For someone who doesn’t enjoy eating lentils, I am surprised I have another recipe on the blog promoting these little things. However, after experimenting with some meatball recipes, I found lentils to work the best and provide a good dose of nutrients I knew I had to continue.
Why lentils?
As I said above, I am not a fan of lentils, but what I do like about them is their high level of protein, fiber, iron, and a number of B vitamins. Not only that, but they are low in fat and have anti-inflammatory properties making lentil meatballs the perfect meat replacement. And in this recipe, lentils are absolutely delicious!
Here are the details of this recipe
Let’s start with the lentils:
- You can buy precooked lentils or cook your own. If you are cooking your own, plan on making them before you start the recipe and let them cool slightly. You can use any leftover lentils in this lentil and bean taco recipe. Yummy!
- Any color of lentils will do (they come in black, green, or red) but I use the green lentils.
After cooking your lentils, you will want to sauteè the onion and garlic in a bit of avocado oil… Don’t skip this step, the flavor of these in the meatballs are delicious.
After that, let’s throw everything in a blender or food processor. Don’t you love an easy meal like this?! Yes… me too!
- Start with the pecans, chop them up first in the food processor.
- Then you can add in the cooked lentils, nutritional yeast, sun-dried tomatoes, flaxseed salt, and pepper.
The mixture is going to be very mushy and sticky. If it is too sticky to form into balls, add in 1 Tbsp more of ground flaxseed.
That is it! So easy!
Do you like lentils?
Even if you think you don’t like them, I suggest giving these a try. They are easy to make, taste SO delicious, and are a perfect meat-free option.
How to eat these baked lentil meatballs?
- Add into pasta dishes
- Make a ‘meatball’ sub
- Add some into your green salads
- Perfect with a quinoa salad
- OR just eat alone with a little bit of hummus and raw veggies
How would you eat them? I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Baked Lentil Meatballs
Equipment
- Food processor or high-speed blender
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Avocado oil
- 1/2 Cup red onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Cup lentils, cooked I used green
- 1/2 Cup pecans, chopped
- 1/4 Cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 Cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set to the side.
- In a medium-size skillet, sautè the onion and garlic in the avocado oil until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set to the side.
- Add pecans to the food processor and pulse a few times to help chop them further.
- When the pecans are chopped, add remaining ingredients into the food processor including the cooked onions and garlic.
- Mix well until all ingredients are combined. The mixture should be a bit sticky but able to form into a ball. If it looks to 'wet', add in 1 Tbsp of flaxseed and mix.
- Using a Tbsp measurer, scoop out the mixture and form it into a ball and set onto the lined baking sheet. Continue until all mixture is used.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to turn the meatballs over at about the halfway mark.
Notes
