Soy is one of the legumes with the highest nutritional value, so it is very interesting to incorporate it into our regular diet. we suggest you try this recipe for meatballs with textured soy. The result is delicious, very tender meatballs, with a flavor very similar to meat, but 100% vegetable and that vegans and even non-vegans will surely like at home.
On this occasion, we have accompanied the meatballs with an express tomato sauce, but do not hesitate to accompany them with your favorite sauce. Let’s go with the recipe to know how to make textured soy meatballs.
Ingredients to make Textured Soy Meatballs:
- 200 grams of textured soy
- 750 milliliters of vegetable broth
- 2 slices of crestless bread
- 5 tablespoons of soy milk
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 150 grams of breadcrumbs
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- 75 grams of flour
- 250 milliliters of olive oil
- For the tomato sauce:
- 1 small onion
- 400 grams of fried tomato
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 pinch of salt
How to make Textured Soy Meatballs:
1.Put the textured soybeans to soak for 1 hour in the vegetable broth, preferably homemade.
2.Cut the sliced bread into a bowl and sprinkle it with the soy milk. Mix well so that the breadcrumbs absorb all the non-dairy milk.
Tip: You can also use 50 g of breadcrumbs if you don’t have sliced bread.
3.Peel the garlic cloves and slice them. Wash the parsley leaves, dry them and chop them.
4.Drain the soybeans from the vegetable broth, transfer to a larger bowl and add the minced garlic, parsley, a little salt and pepper to taste.
Tip: Don’t drain the soy much so that it is juicier. Reserve the vegetable broth in case you need it to hydrate the textured soy meatballs a little.
5.Add the breadcrumbs to the bowl and mix all the ingredients well.
6.Finally, add the sliced bread soaked in milk and mix with your hands or a spatula, depending on how it is most comfortable for you to prepare the dough for the textured soy meatballs.
7.Form small balls with the textured soy mixture, pressing well with your hands to make them compact. If the dough is a bit dry, add a little of the vegetable broth or wet your hands in the broth so that the meatball hydrates a little and amalgamate better.
8.Flour each meatball, pressing well so that the flour adheres. Let dry for about 10 minutes and flour again and adhere well with your hands. This process is important so that the textured soy meatballs do not deform when frying.
9.Put the olive oil in a large pot and heat it. Fry the meatballs leaving some space between them. The oil does not have to reach the middle of the textured soy balls. Cook them for a few minutes and carefully turn them over. Being a very soft meatball it can break, so do not fry them excessively, just enough so that the flour cooks a little.
Tip: You can also cook the textured soy meatballs in the oven for 20 minutes at 180ºC.
10.Go removing the meatballs and placing them on a plate with absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
11.Now, prepare an express tomato sauce to accompany the textured soy meatballs. To do this, peel and chop the onion and fry it in a pan with two tablespoons of olive oil.
Trick: We have used red onion, but you can use another type of onion, such as shallots, sweet, white, etc.
12.Add the fried tomato and oregano. Give it a few turns with a spoon until the tomato heats up and the flavors mix, taste the sauce in case you have to add a little salt or sugar if you notice it is very acid. You can also add a little freshly ground black pepper.
Tip: You can also make the sauce with natural tomatoes, but you will have to let it cook well and evaporate all the tomato broth. If you use the already fried tomato, use a quality one.
13.Spread the tomato sauce on the base of the plates and put the homemade meatballs on top. Serve the textured soy balls hot in sauce and enjoy this delicious vegan dish. Other sauces that could fit with these vegetable meatballs are almond sauce and basil pesto sauce.
