Vegan Chickpea Meatball Subs with Basil Pesto Cream are the ultimate summer comfort food. Chickpea meatballs are layered atop a crispy baguette along with marinara, basil pesto cream, and fresh baby greens.
Nice balls. No, really. Nice balls. Balls that are as good for you as they are for the planet. Balls that taste good and do you good!
It’s finally happened. I’ve cracked the meatless meatball sandwich code. These Vegan Chickpea Meatball Subs are going to rock your world.
It’s been a long-simmering idea since enjoying a similar sandwich at a vegan restaurant a couple of years ago. And one sweltering day a few weeks ago, I finally set to work on developing my own recipe. Because, you know, baking meatballs on a hot summer day makes a whole lotta rational sense. 😉
Initially, I had intended on making the meatballs with tempeh. I already have a tempeh meatball recipe, however, and I wanted to create something that all of you soy-free folks would be able to enjoy, too. Enter the humble chickpea.
To be fair, the chickpeas used in this recipe don’t masquerade as meat quite as well as tempeh does, but they result in meatballs that hold together well and are delightful in their own right. If you eat soy and are after a meatier texture, you could always make my tempeh meatballs instead!
The fresh, vibrant pesto cream is the ideal foil to the hearty flavours of the meatballs. You’ll find yourself drizzling leftovers on everything: it’s delicious on wraps, quesadillas, bowls, chips, and can even be used as a creamy salad dressing!
To make the chickpea meatballs, you’ll start by pulsing 3 cups of cooked chickpeas in a food processor. Next, you’ll transfer them to a large bowl and add diced onion, minced garlic, ground flax seed, finely chopped basil and sun-dried tomatoes, Dijon mustard, fine sea salt, ground black pepper, and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Mix everything together, then roll into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
While the meatballs are baking, make the pesto cream by combining soaked cashews, basil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, pure maple syrup, and water in an upright blender.
Towards the end of the baking time, slice a couple of demi baguettes in half, brush each half with extra virgin olive oil, and place in the oven for a couple of minutes to toast.
Warm up some marinara sauce on the stove to spread atop a baguette half.
To assemble, spread marinara sauce on one side of the baguette half, top with meatballs, followed by pesto cream and greens. Top with the other half of baguette and enjoy immediately!
Not a fan of bread? The chickpea meatballs, marinara sauce, and basil pesto cream are also delicious on zucchini noodles, pasta or other cooked grains like brown rice or quinoa, and on top of fresh baby greens!
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Vegan Chickpea Meatball Subs with Basil Pesto Cream
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings, with leftover meatballs 1x
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Vegan Chickpea Meatball Subs with Basil Pesto Cream are the ultimate summer comfort food. Chickpea meatballs are layered atop a crispy baguette along with marinara, basil pesto cream, and fresh baby greens.
Ingredients
Chickpea Meatballs
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 cup homemade bread crumbs*
- Heaping 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 1/4 cup finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pesto Cream
- 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours and drained
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 large lemons)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup filtered water
For assembly:
- 2 cups chunky marinara sauce
- 2 mini/demi baguettes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups baby arugula or other baby greens
Instructions
- Make the chickpea meatballs: Pulse the chickpeas a few times in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade. Be careful not to over-pulse: you want the chickpeas to have some texture.
- Transfer the chickpeas into a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs, onion, garlic, ground flax, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and oil, and stir to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll the chickpea mixture into 12-16 equal balls (12 for large meatballs; 16 for medium-sized meatballs).
- Bake meatballs for 30 minutes, or until browned and crispy on the outside.
- While the chickpea meatballs are baking, make the pesto cream: Place drained cashews, basil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper, maple syrup, and water in the jar of an upright blender (preferably a high speed blender, but if a regular blender is what you have, that’s fine, too). Blend until very smooth and creamy. Transfer to an airtight jar or container until ready to serve.
- Warm up 2 cups marinara sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- When about 5 minutes remain on the meatballs, cut the baguettes in half lengthwise, place face-up on a baking sheet, and brush each half with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil. Place in the oven for about 4 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
- To assemble the sandwiches, spoon desired amount of marinara sauce onto one half of each baguette. Top with 3-4 meatballs (or as many as will fit). Drizzle on desired amount of pesto cream, followed by a handful of mixed greens. Top with the other half of the baguette.
- Each demi baguette sandwich serves 2 people, so this recipe as written serves 4. Feel free to scale up or down depending on the number of people you are serving or the size of everyone’s appetites!
Notes
As written, the sandwiches only require you to use 6-8 meatballs. I’ve intentionally made more meatballs and pesto cream than you will need for the sandwiches so that you can enjoy leftovers in different formats, like on top of zucchini noodles, cooked grains, or greens! Chickpea meatball salad, anyone?!
*To make 1 cup of homemade bread crumbs, cube about 4 thick slices of whole grain sourdough/sprouted grain bread and toast in a 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes. Cool briefly, then transfer to a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade and blend until crumbs form. Measure to ensure that you have 1 cup before adding to the recipe. If you are short on time, you can use store-bought bread crumbs- just check the ingredients to make sure that they are simple and natural, as some can have some nasty additives and preservatives!
Make it nut-free: Replace the cashews in the pesto cream with hemp hearts!
- Category: Dinner, Lunch, Sandwich
- Cuisine: Vegan, Italian
Keywords: Vegan meatball sandwich, pesto cream, chickpea meatballs, Italian vegan
I hope you love these Vegan Chickpea Meatball Subs with Basil Pesto Cream. If you make them, leave a comment below to let us know how you liked them, and post a photo to Instagram using #upbeetkitchen!
Erica
This is a great way to enjoy meatballs without the meat. The recipe was super easy to follow. I loved the texture of the ‘meatballs’, and the pesto cream was superb too.
Allison
Thank you! 🙂