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!
If you're looking for the oyster mushroom po' boy from the vegan sandwich challenge click here!
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!
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Servings: meatballs (4 servings)
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!
Annie
I made these meatballs last night and put them over spaghetti... SO GOOD. 10/10 I do recommend
Iliana Lawrence
If I don't have tapioca flour, can I substitute it with corn starch?
Lauren Toyota
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
Diane
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??
Alicia
How can these be stored if you don't use all at once?
Christine Lee
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.
The Big LB
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.