Who's up for vegan spaghetti and meatballs? When I hear, you can't have tasty, satisfying comfort food that’s also healthy, my response is "Nonsense!" This meal is proof of that. It's oil-free and made with whole plant foods.
The tomato sauce in this recipe uses the Best Vegan Spaghetti Sauce as the base. The ragu and meatballs used in this delicious meal are made from "Magic" Meat.
What gives this an authentic Italian flare is Italian seasoning and fennel seeds added to the basic "Magic" Meat recipe. And the fennel seed is a must! Also, these meatballs are lighter than animal-based meatballs, so it won't leave you feeling bloated and sluggish afterward.
The pasta used in this dish is a whole grain spaghetti. Personally, I like the whole wheat variety, but if gluten is a problem, go with a whole grain brown rice gluten-free spaghetti pasta.
This spaghetti with vegan meatballs includes these key ingredients:
- Whole wheat (or gluten-free whole grain) spaghetti pasta
- Best Vegan Spaghetti Sauce
- "Magic" Meat
- Italian seasoning
- Fennel seeds
- Fresh basil (or parsley)
- Easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese (optional, but recommended)
How to make vegan spaghetti with meatballs
This recipe is a meal prep favorite because it uses two other basic recipes that can be used in other meals in addition to this vegan spaghetti with meatballs.
Prepare the vegan spaghetti sauce
Prepare the Best Vegan Spaghetti Sauce. This sauce takes a good 45 minutes to simmer, so while its simmering, go to the next step.
Prepare the "Magic" Meat
This recipe calls for a half batch of the "Magic" Meat, which yields 2 to 2 ½ cups depending on the size of the cauliflower used. However, if you're meal prepping, go ahead and make the full batch. You can use the rest for tacos or tostadas later in the week or freeze it for 1 to 4 months later. If you're not meal prepping, then go ahead and use the measurements for this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
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Add the cauliflower to the food processor and pulse until rice-like but not creamy. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add mushrooms to the food processor and pulse until rice-like—transfer mushrooms to the large mixing bowl with the cauliflower. Pulse the walnuts until minced and stir into the cauliflower and mushroom mixture.
Add dried Italian seasoning and fennel seeds to the mixture and stir until well combined. Spread the mixture on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, carefully stirring 2 to 3 times, until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool down enough to handle.
Take ½ cup of the Magic Meat and set it aside for the ragu sauce. With the rest, take a palm-full of the mixture and form the meatballs, about 1 ½ inches per meatball. You should get between 9 to 12 meatballs. Line them up on a silicone mat- or parchment-lined baking sheet and put them back into the oven at 350°F (177°C) to bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
While meatballs are baking in the oven, add the crumbled Magic Meat to the tomato sauce. Taste the ragu sauce and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Make the pasta
Cook the pasta according to package directions. If the package gives you a range of time to cook, I recommend using the low end of the range so the pasta is al dente (meaning, to the tooth or firm to the bite) and not mushy.
Assemble the plate
Add pasta to the bowl or plate. Spoon a generous amount of the ragu tomato sauce on top. Add vegan meatballs. Top with fresh herbs and optional Easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store leftovers in a covered container the refrigerator for up to four days. This also freezes well. For freezing, portion out into individual meal prep containers and freeze for up to 4 months. To reheat from frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and heat up in the microwave or covered in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 350°F (177°C).
These vegan meatballs are oil-free and made with whole plant foods. Specifically, mushrooms, cauliflower, walnuts and seasonings. The packaged types you get from the grocery store are heavily processed and typically contain a lot of salt, coconut oil (which is high in saturated fat, and not helpful for heart health), and obscure ingredients like methylcellulose, a laxative used to treat constipation. If you decide to eat processed meatballs, be sure to read the ingredients label and know what you're consuming.
First, it's important to make sure the mixture is processed into a fine crumble. If the crumble is too chunky, the meatballs will fall apart. The natural moisture from the cauliflower and mushrooms along with the walnuts, seasonings and coconut aminos will aid in having the meatballs stick together.
We hope you love this vegan spaghetti and meatballs recipe. Please rate and leave a comment below. Be sure to share a picture on Instagram and tag us @danielfastrecipes so we can see your creation!
Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
Magic Meat (Vegan Meatballs)
- ½ small head of cauliflower
- ¾ cup mushrooms
- ⅓ cup walnuts
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning dried (or 1 tsp dried basil and 1 tsp dried oregano)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 Tbsp coconut aminos
Tomato Sauce
- 1 batch of Best Vegan Spaghetti Sauce
Pasta
- 8 oz. whole wheat or gluten-free whole grain spaghetti pasta
Toppings
- ¼ cup Fresh basil or parsley, chopped
- Easy Vegan Parm Cheese optional
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare the vegan spaghetti sauce
- Prepare the Best Vegan Spaghetti Sauce. This sauce takes a good 45 minutes to simmer, so while its simmering, go to the next step.
Prepare the "Magic" Meat
- This recipe calls for a half batch of the "Magic" Meat, which yields 2 to 2 ½ cups depending on the size of the cauliflower used. However, if you're meal prepping, go ahead and make the full batch. You can use the rest for tacos or tostadas later in the week or freeze it for 1 to 4 months later. If you're not meal prepping, then go ahead and use the measurements for this recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Add the cauliflower to the food processor and pulse until rice-like but not creamy. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add mushrooms to the food processor and pulse until rice-like—transfer mushrooms to the large mixing bowl with the cauliflower. Pulse the walnuts until minced and stir into the cauliflower and mushroom mixture.
- Add dried Italian seasoning and fennel seeds to the mixture and stir until well combined. Spread the mixture on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, carefully stirring 2 to 3 times, until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool down enough to handle.
- Take ½ cup of the Magic Meat and set it aside for the ragu sauce. With the rest, take a palm-full of the mixture and form the meatballs, about 1 ½ inches per meatball. You should get between 9 to 12 meatballs. Line them up on a silicone mat- or parchment-lined baking sheet and put them back into the oven at 350°F (177°C) to bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- While meatballs are baking in the oven, add the crumbled Magic Meat to the tomato sauce. Taste the ragu sauce and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Make the pasta
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. If the package gives you a range of time to cook, I recommend using the low end of the range so the pasta is al dente (meaning, to the tooth or firm to the bite) and not mushy. Strain cooked pasta and set aside. Alternatively, you can add the al dente-cooked pasta to the sauce directly. It's up to you.
Assemble the plate
- If you're not adding the pasta to the sauce directly, then plate up the spaghetti first. Then spoon a generous amount of the ragu tomato sauce on top. Add vegan meatballs. Top with fresh herbs and optional Easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
EQUIPMENT / SUPPLIES
- Oven
- Stovetop
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper or silicone mat
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Large pot with lid
- Food processor
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Cooking spoons
- Strainer
Marisa says
I was very excited and had high hopes for this recipe. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet my expectations. The meatballs didn’t hold together after they were baked. They just crumbled once my fork touched the meatballs. Not sure if I did something wrong, but I didn’t expect the meatballs to crumble. It would have been better to have just added the “magic meat” to the Ragu. The walnuts didn’t work well in this recipe for me. I don’t know if I should have ground them until they were a fine powder, and I didn’t like the crunch it added to the meatballs. Bummer.
Gigi & Sersie says
Hi Marisa- We're so sorry it didn't work for you. Yes, the walnuts need to be processed in a food processor. We appreciate you taking the time to give us feedback.
Marisa says
I had placed the walnuts in my blender and pulsed them until they were about the same consistency as the mushrooms. Should I have pulsed them until they were powder/flour consistency?
Gigi & Sersie says
Yes, if you didn't like the nut texture, maybe pulsing to a finer consistency would be better. I'd definitely pulse, because a continuous blend would make it into walnut butter.
Robin says
What a treat... and the magic meat is soooo good!! Leaves nothing to be desired.
I used to buy fake meats (processed with many mystery ingredients of course) and thought it would be over my head to try to make a meat substitute at home. Not so! This was so easy, really really good.... and made of just cauliflower, mushrooms and walnuts. Actual healthy foods. Amazing.
Sprinkled this with the vegan parm and it was the *classic dish*.
We used a whole grain pasta by the brand Ancient Harvest made of corn, brown rice, and quinoa. Yum yum.
We also broth sautéed some eggplant, sweet potato, bell peppers and jalapeños to add veggies to this delicious pasta.
Leftover sauce and meatballs became a perfect topping for grilled eggplantsteak lunch two days later.
Next time out of curiosity I might experiment using less aminos because they are so salty and powerful - we used Braggs soy aminos.
Thank you Sersie & Gigi!! 🍝❤️
Gigi & Sersie says
Thank you for the feedback, Robin. This magic meat is so versatile. Coconut aminos has less sodium than regular aminos. We'll take a closer look at updating the recipe to suggest using less (half) if using regular soy aminos. Thank you for letting us know. We appreciate you.