Vegetarian "meatballs"

“I think that the people who thought it was too salty were putting the broth packets into the meatballs, (understandable because the first instruction says to ‘Mix all ingredients together,” which is really not correct). The broth packets are used later in the recipe and should not be mixed in. …. I thought they were delicious and not too salty at all; I served them with a sweet & sour sauce.”

“These are out of this world delicious!My boyfriend (like other reviewers I noticed) said he likes these better than meat-meatballs.I used whole wheat breadcrumbs and added oregano, basil, parsley, and garlic powder (just eye balled the amounts).During the initial baking stage, make sure to turn every 5-10 minutes or they will stick and burn.Once they had cooked for 20 minutes I covered them in marinara sauce to bake for an hour.There are so many variations on how to make and use them (read other peoples’ reviews like I did for ideas).These are going into my regular rotation.I love them!!! :)”

“I have been making this recipe for years and forgot to review it. Fantastic! My husband was shocked when he tasted them because he always thinks vegetarian=boring. The onion mix is salty enough so no other real need for salty spices. I love putting these in a vegetarian sauce and even a vegetarian chili. Who am I kidding, I’ll eat them right off the pan!As for people with nut allergies, it is well known that we live in a world where more and more people are becoming prone to allergies. No matter if you know the person or not you should always state if their are nuts in the dish. Having said this, I’m sure NO ONE would deliberately mislead someone and not mention that this dish has nuts in it. That would be offensive, rude and dangerous. Please take into consideration of others, even when leaving reviews. They can come off as rude, especially if you are stating “not to trick people.””

“I just took them out of the oven and can’t stop popping them into my mouth!!!! I used almonds instead of walnuts, because that’s what I had on hand, and they’re delicious! The mixture was a little too salty, so I added some oatmeal and two extra eggs to the mixture.”

“The veggie meatballs are part of our regular roation of meals at my house. These are EXCELLENT. When i first made them I did not have the Lipton Onion Mix so I added some Onion power but now I don’t even bother as it is flavorful enough at it is. Also, there are timeswhen i don’t bother to bake the meatballs for the remaining hour. This is fine if you eat all of them but be warned that they might dry out if you need to reheat them the folowing day. You may need to rehydrate them (i.e. sprinkle some water on them) before you pop them in the microwave.”

“All in all these were among the best vegetarian meatballs I have had. They were also quite easy. I would definitely not say that they taste just like meat but I think a carnivore would happily eat them on occassion. They kind of just taste like flavorful cheesy stuffing/dressing balls. That being said, I will definitely make them again but with a few possible modifications. 1) Incorporate some mashed up silken tofu to make them a little more dense and a little less spongy. 2) Use a combination of mozzarella and cheddar to cut the calories and hopefully make them a little more Italian tasting. Potentially even include a tiny bit of parmesan. 3) Use plain bread crumbs and cut out all the soup mixes, instead adding my own dried garlic powder, onion powder, basil, marjoram, oregano and thyme. It will give me more control over the exact flavor of the “meatballs.”4) Go easy on the chopping of the walnuts. It’s nice to have little chunks in the meatballs for extra texture. 5) Fresh onion and garlic…would be amazing.”

“Have made these three times now since Christmas eve 2010. Sorry I’m just reviewing them. Made these the first time for my newly vegetarian daughter who absolutely loved the sweet and sour cocktail meatballs which have been a tradition in our family for many years.So I whipped up the meatballs(no broth packet) and dropped them into simmering sauce. Cooked them at a simmer for about 30 minutes, then transferred to a crock pot set on warm. Also made a larger crockpot full of the original recipe. Our Italian guests sampled both and continued to return to the vegetarian ones. Even after I explained what they were and howthey were made, they kept eating these ones. Second time I made a recipe of Mean Chef’s mushroom gravy with veggie broth and also just dropped the uncooked meatballs into the gravy, and simmered away. Served over mashed potatoes just like Swedish meatballs. Think this just goes to show how versatile and great this recipe is.”

“PLEASE, PLEASE,PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO “TRICK” PEOPLE WITH THESE VEGETARIAN MEATBALLS!THIS IS POTENTIALLY A LIFE-OR-DEATH ISSUE!I have a serious, life-threatening allergy to nuts and one bite of these nutballs could potentially end my life!At the very least, it would be a trip to the e.r. and epinephrine, even if I didn’t swallow it.I know to ask about nuts in almost everything but meatballs would probably not occur to me as a potential threat.There are a lot of people with anaphylactic nut allergies.Unless you know that the people you’re feeding aren’t sensitive to any of the ingredients, you should ALWAYS inform them of unusual ingredients.”

“Would give this 10 stars if I could.I have experimented many times with vegetarian meatballs and while the test was good, the texture was terrible (usually too mushy).These are amazing and could fool a meat eater.I used 1 1/2 cups of 2% mild cheddar, 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, Egg Beaters, no onions or onion soup but parsley, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cooked them in my sauce. They taste just like the meatballs I used to make in my pre veggie days.Also, be sure to grind the walnuts very finely unless you like crunch.Fantastic!Can’t thank you enough for this recipe.”

“These are the greatest of all time!!!!! I used French Onion Soup and just threw the balls into spaghetti red sauce.The next lot I added chopped water chestnuts, then baked and served with Hoi Sin sauce in with stir-fried vegetables.Also served them (with water chestnuts inside) at son’s 30th birthday party with hoi sin sauce, sweet and sour sauce and sweet chilli sauce (all asian) for dipping!Sprinkled the balls with mung bean shoots to look pretty and add some crunch.Lots of vegetarians there, so went down really well!Completely fooled the carnivores, lol.”

“I am giving this five stars for the ease of the recipe, the taste, texture, and the ability to trick those who do not realize that these are not “real” meatballs.One thing I did do differently and would highly suggest, is to put the walnuts in a food processor and grind.I still want to tinker with the flavor of the meatballs, maybe cut back on the onion soup mix and possible add some Italian seasoning.Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!”

“I am a meat eater but we do not eat ground beef. I made these for a dear vegetarian friend and her family while she was very ill. They are very delicious. A little on the salty side. I am unable to find the vegetarian broth where I live so I just omit it. I get requests from her MONTHLY for the great meat balls. She says she loves them because they dont fall apart in her tomato sauce or broth. And they are just simply scumptious!!UPDATE: 12-23-2009Made these a few weeks ago and turned them into sweet and sour meatballs for a Christmas party we had. No one could believe they were vegetarian!”

“Lipton onion soup mix is NOT vegetarian. Please relabel this recipe so that well-meaning cooks are not feeding beef stock to their vegetarian guests.”

“This has become a staple in my home!I’ve played with it in all kinds of directions, and the fact that my 11 year old boy still gets excited when I make them is amazing.Thank you SO much for this great recipe!”

“These are fantastic! Even DH liked them. I added these vegetarian meatballs to a mushroom sauce this time. I’ll probably try the vegetarian broth next time. Thanks for sharing!”

“To respond to bvisailor, I understand your concern but there are ways to make sure people with nut allergies do not eat these “meatballs” even if they do not know they are not meat.What I’ve planned on doing is calling them “walnut meatballs” that way people will know that they have nuts in them.I plan on taking this to a Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow and seeing the reaction when people learn they don’t have meat in them.That being said, this is probably the best vegetarian recipe I have ever made.If I did not know they weren’t meat, I think I would be fooled.Amazing recipe!”

“These were amazing!!! (just as the other reviews have said.) Will make again!Do not add the broth to the mixture.I was confused about that.Cook the meat balls in the broth at step 5.”

“My four grown sons are strictly meat-and-potato guys; however, I made these and put them in my homemade marinara and served them over linguine, and they LOVED them, and asked for seconds.After the meal, I told them that they were vegetarian, and they argued with me!No way, mom!Yeah right! And so on.I showed them the recipe, and only then did they say, “well I thought it tasted a little different”.During the meal they claimed they were the best meatballs I have ever made.I did not find them too salty, and I did have to turn them several times while baking to keep them round and browned on all sides.Next time, I will use soaked and dehydrated walnuts, and maybe add a little parmesan, but they are wonderful as is.I can’t believe I found this recipe!”

“THESE ARE SOOOOOOOO GOOOD!!! I follow the recipe exactly every time and they are a HIT!!!!!!! Have done them in tomato sauce, cream of mushroom and mushroom gravy!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!!”

“These were really really tasty. I used the chopped walnuts, as per the recipe; however, the balls will definitely be better with the walnuts finely ground. Instead of cooking them in broth I baked them and then cooked them in with the spaghetti sauce. Delicious!”