When I get cold and want comfort food, Italian food is my first choice. Although most vegan spaghetti and meatballs ordered in a restaurant is fattening, easy vegan spaghetti and meatballs is guilt-free and truly fabulous. Not only is this recipe simple, but you can also make a lot of it ahead of time and freeze both the sauce and the meatballs to use at any time.
PICKING YOUR VEGAN MEATBALLS
This vegan meatball recipe, for example, comes from my Ultimate Lentil and Vegetable “Meatless” Loaf recipe. The last time I made my lentil loaf, I doubled the recipe, and made meatballs and froze them to use for this recipe later. Then, all I had to do was add the vegan meatballs to my vegan homemade spaghetti sauce, and my vegan spaghetti recipe was done in minutes.
Another, less ingredient lentil meatball recipe you may enjoy comes from my Oil-Free Vegan Swedish Lentil Meatballs. Also made with lentils, this recipe has a few less ingredients. The meatballs, though, can also be frozen, to help with meal prep.
And, last but not least, when I am in a hurry, I always have a bag of Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs in my freezer; however, these meatballs do have oil So, if you avoid oil, this short cut may not be for you.
CHOOSING YOUR VEGAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE
After choosing your meatballs, it's all about the sauce. Despite the varieties of marinara sauces and spaghetti sauces available at the store, it is so easy to make your own. For example, I am in love with POMI diced tomatoes and tomato sauce! Not only do these tomatoes not have an oil, fat, sugar, or added preservatives, Pomi tomatoes are just tomatoes. Then, it's all about bringing intense flavor to those tomatoes to make the perfect spaghetti sauce for vegan spaghetti and meatballs.
If you're in a hurry, as we all are, there are oil-free brands of pasta sauce you can buy at the store. These are two I have used; with a little spice and love, you can make store-bought sauce taste much better than it does coming directly from the jar.
- Delallo Marinara sauce
- Muir Glen Organic pasta sauce (check the label, as some types of this brand contain oil)
PASTA: GLUTEN-FREE OR WHOLE GRAIN?
Obviously, your choice of pasta has to do with plant-based plan you follow. For that reason, I am quickly becoming a fan of every new gluten-free pasta I can find. Not long ago, gluten-free pastas were gummy, and nothing like the real deal. Today, though, gluten-free pastas taste better, in my opinion, than "real" pasta. In fact, for this recipe, I used Andean Dream Quinoa Spaghetti.
As a result, I can honestly say I don't ever want to eat regular pasta again. Regardless of your choice of pasta, the combination of meatballs, sauce, and pasta will make you think you have gone to comfort food Italian heaven.
As an added bonus, I added my Skinny Cashew Vegan Parmesan “Cheese”, and I served with grilled vegan focaccia bread, for those who eat bread at my house. Smiles all around.
Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs is so scrumptious, you will think you are overindulging at your favorite Italian restaurant right in your own kitchen. Gluten-free and low in fat, indulge! You won't be disappointed.
Ingredients
PASTA
- 1 8 ounce box (4 servings) gluten-free or whole grain spaghetti
MEATBALLS: YOU CHOOSE RECIPE LINK
- Ultimate Lentil and Vegetable “Meatless” Loaf or
- Oil-Free Vegan Swedish Lentil Meatballs or
- Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs
HOMEMADE SPAGETTI SAUCE
- 1 26.46 ounce box POMI diced tomatoes (or your favorite diced tomatoes
- 1 17.46 ounce box POMI tomato sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped basil + 2 more Tablespoons for garnish
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
Instructions
MEATBALLS ( CAN BE PREPARED, COOKED, AND FORZEN IN ADVANCE)
- Using either recipe above, preheat oven to 350.
- Cook meatballs for 35 minutes (I use a mini muffin pan to prevent them from rolling around).
- If you plan to freeze the meatballs, after cooking and cooking, leave in the muffin pan, and flash freeze fro 15 minutes before putting them in a freezer zip lock bag.
- If you plan to use the meatballs directly from eh oven, set aside until your sauce is prepared. They reheat well in the sauce.
- If the meatballs are frozen first, they will also cook well in the sauce.
SAUCE
- In a large stock pot, cook garlic, shallot, and yellow onion until translucent.
- Add a little vegetable broth to avoid sticking
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil
- Stir and reduce temperature to low and simmer
- Add meatballs and allow to simmer
PASTA
- Bring a large pit of water to a boil with 2 teaspoons of salt
- Add pasta and stir
- Boil for amount of time indicated on package
- The pasta a chose took 14 minutes
- While pasta cooks, continue to cook sauce with meatballs
- Test a meatball to make sure it is heated through
- Using a colander, drain pasta and rinse with water
- I like to mix the pasta with a little bit of sauce before serving
GARNISH
- Skinny Cashew Vegan Parmesan “Cheese”
- Chopped basil
SERVE
- In a shallow bowl, place a spoonful of sauce
- Then, using tongs, add some pasta to the center of the bowl
- Add more sauce with meatballs
- Top with basil and Skinny Cashew Vegan Parmesan “Cheese”
- Serve with bread or a side salad
- ENJOY!
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Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
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