Vegetarian Porcupine Meatballs
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These vegetarian porcupine meatballs are easy to make and perfect for parties! Hearty and smothered in sweet and sour sauce, they’re impossible to resist.
From sausages and bacon-wrapped treats to cocktail meatballs, meaty appetizers never disappoint.
Speaking of meatballs, you can’t go wrong with these vegetarian sweet and sour porcupine meatballs for a more inclusive menu.
Who knew lentils were the secret to winning everyone over, including meat lovers?
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These rich and hearty lentil meatballs are perfect with our vegan mashed potatoes. And if you’re looking for another reliable vegan meatball recipe, our meatless meatballs won’t let you down!
Why You’ll Love This Vegetarian Porcupine Meatballs Recipe
- These sweet and sour porcupines are meatless but have the best flavor and texture!
- You can serve these vegetarian meatballs as an appetizer, side, or main.
- Making these oven baked meatballs is super easy and fun. No complex preparations or special equipment needed!
Ingredients And Substitutions
For the vegetarian meatballs:
Cooked lentils – Lentils give these vegetarian porcupine meatballs their shape.
Minute Brown Rice – Rice binds these oven porcupine meatballs instead of breadcrumbs.
Onion – Yellow onion lends a savory flavor to the meatless meatballs.
Quick-cooking oats – Another important binder to keep the oven baked porcupine meatballs from falling apart.
Dairy-free cheddar cheese shreds – Adds richness to the porcupine meatballs.
Flax egg – To make a flax egg, simply combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water and let the mixture thicken.
Tomato sauce – Adds color and flavor to the vegetarian lentil meatballs.
Garlic salt, dried basil, and black pepper – The seasonings are up to you, but you can’t go wrong with this trio for the porcupine balls!
Non-stick cooking spray – Keeps the tender meatballs from sticking to the baking sheet.
For the sweet and sour sauce:
Brown sugar – Use brown sugar as your sweetener for a deeper and more complex taste.
All-purpose flour – The thickener for the sweet and sour sauce.
Water – For adjusting the sauce’s consistency.
Distilled white vinegar – The sauce’s sour component.
Soy sauce – For an umami boost.
Tips For Making This Recipe
Do Not Overcrowd Your Pan
To ensure even cooking, use a skillet that is large enough to cook all your meatballs without them touching.
Switch Up the Sauce
Not a fan of sweet and sour sauce? These vegetarian meatballs are also delicious with gravy or marinara sauce!
Serving Suggestions
While these vegetarian porcupine meatballs make crowd-pleasing appetizers, you can also enjoy them as a main dish with cauliflower rice, quinoa, zucchini noodles, or your favorite salad.
Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Porcupines Recipe FAQs
What are porcupine meatballs?
Porcupine meatballs get their name from the rice mixed into them, which sticks out like charming porcupine quills.
What kind of rice can you use in porcupine meatballs?
We used Minute Brown Rice for convenience (no crunchy rice here!), but you can also make these vegetarian porcupine meatballs with long-grain white rice, which cooks up nice and fluffy.
Do you need to cook the rice separately for porcupine meatballs?
No. The uncooked rice grains will cook within the meatballs as you simmer them in the sauce. But if your meatballs are big and you think the rice won’t get perfectly cooked inside them, soak the grains in warm water for 20 minutes before you add them to the vegetarian meatball mixture.
What are the best lentils for vegetarian lentil meatballs?
To avoid mushy vegetarian meatballs, use brown or green lentils.
How to cook lentils for vegetarian meatballs?
Add 1/2 cup of rinsed and drained lentils and 1 1/2 cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
More Delicious Vegetarian Recipes
- Vegetarian Pot Pie
- Thanksgiving Leftover Veggie Burger
- 3-Bean Vegetarian Chili
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Perfect Soft Sugar Cookies
I found this recipe for Veggies Sausage Tray Bake that I HAVE to try!
Yay! You have made it this far, and I am so glad! Hey – If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Your comment and/or rating helps other readers!
Vegetarian Porcupine Meatballs
Ingredients
For the vegetarian meatballs:
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 1 cup Minute Brown Rice
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- 3/4 cup dairy-free cheddar cheese shreds
- 1 flax egg
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Non-stick cooking spray
For the sweet and sour sauce:
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, add the lentils, brown rice, onion, oats, cheese, flax egg, tomato sauce, and seasonings. Mix with your hands until well-combined.
- Form the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 25 minutes, taking them out halfway through and turning them over.
- Make the sauce during the second half of baking. Add all the sauce ingredients to a large skillet. Whisk together and bring to a boil.
- Once the sauce starts to boil and thicken up, you can gently add in the meatballs.
- Spoon the sauce over the meatballs, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Gently stir the sauce and meatballs every so often to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the sauce has thickened, you’re done.
Notes
- To ensure even cooking, use a skillet that is large enough to cook all your meatballs without them touching.
- Not a fan of sweet and sour sauce? These vegetarian meatballs are also delicious with gravy or marinara sauce!
- While these vegetarian porcupine meatballs make crowd-pleasing appetizers, you can also enjoy them as a main dish with cauliflower rice, quinoa, zucchini noodles, or your favorite salad.
Yummy! Had them with Blue Hogs BBQ sauce!
Incredible recipe! My son recently went vegetarian so I substituted a few things because he’s not vegan: Egg and real cheddar cheese. I had Minute brown rice with quinoa and soaked for twenty minutes and drained. Some Panko to firm it up (I used the red lentils and like you stated, it made it a bit mushy). I also added a can of tomato soup to the sauce to make it more like my own recipe. I am a meat eater and I think this recipe is a WONDERFUL base to work from. Thank you very VERY much! Meat eaters will like this!
Music to my ears! A recipe the entire family would love regardless of their dietary preference.
Can these be made in a crock pot?
Hi Eric! We haven’t tested this recipe in a Crock Pot, so we can’t say for sure how it would turn out.
Can these be made ahead? Do you use red or green lentils? Thank you!
yes I’ve made them a day ahead and just reheated in the slow cooker – I used green lentils
Do you cook the rice blend before you form the balls or does it cook while in the oven? Thank you
Catherine, the rice cooks in the oven and while the meatballs are marinating in the sauce.
Hello cute lady! I bet these little gems made a lot of people happy! Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for being a part of our party. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. We love to party with you! Lou Lou Girls
Holly! Thanks for including a link to me – you are a sweetheart. I LOVE this post and have to try these for sure!!!
I’ve never had a porcupine meatball, but these look AMAZING!! I bet I could even get my meat loving kid to try one