EASY Vegan Zucchini Meatballs! These zucchini meatballs are such a delicious and easy veggie “meatball” recipe! Made with gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients and you can toss them into your favorite sauce with pasta or anything!
It can be really hard to get veggies into your daily diet. And I personally am horrible at it, so I am always looking for new ways to get my veggies in, in ways I wouldn’t ordinarily.
We are a big pasta with meatballs family here. And these zucchini meatballs are a hit simmered in our favorite sauces with pasta! We do add some shredded cheese on top (if vegan or df – omit), but they turn out so good! You add all of the ingredients to a food processor and then bake the zucchini meatballs for about 25 minutes. It is a quick recipe that is great for meal prep too.
Tip: Serve these meatballs over your favorite pasta with sauce or on a baguette with some cheese for “meatball parm”
What ingredients you need to make vegan zucchini meatballs:
- Chickpeas – drained and rinsed from can
- Garlic cloves -I prefer using fresh garlic here but garlic powder works too!
- Gluten-free rolled oats – or use regular rolled oats if not gluten-free
- Shredded zucchini – about 1 large zucchini and squeeze out moisture!
- Marinara sauce and pasta for serving if desired!
How to make zucchini meatballs:
- Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, garlic cloves, and rolled oats, spices and lemon to food processor and pulse for about 5-10 seconds, until finely chopped
- Transfer to a large bowl and add the shredded zucchini and stir together until well-combined
- Preheat the oven to 375°F then line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using your hands, scoop out on heaping tablespoon of the zucchini mixture at a time and roll into 12 separate balls.
- Arrange on the baking sheet a few inches apart then bake in the oven for 25 minutes
- Once the zucchini balls are light golden brown, remove them from the oven and set aside and serve with desired pasta and sauce!
Best tips for success making zucchini meatballs:
- Don’t use subs that aren’t recommended! I haven’t tested something besides the chickpeas. It helps bind the ingredients together nicely
- I don’t recommend using more than 1 cup of shredded zucchini. You don’t want to meatballs to be too wet/watery!
- Feel free to add these meatballs to any pasta or sauce you want. Or turn them into a “meatball parm!”
- My kids also love to dip these in ketchup too (what don’t they dip in ketchup lol)
- You can store these in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for 2 months
A few other delicious and healthy dinner recipes:
Healthier Crispy Paleo Chicken Tenders
Vegan Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing
PrintEASY Vegan Zucchini Meatballs
EASY Vegan Zucchini Meatballs! These zucchini meatballs are such a delicious and easy veggie “meatball” recipe! Made with gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients and you can toss them into your favorite sauce with pasta or anything!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
Yield: Makes about 12-15 balls 1x
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce chickpeas – drained and rinsed from can
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper if desired
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 large zucchini), squeeze out moisture
- Marinara sauce and pasta for serving if desired!
Instructions
- Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, garlic cloves, and rolled oats, spices and lemon to food processor and pulse for about 5-10 seconds, until finely chopped
- Transfer to a large bowl and add the shredded zucchini and stir together until well-combined
- Preheat the oven to 375°F then line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using your hands, scoop out on heaping tablespoon of the zucchini mixture at a time and roll into 12 separate balls.
- Arrange on the baking sheet a few inches apart then bake in the oven for 25 minutes
- Once the zucchini balls are light golden brown, remove them from the oven and set aside and serve with desired pasta and sauce!
Notes
*Store leftovers in fridge for 5 days or freezer for 2 months
Cheryl
The meatballs were pretty good, but when I served the leftovers I crumbled the meatballs into the marinara sauce and it was amazing! Just like a meat based spaghetti sauce. Thank you for the recipe!
Rachel
yay!! enjoy!
Kayla
These came out so yummy and were easy to make! The garlic flavor was a bit strong so I would do 1/1.5 cloves next time but mine were pretty big. Also I left them in the oven for longer so they would crisp up, so delicious!