| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 50 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings, about 20 balls |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup finely diced onion
- Pinch sea salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon and more to taste
- 2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms, about 4 ounces
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 (14-ounce) package extra firm tofu, drained and crumbled
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Simple and Quick Tomato Sauce, to serve, recipe follows
- Spaghetti, to serve
- 1 (28-ounce) can organic plum tomatoes with juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- 6 large basil leaves
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Raise the heat to high and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have given off their juices and are lightly caramelized, about 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the work bowl of a food processor. Add the tofu, egg and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pulse to combine. Add the bread crumbs and parsley and pulse to combine again. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Spread the flour on a plate. Moisten your hands with water and form the tofu mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls. Lightly coat the balls in flour and put them onto a baking sheet or large plate. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the balls and cook them until browned all over, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add the tomato sauce to the pan and simmer until the balls are firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite pasta.
- Put all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to form a rough puree with flecks of basil.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 432 |
| Total Fat | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 36 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 47 mg |
| Sodium | 596 mg |
Reviews
These were delicious no meatballs! Made the balls exactly, added my own spin on the sauce. Great if you want to eat less meat and more plant based—honestly the balls were extremely similar to regular meatballs, just a finer texture.
These were really good. Only thing I changed to substitute a pound of lean ground beef for the tofu. Everyone raved about them, Definitely a keeper recipe.
Great concept but too much tofu for my taste. The taste is in the mushrooms and onions and garlic and other seasonings you might add. I also add Italian flavored bread crumbs and more than suggested and parmesan cheese. I will reduce the tofu in half next time and bake them on a pan coated in olive oil to keep the fat to a minimum, 400 for 30 minutes or longer to taste turning after 15 minutes. similar to Pierre Franey’s meatball recipe. No need for flour when you bake them and the flour also washes out the flavor,
Delicious! I followed the recipe exactly because I had never cooked with tofu before. The meatballs turned out great. I added my own marinara to them to simmer for about 15 minutes after browning and served them over spaghetti squash. Rave reviews from everyone…I’ll definitely make these again.
Delicious! I saved the onion/mushroom pan to brown the meatballs and it worked great. I heated oil in the onion/mushroom base at the bottom of the pan and it added more flavor and helped with the browning. I then added the tomato sauce to the same pan so I didn’t have to move the meatballs. They did come apart easily when moved.
I could not get these veggie balls to stay together, they completely crumbled on me even though the consistently looked just like Peter’s. Don’t know if I’ll try again.
I tried this out for the first time today and was pleasantly surprised. I made a few alterations to the recipe to make it healthier ( I used chickpea flour instead of the bread crumbs and flour; I stirred cooked quinoa in to the mixture for the meatless balls before forming and cooking them) and they turned out great. I made the sauce in a slow cooker and cooked the browned balls in there, most of them held their shape. I am a vegetarian but my husband is a meat eater and he really enjoyed this too. The meatballs don’t taste like much on their own (possibly due to my changes to the recipe) but in the sauce they do a great job of rounding out the dish. I’ll be making this again and again.
This recipe is great just like it is…. however, if you are like me when it comes to meatballs, I like a cheese of some type in them. Typically that is parmesan, but this is no “meat”ball. I opted to add goat cheese since it would go well with the sweetness of the onions and savory mushrooms. I was not disappointed! They were bursting with flavor and still had a great consistency. Bob appetit!
WOW! Totally surprised this had so much flavor. Definitely on the re-make list! THANK YOU!
I’m vegetarian and my BF isn’t. Somehow it’s worked fine lol I made this recipie and he absolutely loved it. He is a meat lover and for him to actually enjoy a vegetarian dish without his hearty meat is seriously amazing. I added Italian style breadcrumbs sautéed some chopped up bell pepper and added little pinch of garlic to my meatball mix the second time I did them but honestly if you follow the recipe as is you won’t. Regret it one bit. It was amazing! Two thumbs up from your fellow vegetarian and a meat lover lol <3