Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs
Don’t you just love it when a recipe is as simple as ‘mix + bake’? No pre-cooking, no unnecessary extra steps – just mix together all of the ingredients, and pop it in the oven. And that’s just the case for these vegetarian lentil meatballs (lentil balls? vegeballs? meatlessballs?). They couldn’t be easier.
Other easy ‘mix and bake’ recipes → easy nut roast; baked fajita rice; Boursin pasta.
I served my lentil balls with spaghetti and tomato sauce – spaghetti and meatballs is such a classic that’s hard to improve on. If you prefer, you could equally serve these vegetarian meatballs with couscous and tzatziki, stuffed into pitta bread, or even just eaten straight from the oven (no judgment here). They’re packed with Mediterranean-inspired flavours, and they’re super versatile.
⭐️ What’s in these Lentil Meatballs?
The basic recipe for these lentil meatballs is canned lentils + flour + egg (the same base I used for my cheesy lentil burgers). Once you’ve got that far, you can jazz things up however you like. I added:
- black olives
- sun-dried tomatoes
- parmesan-style cheese
- fresh basil
- garlic
If you like, you could easily switch things up to bring a different flavour profile to your meatballs – maybe you could make a Tex-Mex version, or use some Indian spices, for example.
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🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegetarian meatballs. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- cooked lentils. I used lentils from a can, because they’re so convenient – just drain them well, and they’re ready to use. If you can’t get canned lentils, you can boil dried brown or green lentils until they’re soft, then continue with the recipe as written. I would not recommend using red lentils for this recipe, as they will not give quite the same end result.
- eggs
- plain flour (I used wholemeal for extra fibre)
- sun-dried tomatoes
- black olives
- parmesan-style cheese. ‘Real’ parmesan isn’t vegetarian, but there are plenty of vegetarian alternatives, which are very similar. Often, supermarkets sell a generic ‘Italian hard cheese’, which is usually vegetarian.
- fresh basil
- garlic granules
🖨️ Printable Instructions
Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 2 x 390g tins green lentils, thoroughly drained (470g, or ~ 2 2/3 cups, in total when drained)
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tablespoons sliced black olives, roughly chopped
- 5 pieces sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 50 g (~ 1/2 cup) finely grated vegetarian parmesan-style cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- Few sprigs fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 85 g (~ 2/3 cup) plain flour (I used wholemeal)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F). Add all of the ingredients, except for the flour, to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to mix the ingredients thoroughly. It’s fine if the lentils get a little mashed up.
- Add the flour, and mix well to combine.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet. Use clean hands to form the mixture into ball shapes, and place them on the tray. The mixture will be quite sticky – they don't have to be perfect balls. I managed to get 25 balls from the mixture.
- Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, until the lentil balls are slightly crispy and just firm.
- Serve with spaghetti and tomato sauce, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
You could certainly mix together the ingredients in advance, and then store the mixture in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or so, until you’re ready to shape and bake the balls. The meatballs are tastiest when freshly baked, but if needed, you could even bake them in advance, and then reheat when you’re ready to eat them.
I didn’t experiment with freezing these balls, but it’s the sort of recipe I have had luck with freezing in the past, so I definitely think it’s worth a try.
The easiest way to reheat these lentil meatballs is in the microwave. They do dry out a little and lose their crispiness when reheated, but they’re still tasty. Alternatively, you could re-crisp them in the oven or air fryer.
I served my meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce, which worked beautifully. You could alternatively serve them stuffed into pitta bread with some tzatziki, or alongside some mashed potato.
Hi, could you make this recipe with gluten free flour?
I’m afraid I’m not too familiar with gluten free flour, but I don’t see why it would be an issue!
Any suggestion for a substitute for the olives? Unfortunately, none of us like olives, but the recipe otherwise sounds great!
The olives do bring a nice flavour so if you’re skipping them I’d just make sure you add plenty of flavour elsewhere – either with some extra herbs etc. in the meatballs, or just a really tasty sauce or something :)
For two of us, these made a great meal plus enough in the freezer for another 2 meals each. With a side of garlic bread, I could have stretched to 3 more meals each! Banging value, thanks.
That is good value!! Glad you enjoyed them :)
These absolutely look delicious. I can’t wait to make them!
I’ve made “meatballs” from a great recipe i have for lentil walnut burgers- and they’re just SO good!! I’m sure that you could freeze these after baking too.
I actually love to make a big green salad and add some lentil meatballs in it for a work lunch
I like to serve veggie burgers with salad so that sounds great!
I love your lentil meatballs they look delicious. I always cook with Cirio as I really enjoy their tomato products.