The best hearty Vegan Meatball Subs you'll crave for dinner! Loaded with flavor and served on a toasty bun. Kid-friendly!
I made you plant based meatball subs because I love you and I love anything that's a vehicle for marinara sauce atop a toasty bun.
You know my Easy Vegan Lasagna is the best thing since sliced bread. I'm the girl that asks for a side of tomato sauce with, um, everything.
One of my all time favorite meals in Columbus was this stupendous eggplant meatball sub from a vegetarian restaurant called Whole World that sadly closed. This is my closest attempt at replicating that glory!
How to make oven baked vegan meatball subs
The key to making the meatballs is pulsing the beans, walnuts, veggies, and spices plus enough breadcrumbs to help them hold together and have that hearty texture. Flax helps, too!
- First, make the meatballs! Make a flax egg by whisking flax and water in a bowl.
- Toast beans and walnuts to get all that yummy flavor.
- Pulse beans, walnuts, onion, garlic, and spices in the food processor.
- Dump in a bowl and add flax and breadcrumbs. Texture!
- Form into balls, bake, throw on a toasted bun with marinara sauce, and devour!
Key ingredients and tips
These taste like pizza in the best way. Try topping them with extra nutritional yeast or whatever mozzarella cheese you love!
- Pinto beans: I love pinto beans as the base, but white beans, chickpeas, or black beans would all work just fine.
- Italian breadcrumbs: Panko adds fab texture and helps the vegetarian meatballs stick together. If all you have is plain breadcrumbs, go heavier on the Italian seasoning.
- Mushrooms: for meaty texture and extra umami flavor. White mushrooms, baby bella, and cremini all work.
- Walnuts: Even more meatiness, toasty flavor, and textural intrigue. Yum!
- Onion and garlic: Essential for plenty of deep flavor in our bean balls.
- Flax: For extra binding power.
- Nutritional yeast: For cheezy flavor.
- Italian seasoning: So these taste like meatballs!
- Marinara: Use your favorite jar of marinara sauce to top off these subs. I like Rao's, Silver Palate, or the Kirkland organic one from Costco.
- Buns: You'll need nice and soft sandwich buns to finish off the subs. Regular or whole wheat buns work!
How to store meatballs
Store any leftover meatballs in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. These freeze great, too! To reheat, warm meatballs in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through. You can also reheat them on a skillet in a bit of olive oil.
More vegan Italian-inspired dinner ideas
- Creamy Vegan Tomato Basil Pasta
- Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Vegan Lasagna Soup
- Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Alfredo Pasta
THE MORE THE MAR[INARA]-IER!
Print
Vegan Meatball Subs Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 6 subs 1x
- Category: Main Meal
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The best hearty Vegan Meatball Subs! Loaded with flavor and served on a toasty bun. Kid-friendly!
Ingredients
- 1 batch vegan meatballs
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce (about 1 jar, plus more if desired)
- 1 package sandwich rolls or hot dog buns
Instructions
- Make vegan meatballs. Once they're in the oven, warm sauce in a saucepan over the stove.
- Once meatballs are done, keep oven on and toast buns for about 10 minutes.
- Put 3 meatballs in each bun and top with plenty of sauce. Enjoy!
Dylan says
Yum! Such a fun idea!
Alexis Joseph says
Right!!
Sara says
Im allergic to mushrooms
What can I substitute?
Thank you
Alexis Joseph says
I have not tried these without mushrooms so I'm not sure! They provide meaty texture and flavor. I'd Google some other bean ball recipes to see what alternatives could look like. Enjoy!
Shelley says
These look and sound amazing! Hubby has been craving meatball subs, so I am going to make these for him. However, even halving the recipe, there would be far more than we would be able to cope with, do you know if they suitable for freezing? If so, before or after cooking? Would you freeze with or without sauce if they needed to be frozen after cooking?
Alexis Joseph says
They freeze great!! You could also cut the recipe in half. I'd freeze after cooking and add sauce right before you eat it.
Allie says
Obsessed with these!
Alexis Joseph says
Thank you tons, Allie!
Bailey says
These are sooooo good.
The 'meat' balls store very well and taste just as good as leftovers.
Alexis Joseph says
Yayyy!! Such a fabulous weeknight meal. Thanks for rating the recipe, Bailey!
Miriam Kearney says
These look very good and I plan to make them. Do you think they would freeze well? in these days of meal planning and meal prep it would great if you would indicate which recipes would freeze well. Thanks.
Alexis Joseph says
Yes, they freeze well! Enjoy.
Erin says
I’ve made these several times. My favorite veggie meatballs and freeze great
Alexis Joseph says
Thanks so much, Erin! Love that they freeze well.
Lauren says
Adding my rating!
Alexis Joseph says
You rock!!
Lauren says
Made a double batch using one can of black and one of pinto and they were amazing! My 7 and 3 year old children gobbled them up. Thank you!
Alexis Joseph says
Heck yes! Thanks for letting me know, Lauren!
Alexis Joseph says
Hey again Lauren! If you'd be so kind as to leave a star-rating, I'd really appreciate it! It's super helpful for other readers. Thanks again!
Deidre says
I made this recipe some time ago and love it! I am planning to make it again today and attempted to print the recipe to add to my collection. However, I cannot print it concisely due to ads! Here is no read only version of the website and when I click the link to “print recipe” it is still interrupted by so many ads that it is six pages long. Very disappointed. :/ At least my tummy will be full and happy.
Alexis says
Thanks for the feedback, Deidre. I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe. When you click "print recipe" at the top of the recipe card, it opens a new window where you can print the recipe. I rely on ads to monetize my website so I can continue to provide free recipe content to readers. Hope that makes sense.
Deidre says
I made this recipe some time ago and love it! I am planning to make it again today and attempted to print the recipe to add to my collection. However, I cannot print it concisely due to ads! Here is no read only version of the website and when I click the link to “print recipe” it is still interrupted by so many ads that it is six pages long. Very disappointed. :/ At least my tummy will be full and happy.
Alexis says
Thanks for the feedback, Deidre. I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe. When you click "print recipe" at the top of the recipe card, it opens a new window where you can print the recipe. I rely on ads to monetize my website so I can continue to provide free recipe content to readers. Hope that makes sense.
Alexis says
Yum I love that!!?
Rebecca says
Made these on New Years Day so used blackeyed peas and they were outstanding! Thank you for the inspiration and great technique.
Alexis says
Yum I love that!!?
Carey Grieves says
Thanks for your quick response although I made them before seeing them! Made them tonight and then seeing how runny it was in a double batch with 1 can I drained and rinsed the next can...they were still good but now I know for next time... 🙂
Alexis says
Shoot! FYI for any recipe that calls for beans, always rinse and drain them 🙂
Carey Grieves says
I hope this still gets to you. Hoping to make tonight...do I rinse and drain the beans or leave the bean liquid in?? Thanks in advance!!
Alexis says
Always rinse and drain 🙂 enjoy!
Logan says
Only concern - Udis products contain egg and therefore makes this not vegan., but easily substitutable for those that care, and for those that don’t, carry on.
Alexis says
Hmmmm can you do lentils? Beans are the bulk of the recipe so I’m not sure that there’s a sub for those in these :/
Teresa says
I just found your wonderful website today and am happy to say the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly through...enough theatrics! Due to my new challenging diet restrictions I cannot eat mushrooms or beans of any kind which has been quite a bummer to say the least. I’ve read you suggest subbing the mushrooms out for eggplant which I will do but, do you have any suggestions for what I can sub the beans out for?
Amy @ FitnessMeetsFrosting says
These are fantastic! Also, tip if you don't like mushrooms (like me)- you can swap for eggplant and it turns out great!
Alexis says
Ohhhh great idea!
Alexis says
Hmmm try a seed like pumpkin seeds!
Sammy says
My husband and I just made your Vegan Lasagna and holy cow!!!!! It was amazing! We can't wait to try more of your recipes. For this one could I leave out the walnuts or substitute them with something else. My husband is allergic to nuts. (Which makes the vegan life a challenging one.)
Lani says
Can you suggest what I could use instead of nuts? Extra beans?
Janet Dicker says
Your vegan lasagna is out of this world. I served it to several people and nobody could believe that they were not eating cheese. What a refreshing chance to my boring vegan diet. Please keep them coming. Thanks
Amber says
What could I sub as I can't have seeds or nuts??
Ashley says
I made these as a vegan alternative to Mother's Day Spaghetti and meatballs. I used chia seed instead of flax, great northern beans, and left out the nutritional yeast as I didn't have any available. These are delicious! I will definitely be adding this to the "Recipes I love to make and eat" collection!
Morgan says
Just a heads up - Udi's gluten free buns contain egg whites which makes them not vegan. I'd suggest Little Northern Bakehouse buns. https://www.littlenorthernbakehouse.com/products/
Michelle says
This recipe is amaaaazing! I mean they all are buuuut I used chia seeds, black beans, cashews, pecans and made Ezekiel bread crumbs because sometimes ya just gotta work with what you have. Served over homemade pasta and vegan spinach pesto... yum!
Alexis says
I am seriously drooling over your comment!
Alexis says
Hi, Kent! This makes me beyond happy I am so glad that you and your family LOVE these subs 🙂
Kent says
Yes!!!Great consistency l, texture and flavor!!
Kent says
These are absolutely amazing!!! I rarely cook let alone post about recipes but after running out of meatless Monday ideas I came across this recipe and decided to try it. I doubled the recipe and added extra garlic, fresh oregano and fresh basil, and I also added some black olives. I used half Pinto/half black beans and had enough "meat" left over to fry up some burgers in a pan. I have tried many types of meatless meats/burgers but NONE came anywhere near the consistency, texture, and flavor that these have!!!! Even my picky kids LOVED them!!! So happy I found this recipe, After playing with different "meatless"recipes I have finally found my go to for burgers/meatballs!; The only problem I had was adding my meatballs to the sauce while it was still hot--they just dissolved--but it was the best "meat"sauce I have ever had. My six yr old daughter had three servings! Thanks for sharing! I?
SS says
Hi. I'm not a fan of mushrooms - what can I use instead?
Also is the nutritional yeast required? Can I sub something else?
Thanks!
Alexis says
Hmmm you could try using eggplant instead, but it may be a bit mushier so add more breadcrumbs if necessary. The nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor. You could leave it out or use parmesan cheese instead!
Donna says
Emily ordered some off amazon.
Gary says
Can these be formed into pattys and fried?
Cait says
Great recipe!
I have one concern however... my boyfriend (whom I would be sharing this with) has a severe nut allergy. Any way I can either leave out the walnuts or substitute something else? Thanks!
heidi says
These are GREAT! 4/4 people with different pickiness meters all loved them. I plunged in and made a double batch and froze half for a quick spaghetti and meatballs dinner some night--really glad I did. The first batch thawed and then cooked great tonight. Thank you for sharing!
Emily says
Is there something I can sub for nutritional yeast or can I leave it out? I can't find it where I live. 🙁
r says
Thank you!!! Thank you!!! We love all your recipes we have ever made!!! Thank you for making these recipes accessible to those of us that don't live in Ohio and wish we could eat at Alchemy everyday!
Paula says
Oh boy. I plan on making these balls and putting them over zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash the next time my husband is away (he would only accept either the veggie noodles OR the meatless balls at a single meal, I think). Yum!