Cheesy Vegetarian Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Four meatballs on top of zoodles, topped with tomato sauce and two basil leaves. On white plate.

These Vegetarian Meatballs and sauce made in the Thermomix are so tasty and very versatile! They make an awesome meal and are great warm or cold.

Packed full of flavour, they are delicious served either with or without the sauce.

Here’s a hot tip: they’re a great one for the lunch boxes (only if your school isn’t nut free of course!)

It may look like there are a lot of ingredients in these, but don’t let that put you off – most of them are staples you will have on hand.

The recipe makes a lot and freezes well, so is well worth the effort!

To make them completely vegetarian, be sure to use a vego Worcestershire sauce. This is the one I use, you can find it in health food shops. There are other brands available at most supermarkets too!

Do make sure you use wet hands to shape the meatballs, as it is not a dense, rollable mix.

Serving Suggestions for Vegetarian Meatballs

Here are a few suggestions on how you can serve these vegetarian meatballs mixed in the Thermomix. If you think of any other ways to serve, be sure to leave a comment letting me know!

On top of zoodles, roasted spaghetti squash, pasta, or rice.

Accompanied with steamed veg or salad.

Wrap them in lettuce leaves or pita bread with salads, sauce and mayo.

Try them with gravy in place of the tomato sauce for a different, delicious way to serve.

Searching for more awesome dinners?

Two of my cookbooks contain main meals and are incredibly popular! You can find Main Meals Made Easy here and More Main Meals Made Easy here. Both offer a fantastic selection of really tasty meals, many on the table on under 40 minutes.

You can also find some really great recipes for main meals here on the website. These nachos, this salad, this pasta and these tacos are just a few of my favourite free dinner recipes!

Four meatballs on top of zoodles, topped with tomato sauce and two basil leaves. On white plate.
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5 from 2 votes

Cheesy Vegetarian Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Hearty, delicious and nutritious, this makes a lot of food and freezes well, meaning it will save you time over all!
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Australian, Italian
Keyword: Meatballs in tomato sauce, Vegetarian meatballs, Vego meatballs
Servings: 8 serves
Calories: 406kcal

Ingredients

Vegetarian Meatballs

  • (Makes approximately 48)
  • 130 g raw almonds
  • 30 g dried sliced shiitake mushrooms
  • 150 g brown onion peeled, quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic (20g)
  • 20 g olive oil
  • 1 400g can kidney beans drained, rinsed (or 240g cooked kidney beans)
  • 300 g cooked quinoa see note under recipe on how to cook quinoa in your Thermomix
  • 200 g fetta cheese broken into chunks
  • 60 g tomato paste
  • 70 g arrowroot flour or plain flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce ensure you choose a vegetarian brand if needed
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Tomato Sauce

  • 1 onion
  • 5 cloves garlic (25g)
  • 20 g olive oil
  • 300 g zucchini roughly chopped
  • 150 g red capsicum roughly chopped
  • 150 g mushrooms
  • 40 g sun-dried tomatoes sliced
  • 800 g chopped tomatoes tinned
  • 180 g tomato paste

Instructions

For the Vegetarian Meatballs

  • Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 3 trays with baking paper.
  • Place almonds in mixer bowl. Mill 15 seconds/speed 8/MC on. Transfer to a small bowl.
  • Place shiitake mushrooms in mixer bowl. Blitz 30 seconds/speed 8/MC on.
  • Add onion and garlic. Chop 8 seconds/speed 5/MC on. Scrape down bowl.
  • Add oil and 100g water. Saute 5 minutes/steaming temperature/speed 1/MC off.
  • Add kidney beans, quinoa, fetta, tomato paste, arrowroot, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, fennel, salt and the almond meal you milled earlier. Combine 20 seconds/reverse/speed 5/MC on.
  • Refrigerate mixture for 30 minutes, then shape into balls, using wet hands, placing balls on the trays as you go. You can skip refrigerating if you don't have time, and dollop spoonfuls of mixture onto your lined trays.
  • Bake for 20 minutes.  While they are baking, make the tomato sauce.

For the Tomato Sauce

  • Place onion, garlic and oil in mixer bowl. Chop 5 seconds/speed 5/MC on. Scrape down bowl. Saute 5 minutes/steaming temperature/speed 1/MC on.
  • Add zucchini, capsicum, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. Chop 10 seconds/speed 5/MC on. Scrape down bowl. Repeat.
  • Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Combine 10 seconds/speed 5/MC on, using the Thermomix spatula to incorporate, if needed.
  • Cook 15 minutes/100/speed 2/MC on.
  • Blitz 30 seconds/speed 7/MC on.

Serving

  • Serve meatballs covered generously with tomato sauce.
  • I have eaten these on top of baked spaghetti squash, lightly sauteed zoodles, pasta and rice.
  • If you prefer, you can skip the tomato sauce altogether – the meatballs are flavoursome enough to eat without it.

Notes

To cook quinoa in your Thermomix, place 100g well rinsed quinoa into the simmering basket, and with 1.2L water in the bowl. Cook 18 minutes/100/speed 4/MC on.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serve | Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 871mg | Potassium: 1213mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 1475IU | Vitamin C: 53mg | Calcium: 257mg | Iron: 5mg

Please note, nutrition information is calculated via an online recipe nutrition calculator and is a guide only. It is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed 100% accurate. I am not a nutritionist or trained health professional.

Tried this recipe?Please rate it and leave feedback in the comments section below, or mention @Thermobexta or tag #Thermobexta on Instagram.
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Amy
Amy
5 years ago

I made these but the mixture hadn’t thickened enough for me to roll into balls in the time that I had spare, so i did it as a layer in the bottom of a tray, threw some gnocchi balls over it then a pasta sauce and cheese. Cooked it up and nom nom nom, so delicious! My 5 y/o loved it and my husband is cursing me out as he has gone back for spoonfuls 4 times since having dinner (and he ate seconds at dinner too!). I think he likes it 😉 Thanks so much for the recipe, it… Read more »

Lisa
Lisa
5 years ago

My bub has egg allergies. Have u made with no egg or a egg sub before. If so what do u suggest please

kclay1969
8 years ago

Hi Bex…I’d like to make these however I don’t have the Thermomix original (I have a Thermo Chef) so can you tell me what Varoma is please?

kclay1969
8 years ago

Hi..I’d like to make these but I have a Thermo Chef rather than a Thermomix and not sure when you say Varoma?? Help please

Bek
Bek
8 years ago

Another note from me to add that I had to leave the mixture overnight in the fridge as something came up and I couldn’t make them that night. I made into balls and cooked them the next day around lunchtime and they were terrific. Don’t stress if you can’t make them into balls straight away.

Bek
Bek
8 years ago

Bec, you’re an absolute GENIUS! This recipe makes my mouth so happy. I think my whole body smiled with each bite of these Vege meatballs. My partner announced that these were “OMFG GOOD”. So yum.

I used crumbled firm tofu to make it dairy free. I made 42 decent sized vegeballs and I reckon that the sauce makes enough for ten serves!

If you’re interested in calories, I worked out that the recipe as it is works out at 81 cal each ball (for 42 balls) and the sauce (10 servings) is 72 cal each serve.

De-lish.

alice
alice
8 years ago

can these be frozen?

Bek
Bek
8 years ago
Reply to  alice

I have frozen these balls and sauce (separately) and they freeze and defrost just perfectly.

Shona
Shona
9 years ago

Oh my goodness these were awesome. I had four starving twenty one year old boys for dinner and they couldn’t eat them quickly enough. This will be a firm favourite in our house. Thanks so much for this recipe!!

Amanda
Amanda
9 years ago

These are so so good Bec!!! thanks so much.. great for the baby to munch on and enjoyed in school lunch boxes the next day.. delicious!!!!

Dan
Dan
9 years ago

OMG these have gone straight to our staple list Bec! One of those dishes that gets better the second time round too… We had some spare coconut cream left to use up (about 100mL) and threw it in the reheated sauce. Splashed over some vego meatballs and sweet potato zoodles and this was divine! You rock

bec bio shot website

Hi, I'm Bec

I specialise in great tasting vegetarian Thermomix recipes and cater for a wide range of dietary needs. I love sharing here and in my cookbooks my healthy, delicious recipes (of course the odd treat too!) Whether you’re looking to ignite your thermo mojo, or just after some new, really tasty family friendly recipes, there really is something here for everyone

 

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