The Ultimate Vegan Gluten-Free Roasted Vegetable Meatballs

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Roasted vegetable meatballs are made with leftover roasted vegetables and oat flour. These meatballs are the perfect way to add more vegetables to your diet. Better yet, if you have kids who despise vegetables, this is the perfect way to get them to eat all of their vegetables.

The kids will be so distracted by the delicious taste of the meatballs they won’t have time to question what the meatballs are made of. However, before we get to the meatballs, let’s discuss the origin of meatballs.

Where Did Meatballs Come From?

Like most individuals, I assumed that meatballs were Italian. However, the true creator of meatballs is still unknown. Some individuals believe Persians were responsible for creating meatballs because they used leftover meat to make Kofta.

From Persia, meatballs are said to have traveled throughout regions of the Middle East and China. In contrast, others assert Venitian traders to be the original inventors of meatballs as they brought them along on European trade routes.

Other individuals suggest Ancient Romans to be the inventors of the first meatball. Today meatballs can be found in several cuisines. Swedish meatballs are known as köttbullar, while Chinese meatballs are called the lion’s head and Greek meatballs keftedes.

What Are Vegan Meatballs Made Of?

These meatballs are made up of a few different vegetables. I made a roasted vegetable quinoa bowl earlier this week and had some leftover vegetables.

These vegetables were actually the inspiration for this dish. I also had leftover roasted eggplant and sautéed mushrooms and decided to use those as well.

All in all, my roasted vegetable mix included zucchini, yellow squash, yellow bell pepper, cauliflower, eggplant, and button mushrooms. If you do not like one or more of these vegetables, use your favorite vegetables instead. 

Why Use Oat Flour 

Rather than buying oat flour, I make my own oat flour by grinding it into fine flour using my blender or food processor. The texture of oat flour reminded me of breadcrumbs, so I decided to use it like bread crumbs in this recipe. Luckily it worked out well as I was able to roll it into meatballs.

Tips For Making Roasted Vegetable Meatballs 

If you don’t have a food processor, there is no need to panic. You can make these roasted vegetable meatballs without a food processor.

Simply mince the roasted vegetables and combine them with the oat flour. Additionally, you can also mash half of the roasted vegetables with a potato masher and mince the remaining roasted vegetables. Mix the mashed and minced roasted with the oat flour, then form the batter into meatballs and bake them. 

In addition to this, add the meatballs to the marinara sauce during the final 5 minutes of cooking time. This will keep the meatballs from drying out and overcooking. 

Can I Freeze Roasted Vegetable Meatballs?

Of course, you can freeze these Roasted vegetable meatballs. You can freeze them after they are cooked or freeze them raw for 3 months.

If you intend to freeze them raw, scoop the meatballs onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze them until they are solid. Transfer the raw toasted vegetables to a freezer-safe resealable bag, and you’re all set. If you are freezing cooked, roasted vegetable meatballs, place them into a freezer-safe resealable bag and freeze them. 

To cook the frozen raw, roasted vegetable meatballs, lightly mist the meatballs with olive oil and bake them for 35-45 minutes at 375°F until they are fully cooked and lightly golden on the outside. To reheat cooked frozen roasted vegetable meatballs, mist them lightly with olive oil and cook them for 25-35 minutes at 350°F until the meatballs are heated through.