Vegan, Gluten Free Tofu Meatballs with Crabapple Sauce - Cheaper than Meat! + Meatless Monday

Free of dairy, eggs, gluten, nuts, corn

Crabapple or Crab Apple? I'm never really sure. Either way, this crabapple sauce and these vegan, GF meatballs are surprisingly amaze-balls. (The only thing cheesy here is that sentence).

These vegan, gluten free tofu meatballs in Crab Apple Sauce were really born  out of desperation. Since we moved back home to BC, we've been entertaining people in our new apartment a couple of times a week. It's been great to finally invite family and friends to our place after 3 years of living elsewhere. 

But entertaining can be expensive. Tofu, on the other hand, is relatively cheap.

 
I was facing several challenges, vegetarians, food allergies, my unwillingness to make yet another trip to the grocery store... Necessity is the mother of invention, and man did this invention turn out surprisingly AWESOME! So awesome that I made it three times in two weeks for three different sets of dinner guests.


The first time I made these I used an egg and tomato sauce for vegetarian (not vegan) dinner guests. But I figured the second time I could do one better and make them vegan.

Also, the second time, I had to make a meatball sauce for someone who was allergic to tomatoes, onions, and chicken. I'd asked some of you on Facebook for ideas, and you came up with great suggestions! Gravy, bar-b-que sauces, cream sauce, etc. But none of these were going to work given the restrictions I was facing with the onions and my aversion to another shopping trip.

Luckily, I had several jars of crabapple jelly that didn't set and were sitting in the closet, waiting for me to remake it. So I thought, crabapple sauce could be kind of like plum sauce, right??

So these vegan, gluten free faux meatballs in crabapple sauce was born.Thank goodness I made a double batch, because by the time dinner was over there were hardly any meatballs left!

As for the cost - organic tofu is about $2-3 per package (this recipe calls for 2, so $4-6 for the main ingredient here). Organic chicken, turkey, or beef on the other hand is like $8, and you won't get as many meatballs. Plus, if you're only cooking for a couple of people, you can definitely half this recipe, and it'll only cost a couple of bucks!


Ingredients for Gluten Free, Vegan Tofu Meatballs (makes about 60 balls)

• 2 packages (349g / 12.3 oz) firm or extra firm organic tofu
• optional - ¼ cup diced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 5 Tbsp warm water
• ¼ cup gluten free bread crumbs or 2 pieces of GF bread, toasted well and crumbled
• ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
• pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 cup white rice flour (plus 1/2 - 1 cup more for dusting)
• Oil for frying

 Directions:

1. Drain tofu by wrapping in a clean dish towel on a plate. Place a heavy plate on top and let sit 20-30 minutes to drain.

2. In a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth. This will look like a smooth paste, and will be goopier than regular meatballs. Don't worry. See the photos below.

3. To shape tofu balls, add 1/2 c white rice flour to a bowl. Scoop up about 1 Tablespoon worth with a spoon, then slide off with the back of another spoon. Using the spoons, roll the batter through the flour and form into a ball. Set aside on a plate. Continue to finish all the batter (I have to fry these in two batches. It's a bit time consuming, but I prep the 2nd batch while the first one is frying)

4. Heat a large pan with a Tablespoon or two in an electric skillet over medium heat. Add balls, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and fry on one side until browned. Turn balls, cover, and fry until the other side is browned. 

You may want to turn these around a couple of times to brown along the sides. (See below images). Continue until all the balls are cooked.

Top with sauce of choice, or follow directions below for Crab Apple Sauce! If you have crabapple jelly, or any other type of jelly, this recipe works great.

Goopy looking batter. Don't worry. 

Shaping goopy balls. Coat with rice flour.

They look white. Don't worry. That will change.

Fried tofu balls turn golden brown in the pan!

 

Ingredients for Crabapple Sauce:

• 1 x 250mL jar crabapple jelly (or in my case, crabapple "juice" from unset jelly) or about 1 1/2 cup fruit jelly
• 2 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized pot over low heat, heat all ingredients. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over meatballs and heat together.

Serve over rice or as a side dish.

Do you have an unusual meatball (or faux meatball) sauce? 

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This post was shared on the following great link parties: Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Healthy, Happy, Green and Natural Party,