• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
hot for food
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Events
  • book me
  • Travel
  • News
  • FAQs
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Events
  • book me
  • Travel
  • News
  • FAQs
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » recipes

    vegan meatball sub

    September 20, 2016 by Lauren Toyota 8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    vegan meatball sub_hot for food

    This monstrosity was a contender in the vegan sandwich challenge! It's a classic vegan meatball sub that stretches for miles.

    The hearty meatballs are made with the help of a beefless ground product, but have some added ingredients like spices, and black beans to make them even more flavorful.

    That cashew cheese is also made from scratch, and it adds that creamy, cheesy goodness you crave on a big ol' meatball sub like this one. Of course, you don't have to make it this big! But if you do, maybe invite a few friends over to tackle this beast. Don't forget the napkins! 

    vegan meatball sandwich recipe

    If you're looking for the oyster mushroom po' boy from the vegan sandwich challenge click here!

    vegan meatball sub_hot for food

    vegan meatball sub

    This monstrous meatball sub is a mighty fine contender in the first unofficial vegan sandwich challenge and will likely feed your entire family!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: sandwiches
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: meatballs, meatless, sandwiches
    Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
    soaking: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
    Servings: 20 meatballs (4 servings)
    Author: Lauren Toyota

    Ingredients

    meatballs

    • 1 yellow or white onion, sliced
    • 2 tablespoon coconut oil
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon agave nectar (or coconut sugar/brown sugar)
    • 1 pkg beefless ground (such as Gardein, approximately 3 to 3 ½ cups)
    • 1 x 15 oz can of black beans
    • ½ C vital wheat gluten
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 1 teaspoon dried basil
    • ½ teaspoon chili powder
    • ½ teaspoon cumin
    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for frying meatballs
    • 2 C tomato sauce or pizza sauce

    cashew mozzarella

    • ½ C raw cashews (soaked in hot water for 20 minutes)
    • 1 C unsweetened nondairy milk
    • 2 teaspoon lemon juice
    • 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
    • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
    • ½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt
    • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ¼ teaspoon white pepper

    sandwich

    • 1 french style baguette
    • 1 teaspoon dried or fresh parsley or oregano, as garnish

    Instructions

    • Start with a thawed package of Gardein beefless ground (or similar brand of your choice), so either leave it in the fridge over night (best option) or remove the contents of the package into a large mixing bowl and let it sit on the counter until it's thawed.
    • Caramelized onions are going to be part of the binder for the beefless ground. To start, thinly slice the onion and sauté in a pan with coconut oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in sea salt and stir to coat the onions. Don't stir them much to allow them to brown and let them cook in the pan for another 10 minutes. Add in a teaspoon of agave nectar to add some more sugar to the pan, and toss again to coat all the onions. Sauté for another 5 to 10 minutes to get them caramelized and golden brown.
    • Add onions to a food processor along with black beans (drained and rinsed) and blend into a smooth paste. Then add this to a large bowl.
    • While the pan is hot and over medium heat, add the beefless ground and sauté until browned up and cooked through. Add this to the bowl with onions, and beans and add the vital wheat gluten and spices. Combine the mixture together with your hands or a spatula.
    • Form 1 ¼" meatballs with your hands and set aside.
    • Heat the same pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pan fry the meatballs until brown on the outside, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
    • Pour tomato sauce over top, lower heat, and cover with a lid for 5 to 6 minutes until heated through. 
    • To make the cashew mozzarella, drain and rinse the raw cashews from the soaking water.
    • Add to a high powered blender with the remaining ingredients.
    • Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and heat over low-medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes, whisking constantly, until it bubbles and starts to thicken. Then remove from the heat. 
    • Assemble the sandwich on a long french style baguette.
    • Spread some of the tomato sauce from the pan onto the bottom of the baguette, add meatballs, and drizzle cashew mozzarella over top as desired.
    • Place the sandwiches, open faced, under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese has some golden brown colour and is sticky looking.
    • Garnish with parsley or oregano and serve immediately while still warm!

    More recipes

    • veggie vegan cream cheese hot for food recipe
      easy veggie vegan cream cheese
    • chef Lauren Toyota at her Toronto event holding a lemon meringue tart
      comfort classics vegan supper club
    • a serving of vegan chocolate mousse
      decadent vegan chocolate mousse
    • diners view showing the inside of vegan ham and cheese croissant
      easy vegan ham and cheese croissants

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Annie

      September 22, 2016 at 2:22 pm

      I made these meatballs last night and put them over spaghetti... SO GOOD. 10/10 I do recommend

      Reply
    2. Iliana Lawrence

      September 29, 2016 at 1:25 am

      If I don't have tapioca flour, can I substitute it with corn starch?

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        October 02, 2016 at 11:38 pm

        it might not be quite as smooth of a texture because corn starch tends to get gloopy. BUT we haven't tried that sub ourselves either. I think it could work

    3. Diane

      October 09, 2016 at 11:17 pm

      Oh no. This was a disaster. The bean/onion mixture was way too gloopy and never formed the way we needed to. How could we have saved it? Adding more wheat gluten??

      Reply
    4. Alicia

      October 22, 2016 at 4:50 am

      How can these be stored if you don't use all at once?

      Reply
      • Christine Lee

        August 24, 2017 at 12:29 am

        I would freeze and reheat as you would regular meatballs. In the microwave for a couple minutes, or in the oven at 300 for 10 minutes.

    5. The Big LB

      January 20, 2017 at 11:50 pm

      Hey!

      I'm living in Colombia and we don't have Gardein products (or really much of anything along those lines). Can I substitute TVP do you think? It's either that or tofu that I have access to.

      Reply
    5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Lauren Toyota is hot for food… as long as it’s vegan! She’s cooking up vegan love and bringing the increasingly popular lifestyle to food fans across the globe.

    More about me →

    popular

    • hot for holidays 2 ebook
      hot for holidays: MORE next level vegan recipes for a festive feast
    • overhead and close up of the tops of miso caramel sticky buns
      miso caramel cinnamon rolls
    • overhead of a serving of pineapple ginger snap ice cream
      vegan pineapple ginger snap ice cream
    • bowl of dill pick dip with a chip sitting in it
      dill pickle dip

    explore recipes

    • appetizers
    • bbq
    • breakfast
    • burgers
    • desserts
    • drinks
    • mains
    • salads
    • sandwiches
    • sauces
    • snacks
    • soups
    Nothing But Noods_cover

    featured on

    Footer

    ↑ back to top
    • privacy policy
    • about

    site by go-to-seo.com

    Copyright © 2024 hot for food LLC

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.