Lentil Meatballs

Join me as I recreate a delightful lentil meatball recipe that I adapted from Victoria's Earth Kitchen, featured on my series Sprung on Food. In this tutorial, I substitute brown lentils with green lentils and create a savory mixture with sautéed cremini mushrooms, onions, garlic, toasted walnuts, panko breadcrumbs, and a flavorful blend of cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Watch as I blend, portion, and bake these protein-packed plant-based meatballs. Additionally, I whip up a green goddess yogurt sauce as a delicious substitute for the original cashew and tomato sauce, and add a finishing touch of chili crisp.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup green lentils

  • 1 large onions, medium dice

  • 4oz frozen sliced cremini mushrooms

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced

  • ¾ cup of walnuts

  • ¼ cup panko crumbs

  • ½ tsp cumin

  • ½ tsp oregano

  • Salt and black pepper to taste

  • Extra virgin olive oil

Extras:

  • Greek yogurt

  • Green goddess spices (I used the one from Trader Joe's)

  • Salt to taste

  • Chili crisp 

Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet or baking pan with parchment paper.

  2. Rinse the lentils and then combine with 3 cups of water in a pot. Let the water come to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer with the lid on until the liquid is absorbed, around 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set the lentils aside to cool (you can do this step in advance).

  3. While the lentils are cooking, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent, and then add the mushrooms, and garlic until they're soft and fragrant. Set aside to cool (I also did this in advance).

  4. Add the lentils, onion/mushroom/garlic, walnuts, panko crumbs, cumin, oregano, and salt to a food processor and blend until the mixture has a semi-smooth texture (you might have to scrape the sides to mix it better every now and again, to get it fully mixed).

  5. Use a cookie scooper or a couple tablespoon sized scoops to make a ball out of the mixture and place meatballs onto the tray, and put into the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes (you can rotate the pan halfway through).

  6. In the meantime, take some Greek yogurt and add your green goddess spices (or whatever spices you'd like) and salt, and mix well. Lay a shmeer of that down on your bowl or plate. Once your meatballs are ready, place on top of the yogurt and drizzle with some chili crips on top.

katherine sprung