Recipe by Audrey Miller

Animal-Free Meatballs

We’re making meatballs - minus the meat. These come together with the help of textured vegetable protein (TVP), a superstar for soaking up flavor and helping answer the ...
We’re making meatballs - minus the meat. These come together with the help of textured vegetable protein (TVP), a superstar for soaking up flavor and helping answer the dreaded "where do you get your protein from?" question. The result is a vegan-friendly meatball that might be even better than the "real" thing. So, are we crying because of the minced onion in this recipe, or because these turned out better than we could have hoped? The answer is all of the above.
Difficulty Level
Key Benefits
VEGAN-FRIENDLY
HIGH PROTEIN
LOW SUGAR
NUT FREE
BUY 4-pack (32 oz)

Original

FOR THIS RECIPE
$26.00
PREP TIME
10m
COOK TIME
45m
SERVING SIZE
2

Ingredients

¼ cup Bored Cow Original

2 tsp oil

¼ of an onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

½ cup textured vegetable protein (TVP)

½ cup + 2 tbsp vegan-friendly broth

¼ cup bread crumbs

½ tbsp ground flax

¼ tsp pepper

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

½ tsp basil or thyme

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

  2. Over medium heat, sauté minced onion, garlic, and oil until onions become translucent.

  3. Add textured vegetable protein and broth to the pan, mix together.

  4. Cover pan and cook mixture on low-medium heat for about 10 minutes, allowing the textured vegetable protein to soak up the flavor.

  5. Meanwhile, stir together Bored Cow, bread crumbs, ground flax, pepper, nutritional yeast, and basil or thyme.

  6. After 10 minutes, combine the two mixtures together until a dough forms (it should be somewhat sticky).

  7. Shape out the dough into approximately 8 balls, each containing about 2 tablespoons of mixture. Lightly wet your hands to help form the "meat"balls.

  8. Place "meat"balls on a greased baking sheet and lightly brush them with oil.

  9. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes, stopping to turn the meatballs a few times during baking for optimal browning.