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Holy meatballs! I mean, vegan meatballs! This recipe isn’t your traditional meatball recipe because it’s completely plant-based and perfect for any vegetarian or vegan in your family. However, you may just be able to trick those meat lovers in your family with this easy vegan BBQ meatball recipe. 😉
Why You’ll Love These BBQ Vegan Black Bean Meatballs
- Almost Too Much Like Meat: These vegan BBQ meatballs are savory, sweet, and seriously taste just like the real thing.
- Versatile: Perfect with BBQ sauce or tossed in pasta sauce – these meatballs work with any dish.
- Meal-Prep Friendly: Great for family dinners, appetizers, or meal prep – you can even freeze them for later.
Ingredients
Bob’s Red Mill Rolled Oats: The secret ingredient that makes these meatballs incredibly meat-like! These gluten-free oats not only create the perfect texture when combined with black beans, but they’re also packed with fiber, protein, and essential minerals. Oats help bind the meatballs together while adding a hearty, satisfying texture that mimics traditional meatballs.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Black Beans: These protein-packed beans are loaded with fiber, potassium, folate, and vitamin B6. They help support heart health and lower cholesterol while creating the perfect meat-like consistency.
How to Make These BBQ Vegan Black Bean Meatballs
- Add your “meat” ball ingredients into the processor and blend till everything is well combined. You want to ensure there is no loose flour from the oats, this is how you know you’ve done blending.
- Begin rolling into “meatballs” I like using a tbsp. to measure or even a small ice cream scoop. Please note, you’re balls will cook differently depending on the size you roll them. Once your balls are rolled, set them into the fridge while you prepare your BBQ sauce.
- Into a medium-sized pot add your oil and heat on low for a 1 minute. Add your onions and cook for 5 minutes or until fragrant and translucent. Add your garlic and cook for another minute. Add the remainder of your ingredients and simmer on medium for around 10-15 minutes, stirring often to avoid sticking or burning. Taste and ensure it has the flavours you desire. If it’s perfect then remove from heat, once cooled enough to handle use a hand blender to thicken and blend. Set aside.
- Into a large non-stick, pan heat your olive oil for 1 minute or so. Add your balls and cook for around 1 minute on each side. Add your desired amount of BBQ sauce to the pot and cook for around 5-6 minutes, on medium, with the lid on, until your balls are cooked throughout. A way to test this is to cut into one and check if it’s hot in the middle and steaming. That’s when you know you’re ready to eat all this deliciousness!
- Serve hot with Rice, on their own or with salad!
Tips and Tricks
- Perfect Texture: Combine the oats and black beans thoroughly for the most meat-like consistency.
- Make Ahead: These can be frozen in a sealed container and thawed when needed.
- Versatile Sauce: While BBQ sauce is amazing, feel free to use any sauce you prefer.
Variations
There are so many ways to make these vegan BBQ meatballs – here are a few ideas to mix it up:
- Toss them in Grandma’s Pasta Sauce for an Italian twist.
- Try different sauce combinations.
- Serve them as appetizers or as a main dish.
Best served with
- Garlic Confit Tomato Basil Pasta
- Warming Caesar Salad (with a twist)
- Viral Gigi Hadid Pasta Recipe (Spicy Vodka Pasta Recipe)
- Fluffy Greek Pita Bread Recipe
How to Store Leftovers
Store these vegan BBQ meatballs in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Common Questions
The secret combination of Bob’s Red Mill rolled oats and black beans creates a surprisingly meat-like texture and savory flavor that will fool even the pickiest eaters.
Yes! These vegan BBQ meatballs are perfect for meal prep and can be frozen in a tightly sealed container and thawed when needed.
Combine the oats and beans thoroughly, and don’t skip the binding ingredients. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes before forming the balls.
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Ingredients
For the “Meat” Balls:
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill rolled oats
- 1 400 ml can of black beans, strained and drained
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil – plus some for cooking
- 1 heaped tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup white onion, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp flax seeds
- 1 ½ tbsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. hot sauce
For the BBQ Sauce:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, chopped finely
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- season to taste
- 1 tbsp. hot sauce
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp mustard powder
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcester sauce
- ½ – 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 2 tbsp. molasses, optional
- Garnish with fresh Mint
Instructions
Start Cooking- Add your “meat” ball ingredients into the processor and blend till everything is well combined. You want to ensure there is no loose flour from the oats, this is how you know you’ve done blending.
- Begin rolling into “meatballs” I like using a tbsp. to measure or even a small ice cream scoop. Please note, you’re balls will cook differently depending on the size you roll them. Once your balls are rolled, set them into the fridge while you prepare your BBQ sauce.
- Into a medium-sized pot add your oil and heat on low for a 1 minute. Add your onions and cook for 5 minutes or until fragrant and translucent. Add your garlic and cook for another minute. Add the remainder of your ingredients and simmer on medium for around 10-15 minutes, stirring often to avoid sticking or burning. Taste and ensure it has the flavours you desire. If it’s perfect then remove from heat, once cooled enough to handle use a hand blender to thicken and blend. Set aside.
- Into a large non-stick, pan heat your olive oil for 1 minute or so. Add your balls and cook for around 1 minute on each side. Add your desired amount of BBQ sauce to the pot and cook for around 5-6 minutes, on medium, with the lid on, until your balls are cooked throughout. A way to test this is to cut into one and check if it’s hot in the middle and steaming. That’s when you know you’re ready to eat all this deliciousness!
- Serve hot with Rice, on their own or with salad!
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Made these tonight and they turned out so amazing! I baked the balls instead of browning them in the pan because I was lazy but otherwise followed the recipe quite closely and it turned out so incredibly! Super pumped I get to eat these for lunches all week!
YESSSS!!! Thanks so much for the love, Ashley! These are a family favourite!
So delicious, even the kids liked them and they’re usually not thrilled about beans in any form.
This is such an incredible compliment! So glad the little kiddos liked this!
Tried these numerous times and they are amazing. So delicious and very easy to make.
YESS!! thank you so much Lianna! So glad you enjoy them as much as we do!
Can I process the rolled oats in a regular blender?
Would almond flour suffice instead of oat flour 🤔 Im so excited to make these for my husband who is in the process of converting to full veganism ❤✌🥑
Hey Charla, it might work! I didn’t test it that way but you should be fine! We are in the middle of reworking this recipe. I would actually just use either the rolled oats or oat flour (in your case almond flour) and let me know how it goes!
The sauce was great, thanks! Maybe I messed up but if I were to make this again, I’d cut out the cup of flour completely, just use the oats and up the radio of black bean. Just personal preference though.
Thanks for the feedback Chris!
Very good. I only used one lot of oats ground into flour and omitted the whole oats and it worked out fine. Will remake for my boyfriend’s daughters who are very picky. Reckon it will go down well.
Yes! This is great Leila! So glad you loved them! Let me know how the next round goes xx
Taste was great but texture was not. Mine were really dense and heavy however I used chickpea flour so maybe that was the reason. Ant suggestions on what I may have done wrong?
Using the chickpea flour may have been the issue. I didn’t test it with that flour. Another thing you may have done to create a dense consistency is too over blend in the processor. I haven’t heard this comment from anyone so I am hoping it was just user error. Please let me know if you try it again! xxx much love for supporting me and my recipes!
These have the potential to turn non vegans pro vegan, usually with vegan food has a stigma for sacrificed texture or flavour, but these meatballs are winning all round,
Cooked a batch of these and got three / four portions from it, ate them for dinner leaving some for my lunch, and woke to find my boyfriend has demolished the lot!
Delicious !
ahah your boyfriend is a sneaky food thief! I love it! Thanks so much for the love xx
After reading the comments I’m confused. It’s one cup of oat flour plus the rolled oats (which get broken up a bit in the food processor) or do I add the remaking oats at the very end? I reread the recipe but I’m still confused. I’m vegan and gluten free and have been for years so I’m no stranger to oats and oat flour in recipes amd I know how adding the wrong type (oat flour vs whole oats) can change the outcome. Lol. Please clarify because I would love to try these ❤️
Hello! It is 1 cup of oat flour and 1 cup of oats x
I am hesitant when it comes to cooking, but this recipe was simple and didn’t take long to make. The ingredients were easy to find and there was even room to improvise a little. I have two hungry teens at home and this meal hit all the right markers. I will be buying this cookbook in the near future and really appreciate someone who posts full recipes on their account to try. Thank You!!
Yay, Amy, this is amazing!! Thanks so much. So glad you enjoyed these. They are one of my favourites!!!