These cozy vegan Swedish meatballs are made with protein-rich tempeh and simmered in a creamy sauce. Served over mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice, they’re an ideal consolation meals!
Oh, how I like a traditional consolation meals meal.
I’m half Greek, and the house cooks in my life after I was rising up have been my mom and grandmother.
They did put together some Mediterranean and conventional Greek dishes. However they each had an actual mushy spot for traditional consolation meals, they usually handed that love on to me.
My ardour for veganized consolation meals extends to vegan salisbury steak with mushroom gravy, mac and cheese, skillet lasagna, chickpeas à la king, and candy potato black bean burgers.
Right now, vegan Swedish meatballs are becoming a member of that listing of beloved meals.
What are Swedish meatballs?
In the event you’ve by no means had Swedish meatballs earlier than, then you definitely’re in for a deal with.
Swedish meatballs are much like common meatballs, however with a number of distinctive particulars.
First, Swedish meatballs are sometimes a bit smaller than common meatballs.
Second—and extra importantly—they’re simmered in a creamy, gravy-like sauce.
Lastly, these meatballs could be served over pasta or noodles, however they’re typically served over mashed potatoes as a substitute.
Many individuals develop into launched to Swedish meatballs by having them at an Ikea cafeteria. At Ikea, the meatballs are typically served with mashed potatoes, peas, and—a nod to custom—lingonberry jam.
After I make my vegan Swedish meatballs at dwelling, I typically prefer to serve them over mashed potatoes, however I like them over noodles as properly. I’ve additionally discovered that cooked quinoa, rice, and farro could be good “beds” for the meatballs and creamy gravy.
Protein-packed, versatile tempeh meatballs
In my e book The Vegan Week, I wrote,
There have by no means been extra vegan meat choices in grocery shops. I’m so glad that these merchandise exist, however I additionally love the financial system and satisfaction of constructing plant proteins from scratch.
I proceed to really feel this fashion, and I’ve posted a variety of my favourite do-it-yourself vegan proteins on this weblog.
They embody baked smoky tofu, 20-minute air fryer tempeh nuggets, BBQ soy curls, baked, crispy tempeh bacon, baked balsamic tofu, and straightforward BBQ lentils.
One in every of my favourite do-it-yourself vegan proteins—and a favourite amongst my readers, too—are my easy tempeh meatballs.
There was a time after I purchased the Gardein model meatballs on a regular basis.
I nonetheless typically retailer a bag of them in my freezer. However for the sake of frugality and variety, I spend a variety of time determining a do-it-yourself vegan meatball that I favored each bit as a lot as my store-bought favourite.
Tempeh meatballs have been a sport changer. They’re agency, earthy, deeply savory, and tremendous versatile.
I exploit the meatballs in meatball subs, with spaghetti and marinara sauce, and now, as a part of a comfy dish of vegan Swedish meatballs.
How one can make vegan Swedish meatballs
Step 1: Put together and bake the tempeh meatballs
Probably the most time-consuming a part of this recipe might be truly getting ready the tempeh meatballs.
The excellent news is that these meatballs are an easy part to meal prep. So, you possibly can put together them on the identical day that you just carry the complete vegan Swedish meatball dish collectively, or you can also make them forward of time.
The Vegan Week
Embrace the enjoyment of consuming do-it-yourself meals daily with the hearty and healthful recipes in The Vegan Week.
Whether or not you’ve got three, two, and even only one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will present you easy methods to batch cook dinner assorted, colourful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.
As soon as the meatballs are prepared, the remainder of this recipe is a snap.
Step 2: Mix the sauce
The sauce for the Swedish meatballs is sort of easy. It’s a mix of broth, bitter cream, soy sauce, candy paprika, flour, Dijon mustard, and a tiny pinch—significantly, tiny!—of nutmeg.
For the bitter cream, you’ve got a pair choices. You possibly can definitely use any industrial vegan bitter cream that you just like; I’m a giant fan of the Tofutti model bitter cream myself.
You can even use my 4-ingredient vegan bitter cream, which has a cashew base. It’s easy-to-make, extremely wealthy and creamy, and fairly healthful.
Step 3: Thicken the sauce on the stovetop
Subsequent, you’ll heat the sauce on the stovetop. The sauce accommodates a pair tablespoons of flour, so it would thicken because it heats.
Make sure to stir the sauce continuously as you heat it. When it’s prepared, the sauce will coat the again of a spoon.
Step 4: Add the meatballs to the sauce
Subsequent, you’ll add the tempeh meatballs to the sauce pot or skillet (whichever sort of cooking vessel you’re utilizing).
The objective right here is to heat the meatballs gently and evenly. I like to recommend utilizing a big, heatproof spoon to softly flip and stir the meatballs within the sauce.
The meatballs aren’t as chewy and durable as industrial vegan meatballs, so that you don’t need to boil them or enable them to simmer for too lengthy. The objective is simply to coat them and warmth them by.
Step 5: Serve
Now, it’s time to serve the vegan Swedish meatballs.
You possibly can go forward and serve them over creamy mashed potatoes, your favourite pasta form, or a cooked entire grain.
In the event you like, you can too pile them over a sizzling, break up baked potato!
A garnish of chopped recent parsley leaves makes for a really good garnish.
Can I substitute the tempeh meatballs?
You probably have a soy allergy or don’t look after tempeh, it’s completely OK to substitute the tempeh meatballs.
One choice can be to make use of a store-bought vegan meatball that you just’re a fan of. The Gardein meatballs are my favourite, clearly, however I additionally like Inconceivable meatballs and 365 model plant-based meatballs.
You might additionally use my tofu bulgur meatballs, which have an important texture, or my white bean balls, which is a favourite of mine to serve with pasta.
Lastly, I’ve a recipe for chickpea oat balls that may work within the recipe. I’d omit the oregano for a much less overtly Mediterranean taste profile.
What sort of broth ought to I exploit?
Whereas vegetable broth can be utilized within the recipe, I choose to make use of a vegan beef-style or chick’n-style broth right here.
My favorites: born easy beef-style broth focus, higher than bouillon vegan beef broth base, or Think about natural vegetarian no-chicken broth.
Make forward choices
The vegan Swedish meatballs could be simply ready in phases or made forward. Some choices:
- The meatballs could be ready as much as 5 days upfront and frozen for as much as 6 weeks
- The sauce could be blended and saved in a single day within the fridge earlier than heating and thickening
- Mashed potatoes could be ready a pair days upfront, and pasta could be cooked forward of time and saved for as much as 2-3 days in an hermetic container within the fridge
Extra cozy consolation classics
In the event you love the coziness and nostalgia of this dish, then you may additionally take consolation in a few of these others:
However first, some vegan Swedish meatballs for the soul.
Vegan Swedish Meatballs (Made with Tempeh)
Creator –
Yields: 4 servings
- 1 batch easy tempeh meatballs
- 2 cups vegan beef-style or chicken-style broth (480ml)
- 2/3 cup 4-ingredient vegan bitter cream (substitute your favourite industrial vegan bitter cream)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon candy paprika
- 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour (substitute gluten-free, all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Tiny pinch nutmeg
- Mashed potatoes or cooked pasta/noodles of alternative, for serving
- Chopped, recent parsley leaves, for garnishing
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Put together the tempeh meatballs as instructed. This may be accomplished as much as three days upfront of constructing the Swedish meatballs. You can even freeze ready tempeh meatballs for as much as six weeks.
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Switch the broth, vegan bitter cream, soy sauce, paprika, flour, mustard, and nutmeg to a standing blender and mix until clean.
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Switch the sauce to a big, deep skillet. Convey the sauce to a simmer over medium low warmth. Prepare dinner, stirring continuously, for 3-4 minutes, or till the sauce has thickened sufficient to evenly coat the again of a spoon. Style the sauce. Add freshly floor black pepper to style and alter the soy sauce as wanted.
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Add the tempeh meatballs to the skillet. Use a big, heatproof spoon to softly flip and stir the meatballs within the sauce, coating all of them evenly.
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As soon as the meatballs are totally coated and submerged within the sauce and warmed by, serve them over mashed potatoes or noodles. Garnish with recent, chopped parsley leaves, if desired.
As I discussed a pair weeks in the past, I’m taking this coming weekend off from weekend studying in order that I can have fun Christmas eve.
I want everybody who celebrates a merry and vivid Christmas. I’ll be again subsequent week with one other recipe for you.
xo
