Serves 8 to 10
Total time: 1 hour || Active time: 1 hour (Maybe longer the first time you make it)
My palate has a great memory. If it’s something like my mom’s birthday or paying rent I’m guaranteed to forget, but a slice of pizza I had during the Clinton administration will linger forever. And so it is with Spaghetti-os and our sordid history. Children, cover your eyes, this recipe will reveal quite a few things:
I don’t mind a couple of short cut ingredients when they get the job done.
I’m not above ordering food on the internet.
I was a juvenile delinquent.
I should have a job at the national vegan council for naming things.
As a 14 year old goth in the age before cellphones, my friends and I would do that thing of staying up all night being idiots, hanging out on the beach or at the park or whatever (I swear it was mostly innocent.) Since we told our moms we were sleeping at each other’s houses, we couldn’t really go home until it was light out. So we’d go the corner store and pop a couple of Spaghetti-O cans for breakfast, thanks to that easy pull-off lid. We’d pretty much sit on the street, black eyeliner streaming down our faces, ripped fishnets ripping even more, getting Spaghetti-o sauce all over our Salvation Army velvet dresses while we waited for the sun to rise. And, seriously, for shame, those Spaghetti-Os were good.
Sort of mushy rings of pasta swimming in a sweet, cheesy sauce tomato sauce. And don’t forget the meatballs! Chewy orbs that made you want to keep biting into them, even though you didn’t exactly know why – it could have been voodoo or MSG. I had two basic strategies for extending their little meatball lives – slicing them in half or saving them for the end. You totally won if your last bite was a meatball.
Well, sometimes my palate hits me with a strange craving, and I don’t know if Sisters Of Mercy popped up on VH1 classics or what, but I had a nagging for vegan Spaghetti-os. The first order of business was to see if the O-shaped pasta could be found, which brought me to the Wikipedia list of pastas and eventually to Amazon where I purchased three bags of Anellini.
I thought that the meatballs would work well with either tempeh or lentils (of course I had to ask Twitter first), but since I was out of tempeh, that answered that. And because I wanted mushy, but not TOO mushy, I added a little bit of vital wheat gluten. To make them addictive, some seasoned breadcrumbs and, since it’s like catnip for vegans, a touch of nutritional yeast.
The sauce was made velvety and cheesy with some cashews and nutritional yeast, but not too much. Instead of high fructose corn syrup, a bit of brown sugar caramelized with the onions gives the sauce a satisfying sweetness and cuts the bitterness of canned tomatoes. I also used crushed tomatoes with basil, for another dimension of sweetness.
The end result hit all the right notes for me. The lentils ended up being the perfect choice for the chewy texture I wanted and their naturally meaty made for excellent meatballs. I really think kids of all ages will dig this. What kid won’t want to eat something called Spaghetti-Nos? And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I’m pretty sure they taste better than their inspiration. Maybe I didn’t run outside and sit on the sidewalk to eat them, but I did wear a lot of black eyeshadow that evening. Coincidence?
Recipe notes:
~If you can’t find seasoned store bought breadcrumbs for the meatballs, add a pinch each of basil, oregano and thyme. Homemade bread crumbs won’t work as well (too soft), but cracker crumbs might fare a bit better if you must.
~If you can’t find crushed tomatoes with basil, just use a pinch or two of dried basil.
~If you don’t have a food processor, you can still get the job done (although you’ll need some sort of blender for the sauce.) Just get the onion grated and mash the lentils into a puree. If you warm them up a bit first they’ll mush up a lot easier.
~To soak cashews, just submerge them in water for at least an hour and up to overnight. This softens them up and enables them to get really creamy.
~The recipe makes a lot! Feel free to halve it. And if you’re short on time, just make the pasta or make the meatballs with regular sauce on regular pasta. It’s fun to do the whole shebang, but all of the elements would be good solo players as well.
~Lastly, while it isn’t difficult, this recipe does use quite a few pots and pans, so consider yourself warned! For time management purposes, start the sauce first and once it’s simmering, begin the meatballs. That should get everything done within an hour.
For the Cheesy Tomato Sauce:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 24 oz. cans crushed tomato with basil
1/4 cup cashews, soaked (see note)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
For the Mini Meatballs:
1 clove garlic
1 small onion, peeled (tangerine sized or equivalent)
1 1/2 cups cooked green or brown lentils, rinsed, drained (a 15 oz can is fine)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten flour
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup seasoned store-bought breadcrumbs
For everything else:
1 lb anellini pasta (or small pasta of your choice)
Olive oil for pan frying
To make the sauce:
Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Sautee onions in olive oil with a pinch of salt until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic about a minute more, then mix in the black pepper, oregano, salt and brown sugar. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the sugar is melted. Add the tomato sauce, cashews and nutritional yeast, cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
Now puree the sauce until smooth. It’s easiest to use an immersion blender. You can also use a blender or food processor, blending in batches. Once it’s smooth, keep warm in the pot until ready to use.
To make the mini meatballs:
We’re going to use the food processor fit with a metal S blade for most of the work here, so it should come together pretty quickly. First toss in the garlic and pulse until finely chopped. Now add the onion and pulse until minced. You don’t want any big pieces or they will ruin the texture of the meatball.
With a plastic spatula, transfer the onion/garlic mixture to a mixing bowl and set aside. It’s okay if some remnants are left, just try to get most of it.
Now in the food processor, pulse the lentils, nutritional yeast, wheat gluten, soy sauce, tomato paste, olive oil and water. Once everything gets mixed well, puree them until totally smooth, scraping down the sides to make sure you get everything.
Combine this mixture with the onion mixture and add in the breadcrumbs. Mix really well with your hands for about 2 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Roll the meatballs into cherry sized balls, I got 32 meatballs out of this. This goes very fast if you keep your hands clean and dry (I was averaging one meat ball every 10 seconds.) Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and pour in a thin layer of olive oil. You don’t want to crowd the pan, so pan fry in two batches. You should be able to tilt the pan and have all the meatballs roll around and get coated in oil, cooking until browned (no more than 5 minutes.)
Transfer first batch to a baking pan, cook the second batch, and transfer all meatballs to the baking pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, shaking the pan every once in awhile to toss the balls so that they cook evenly.
To assemble:
Boil the pasta while the meatballs are cooking. Drain pasta, and add to the sauce. When meatballs are ready, add them to the sauce as well. Toss carefully with a wooden spoon, being careful not to break the meatballs. Serve!
Absolutely brilliant. Seriously. This is going on the “to make” list. 😀
I love you so much for sharing this! I can’t wait to make these for my son.
Isa, I gots mad love for you. This is getting in my belly SOON.
I cannot wait to make this. I have been craving vegan Spaghetti Os for 15 years. THANK YOU!
This looks so super good, and the miniballz are too cute for words! What brand of breadcrumbs did you use? I can never find vegan ones (except for that one brand that are huge and chunky). Do you have to order them from one of the online vegan shoppes?
Whole Foods brand breadcrumbs are awesome. I’ve found other vegan ones and I can’t recall the brands, but you’re right, it can be tough. You know what also works really well? If you can find vegan stuffing mix. It turns into magic in the food processor. I believe Pepperidge Farm makes one.
Can’t wait to try this!!!!! Thanks so much for your creative culinary expertise!!!
LOL @ catnip for vegans! Too true.
I think i love you.
Yep, that catnip for vegans line made me spew water all over my keyboard. That’s so true! My cats also like nooch….so it may also be like catnip for cats. I’m soooo making this btw. I lived on cold cans of Spaghetti-O’s in college,
You are brilliant! If I weren’t too lazy to go pick up some ingredients right now, I’d make it tonight.
Also, laughed out loud at “catnip for vegans.” So glad to know it’s not just me!
This sounds so good. Funnily enough, I have tempeh on hand rather than lentils–would you imagine I could sub using the same method?
Hmmm. I would steam the tempeh first and then grate it. The moisture content will be different so you might have to add a bit more water to make everything hold together. Let me know how it goes!
I just made the lentil meatballs (had everything on hand!) without a food processor and they were still dynamite! I should have simmered my lentils longer so they would fall apart more, but even with some chunky pieces they have great texture. I made my own sauce recipe, but added nooch while it was simmering to get a bit of cheesy flavor going on.
So looking forward to assembling the whole dish for dinner!
You did NOT. This is awesome.
YOM. Very excited to try this soon! I’ve got Mac ‘n’ Shews on the plan for tomorrow…
Anybody have any replacement suggestions for the vital wheat gluten? My wife is vegan and gluten intolorant
I would try some extra GF breadcrumbs. It will be a little mushier but still good, I think.
yay. these look exciting. i also love the name!
Instead of meatballs why not call them neatballs?
I’ve never had spaghetti Os but these look adorable and yummy! I bet my 2 year old will love this… and maybe me too 🙂
O.M.G. I LOVE spaghetti-o’s and those awful canned raviolis too. I think they are so good because they are just so awful for you. Will have to try this…very very soon
Oh, and the little baby that is in my belly thanks you in advance for this recipe. He/she would never have been able to experience spaghetti-o’s were it not for this recipe!!!
Thank you SO much for this incredible recipe. I tried it out last night, and it was SO good. Maybe too good…I ate almost all of it in one sitting. I forgot how much I loved Zoodles back in the day, and this really fixes that craving. Two thumbs up!
Vegan meatballs! That’s awesome…thanks for making a healthy version…I have to agree with Amanda…haha, I like the canned versions too. Bad me.
i was too lazy to make meatballs so i just used lentils by themselves. still awesome! the sauce was delicious!!
Can I use panko bread crumbs and italian seasoning mixed together for the seasoned bread crumbs?
Yes but they are too course as is, pulse them into finer crumbs first.
Hate to say this, but a sub for lentils? I have IBS and I am scared of beans sometimes. Though, this recipe might make me try lentils for the first time!
I made this yesterday…it is sooooo good! Is there nutritional info available on this recipe?
this looks so good. i’m beginning to feel left out of recent vegan culinary movements by being allergic to nuts, though. 🙁
@Heather – you can enter all the ingredients on livestrong.com and it will give you nutritional info.
Thanks Amanda!! 🙂
I related a little too much to this post. 🙂
OMG you were reading my mind. I was JUST asking my teacher’s aide the other day if she thought spaghettios (the non-meatball kind, obviously) and googled it because I had an uber-craving for them out of the blue. I MUST try this! 🙂
* meant to say “I was JUST asking my teacher’s aide the other day if she thought spaghettios (the non-meatball kind, obviously) were vegan and googled it…” Ooops, I have to remember to edit….
I love all your recipes; you really make the whole vegan thing accessible and fun. As for that job in the vegan council of naming things, it should totally be yours, I agree.
We’re making this tonight…for the second time. Tonight we’re doing a double batch. Thank you so much, we really needed comfort food this week. This really hit the spot!
Whoa you guys are serious, twice in a week!
These meatballs rule! We used them to make meatball sandwiches. SO GOOD! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
This is the bomb-diggety. Love it! Thanks so much!
This is sooooo good!! I just made it today and I am still enjoying the batch! I didn’t have any of the recommended pasta so I took whole wheat spaghetti noodles and broke them into small pieces, worked out well although I wish it had that authentic look that the round does.
Either way–AMAZING! Definitely going into my recipe file.
I made it with Alphabet pasta for that Alpha-getti feel. Awesome! The flavour really takes me back and it made a huge batch. I’ll be eating it for a week.
Thanks for putting this recipe together, Isa. I think I may be in love with you…. 🙂
Oh my goodness. I grew up on chef boyardee. Hadn’t occurred to me to miss it but this recipe is so good! Made it last night, eating it now for lunch and it is crazy how much it tastes like the stuff from the can! And I mean that in the best possible way. Delicious.
Yeah, you don’t *always* wanna be told that your food came from a can, but in this case it’s ok!
well i made this beautiful dish, fan-freekin’-tastic, brought the leftovers to work today and got the usual comments. 10 seconds after the taste challenge the nay-sayers wanted more. HA! <3
my whole family loved this, thanks! I was surprised at the huge output given that a pound of pasta normally doesn’t take us that far but this is super-saucy. YUM.
You must have so much fun in the kitchen
I made this tonight! ever since it was posted I had it on the “to make” list. My favorite part was the little noodles and the sauce together. Very reminiscent of what my mom would put into a thermos and give me to bring for lunch in 1st grade. I used ditalini, so they were like cylinders more than Os but still awesome. The meatballs were awesome. I think I made them a little smaller, I was aiming to get them the size of the actual canned meatballs in spaghettios, so I got about 100 meatballs :). it was a good time nonetheless.. mini meatballs are way cute. Thanks for the great idea!!
I find the “ethnic” food aisle is a good place to find accidentally vegan stuff, especially the Kosher foods. I buy Kosher breadcrumbs at the supermarket since all their regular breadcrumbs have dairy. Even the “gourmet” stuff!
Trader Joe’s breadcrumbs are vegan too. I stock up on them (and their panko breadcrumbs) when they’re in stock!
I tried making lentil meatballs just the other day and they came out waaaay too mushy. I see you add vital wheat gluten to this recipe, I’m on a gluten-free diet and I’m wondering if there is an acceptable substitute or should I omit it all together? (I’ll be substituting the pasta and breadcrumbs with GF options). Thanks!!
I would just add extra GF breadcrumbs.
recipe online 10 days and now requested at at a meat-eaters ‘family ‘do’ in dairy heaven New Zealand (that’s how we get 50% of our overseas $$). SCORE!
Do you think I could use red lentils in this recipe?
Nope, too mushy.
Meatballs came out a little mushy for me, but my onion was super juicy so I’m wondering if that was the problem. Think I would add more breadcrumb next time if I found my onions that juicy again. However, the flavour is kick ass and I will use the meatballs for other applications, too. Amazing!
This is so adorable! I wish there were young kids in my family so I could invite them over and make a big batch to share. XD I may have to round up some friends of the family instead!