Cheesy Vegan Spinach Rice Balls

Cheesy vegan spinach rice balls are an inspired take on arancini, a traditional Italian dish typically made with lots of cheese and fried. Easy to prepare and very comforting, these spinach rice balls make a delicious appetizer or side dish with marinara sauce. 

Happy Monday! Hoping you had a great weekend doing whatever nourishes you. For me, that was our weekly family dinner on Saturday (we made my Maple Tamari Tempeh Soba Noodle Bowls for dinner, and vegan chocolate upside down cake from The Oh She Glows Cookbook with Coconut Bliss and toasted walnuts for dessert), and a great upper body workout (Upper Body Elite from the “Asylum: Volume 2” program) on Sunday. This weekend is usually when the Canada Army Run races take place in Ottawa, and it’s brought up a whole bunch of good memories of two times that I ran the half marathon- once in 2011 and again in 2018. Covid has made me reflect upon all the little things that added value to my life, and training for and running races ranks up there as one of the things I miss the most. 

I’m one week in to a 30 km race training program, albeit without a real race at the end of the 16-week period. Rather, I am going to map out and run 30 km around Ottawa on January 4th, 2021. As a goal-oriented person, I have been feeling a bit lost without anything to train for, so this has given me a renewed sense of purpose! 

My mom used to cook from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks regularly when I was younger, and one of the recipes that even a picky young me adored was the arancini (Italian rice balls). It was a classic version, with egg, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, herbs, and rice, and pan-fried. I have nothing against any of those ingredients. However, my mission at Up Beet Kitchen is to create healthier and more ethical versions of classic comfort food recipes, so I decided to develop an inspired take on arancini with totally healthy ingredients such as cashew parmesan, spinach, and brown rice. These vegan spinach rice balls are hearty, satisfying, flavourful, fairly easy to make, and oven-baked instead of fried. I always find any kind of frying–pan-frying or deep-frying–to be a bit messy and anxiety-inducing, what with having to worry about the hot oil, so I was happy that an oven-baked version of these balls turned out just fine! 

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

• Spinach, onion, garlic, olive oil, cooked brown rice, vegan parmesan, fresh parsley or basil, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper, chili flakes, and ground flax. Plus, marinara sauce or cashew cream sauce for serving. 

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the chopped spinach in the food processor and pulse several times until very finely minced. Work in two batches. Transfer the minced spinach to a large mixing bowl and add the cooked brown rice and parmesan. 
2. Warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste and chili flakes. Add the cooked onion and garlic to the mixing bowl. 
3. Add the chopped herbs, lemon juice, and ground flax to the bowl. Stir well to combine everything. Taste and season with additional salt or pepper if desired. They should hold together when you firmly press a handful into a ball. If, for some reason, they are not sticking together, add two more tablespoons of ground flax. 
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
5. Form the mixture into balls and place on the baking sheet. The size is up to you. I went with a size slightly larger than a golf ball. 
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crispy on the outside and fragrant. 
7. Serve with warm marinara sauce, cashew cream sauce, and additional cashew parmesan. 

WHAT TO SERVE THEM WITH

• I like them with Avocado Kale Caesar Salad and Crispy Baked Tofu! They would also be good in place of the simple brown rice in these Mediterranean Lentil Bowls if you’re in the mood for something fancier. Or serve them with Mediterranean Tofu Scramble! 

A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS

• This recipe calls for cooked brown rice, so you’ll need to cook rice beforehand! 
• This recipe calls for vegan parmesan, so you’ll want to make that beforehand as well. 
• For a nut-free version, make the parmesan with sunflower seeds instead of cashews. 
• For a fun variation, use cooked quinoa instead of cooked brown rice. 

I hope you love these cheesy vegan spinach rice balls! If you make them, let me know how you enjoyed them by leaving a comment and rating below. And if you post a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. 

Enjoy! 

Cheesy Vegan Spinach Rice Balls

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• Author: Allison
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 16-20 balls 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Incredibly healthy, flavourful, easy to make vegan spinach rice balls- an inspired take on traditional Italian arancini!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ½ tsp chili flakes
• 3 cups cooked short grain brown rice (from 1 cup dry brown rice)*
• 1 cup vegan parmesan**
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley or basil
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp ground flax, or more as needed

FOR SERVING

• Marinara sauce, warmed
• Cashew Basil Pesto Cream (optional)
• Additional vegan parmesan
• Chopped fresh herbs

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Instructions

1. Place the chopped spinach in the food processor and pulse several times until very finely minced. Work in two batches. Transfer the minced spinach to a large mixing bowl and add the cooked brown rice and parmesan.
2. Warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste and chili flakes. Add the cooked onion and garlic to the mixing bowl.
3. Add the chopped herbs, lemon juice, and ground flax to the bowl. Stir well to combine everything. Taste and season with additional salt or pepper if desired. They should hold together when you firmly press a handful into a ball. If, for some reason, they are not sticking together, add two more tablespoons of ground flax.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Form the mixture into balls and place on the baking sheet. The size is up to you. I went with a size slightly larger than a golf ball.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crispy on the outside and fragrant.
7. Serve with warm marinara sauce, cashew cream sauce, and additional cashew parmesan.

Notes

*To cook 1 cup dry brown rice, combine rice with 1 ¾ cups of water in a medium saucepan. Add a pinch of sea salt and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low, stir, and cover. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Short grain brown rice works best for this recipe, since it is stickier than long grain or basmati brown rice.

**The parmesan can really be made with any nuts or seeds you like. Try almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, etc. if you don’t have hemp and cashews.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: Lunch, Supper, Appetizer, Side Dish
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keywords: vegan spinach rice balls