You might laugh out loud when you see how little effort it takes to make these easy vegan meatballs. You might also ask, if we're already hacking vegan food, why not just buy ready-made vegan meatballs? Good question. Many, if not most brands have as their first ingredient textured soy protein (TSP or alternatively TVP), which isn't the healthiest of vegan ingredients. And while it wouldn't hurt to have teaspoon on occasion for a meaty meatless experience, some of us would just rather not.
Using veggie burgers to make meatless meatballs gives you a range of choices when it comes to ingredients. You can use vegan burgers with vegetables is as the main ingredients, as is the case with Amy's California Burger; kale and quinoa burgers like Dr. Praeger's; bean and rice burgers like Gardenburger; eggplant-based burgers like Angel Burgers, and lots more choices!
For a great listing of plant-based burgers, only one of which is the textured soy protein variety, this listing of the best vegan store-bought veggie burgers. Choose your favorite and make these laughably easy vegan meatballs - which also turn out to be more economical than buying them completely ready-made. And - very important to us vegan food hackers - they can be made almost instantly. All photos by Evan Atlas.
Here are the ridiculously easy steps:
1 Thaw a 4-pack of the vegan burgers.
2 Cut each burger into four equal quarters.
3 With damp hands, form the quarters into balls. You wind up with 16.
4 Sauté over medium heat on a nonstick skillet that's been lightly coated with oil or cooking oil spray, turning gently and frequently until lightly browned on most sides. You can also bake them in a 350º oven or toaster oven for 20 to 30 minutes, turning them halfway through.
Who's laughing now? Certainly not me, and you won't be either, when you see how tasty these are on top of pasta or in a delicious vegan meatball sub.
You can also serve them as a protein side dish with warmed marinara or an easy vegan gravy.
- See more of our Hack This! features and other vegan food hacks.
Liz says
Excellent! I love Quorn meatballs but can't find them in my area and after being fed up, decided to buy two boxes of Amy's veggie burgers and make them myself. So, I was searching for anyone online who had made meatballs from Amy's veggie burgers and voila! Thank you for posting this! I knew I could make it work one way or another even if I had to add an egg or some bread crumbs but so glad I found your easy instructions. I'm going to serve them with sauce over a plate of polenta and add a Greek salad.