Veggie Meatballs – Delicious vegetarian “meatballs” made with potatoes, carrots, onions and spices, served with a side of yogurt sauce.
Are you ready for another installment of food shaped into a ball?!?
Don’t know what has gotten into me, but in less than a week I have given you three ball recipes; Cashew Chicken Meatballs, Banana, Orange and Chocolate Truffles, and today we have Veggie “Meatballs”… Hate to see what Freud would have to say about all this ball-talk…
But, today’s veggie meatballs recipe is part of the Secret Recipe Club, and it comes from a blog dedicated to simple, vegetarian home cooking, called Simply Sensational Food by Nayna Kanabar. Her blog truly is a gem, filled with ethnic, vegetarian dishes with easy step-by-step instructions. If you have a moment, browse through her recipe index – you will be inspired.
I chose to make these Crispy Veggie Balls simply because I love to nibble on bite-size food. And because I like potatoes. And carrots.
HOW TO MAKE VEGGIE MEATBALLS
Nayna’s method included frying these meatballs in a little bit of sunflower oil, but I skipped that bit and fried them in a pool of canola oil. :/ I also omitted the chillies and turmeric. And I served it with a yogurt sauce on whole wheat tortilla. Gotta make it your own, ya know.
- Heat olive oil and add diced onion, shredded potatoes, carrots.
- Mix in garlic and peas; season and remove from heat.
- Stir in some lemon juice, corn flour, and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, then set aside until mixture is cooled.
- Shape cooled veggie mixture into balls and chill in the fridge.
- Roll the chilled balls in breadcrumbs and add to hot oil; cook for about 4 minutes, or until nicely browned on all sides.
These Veggie Meatballs were extremely tasty! In fact, I had to double the recipe because I wanted to share it with a couple of friends that were coming by that night.
You can serve these as a meal, wrapped in a tortilla or stuffed into a pita bread, or you can have them as an appetizer served on a skewer or toothpick with a side of my delicious, garlicky yogurt sauce.
ENJOY!
Veggie “Meatballs”
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 2 medium russet potatoes , shredded
- 2 large carrots , shredded
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 can (14-ounces) sweet peas, rinsed and drained
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons corn flour
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- breadcrumbs for coating the veggie balls
- 1/4 cup oil for frying
- Tortillas (optional)
- Lettuce Leaves (optional)
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- salt to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon dried mint
- 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and add diced onion; cook for 2 minutes or until softened.
- Add shredded potatoes and carrots; continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Mix in garlic and peas.
- Season with salt, pepper, and chili powder; continue to cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Stir in lemon juice, corn flour, and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs; set aside until mixture is cooled.
- Shape veggie mixture into 15 to 20 balls.
- Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
- Place remaining breadcrumbs in shallow dish.
- Heat oil for frying.
- Roll the balls in the breadcrumbs and coat on all sides.
- Add into hot oil, 4 to 5 meatballs at a time.
- Cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, turn and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until nicely browned.
- Drain on paper towels and repeat process with the remaining veggie balls.
- Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse 2-3 times, just enough to mix it all together.
- Spoon into a serving plate or
- Spread yogurt sauce on a tortilla, put lettuce leaf over sauce and 3 veggie meatballs; roll and serve.
- You can also skewer the meatballs and serve as an appetizer with the yogurt sauce on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
