Vegan Meatball Sub

Bite into a vegan meatball sub made with lentil meatballs, tossed in a homemade marinara sauce, on a bed of spinach, and crunchy toasted bread. This vegan meatball sub recipe will bring you back for more!

There's something about a vegan meatball sub that brings a smile to my face. Whenever I'm craving comfort food, sandwiches come to mind. I can't think of anything more delicious than a vegan meatball sandwich on crusty bread. So, if you're craving comfort food, whip up this vegan meatball sub recipe!

Jump to:

• Ingredients Recipe Option 1
• Ingredients Recipe Option 2
• How to Make the Sub
• Vegan Marinara Brands
• How to Prepare the Sandwich
• Recipe FAQs
• Tips
• Other Vegan Sandwich Suggestions
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

But how can you make a healthy vegan meatball sub? It's easier than you think. It's all about the ingredients and a few helpful hints. 

For instance, making and freezing vegan lentil meatballs ahead of time allows for a quick and easy meatball sub. Even though I make batches of meatballs and freeze them, vegan meatballs are easy to prepare. 

First, choose your favorite vegan meatball recipe. I make two different versions of oil-free vegan meatballs. 

Although both lentil meatball recipes are oil-free and plant-based, either recipe works for this vegan meatball sub recipe. Therefore, the first recipe option is a simple lentil meatball recipe.

Ingredients Recipe Option 1

• Brown Lentils: I like to use Trader Joe's steamed, vacuum-sealed, brown lentils.
• Organic Vegetable Broth: A little vegetable broth acts as a binder for the other ingredients.
• Shallot: Shallots have a delicate and sweet flavor with a hint of sharpness.
• Garlic: The garlic perfectly matches the shallots to create a rich flavor.
• Fresh Basil: I suggest using fresh basil when possible.
• Italian Parsley: Parsley brings freshness to this meatball recipe.
• Muir Glen Organic Tomato Paste: I love this brand of tomato paste, but any tomato paste works well.
• Italian Panko Bread Crumbs or bread crumbs of choice (gluten-free or homemade): I make my bread crumbs by toasting bread and crumbling it in the food processor. Then I add Italian seasoning.
• Salt: A little salt enhances the flavors in the recipe.
• Pepper: I prefer using fresh ground pepper
• Flax  Egg: A combination of flaxseed meal and water is the perfect egg replacement

Or I also make vegan meatballs using my vegan meatloaf mixture, which includes vegetables.

Ingredients Recipe Option 2

• Brown lentils: I like to use Trader Joe's steamed, vacuum-sealed, brown lentils.
• White or yellow onion: White onions have a strong, sharp, and not very sweet flavor 
• Carrot: I dice the carrots small for this recipe.
• Celery: Celery adds freshness as well as crunch to a recipe.
• Red pepper: Red Bell peppers are sweet and flavorful when added to a recipe.
• Mushrooms: The mushrooms add meaty structure to the meatballs
• Garlic: I love garlic, especially combined with mushrooms and garlic.
• Tomato paste: Tomato paste acts as a binder.
• BBQ sauce of choice: I make my Vegan BBQ Sauce, but any bottled brad works.
• Yellow mustard: Yellow mustard gives the mixture tangy goodness.
• Flaxseed meal: Flaxseed meal is another binder to keep the meatballs from falling apart.
• Fresh parsley: Parsley gives the mixture a fresh taste
• Salt: A little salt enhances the flavors in the recipe.
• Pepper: I prefer fresh ground pepper.
• Quick oats: The oats act as a binder to the recipe, holding the meatballs together.
• Whole wheat bread crumbs: I use my breadcrumbs by toasting bread and crumbling it in the food processor.

How to Make the Sub

• First, saute diced onions and garlic and wait until the onions brown before adding vegetable broth.
• Once the pan started to brown, a small amount of vegetable broth caramelized the onions. 
• Next, add the frozen vegetable meatballs. I used the lentil meatballs without the vegetables this time. Frozen meatballs stay together better.
• I always make batches of meatballs and freeze them for various recipes like vegan spaghetti & meatballs.

• To brown the lentil meatballs, add them to the onion mixture and add a little more vegetable broth to prevent the onions and meatballs from sticking. 
• Next, add 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce. I make an oil-free vegan marinara sauce, but any oil-free marinara sauce works well. 
• Fortunately, there are many oil-free pasta sauces available in the grocery store. 

Vegan Marinara Brands

• DeLallo Marinara Sauce
• Muir Glen Organic Portobello Mushroom Pasta Sauce
• Ragu Light Tomato and Basic Marinara Sauce
• Pomi Tomato Sauce (add Italian seasoning and fresh garlic)
• 365 Everyday Value Marinara Sauce (Whole Foods)
• Engine 2 Pasta Sauce (Whole Foods)
• Simple Truth Organic Mushroom Pasta Sauce (Fry's/Kroger)

How to Prepare the Sandwich

• A helpful tip for getting perfect crispy bread and reducing the amount of bread eaten, I suggest hollowing out the bread.
• Creating a well allows the spinach and meatballs to stay in place.
• Then, use the bread removed from the center of the roll for other recipes such as bread crumbs or dip in soup or hummus. 
• Not only does this help avoid the bread from getting soggy, but it also gets crispy quickly when broiling. 

• First, hollow the bread, create a well, and broil on low for 3-5 minutes.
• Remove the bread from the oven, and add a layer of fresh spinach to the bun or bread base.
• Then, add meatballs and sauce.
• Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and vegan parmesan cheese is an option but highly suggested. 

Recipe FAQs

Tips

• Regardless of which recipe you choose, either recipe freezes well and can be made ahead of time. 
• I always batch-cook lentil meatballs and freeze them before or after cooking them. 
• Another great way to cook vegan meatballs is by using a mini muffin pan and placing the meatballs in each muffin well; this prevents the meatballs from moving around on a baking sheet. 
• Or, flash freeze the meatballs using a mini muffin pan (uncooked) before transferring them to a container for freezing. 
• When making any recipe using lentil meatballs, I suggest using frozen meatballs so they stay uniform and don't fall apart. 
• If cooking the vegan meatballs without freezing them, avoid moving them too often when pan searing or cooking in the oven to keep them intact.  

Try this yummy vegan meatball sub! You will love the crunch and tasty meatball combination.

Other Vegan Sandwich Suggestions

If you like this vegan meatball sub, give it a 5-star review and comment below.

📖 Recipe