at 4:32 PMSorry about that! I had a link in the recipe but it broke! I’ve added it back in, and here it is: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/marinara-sauce/
LitGirl says
February 1, 2014 at 9:53 PMI would LOVE to see an independent print button. It’s a pain to have to copy and paste recipes into another program and then print it from there. I don’t know if it costs more but PLEASE! This recipe looks SOOOO super yummy! I am going to C&P it and then print it and make it for dinner tonight. I have eggplant and was going to make eggplant “parm” but I think I’ll make this instead! I REALLY appreciate your recipes! Being vegan in this new technological age I think is probably a lot more satisfying than ten to fifteen years ago!! If I missed your print button, feel free to scold me, sometimes I miss them.
Alissa Saenz says
February 2, 2014 at 12:00 PMYou didn’t miss anything…I’m working on making some updates to the blog and a print button is on my list. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks. I hope you like the eggplant meatballs!!! Thanks much for the feedback and I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying my recipes :)
Alissa Saenz says
February 13, 2014 at 3:03 PMUpdate – I just added a print button! I did this recipe and my most recent post. I’ll be including one in all posts going forward and hopefully get around to putting one into all my old recipes.
Patti says
August 24, 2014 at 2:45 AMYour blog is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, Alissa. I’ve made it yesterday and it turned out really well. I left out the parsley as I’m not a bit fan of it, next time I might try to add fresh mint instead.
cheers, Patti
Alissa Saenz says
August 24, 2014 at 10:13 AMThank you so much Patti! I’m so glad you enjoyed these! Mint sounds like a nice twist on this recipe – a bit of a Moroccan touch :)
sassygirl says
December 21, 2014 at 1:33 AMhi!
love all of your sushi ideas!
for the eggplant meatballs, do you think the pinko could be
sub’d out for GF oats pulsed a bit in a Vitamix?
thanks!
Alissa Saenz says
December 21, 2014 at 10:22 AMThank you! I can’t say for sure, but that might be worth a shot. The texture might be a little different, but I think they should still be tasty. I’ve also seen gluten free panko around, so they might be worth a shot as well. Enjoy!
Mary says
March 19, 2015 at 3:39 PMI came across your blog via Oh My Veggies (love the online potluck!) and these sound really good. Normally, I am religious about following a recipe to the T but I was wondering could I substitute canned eggplant for fresh? I only ask because Trader Joe’s is featuring canned eggplant in their Fearless Flyer this month and I am curious to try them out. That, and the fact that I have on occasion bought fresh veggies to try new recipes only to be sidetracked and said veggies being forgotten in the
crisper :( Once again, as a fairly new vegetarian, I appreciate yours and all these great vegetarian/vegan blogs. Thank you.
Alissa Saenz says
March 19, 2015 at 10:07 PMI’ve never actually used canned eggplant, but you got me curious so I just looked it up on Trader Joe’s website. From what I can gather, it’s already cooked and seasoned, so you might need to adjust the recipe but cutting out the eggplant cooking step and adjusting the seasonings. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing with a little tweaking here and there you could get it to work. I wish I could give you a more definite answer – like I said though, you got me curious, so I might just get around to experimenting with that myself!
jenna says
July 10, 2015 at 11:06 AMI picked a couple eggplants from my garden last week and I knew, just KNEW, you’d have exactly the recipe I wanted for them, even though I didn’t yet know what I wanted to for them until I read this :D
stephanie says
August 29, 2015 at 6:07 PMAny suggestions on what to substitute for the flax seeds and water? I am out of them and can’t get to the store.
The recipe looks amazing!
Alissa Saenz says
August 30, 2015 at 7:54 PMThey replace eggs, so you could use an egg if you aren’t vegan, or experiment with other egg substitues like chia seeds + water or commercial egg replacer. I haven’t tried any of these things myself, so I can’t say for sure, but I think they’d work.
Stephaniq says
August 4, 2016 at 1:23 PMI tried this recipe last night with a few modifications and it turned out great. I didn’t have any parsley (which I’ll use next time I make these) and also didn’t have nutritional yeast. Because the house is so hot, I made those on the BBQ on foil on pizza pan for about 21 minutes. My husband and I loved them. He even suggested trying them with different sauces or in a pasta/spaghetti squash dish. Definitely will be making this again
Alissa Saenz says
August 4, 2016 at 8:51 PMAh, that’s so cool! I never thought to try grilling them, but that just might be how I cook up my next batch! I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for sharing. :)
Sesilia says
April 7, 2017 at 5:46 AMI’m going to try this soon, I think instead if serving them alone I think I will make some eggplant noodles and some zucchini noodles toss those together then add these meatballs with some marinara sauce. Sounds yummy!!!
Alissa Saenz says
April 7, 2017 at 9:11 PMThat sounds delicious! I hope you enjoy it!
Sesilia says
April 11, 2017 at 10:22 PMI made it tonight and it was delicious even my meat loving husband went back for seconds!!!!!
Marry says
November 3, 2017 at 12:47 AMHi Alissa, Usually I surf around the net to a bunch of sites but lately I’ve been making your recipes exclusively. Thank you so much for all the inspiration. I made these tonight along with your sauce and added some fennel to the balls.Great dinner!
Alissa Saenz says
November 5, 2017 at 10:01 AMHi Marry! Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying the recipes, and that you like the meatballs! I LOVE fennel and will have to try including some next time I make these!
Debbie says
January 2, 2018 at 6:27 PMI played around a little..lol…I added about 6 small brussel sprouts chopped and, about 10 leaves of fresh chopped spinach, lightly sauted’ SOOO YUMMMY!!! Thank you! Great recipe
Debbie says
January 2, 2018 at 6:28 PMOh, and some fennel…about 3/4 tsp. ground.
Alissa Saenz says
January 4, 2018 at 4:58 PMWow! Those all sound like delicious additions! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Sarah says
April 20, 2018 at 9:55 AMAmazing! I ended up throwing everything into a food processor after cooking & cooling the eggplant, onion & garlic, and then just blending it all together. SO flavorful! Wow!