I think it's time for more meatballs. (Or maybe it's always time for more meatballs? I'm not sure.)
I've done Lentil Mushroom Meatballs before and if there's one thing I learned from that post, it's that you guys love meatballs. And that's good, because I do too. In a world full of veggie burgers, veggie meatballs are a little harder to come by, so I think I'm going to make it my personal mission to post as many meatless meatball recipes as I can.
All meatballs! All the time!
Okay, no, that won't happen. So: Some meatballs! Some of the time! Like these broccoli parmesan meatballs.
Broccoli Parmesan Meatballs
Although it's not in the name of the recipe, the star ingredient of these meatballs is ground almonds. You don't want to process them into a flour and you don't want them chunky enough that you know these meatballs are made with nuts--they need to be a coarse crumb. These crumbs are what give my Broccoli Parmesan Meatballs their meaty texture. Well, maybe meaty isn't quite the word I'm looking for, but without the ground almonds, these would be a little soft and mushy. The ground almonds are combined with chopped broccoli and shredded Parmesan cheese, formed into cute little meatballs, and then baked in a mini muffin tin.
Why a mini-muffin tin? Well, it helps the meatballs hold their shape! And it keeps them from rolling all over the place too. If you don't have a mini-muffin tin, don't worry--a regular muffin tin will do just fine. Since this recipe makes 12 meatballs, you might want to double it if you have a meatball lovin' household. (And if it's just you lovin' meatballs, you can still double the recipe and freeze the leftovers--yes, these freeze well!)
Like all of my vegetarian remakes, these broccoli parmesan meatballs aren't really meant to taste like actual meatballs. They just share the shape and function of meaty meatballs. They're much tastier than the bland faux meat versions you can buy at the grocery store and I feel like I can say this with authority because Chris used to be hooked on those things and after I started making them myself, he completely changed his mind.
With the broccoli and Parmesan, these meatballs are an obvious addition to pasta, but we used some of ours to make meatball subs. I put them on a sub roll and topped them with chunky marinara sauce, some shredded cheese, and chopped basil. Broccoli parmesan meatballs are total comfort food.
This post was originally published June 3, 2013
Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw almonds
- 1 large head broccoli cut into florets and steamed (about 2 cups)
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- Olive oil mister or cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Place the almonds in a food processor. Process until they're coarsely ground (see image in post--it's important to not under- or over-process!). Transfer ground almonds to a medium bowl.
- Now place the broccoli florets in the food processor and pulse until chopped. Add the chopped broccoli, cheese, and garlic to the almonds and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the egg.
- Spray a mini-muffin tin with olive oil or cooking spray. Form the broccoli mixture into 12 balls, squeezing them a little to make sure they hold their shape, and place each one in its own cup in the muffin tin. Bake until meatballs are golden on the outside and heated through, about 20 minutes. Remove tin from oven and run a butter knife along the edges of each muffin cup to loosen meatballs before gently popping them out.
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
I am absolutely loving this recipe!! I cannot wait to try making sub sandwiches out of these meatballs. Yum :).
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board says
Such a good idea to use mini muffin tins for meatballs so they don't roll around, and I like that you used the ground nuts for texture too. That meatball sub looks so much tastier than a meat-meatball sub!
Kiersten says
I've actually never had a real meatball sub, but this one is pretty darn good. 😉
Stephanie @ henry happened says
Yes, I think it should be meatballs all.the.time! I love this just b/c you get to use the mini muffin tin - I never get to use that thing!
Kiersten says
I use mine constantly, but I have never made mini-muffins in it. How sad is that?!
Tricia Nightowlmama says
what a fabulous idea I would love to make these
vegeTARAian says
These sound wonderful! What a clever fox you are
Katie (The Muffin Myth) says
Kiersten! I'm *just* starting to get caught up on the mammoth back-log of posts to read after a month's hiatus (and hopefully posting new content of my own soon!) and this is the first thing I saw. Total genius! I love the idea of baking them in mini muffin tins. And that meatball sub? OMG! These are definitely on the must-make list!
Kiersten says
Glad you're back--I was wondering why you weren't posting, but I figured you were busy! 🙂
Kristen says
I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect. They are fun to snack on or thrown on a sub roll...even my meat-loving 14yo brother ate them. The only alteration I had because I could not find our mini-muffin tin was place them in a regular sized muffin tin...they still turned out fabulous. Thanks!
Kiersten says
Yay, I'm glad to hear they were a success! 😀
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Oooh, I just love veggie meatballs! Broccoli and parmesan sounds like a great combo and I love that you used almonds! Oh and I'm totally using your idea for the mini muffin tin 😀
angela @ another bite please says
ok first these look so good...and meatball sub perfect...using mini muffin tin what a great tip. thanks for sharing!
Judit + Corina @WineDineDaily says
Oh my, these darling veggi meatballs look just scrumptious. What a great and easy way to bake them.
Thank you and Cheers,
J+C
Connie says
oooh! sneaky sneaky use of broccoli!
Robin Gagnon says
While I'm a reduced meat consumer rather than vegetarian, I am not a fan of ground meat... at all. These would be a lovely alternative.
Genevieve says
This is definitely one of the most unique recipes I've seen for veggie meatballs...I like how you incorporated veggies into them - it's like you made a meatball out of all the ingredients you would normally use to make a good vegetarian pasta dish! I don't know why I haven't made my own meatballs yet!
Kiersten says
You should give it a try--I'm sure you would come up with something really tasty! 😀
ashley says
I can't wait to try these out! They look amazing!
Sherri @The Well Floured Kitchen says
These look awesome, I think I would serve them up as a snack or appetizer. I love all kinds of meatballs (even things just shaped like them), someone should open up a meatball restaurant.
Kiersten says
There's a meatball food truck in Raleigh! They've got some really good vegetarian meatballs too. 🙂
Kelly says
Okay, I snatched up this recipe as soon as you posted. I just made them tonight and I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong. I followed your directions and even cooked mine an extra 5 minutes, but they pretty much disintegrated when I tried to carefully remove them with tongs. The broccoli powder still tasted good, and mixed well into my pasta, but if I'm going to dupe my husband (said with love) ball form is more convincing. I know without being in the kitchen with me it's a long shot, but: Any suggestions as to what I did wrong? Things to look for to give me a hint they're done?
Kiersten says
I'm sorry they didn't turn out! This is one of the recipes that's going in my book, so 3 different testers tried it out and no one had crumbling issues, so I'm not quite sure where it all went wrong. You have to squeeze the balls together a little bit to get them to hold their shape (I just added this to the directions!), so if you didn't do that, that could be one reason they crumbled. Cooking them 5 minutes longer could have dried them out too much too.
Kelly says
I used a cookie scoop and pushed them into the scoop before plopping them. I did have some trouble, even still, with them keeping together. And after 5 more minutes they were still moist. Maybe my broccoli was still too wet or something or I'm just special. I'll just have to try them again!!
Kelly says
Thank you for the super quick response!!
Kiersten says
Well, if you make them again, let me know how it goes. (Hopefully better!) 🙂
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com says
Oh mine, how did I miss this post?!! I'd love to have these "meatballs" with my pasta!
Stephanie Parks says
This recipe sounds delicious! However, I'm allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, lentils and legumes. Is there something I can substitute in place of the almonds that will still give the meatballs the same texture? Thank you
Kiersten says
I've heard from someone else with the same issue and she's going to try sunflower seeds, so maybe try that? Unfortunately, unless I remake the recipe myself, I can't say for sure that a substitute will work out!
Belinda @themoonblushbaker says
I love the idea of the mini muffin pin but I think you could use a cake pop tin if you want to create meat ball lolly pops for dipping! so yum!
Kiersten says
That would definitely work too! 🙂
Shirley says
I love that the meatballs also made it into a sub! So cute, and they look really good. And I have got to try using a muffin tin for meatballs.
Kiersten says
I don't know if a muffin tin would work for regular meatballs--would they get soggy at the bottom?
Dosa says
wow...this looks utterly delicious... I have to try this out.
Marta @ What Should I eat for breakfast today says
I love this version of meatballs 🙂 So creative.
Hannah says
I made these last night - but as I didn't have a muffin tin of any size I rolled them into medium sized balls and then squashed them onto a baking tray to make a kind of vegetarian burger. They were very tasty served in a burger bun with some red onion rings and sweet potato wedges on the side. The only issue was that I put foil on the tray before baking them and although I oiled it they did stick a little - will have to experiment and try to get them right next time! Went down a treat with my non-vegetarian boyfriend.
Kiersten says
I love the idea of making them into burgers! I'm going to have to try that too. Instead of foil, you could try parchment paper next time--no oil needed! 🙂
Matt says
Uhmm... these do look amazing. But I just have a question? I apologise if there is some sort of disclaimer elsewhere on this website (I'm new here) but shouldn't this recipe list a "vegetarian hard-cheese" rather than Parmesan, as Parmesan is not actually vegetarian?
Kiersten says
Are you in the UK? In the US, you can buy domestic Parmesan cheese that's made without rennet. The law saying that anything called Parmesan must be made with rennet applies to the EU only. I'm in the US, as are most of my readers.
Matt says
Thanks for the info. I am indeed in the UK... I was aware that you're based in the US but not aware that in the US veggie hard-cheese can be sold as "Parmesan" even if it's not made the traditional way (with rennet).
Really like your website, so will have to be more careful with those EU/US differences (I don't know if there are many others) and I will definitely be using a veggie hard-cheese to make these... that sub looks yummy.
Cheers
Kiersten says
Yup, once in a while I'll get an email or comment about it from someone in Europe--the first time I had to do some research on the topic because I was confused too! But yes, we can use the label Parmesan here no matter what kind of enzymes the cheese is made with.
Jody says
Very nice - I made them for dinner tonight. We all liked them and they were so easy to make. Baking in the mini muffin tins is a great idea. 🙂
Kiersten says
I'm glad they turned out well--thanks for the comment! 🙂