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Enjoy a meatless meal with these Vegan Cauliflower Quinoa Meatballs. With only 7 ingredients, these are simple to whip up and super delicious, especially when served with your favorite pasta!
Oh hey guys—I’m back! Not that I went anywhere, but it was kinda fun to have Jessica take over yesterday. As a Pittsburgher, I think she did an awesome job rounding up delicious brunch places in the city. Another nice thing about yesterday was the weather—it was so beautiful yesterday! Literally not a cloud in the sky.
As for these cauliflower quinoa meatballs, they’re also nice. Ugh, terrible transition..let’s try that again.
As for these meatballs, they’re AMAZING and vegan and gluten free and dairy free and very meatball-like considering they contain zero meat. In fact, they’re made from cauliflower and quinoa and are crazy simple to whip up.
I was a little too stoked that these turned out the first time around. You know what that means? These are simple. Like, really simple.
Oh! And this is also my first recipe using cauliflower. I have no idea why I’ve neglected it for so long! Seriously makes no sense. I’m sorry cauliflower—forgive me?
Even though it’s only Thursday, I’m reeeeally looking forward to the weekend (can you blame me?). Saturday I have no plans—NONE—and I’m stoked. It’s actually embarrassing how excited I am. I’m hoping the weather is at least half way decent so Miguel, Layla and I can go on a walk, and I’ll probably do some recipe testing per the usual. Sunday is Easter which means I’ll head over to my grandma’s house for a feast! It’s going to be a good one, though I think I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let’s focus on these cauliflower quinoa meatballs…non meatballs….veggie balls…whatever you wanna call them.
Though I make Miguel taste test all of my recipes, I always give myself a gold star/pat myself on the back/both when he approves one of my meatless recipes. His typical response is, “but there’s no meat”….yeah, but did you like them? “oh..yeah yeah I did.” GOOOOD. Men and meat..so strange. I’m not going to tell you that these taste like real meatballs (not.even.close), but they’re an awesome vegan option and full of protein thanks to the quinoa!
One tip about these…I recommend putting the cauliflower through the food processor first and THEN slowly adding in the quinoa. I tried to throw both in at the same time and it took for-e-ver. Just a suggestion! Also, be sure to reference the “notes” section of the recipe for added tips! Now let’s eat, shall we? Cauliflower quinoa meatballs, for the win!
Vegan Cauliflower Quinoa Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 cauliflower head
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp flour preferably all purpose, whole wheat or oat
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Cook quinoa according to instructions on the package (over stovetop with water); at the same time, cook cauliflower in a separate pot over stovetop until soft.
- Once quinoa is done, set it aside; once cauliflower is done, put it in the food processor, along with the garlic, and pulse for around 10 seconds until cauliflower is mashed.
- Remove mixture and place in large bowl; stir in the quinoa.
- Add breadcrumbs, flour, parsley, oregano, and Italian seasoning and stir by hand. Place bowl in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, allowing mixture to cool off and harden a bit.
- Using your hands, roll mixture into meatballs--mine are typically golf ball size but feel free to make yours smaller. Rather than just rolling, you will need to use your hands to mash and shape them into balls, as they won't roll all that well since they're made out of quinoa. NOTE: if mixture is too soft/difficult to form into balls, add flour (any kind will work) 1 tbsp at a time, which will help to soak up some of the moisture and firm up the meatballs.
- Once all of the meatballs are formed, heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet and place meatballs in skillet. Cook until slightly golden brown on all sides, carefully turning meatballs to cook thoroughly.**
- Transfer meatballs to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until meatballs are firm.
- Remove from oven and enjoy!
Notes
***If mixture seems to moist and everything doesn't seem to be holding together very well, add an extra tablespoon of flour.
