Chickpea balls are served over couscous and smothered in a mixture of spiced tomatoes, veggies and apricots to make this cozy vegan Moroccan meatball stew.
Last winter I went crazy with the vegan meatball recipes. I really like vegan meatballs and it seems you guys do too. They're so versatile and cozy, and I think we all like a change from the usual ways of eating tofu and legumes.
And yes, I'll be continuing the veggie meatball tradition through this year. One meatball recipe is never enough and I've got a bunch of them up my sleeve, so I'm going to just go all out and make all the meatballs.
Also, for just about every variation on the meatball theme I get at least one person asking how they'd adapt the recipe to work with another type of dish. If it's an Asian meatball recipe someone will want to make it into Italian meatballs. If it's Italian meatballs someone will ask how to make them Swedish.
So I think I better just cover all the vegan meatball bases so that nobody is without a recipe.
What I love about this particular meatball recipe is that it's more than a meatball recipe. It's a complete dinner, based around some meatballs.
The stew is packed with tomatoes, veggies, dried apricot and spices. It could easily be eaten with chickpeas or greens, but I opted to include chickpea meatballs. And then everything gets eaten over couscous, so it ends up being a seriously hearty, comforting meal.
One thing to watch out for: don't leave the meatballs sitting in the stew! Veggie meatballs don't have quite the same level of binding that non-veggie meatballs do, so while these are perfectly sturdy, they'll quickly disintegrate if they stay immersed in liquid for a while. Throw the meatballs into the stew right before serving, and if you think you'll have leftovers, store everything separate. Better yet, just bake up as many meatballs as you need, and store the leftover chickpea mix in the fridge or freezer.
Vegan Moroccan Meatball Stew
Chickpea balls are served over couscous and smothered in a mixture of spiced tomatoes, veggies and apricots to make this cozy vegan Moroccan meatball stew.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ medium onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Stew
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-3 teaspoons ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup dried apricots, diced
- 1 teaspoon harissa sauce (or to taste)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 scallions, chopped
For Serving
- 4 cups cooked couscous
- ¼ cup chopped raw almonds
Instructions
To Make the Meatballs
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Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly oil a baking sheet or large oven-safe skillet.
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Place the chickpeas, panko, onion, ginger, garlic, tomato paste, soy sauce, and Moroccan spice blend into a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped and well mixed. Be careful not to overdo it—you want to keep some texture from the chickpeas.
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Transfer the chickpea mixture to a bowl and roll it into 1-inch balls (about 20). Arrange the balls on the prepared baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and bake for 30 minutes, flipping once about halfway through cooking, until lightly browned in spots.
To Make the Stew
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Coat the bottom of a medium pot with oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, carrots, and bell pepper. Sauté until the veggies begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger, garlic, and ras el hanout and cumin. Continue to sauté for about 1 minute more, until very fragrant.
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Stir in the diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, apricots, harissa, and 1 cup of water. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Lower heat and allow to cook until the veggies are soft, 30-40 minutes, adding water to the pot as needed when it becomes too dry.
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Remove the stew from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the mint, cilantro, parsley and scallions.
To Serve
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Divide the couscous among bowls, the top with meatballs and a ladle the stew overtop. Sprinkle with almonds and extra herbs, if desired. Serve.
Recipe Notes
Don't let the meatballs sit in the stew for too long or they'll fall apart. If you're going to have leftovers, store the meatballs and the stew separately.
I made these tonight and they were sooooooo yummy. I eliminated the apricots because I did not have any on hand, but it was still very awesome. It took me longer than what was stated but that's only because I made the spice blend and harissa from scratch...but now I now have it so I can make this again! Oh yeah!
I'm so glad you liked it!! I've been meaning to try making harissa from scratch forever - I'll bet it's fantastic! Thanks Sue!
This was fabulous! A taste sensation. I tend to eat mostly Asian food---Moroccan was a nice change. I actually found harissa paste and the ras el hanout at my local grocery store---amazing! Glad I bought them because I will definitely make this again. Thanks!
Yay!! I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks Ellen!
This is delicious, thank you Alissa
I'm glad you like it!!
Wow I made this and was basically transported to another country. 🥂🥂🥂
why is this filed under dessert?
Because I goofed. :) Thanks for letting me know! I've switched it over to entrees!
Made it last night! It was delicious! My 19 months loved it too! In order to go a little faster, I also put the veggies in the food processor so it was more like a sauce than a stew but very tasty all the same. I had some zucchinis I didn’t want to lose so I threw them in the mix! I really like vegetable couscous so that made a nice change! Will redo for sure!
How much garlic goes in the meatballs? Making tonight!
1 clove. :)
And does the olive oil go in the meatballs? It's not written in the recipe.
Sorry about that! It's used to brush them. I've updated the recipe!
I made this today and it was really delicious. I think the Sodium and Carbs were really high though. My husband liked it so that was a plus, I may skip the Couscous and use brown rice next time.
I'm glad you liked it! You could even use cauliflower rice if you want to cut the carbs. :)
Hi there. This recipe sounds just up my street - I absolutely adore Moroccan food.
However, I cannot find Panko breadcrumbs where I live here in Spain, and wonder if you could let me know what I could use to substitute them.
Thanks so much
Sue
Hi Sue! Any type of vegan breadcrumbs you can find should work - you can even make your own! Another option would be to grind up some rolled oats in the food processor. If you do that I'd just a bit less than the amount of panko the recipe calls for since oats tend to suck up a lot of moisture. I hope you enjoy this!
amazing recipe