Eggplant Polpette (aka Meatless Meatballs)
These Eggplant Meatballs are a fun vegetarian spin on meatballs. They are super moist and flavourful and packed with chunks of sautéed eggplant, garlic and onion, baked in the oven and then served in a rich tomato sauce. These meatless meatballs are Paleo, Whole30, Keto, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free & Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal.
These little eggplant polpette (aka meat free meatballs) are unbelieva-BALL-y good…sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
But seriously, these are little balls of deliciousness that will quickly have any carnivore forgetting that they are completely meat free. They are firm on the outside and tender and soft in the center. Eggplant gives each ball “meatlike” density while the basil and garlic add delicious flavor.
When served with tomato sauce, each eggplant meatball tastes like bite size eggplant parmigiana, perfect to serve as finger food at a cocktail party. I love eating these eggplant polpette on spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles, covered in tomato sauce.
I added parmesan to the recipe but if you are following a dairy free or paleo diet it can be substituted for nutritional yeast for a touch of cheesy flavor. These balls hold their firmness for a few days after baking, but to ensure they don’t become soggy I recommend storing any leftover balls in a separate container from the sauce.
If you are a fan of Italian food, you will love this healthy cross between spaghetti and meatballs and eggplant parmigiana. I hope you enjoy!
Here are a few of my other favourite Italian recipes:
- Chicken Cacciatore
- Bolognese Sauce
- The Best Italian Meatballs
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Butternut Squash Ravioli with Kale Pesto
- Braised Lamb Ragu
- Classic Beef Lasagna
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Eggplant Polpette
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplant
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- pinch of salt & pepper
- 1/3 cup basil chopped
- 1 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup parmesan *
- 1 egg white lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 14oz can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp honey optional
- 1/2 tbsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup basil chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Cut the eggplant into small cubes. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat, add the diced onion, garlic, cubed eggplant and stock, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Allow to cook for approximately 15-20 minutes until all of the eggplant has become soft and the liquid has been absorbed.
- Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and pulse once or twice but no more, you want the larger pieces to break down but you do not want the entire mixture to turn into a smooth puree. It should remain chunky.
- In a bowl combine the eggplant mixture, chopped basil, almond flour, parmesan and egg white and blend until well combined.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray to ensure its well greased.
- Spoon out 1-2 tablespoon sized amounts of the mixture into your hands and roll into balls the size of a golf ball. Place on the baking sheet approximately an inch apart.
- Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, flipping the balls half way through. Keep an eye on them to make sure they do not burn. They are done when they become more firm to the touch.
- While the meatballs are cooking, make the sauce. Chopped the tomatoes into small pieces. Place them in a medium sized pot on medium-low heat along with the olive oil, crushed garlic and diced onion.
- Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes until the onion becomes transparent. Add in the canned tomatoes, lower the heat and allow to simmer for 45 mins to 1 hour.
- Add in the oregano, chilli flakes and chopped basil. Taste the sauce, if its too tart, add in the honey. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the eggplant polpette on zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash, topped with the tomato sauce and garnished with parmesan and chopped basil
Notes
Nutrition
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I made this last night..WOW !! so good..everyone enjoyed them.
Thanks for great recipes…shirley
Thats so great to hear! I’m really happy you enjoyed them!
This was amazing – so delicious! Could easily forget about ‘meat’ meatballs after tasting this.
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Hi! What do you mean by fresh chilli? What is that?
I made these last weekend and they were fantastic and delicious!! Thanks so much for sharing. However, i found that it took quite a bit longer to make than the 2 hours you mention, I had to bake them for quite a bit longer and had a lot of trouble making the balls, as the mix stuck to my hand way too much. But I did manage to make them using to spoons instead of my hands, and they turned out great.
Thanks for the feedback regarding timing Marco! I may need to adjust that slightly. Happy to hear that they turned out well!
These turned out beautifully. I added a tin of anchovies to the eggplant mix and omitted the stock. SO GOOD! Held together wonderfully.
Love the idea of adding anchovies! That sounds delicious!
I’m not an eggplant fan but I picked one up at the farmers market last week to give it another shot. These are a game changer. I don’t know if it’s because of the cooking method or what but the spongy texture and bitter taste that I hate was completely gone. Instead I had a fluffy sweet ball of goodness. Thanks!
Question: any tips on freezing? These were so good I want to make/freeze some while eggplant is in season
This was a winner. I was looking for something vegetarian as my teen is not enjoying meat as much lately. Made it with spaghetti squash. Only change was using bread crumbs instead of almond flour, as that is what I had. Thanks for the creative idea.
Made these last night – they are definitely a repeat. I put in the full amount of nutritional yeast, but because I was worried about not having enough dry ingredients to sop up the wetness of the eggplant, I put less than 1/4 of the amount of parm. Everything turned out well. I used my Ninja Foodi and did an air fryer option at 390 for 20 minutes instead of baking them. Turned out awesome!
Hi. I love your recipes. Thank you.
Can I substitute potatoes for sweet potatoes? If not, can you recommend an alternative please? Thank you kindly, Angie Lopez, South Africa.
Awesome. We loved them. Hubby keeps saying… I can’t believe these aren’t meat!? 🙂
Question… any reason why I couldn’t make up the mixture, refrigerate it and then make the balls the next day??
Thank you for posting this yum!
Making me 2nd batch today.
I made your eggplant meatballs recipe minus the tomato sauce. They were delicious. Once they were done cooking I added them to lentil soup they go very well together. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.:)