Vegan Sesame Crusted Sweet Potato Meatballs
These vegan Spicy Sesame Crusted Sweet Potato Meatballs are incredibly easy to make and packed with flavors. Featuring sweet potatoes, chickpeas, garlicky flavors, cheesy nutritional yeast, and herbs. Stockpile these heavenly mouthfuls in your freezer for later or eat them right away. Yum.
Jump to RecipeI call these delicious morsels vegan Spicy Sesame Crusted Sweet Potato Meatballs even though they are, in fact, not meatballs. They are completely vegan and utterly delicious. I also couldn’t name them neatballs because there’s nothing neat about these crispy sesame-crusted nuggets. They are gloriously crunchy on the outside and full of tender spicy, garlicky, and cheesy centers. If I had to sum these vegan meatballs up with one word it would be “yum” or maybe “irresistible”.
Why do you need to make these easy 30-minutes vegan plant-based meatballs
- They’re quick and straightforward to make
- Loaded with textures – crunchy on the outside thanks to golden sesame seeds and tender and light on the inside
- Healthy and packed with nutrients
- A crowd-pleaser recipe
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- A great recipe to get kids eating veggies and loving every minute of it
Meal prep-friendly and freezer-friendly meatballs
Ingredients you need to make the best crunchy vegan meatballs
The ingredients list for these golden nuggets of deliciousness is surprisingly short and simple. It’s a straightforward vegan dinner recipe for every occasion. To make them you need:
- sweet potatoes
- Chickpeas
- Spring onions
- Garlic
- Flax eggs
- Spices
- Nutritional yeast (optional, but adds a delicious cheese flavor)
- Chickpea flour
- Fresh basil
How to make flax eggs
Making flax eggs is easy and straightforward. Just mix flax seeds with water and leave them to thicken for 15 minutes.
1 flax egg = 1 tablespoon flax seeds + 2 1/2 tablespoons water
It’s as simple as that and your flax egg is ready to use after 15 minutes of resting.
How to make easy plant-based meatballs
- Place the sweet potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and pierce them with a fork or knife.
- Cook them for 8-10 minutes on high. Be careful not to burn yourself when you remove them from the microwave.
- Carefully, cut the sweet potatoes open and scrape out the tender flesh.
- Next, place the sweet potato meat in a food processor along with the drained chickpeas, curry powder, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic, and chopped spring onions.
- Blitz until everything is combined before adding the flax egg, chickpea flour, and chopped basil. Blitz again a few short blitzes until it forms a dough.
- Take a tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture and roll it into a ball. Repeat until all the mixture is shaped into meatballs.
- Fill a plate with sesame seeds and a pinch of salt. Gently roll the meatballs in sesame seeds until they are covered well.
Cooking sesame crusted sweet potato meatless meatballs on the stove
- Heat olive in a non-stick pan and carefully place the meatballs in the pan. Fry each side until golden brown, turning over after 2-4 minutes.
- Serve with a sprinkle of fresh basil and enjoy.
- Heat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Place the meatballs on the lined baking sheet and bake them for 15-20 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
- Serve with a sprinkle of fresh basil and enjoy.
What to serve with vegan sesame crusted sweet potato meatballs
Plant-based meatballs go well with everything just like regular meatballs. If you need ideas here’s a list of some of the tastiest ways to serve vegan meatballs:
- With fluffy rice and a curry sauce
- As spaghetti with meatballs
- A quinoa bowl topped with vegetables, meatballs, and peanut butter sauce
- With a simple salad or my favorite harvest pear salad
- In a meatless meatball sub sandwich
Frequently asked questions about sesame crusted sweet potato meatballs
Yes, they are completely gluten-free. The binding agent in these meatballs is chickpea flour and flax eggs
Yes. These vegan meatballs are freezer friendly making them great as a meal prep meal. Make a double batch and freeze half for later. Your future self will thank you.
Try mixing in a few more tablespoons of chickpea flour a little at a time until the mixture is firm enough to hold together.
Yes. Just remove the sweet potato peel and you can easily use leftover potatoes.
Absolutely. If you don’t have sweet potatoes or would rather use regular potatoes it’s not a problem. Both will work well in this recipe.
Check out More great plant based meatball recipes
- easy vegan meatless meatballs
- Easy vegan Ikea meatballs copycat recipe
- vegan meatballs in curry sauce
- vegan eggplant meatless meatballs recipe
Spicy Sesame crusted sweet potato meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 medium Sweet Potatoes 1½ cup mashed sweet potatoes
- 1 15oz can Chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 1 Flax Egg
- 5 Oil packed Sundried Tomato halves chopped
- 1 tbsp Medium Curry Powder
- 3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast optional
- 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 3 cloves Garlic minced or finely chopped
- 2 Spring Onions chopped
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3½ tbsp Chickpea Flour more if needed
- 1 handful Fresh Basil Chopped
Instructions
Making the Spicy Sweet Potato Meatballs
- Place the sweet potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and pierce them with a fork or knife.Cook them for 8-10 minutes on high. Be careful not to burn yourself when you remove them from the microwave.
- Carefully, cut the sweet potatoes open and scrape out the tender flesh.Next, place the sweet potato meat in a food processor along with the drained chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, curry powder, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic, and chopped spring onions.
- Blitz until everything is combined before adding the flax egg, chickpea flour, and chopped basil. Blitz again a few short blitzes until it forms a dough.
- Take a tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture and roll it into a ball. Repeat until all the mixture is shaped into meatballs.Fill a plate with sesame seeds and a pinch of salt. Gently roll the meatballs in sesame seeds until they are covered well.
Cooking on the stove
- Heat olive in a non-stick pan and carefully place the meatballs in the pan. Fry each side until golden brown, turning over after 2-4 minutes.Serve with a sprinkle of fresh basil and enjoy.
Baking in the oven
- Heat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Place the meatballs on the lined baking sheet and bake them for 15-20 minutes, turning them over halfway through.Serve with a sprinkle of fresh basil and enjoy.
