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    Home » Recipes » Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

    Mar 9, 2019 · Modified: Sep 17, 2021 by Becca Heyes · This post may contain affiliate links · 42 Comments

    Cheesy Tofu Meatballs

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    Total time: 1 hour
    Servings: 4 people
    4.91 from 11 votes
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    These cheesy tofu meatballs are super quick and easy to prepare, and so full of flavour!

    Portion of cheesy tofu meatballs in a bowl with spaghetti and fresh basil

    Is there anything better than a plate of spaghetti and meatballs? With plenty of rich tomato sauce, and some garlic bread on the side. It's one of those dinners that's simple, but oh-so-satisfying.

    Luckily, we vegetarians can enjoy meatballs too! These baked tofu meatballs couldn't be easier to make, and they're packed with cheesy flavour. I promise, even tofu sceptics will enjoy this one!

    Portion of cheesy tofu meatballs in a bowl with spaghetti and fresh basil

    Vegetarian meatballs

    I'm never sure whether 'meatballs' is the right word when you're talking about the vegetarian version - but 'vegetarian balls' just sounds indecent, so vegetarian meatballs it is. If Wikipedia says I can use the word for a meatless version, that's good enough for me.

    Most vegetarian meatballs seem to be made from beans or lentils, but as much as I love lentil meatballs, sometimes I fancy something a bit 'meatier'. These tofu meatballs are a great alternative to meat!

    Portion of cheesy tofu meatballs in a bowl with spaghetti and fresh basil

    Tofu meatballs

    These veggie meatballs are so quick to make. Start by blitzing up some tofu with a slice of bread, and a few sprigs of fresh basil for flavour.

    Technically, you should press your tofu first to get rid of any excess moisture, but I'll admit I'm often a bit lax on the pressing. I always used to cut my tofu into thin slices and press it under some heavy pans for a good half hour, sandwiched between some clean tea towels... but these days, all I can be bothered to do is cut the block in half and squeeze it in my hands between some sheets of kitchen paper.

    Blended tofu mixture in a food processor

    Honestly, I've never found that pressing tofu makes an enormous difference to the end result. As I detailed in my 'how to cook tofu' blog post, pressed tofu is slightly better when you directly compare it to unpressed tofu - but 99% of the time, you just need to make sure your tofu isn't swimming with excess water. Just give it a good squeeze for a few seconds and you'll be fine.

    Don't you just love it when I give you an excuse to be lazy?

    Next, just add some grated cheddar cheese (use the mature stuff for more flavour!), and an egg to bind. I like a pinch of garlic granules too! Blitz once more, and that's your tofu meatball mixture done - it really is quick and easy!

    Tofu mixture in a food processor with added egg and grated cheese

    Baked meatballs

    Another fab thing about these meatballs is that they're baked rather than fried - so not only are they on the healthier side (look away from all that cheese for one sec...), they're also totally hands-off while they're cooking.

    Just roll the mixture into balls, spread them out on a well-oiled baking tray, and stick them in the oven for half an hour while you concentrate on your pasta and sauce. When they come out, they'll be nice and crispy around the edges - as the cheese crisps up, it gives these meatballs heaps of flavour! Crispy cheese is heaven.

    Cheesy tofu meatballs before and after baking

    Rich tomato sauce

    Of course, no meatballs are complete without a rich tomato sauce to serve them in.

    I'll be honest - I totally cheated this time. I used a shop-bought tomato sauce. Don't take away my food blogging licence*!

    Of course, you can make homemade tomato sauce if you prefer - I just wanted to focus my recipe on the meatballs themselves. Whichever route you take, you'll end up with a tasty, satisfying dinner.

    (*We don't really have licences, just in case anyone was confused.)

    Cheesy tofu meatballs in tomato sauce in a frying pan

    Cheesy meatballs

    You may notice that I resisted adding any additional cheese on top of my meatballs and tomato sauce. This is pretty unheard of for me - usually I think pasta only exists to be smothered with a layer of melty cheese.

    But actually, the tofu meatballs themselves are nice and cheesy, so they do fine without any extra cheese sprinkled on top. And if even I think that, it must be true.

    The cheese helps to give these meatballs their gorgeous taste (there's no denying that tofu doesn't have much of a flavour on its own), and they contribute to the crispy coating which makes them all the more satisfying to bite into.

    Portion of cheesy tofu meatballs in a bowl with spaghetti and fresh basil, shot from above

    Have I convinced you that these tofu meatballs are worth a try? If you're looking for a recipe to convert a tofu hater, this is definitely one to try!

    Cheesy tofu meatballs in a bowl, with one cut in half with a fork

    Cheesy tofu meatballs

    These cheesy tofu meatballs couldn't be easier to make, and they have so much flavour! Perfect served simply with pasta and tomato sauce.

    If you've cooked this recipe, don't forget to leave a star rating!

    4.91 from 11 votes
    Print Pin Comment
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour
    Servings: 4 people
    Calories: 257kcal
    Author: Becca Heyes

    Ingredients

    • 400 g (~14oz) firm tofu, drained
    • 35 g bread (1 medium slice)
    • Few sprigs fresh basil
    • Salt
    • Black pepper
    • ½ teaspoon garlic granules
    • 100 g mature cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 cup when grated)
    • 1 egg
    • To serve: pasta and tomato sauce

    Instructions

    • Press the tofu between two clean tea towels (or two double sheets of kitchen paper), to remove any excess liquid, then place in a food processor. Add the bread and fresh basil, along with a good pinch of salt and pepper, and blitz until finely chopped.
    • Add the garlic granules, grated cheese and egg, and blitz again until well combined.
    • Remove the blades from the food processor (important to make sure you don't cut yourself!), then use clean hands to shape the mixture into meatballs. The exact number you can make depends on how large you make them - I made 18. Place the meatballs on a lined and greased baking tray, and bake at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 30-40 minutes, until firm and golden brown.
    • Serve with your favourite pasta and tomato sauce.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 portion - Calories: 257 kcal - Carbohydrates: 7.1 g - Protein: 18.9 g - Fat: 16.9 g - Saturated Fat: 6.9 g - Cholesterol: 67 mg - Sodium: 275 mg - Potassium: 161 mg - Fiber: 1 g - Sugar: 1.1 g - Calcium: 220 mg - Iron: 0.7 mg

    Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.

    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @EasyCheesyVeg or tag #EasyCheesyVegetarian!

    Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for ¼ of the recipe, meatballs only.

    Still not sure about tofu? Find out how to cook tofu that doesn't suck!

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    • Vegetarian Chilli Mac (One Pot!)
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    Comments

    1. Julie says

      October 19, 2022 at 2:01 am

      Just made these, but adjusted for what I had on hand.

      - Used about one cup shredded romano parmesan instead of cheddar.
      - Used 2/3 cup panko instead of a slice of bread.
      - Used dried basil instead of fresh basil.
      - Added Italian herbs grinder, garlic herb blend seasoning, and truffle salt.
      - Didn't add too much salt because of the Parmesan.

      Other than the above changes, followed the recipe as written. We enjoyed the balls smaller. Reminded us of baked ricotta in an odd but good way. Entertaining ideas on how to make this recipe into a "chicken" Parmesan with the air fryer. Wonderful flexible recipe to get creative with tofu!
      Thank you for posting.5 stars

      Reply
      • Becca Heyes says

        October 21, 2022 at 10:46 am

        Thanks Julie, glad you enjoyed them! :)

        Reply
    2. Sony Yap says

      April 16, 2021 at 3:14 pm

      Looks interesting. will try this tomorrow! since egg and cheese are used, this can't be considered vegetarian though :) i think 'meatless' is fine :)

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        April 16, 2021 at 3:24 pm

        There are various types of vegetarians, but here the word 'vegetarian' generally means ovo-lacto vegetarian, so eggs and cheese are fine. 'Vegan' is used when there are no animal products at all.

        Reply
    3. jeanne says

      April 11, 2021 at 2:41 am

      So easy and so delicious!!! Thanks so much!5 stars

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        April 13, 2021 at 9:31 am

        Thanks Jeanne!

        Reply
    4. jeanne mendez says

      April 07, 2021 at 1:15 am

      This recipe looks great. Can I freeze the "meat" balls after baking them? Thanks

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        April 13, 2021 at 9:29 am

        I haven't tried but I can't see why it wouldn't work! They might be a little drier the second time round, but I imagine if you add plenty of sauce it will be great!

        Reply
    5. Victoria says

      December 22, 2019 at 5:10 pm

      I just tried these and I'm still in awe how delicious they were. I (an omnivore) like tofu and LOVE ball-shaped foods for some reason. These are a great alternative to normal meatballs that ticks all the boxes, so thanks for that! Quite often tofu recipes lack in flavour, I find, but not these. Mine turned out a little dry, which probably is due to the changes I made (pre-frozen and therefore rather dry tofu, dry cheeses like Parmesan, smaller balls - I got 11 out of half of the recipe - but same time in the oven). Will definitely experiment to get that out of the way and then there's no stopping me using them pretty much everywhere where I would normally use regular meatballs!

      Greeting from Germany, Victoria

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        January 01, 2020 at 12:49 pm

        Amazing! So glad you enjoyed them, thanks so much for the lovely feedback :D

        Reply
    6. Eva Hopf says

      August 24, 2019 at 1:56 pm

      I just made these and they are amazing!! I substituted 1TB bamboo fiber for the bread and used the cheese I had at hand - powdered pecorino. they came out crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and squishy! I predict that my family will eat a lot of ballshaped things in the future, with different flavors, for example in a curry. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!!!

      Greetings from France☀️5 stars

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        September 30, 2019 at 2:57 pm

        Glad you enjoyed them and made them your own :) They'd be great in a curry too!

        Reply
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    Hi, I'm Becca! I've been a vegetarian for 20+ years, and unlike most of my other childhood pursuits, I actually stuck with it! I love cooking vegetarian food that's full of flavour, but doesn't take a lot of effort to make.

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    Hi, I'm Becca! I've been a vegetarian for 20+ years, and unlike most of my other childhood pursuits, I actually stuck with it! I love cooking vegetarian food that's full of flavour, but doesn't take a lot of effort to make.

    More about me →

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