Quick Vegan Meatballs And Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce

These vegan meatballs, spaghetti, and tomato sauce can be prepared very quickly.  Once you discover how delicious this is, this will be a weeknight staple for many dinners to come.

Vegan meatballs can be served with the nutritious carbs of your choice.  To turn meatballs into a complete meal, today I am serving them with some gluten-free spaghetti, and some vegetables in a speedy marinara sauce. 

This entire meal can come together in less than 15 minutes if you use an air fryer to cook the meatballs.

While the meatballs are cooking, get your pasta on, and whip up your quick vegetables and sauce.  You’ll have dinner served up in a flash. 

Video Demonstration

If you’d like to see how easy it is to throw all this together, check out my video where I walk you through the recipe step by step. 

Click here to subscribe to my Youtube channel. 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• This recipe, and all of the recipes on my website are vegan and plant-based.
• This recipe and all of the recipes on my website are gluten-free.
• This recipe contains 397 calories per serving.
• This recipe contains 15g protein per serving.
• This recipe contains 124g of calcium per serving.
• This recipe contains 14g of fiber per serving.
• This recipe is made from a combination of vegan protein, whole food sources of carbohydrates, vegetables, essential fats, and ingredients that make the dish extremely tasty.
• This recipe takes 5 minutes of active preparation time and 10 minutes of cooking time.  You can use the cooking time to get on with other things.
• This recipe is made extra tasty by the addition of fresh basil and Italian seasoning.
• I have simplified this recipe by limiting the number of ingredients and using everyday ingredients such as mushrooms and onions.

The Structure Of A Plant Based Plate

Each of the recipes I create fits into my Plant Plate System.  This system incorporates 5 food groups into every meal. 

The 5 food groups are 1) Plant Protein, 2), Leaves, Fruit, And Veg, 3) Aesthetic Additions, 4) Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates, and 5) Taste

This recipe is a complete meal because it contains all 5 components of my Plant Plate and contains around 400 calories per meal.

The diagram below helps you see the 5 different components of a Plant-Based Plate.

Click here to discover more about my Plant Plate System and some of the benefits of eating this way.

Plant Protein 

• Black Beans With Oats To Bind

Leaves, Fruit & Veg 

• Onion
• Mushrooms
• Easy No Cook Marinara Sauce

Aesthetic Additions

• Basil

Nutrient Packed Carbs

• Gluten-free Spaghetti

Taste 

• Burger Seasoning
• Italian Seasoning
• Salt
• Olive Oil
• Basil

Recommended Equipment

Here are the main kitchen equipment tools I have used to create this recipe.

How To Make This Recipe

• Process all the ingredients for the meatballs and roll small balls from the mixture.
• Cook the meatballs by frying in a pan, air fryer or oven.
• Cook the onions and mushroom in a pan and add the marinara sauce.
• Cook the pasta following the packet instructions and serve with the meatballs and vegetables in sauce.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Canned Beans: Replace the beans with any beans of your choice, chickpeas, or cooked lentils from a can.
• Oats: Use rolled oats, oat flour or any other flour of your choice to bind the meatballs.
• Onions: You can replace the onions with a vegetable of your choice.
• Mushrooms: You can omit the mushrooms or replace them with a vegetable of your choice.
• Easy No-Cook Marinara Sauce: Replace this with any marinara sauce or sauce that contains a similar number of calories.
• Basil/Cilantro/other fresh leaves: You can omit the fresh herbs or replace them with any fresh or dried herbs of your choice.
• Gluten-free Spaghetti: Replace this with the same quantity of pasta of your choice, or another nutritious carb.
• Vegetable stock powder: You can replace it with a different stock powder or stock cube of your choice.
• Italian seasoning: You can replace it with any dried herbs of your choice.
• Sea salt: You can replace it with any salt of your choice or 1 tablespoon of tamari.
• Olive oil: Use any oil you choose.  Or omit the oil completely and just saute the vegetables in a little water.

Side Dishes

Serve this recipe with one serving of any of the following side dishes per person: 

• Mashed potatoes
• Cornbread
• Boiled baby potatoes in skins
• Boiled large white potatoes without skins
• White potato fries
• Sweet potato fries
• Baked white potato
• Baked sweet potato
• White rice

For more options, see all of my best vegan, gluten-free carbs side dishes.

How To Reduce The Calories

If you’d like to reduce the calories of this recipe even further, I suggest removing the olive oil.  You can saute the vegetables in a little water instead of oil.  You could also replace the spaghetti with spiralized zucchini/ courgette for fewer calories. 

How To Increase The Calories

If you would like to increase the calories for anybody who is going to be eating a serving of this recipe, I suggest you serve them a bigger portion of a side dish.

Storage

Vegan Meatballs keep for up to 4 days in the fridge in an air-tight container. They also freeze well for up to 3 months.  Defrost them before using them. Reheat them by warming them up gently in a pan, oven, or air fryer.

Pasta can be stored for up to 4 days in the fridge in an air-tight container.  Pasta can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.  However, it tends to stick together in the fridge or freezer.  To avoid clumping, mix it with some sauce before storing it.  Defrost it before using it. Reheat it by warming it up gently in a pan.

More Quick Vegan Dinner Recipes

If you’re looking for more speedy vegan dinners, check out some of my other recipes:

• 5 Minute Vegan Tortilla Pizza
• 10 Minute Plant Based Black Bean Burger (Gluten Free)
• Homemade Vegan Crunchwrap Recipe

You can see all of my vegan main meals here.

Recipe

Quick Vegan Meatballs And Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce

Katherine Kyle

These vegan meatballs, spaghetti, and tomato sauce can be prepared very quickly. Once you discover how delicious this is, this will be a weeknight staple for many dinners to come.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Calories 397.5 kcal

Equipment

• Air Fryer
• Oven
• Pan
• Food Processor

Ingredients

  

Vegan Meatballs

• 2 Cans Black Beans (Rinsed And Drained)
• 1 Cup (1 Large Onion) Diced Onions
• 4 Tablespoons Rolled Oats, Oat Flour Or Other Flour
• 2 Teaspoons Of My Homemade Burger Seasoning Or 1 Teaspoon Paprika, 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder, And A Pinch Of Black Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Of My Homemade Italian Seasoning Or ½ Teaspoon Of Basil, ½ Teaspoon Of Oregano, And ½ Teaspoon Parsley.
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (Or 4 Teaspoons Tamari)

Vegetable Sauce

• 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1 Onion
• 250g (3-4 Large Mushrooms) Mushrooms
• 1 Batch Of Easy No Cook Marinara Sauce
• 30g Fresh Basil (Save Some For A Garnish)

Tomato Sauce

• 2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
• 500g Passata Or 400g / 16 Oz Can Chopped Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Purée or Tomato Paste
• 3 Tablespoons Of My Homemade Italian Seasoning Or 1 Tablespoon Of Basil, 1 Tablespoon Of Oregano, And 1 Tablespoon Parsley
• 1 Teaspoon Maple Syrup
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Serve With

• 300g Gluten-free Spaghetti

Garnish With

• A few basil leaves

Instructions

 

Vegan Meatballs

• Add the canned black beans, onion, oats, burger seasoning, Italian seasoning, and salt to a food processor. Process until you can form a ball that sticks together. Don’t over-process. Scrape down the sides and stir.
• Roll small balls of the mixture to form meatballs. To make things easier, I like to use a small scoop.
• Cook your meatballs using one of the following options:

Fry

• You can fry them on a medium heat, in a non-stick pan with or without oil, turning them until they are golden on all sides. I like to use an oil spray for fewer calories.

Air Fryer

• Spray a little oil spray on the bottom of your air fryer. Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket and spray them with a little oil spray. Cook at 200C/ 400F for 5-10 minutes, shaking the basket every few minutes. Check on them frequently.

Oven

• Add your meatballs to a non-stick baking tray, spray them with oil, and bake them at 200C/ 400F for 15-20 minutes until they are golden.

Tomato Sauce

• Mix everything together in a bowl. It is ready to use immediately.

Vegetables In Sauce

• Add the oil to a pan. Place on a medium heat. Chop the onion and add that to the pan. Chop the mushroom and add that to the pan.
• Stir in the Easy No Cook Marinara Sauce, and the basil. Stir every few minutes until the rest of your meal is ready.

Spaghetti

• Cook the pasta following the packet instructions.
• Add your spaghetti to a bowl. Top with your tomato and vegetables in sauce. Add your vegan meatballs to the top. Garnish with basil.

Video

Notes

This recipe keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge in an air-tight container. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.  Defrost it before using it. Reheat it by warming it up gently in a pan, air fryer, or oven.

The nutritional information is for one serving of the entire meal including side dishes, sauces, veg, garnishes, and any other elements listed under the ingredients.  I create tasty meals that help people to lose weight, so it’s important to display the nutritional information of the whole meal.

Now it’s your turn to make magic with food.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Katherine Kyle

BSc, PGCE, Certified Vegan Nutritionist at Magical Life Of Fruit

I help busy people make tasty, simple, plant-based, gluten free meals that are so filling that they don't need to snack at all.

When I switched to a vegan diet I lost 56 pounds (5 dress sizes) and all areas of my life were dramatically transformed.

Going vegan totally gave me my life back, saved me money, boosted my confidence, increased my energy, and helps me maintain a healthy weight.

Read my story here.

I have helped millions of people to do the same through my two websites,
GreenThickies.com and MagicalLifeOfFruit.com.

Send Katherine a message on Instagram,or email.

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