I’ve been meaning to create a good Neatball for a while now and these Vegan Sweet Potato and Popped Lentil Neatballs are my debut appearance, and what a neatball to start with.
Following the success of my Dukkah Roasted Carrots with Popped Lentils I thought it was about time to bring out the next in the popped lentil line up!
GRAIN FREE VEGAN NEATBALLS
Unlike many neatballs which often contain grains, these vegan neatballs are grain free. The roasted sweet potatoes do the binding job all by themselves and by roasting aka ‘popping’ the lentils first you get this incredible texture. Soft and crispy… YES please!
The wonderful umami taste of these Vegan Sweet Potato and Popped Lentil Neatballs comes from the addition of coconut aminos (a nutrient amino acid rich juice that comes from the sap of the coconut tree), dijon mustard and my homemade one minute spice oil.
WHAT’S BEST TO SERVE THESE VEGAN SWEET POTATO AND POPPED LENTIL NEATBALLS WITH?
These Vegan Lentil Neatballs can be enjoyed as a main meal served with your favourite salad, slaw, greens or mash, or enjoyed as a snack with hummus and if you eat grains, some pitta chips.
I hope you enjoy them guys.
Vegan Sweet Potato and Popped Lentil Neatballs
Spiced Oil
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
- 1/3 tsp paprika
Vegan Sweet Potato and Popped Lentil Neatballs
- 250 g precooked puy lentils (I like Merchant Gourmet)
- 2 small sweet potatoes, cubed (280g)
- 1 small onion, cubed (60g)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/3 - 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1.5 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos (I like Coconut Merchant)
- 20 g fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp avocado, coconut or olive oil for frying
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C / 180 fan.
- Place the olive oil and chilli flakes in a pan and bring to just below a simmer on a medium heat. Once infused, remove from the heat and add the paprika.
- Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. Add the sweet potatoes, onion and garlic to one tray and toss with half of the spiced oil. Bake for 35 minutes until soft. Turning once whilst cooking.
- To the other baking tray, add the puy lentils and toss with the remaining half of the spiced oil. Bake for 25 minutes until crispy.
- When both the sweet potato tray and lentils are done, allow to cool for a couple of minutes so not steaming. Remove the garlic from the skins. Add the sweet potatoes, onion, garlic and lentils to a food processor along with all the remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, dijon, parsley and coconut aminos) and pulse to combine. The mix should be slightly sticky but not blitzed so it's smooth. Just pulse a couple of times. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Once chilled roll into neatballs, roughly 2.5cm in size. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and carefully fry the neatballs for 2 - 3 minutes, turning 3 - 4 times so all the sides are toasted then place back in the oven for about 5 - 10 minutes or until warmed through.
- Serve with salad, crispy kale, with hummus, in pitta or cauliflower mash.
