These Vegetarian Spinach Feta Meatballs are meaty and filling! They’re perfect served over pasta as a healthy meatless dinner..
“Don’t believe everything you read on the internet! Here’s Izy Hossack from London speaking to me on the A Couple Cooks podcast. She’s a nutrition student and we talked about the amount of misinformation about health. This is true! What constitutes a healthy meal is hotly contested here on the World Wide Web. Here’s a healthy meal that supports Izy: these veggie spinach meatballs! They’re moist, meaty, and taste amazing when served over pasta. Read on for the recipe and a little more about Izy and her book!
What is a healthy meal?
Izy is studying nutrition and her goal is to stop the spread of misinformation by debunking health myths. Health craze can spread like wildfire across the internet, from cleansing juices to protein powders to collagen. (She debunks some of these in the podcast!)
What is his philosophy about a healthy meal? A sensible, balanced diet made from real, whole foods. Lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats like olive oil. Basically the Mediterranean diet – like these Spinach Meatballs! This is not a sexy message. It’s not worth clickbait. But after all their schooling, real, whole foods triumph as the most sane foods on the planet.
About the book: The Wise Cook
Izy’s latest cookbook, The wise cook, is all about this health philosophy. Her recipes use accessible, everyday ingredients to create something delicious and unforgettable. It’s packed with ideas for healthy dinners, quick snacks and sassy desserts (I love these Brits!). There’s even a chapter on easy-to-customize meal “templates.” There are tips on how to reuse leftovers from these recipes in the weeks to come. And everything is written by a student, so the meals should be doable for the student lifestyle!
Tips for making Spinach Meatballs!
This vegetarian Spinach Meatballs recipe is a fantastic example of healthy, wholesome eating. They are made with spinach and feta and are unlike any other veggie meatballs I’ve tried! Most of the veggie meatballs Alex and I have tried contain legumes like chickpeas or lentils (like these veggie meatballs or the vegan ones). But it’s spinach, feta, eggs, oatmeal, and dried herbs. Taste good? Incredibly good, tasty and almost meaty.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when making these Spinach Meatballs:
- They can be baked or fried. We preferred the slightly better cooked version. It’s easier and the balls keep their round shape. Pan frying is faster but a little more moody.
- The method of preparing spaghetti is so delicious! The noodles are prepared using a unique method: they are combined with grated zucchini, butter and soy sauce (or tamari). This gives the recipe an even tastier, almost cheesy flavor.
- Add other vegetables if you like. We added our own twist to Izy’s recipe: cherry tomatoes from our farmer’s market!
Do you have any spinach left? Check out our best spinach recipes!
Other ways to serve spinach meatballs
Now you don’t have to serve them with pasta! There are a few creative ways to reuse these spinach meatballs:
- In a sandwich. Use them like falafel and put them in a pita with crunchy veggies and hummus.
- On a main course salad. Replace them with falafel in ours Falafel Salad Bowl. Use the creamy cilantro dressing in the recipe or this lemon tahini dressing.
order book
Order The Savvy Cook by Izzy Hossack.
This Spinach Meatballs Recipe is…
Vegetarian. For gluten-free pasta, use gluten-free pasta.
The description
Put this vegetarian meatball recipe at the top of your list of healthy dinner ideas! Served over pasta, it’s premium Mediterranean fare.
- 14 ounces baby spinach or 9 ounces frozen spinach, cooked, thawed
- 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 tbsp Mixture of dried herbs
- 1 egg
- ½ cup oatmeal (process ½ cup rolled oats in a food processor or blender) or breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup Olive oil (for cooking, optional)
- 10 ounces dry spaghetti (gluten-free, if needed)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 medium zucchini, grated
- 5 ounces Cherry tomatoes, halved
- Freshly ground pepper
- If you are using fresh baby spinach, place it in a large saucepan with some water. Heat over medium heat and cover with a lid. Cook until tender, 3-5 minutes, then rinse under cold running water. Squeeze the spinach over the sink to remove as much liquid as possible, then roughly chop and set aside. (Tip: Using frozen spinach cuts prep time; we’ll try that next time.)
- In a medium bowl, mix together feta, dried herbs, a generous amount of black pepper, egg, and oatmeal or breadcrumbs. Stir in the chopped spinach, then scoop out heaping tablespoons of the mixture and roll into balls. You should get about 20 balls. You can either place them on a non-stick parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for 20-25 minutes, or brown them over medium-high heat in 2 batches in 2 tablespoons of oil per batch until golden brown. on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes. (Tip: We tried both ways and found the baked version the easiest!)
- Cook noodles, then drain.
- Return the noodles from the heat to the pan, then stir in the butter, soy sauce or tamari, and the shredded zucchini. Mix with the halved cherry tomatoes and serve.
Remarks
Note: If you have leftover veggie meatballs, you can turn them into falafel in a sandwich or salad. Sprinkle with shaved parmesan or vegan parmesan for a fun optional topping!
- Category: main course
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: Mediterranean Sea
Keywords: Recipe for veggie meatballs, veggie meatballs
Looking for Mediterranean cooking recipes?
We are big fans of Mediterranean cuisine (and of course Mediterranean travel!). Here are some Mediterranean cooking recipes we recommend for this summer:
Healthier dinner ideas
Who isn’t looking for healthy meal ideas these days? Some of our best healthy dinner ideas, again with a summery twist:
