These delicious chickpea, mushroom and walnut meatballs take mere minutes to put together in a food processor, and another 14 minutes to bake in an air fryer. Dunk them in a flavorful barbecue sauce or mushroom sauce for a delicious and easy weeknight meal. A vegan, gluten-free and soy-free recipe.
I love experimenting with my air fryer to make short work of cooking on weekdays. After making and sharing recipes for air fryer French fries, air fryer tofu and vegan air fryer chickpeas, I am now totally groovin' on these scrummy vegan air fryer meatballs.
They take just minutes to put together and most of the work is done by the food processor. Shape 'em, pop 'em into the air fryer for 14 minutes, et voila! Yummy meatballs.
If you're looking to eat healthy this veganuary, you can't do better. These are made with good-for-you chickpeas, walnuts and mushrooms, with lots of flavor and spices rolled in, and without any added oils. I do recommend that you brush on some oil or spritz them with cooking spray before they go into the air fryer to add some color to the meatballs and help them cook evenly. But if you're looking for a no-oil option you can forego that step.
Table of Contents
What's in these meatballs?
- Chickpeas
- Dry shiitake mushrooms (preferable to fresh mushrooms because of the texture)
- Walnuts
- Garlic
- Ground cumin
- Red pepper flakes
- Dry sage
- Soy sauce/tamari or vegan Worcestershire sauce
- Smoked paprika
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Cooking spray or a tiny bit of vegetable oil
- Parsley (optional)
How to make vegan air fryer meatballs
- Place 1 cup dry mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water, approximately 2 cups. Steep for 30 minutes, then drain the mushrooms. Reserve the mushroom stock, which is extremely flavorful and can be used in whatever sauce you make with these meatballs.
- Place the mushrooms in a food processor and process until they are finely shredded but not pasty. If the stems are tough even after soaking, discard them and use just the tops of the mushrooms.
- Add ¼ cup walnuts and process them until they are broken into small bits but not powdered.
- To the food processor, add all of the remaining ingredients -- 2 cups chickpeas, 4 chopped cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoon dry sage, 1 tablespoon soy sauce/tamari/Worcestershire sauce, and salt and black pepper to taste.
- Process or pulse a few times until the chickpeas are broken down and the mixture holds together firmly when you ball it up. If the ball falls apart after you form it, process the mixture further.
- Remove the blade from the food processor bowl. Form 24 meatballs.
- Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket. Preferably do this in two batches of 12 meatballs each so there is enough room for the air to circulate around the meatballs.
- Spritz some cooking spray on the meatballs or brush on a bit of oil. If you want to make these completely oil-free you can leave out this step.
- Set the air fryer to 375 degrees and air fry the meatballs for 14 minutes. About halfway through, open and rotate the balls so they cook evenly.
Substitution ideas
- You don't need any breadcrumbs in this recipe. But if you want to use some anyway, add half a cup to the food processor after you process the chickpeas. Mix and form the meatballs.
- For chewier meatballs, add another cup of dried, reconstituted mushrooms. You can add ½ cup breadcrumbs if the meatballs don't hold together as well with the extra mushrooms.
- Change up the flavorings to your liking. Instead of the cumin, add a teaspoon of garam masala or curry powder.
- Change up the herbs. Instead of sage, use thyme or oregano or rosemary.
- If you're soy-free, skip the tamari/soy sauce/Worcestershire sauce and use 1 tablespoon tomato paste instead for more umami.
Freezing the air fried vegan meatballs
Freeze the meatballs after air frying. Let them cool, then place in a ziploc bag or tupperware with an airtight lid. Reheat on the stovetop in a hot skillet sprayed with oil, or in the air fryer for at 375 degrees for about 6-8 minutes until heated through.
Sauce ideas for the vegan air fryer meatballs
Vegan Air Fryer Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms (dry)
- ½ cup walnuts
- 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 2 cups chickpeas (canned or cooked. Strained of all liquid)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon dry sage
- 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce or vegan Worcestershire sauce, Skip if soy-free or add 1 tablespoon tomato paste)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon parsley (chopped, optional)
Instructions
- Place mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water, approximately 2 cups. Steep for 30 minutes, then drain the mushrooms. Reserve the mushroom stock, which is extremely flavorful and can be used in whatever sauce you make with these meatballs.
- Place the mushrooms in a food processor and process until they are finely shredded but not pasty. If the stems are tough even after soaking, discard them and use just the tops of the mushrooms.
- Add walnuts and process them until they are broken into small bits but not powdered.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients --chickpeas, garlic, ground cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, sage, soy sauce/tamari/Worcestershire sauce, and salt and black pepper to taste
- Process or pulse a few times until the chickpeas are broken down and the mixture holds together firmly when you ball it up. If the ball falls apart after you form it, process the mixture further.
- Remove the blade from the food processor bowl. Form 24 meatballs.
- Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket. Preferably do this in two batches of 12 meatballs each so there is enough room for the air to circulate around the meatballs.
- Spritz some cooking spray on the meatballs or brush on a bit of oil. If you want to make these completely oil-free you can leave out this step.
- Click the air fryer basket into place. Set the air fryer to 375 degrees and air fry the meatballs for 14 minutes. About halfway through, open and rotate the balls so they cook evenly.
Nutrition
Love these vegan air fryer meatballs? Check out more gluten-free vegan recipes on Holy Cow!
Heather
Delicious & so easy!
Ella Rae
So good! I made the meatballs and the vegan gravy too. Put with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus. Eating the leftovers for lunch today! Thank you for this clever use of chickpeas, rehydrated shiitakes and walnuts! I didn’t use any oil and they came out beautifully.
Vaishali
Hi Ella Rae, so happy to hear you loved the meatballs and gravy! Thanks for letting me know and happy holidays.
Lin
Fab , thank you so much Vaishali x
Lani Strom
i love the recipe but don't use nuts. Could navy beans be substitued in a 1to1 proportion .?
Vaishali
You can absolutely leave out the nuts. They are mainly there for texture. Adding more beans is a great idea.
Bob
I like this recipe; however, I don't have an air fryer. Do you have a recommendation for length of time and temperature setting in a conventional oven?
Vaishali
You can bake them at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. Make sure you flip them halfway through. Or even easier, pan-fry them with a little bit of oil in a nonstick or cast iron skillet.
Lin
I absolutely love your recipes, they are always simple and delicious. I live in Turkey and have trouble finding some ingredients, notably dried mushrooms, do you think I will have he same success using fresh?
Vaishali
Hi Lin, thanks for the kind words.❤️ fresh mushrooms are fine. Cut them fine, saute in a bit of oil until they release and lose all visible moisture, then add them to the food processor at the same time as the chickpeas. I'd prob use 2-3 cups of fresh mushrooms as they will cook down.