Vegan Swedish Meatless Balls
These delicious Vegan Swedish Meatless Balls in rich, creamy gravy make for a soul-warming, cozy meal. Serve over Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or pasta with IKEA lingon berry jam or cranberry sauce on the side.
Servings 4 (~6 meatless balls per person depending on size of balls)
Calories 378kcal
Equipment
- Food processor, see notes for alternate instructions if you don't have a food processor
- Baking sheet or roasting pan
- skillet or sauce pan for gravy
Ingredients
Meatless Balls
- 2 cups cooked wild rice see notes below for options
- 5 - 6 whole baby bella/ cremini mushrooms ~5 oz
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt mixed with 1/3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 flax eggs 2 TBSPs Flax meal a.k.a ground flax seeds mixed with 5 TBSPs water (or 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon water)
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon allspice optional, traditional, recommend
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Gravy
- 3 TBSPs Earth Balance
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 TBSPs AP flour sub 1-to-1 gluten-free flour, if gluten-free; Almond flour will not work
- 1 ½ cups mushroom broth
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt mixed with 1/3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBSP unfortified nutritional yeast to taste; use a less or skip if you only have fortified
- 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
Optional for serving
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- IKEA Lingon Berry Jam
- chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
Prep
- First, make flax eggs: mix 2 TBSPs flax meal a.k.a ground flax seeds with 5 TBSPs water, which is equal to 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon water. Set aside; it will gel up.
- Mix one cup of plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt with 2/3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Divide; 1/2 cup for the meatless balls & 1/2 cup for the gravy. Set aside.
Meatless Balls
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- See note below if you don't have a food processor. Combine all Meatless Ball ingredients (wild rice, mushrooms, yogurt, flax eggs, oats, smoked paprika, garlic powder & salt) in the food processor. Pulse/process until it comes together into a sticky, textured mixture.
- Roll with your hands or use a small scoop to form into around 1½ TBSPs balls and place on a non-stick roasting pan or parchment-lined baking sheet. I use a 1½ TBSP scoop and form it into a ball with my hands.
- Bake for around 15 minutes. Be careful not over bake; they can get too dry. Make Gravy while the Meatless Balls are in the oven.
Gravy
- Melt Earth Balance over medium heat in a large skillet. Whisk in onion powder, garlic powder, and flour. Let it bubble for a few minutes to remove any floury taste.
- Add unfortified nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and broth. Whisk together until smooth. Whisk in yogurt & apple cider mixture.
- Adjust consistency to taste with more broth if needed. Season to taste. Reduce heat to low, whisking occasionally until the meatless balls are out of the oven and ready to add.
Serve & Enjoy!
- Place your cooked meatless balls in the gravy, spoon sauce on top of them and get them saucy. Serve with Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or pasta and IKEA lingon berry jam or cranberry sauce. Garnish with roughly chop parsley if desired. Stab with toothpicks if this is party grub.
Notes
Nutrition information us approximate.
No Food Processor? No problem!
Sub 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup oat flour (store-bought or blend oats in the blender to make oat flour) for oats & finely chop the mushrooms with a knife. Then stir all of the Meatless Ball ingredients together by hand before making into balls.Wild Rice
Look for straight wild rice as opposed to a blend containing wild rice. Wild rice is actually grass, but it looks and cooks like rice. Cook the wild rice overnight using 3/4 cup dry wild rice + 1&1/2 cups boiling water. Preheat oven to 500°F. Put rice in a casserole dish. Add boiling water & cover. Place casserole dish in oven. Shut off oven and leave it until morning or for a few hours and then let cool and move to the fridge. Maybe put a note on the oven so that you remember it’s it there. I love cooking wild rice this way in the oven. However, I don’t leave it in the oven all night. I pull it from the oven after 2 -3 hours, let it cool and then move it to the fridge. The grains are very open and there is no excess water. It ends up being over 2 cups of wild rice when cooked this way.Nooch
I always use and recommend unfortified nutritional yeast. This adds nice umami & depth of flavor to the gravy. The fortified stuff can taste synthetic or vitamin-y. Fortified nutritional yeast can lose potency when stored, so there is no reason to suffer through the artificial taste when there is a chance of not receiving the benefits of the vitamins. Nutritional yeast is typically gluten-free, check labels. www.planttestkitchen.comNutrition
Serving: 1serving of ~6 meatless balls & gravy | Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 677mg | Potassium: 1076mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 246IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 3mg