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!
I just got the batches of meat balls out of the oven and I am almost sure they won’t make it to the sauce…the meat balls are sooooo yummy I can’t (and my hubby can’t) help munching them!
I halved the recipe and wish I hadn’t!!! It’s perfect.
if you can find them (or order them), Heinz Spaghetti Hoops are vegan and once i added a tbsp or so of ny to it they were a dead on match for o’s. they’re british and i found them in the ‘world’ section of a meijers grocery store in southeast michigan. of course you’d still have to make your own meatballs to add and they probably arent as healthy as this recipe but they were fantastic and i was really excited to eat spaghetti o’s again!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heinz-Spaghetti-Hoops-Tomato-Sauce/dp/B004TEVM1Y
don’t know whether anyone has already said this, but i made these tonight and found it helpful to dust the mini meatballs with a bit of flour. the first batch stuck to the pan a bit, but the flour helped. just saying!
i should also add, though I KNOW this has already been said, the recipe is amazing.
This is so good! I made it last night and could not stop eating it.
made these are they were amazing! will def use the meatball recipe again for other meals. thank you!
As usual Isa, you are my dairy-free goddess! We’re not strictly vegan (though I wouldn’t call us carnivores, either) but your recipes are always my go-to for my dairy-allergic 7 year-old. It started with the cupcakes (because it would suck to be known as the kid that brought in the crappy birthday cupcakes), then the cookies (I made 25 dozen as wedding favors – yes, 25 dozen in July). Now he can finally taste spaghetti-o’s! The food that sustained all children of working mothers back in our day.
I had a hard time having them make it from the oven to the pasta. So good. Also, do you think they freeze well? I think they would be fantastic defrosted in homemade pasta sauce…
Testing out this bad boy tonight! Can’t wait, I am always tempted to buy the ones at Whole Foods for my daughter (noodle obsessed) but the damn CHEESE in there has to be the worst quality cheese in the universe.
Seriously. Dude. This makes me wish I celebrated 4/20 so that I’d have an excuse to eat the whole freaking pot. The excuse will have to be HOLY COW THESE ARE INCREDIBLE NOMNOM.
I made this for some friends and it went over amazing – will be bringing some to work for a potluck next week.
Also, though a bit intensive with the number of pans and pots, it was a very easy recipe to put together, and nearly impossible to screw up!
My meatballs came out a bit too mushy but I cooked them for about 15 minutes longer and they were fine. Reading the recipe back, I forgot to knead the mixture for two minutes so the gluten probably didn’t have much chance to do its thang. They tasted gooooood, though, and the sauce is possibly one of my new favourite pasta sauces. 🙂
Thanks, Isa!
Hang on, vegans don’t eat meat, dairy, etc., but they do eat babies?!?
Apparantly, that’s what “amanda” did just before posting here on March 29, 2011 at 4:25 pm. “…the little baby that is in my belly….”
just made it… the “meatballs” are fantastic!!!! i’d like to add a bit more heat to the sauce, but overall this was great!!!!:)
HOLY MOLY! I could easily hate you for your sheer genius-ness in the kitchen but I can’t since every recipe that I have made from your books is AMAZING. I decided this would be my Easter dinner (all my family members are carnivores) I almost ate the whole pot after taking a small taste. My niece and nephew were hopping up and down with full satisfied tummies. Thank you doesn’t seem enough for some of us “new” vegans. I bow to your wow!
Wow, thank you!
I made this today (for our Easter dinner!) and it was great! I couldn’t get the cashews to break down with my immersion blender so I pureed the sauce in my Vita-Mix – it came out perfectly smooth and (bonus!) it took on that strange orangey-red color of the real thing! I have a mean anal-retentive streak so I portioned the meatballs with my small Pampered Chef scoop (about 1T) – I ended up with 33 perfect pieces. This is a make-again recipe, although I wouldn’t tackle it on a weeknight – too many dishes. Thank you for this wonderful throw-back to our long-ago childhoods!
Great! I’m so happy this has been an Easter hit!
Simply AMAZING!!! I can’t even remember the last time I had a can of Spaghetti-O’s, but all kinds of great childhood memories flooded my tastebuds when we made these! They are awesome, awesome, awesome and taste very authentic! I’ve only been vegan for a few months now and I am having a great time working my way through your recipes! Thank you so much for sharing this!
I’ve been craving vegan spaghetti os forever! I have never had the meatballs, though, so I might just make plain ol spaghetti-nos 🙂 Thanks!!!
Firstly: this recipe is delicious in the extreme, and thank you! I absolutely loved making and eating it. I used to eat (and love) spaghetti-o’s as a kid (they’re pretty much the mainstay of children to two working parents). Eating them again was equal parts tasty and nostalgic.
However, I did have a bit of a problem with the lentil meatballs: mine pretty much fell apart into crumbles during the frying stage. Instead of being able to roll around, they just stuck squarely to the pan and efforts to shift them tore them apart. Even once I got them in the baking pan they stuck straight to it and I had to manually turn them. Since no one else is having this problem, I’m sure it’s my frying technique that is to blame or an ingredient ratio that I needed to adjust – does anyone have any suggestions? I’ll definitely try the flour dusting recommended by an earlier poster next time, but is it possible to stick these straight in the oven?
By the way, this didn’t affect the seriously delicious taste, and myself + company were in love with the crumbles. I definitely plan on using that recipe for all sorts of other applications.
I wouldn’t just stick them in the oven. I mean, it would be okay, but they really benefit from a quick pan fry. Can I ask what material your spatula and pan were made out of?
I also had problems with the meatballs in my test batch. I did a test batch because the mixture seemed kind of wet. I cooked my own lentils and found them to be pretty wet when I was pureeing them. I added more bread crumbs and more vital wheat gluten until the consistency felt a lot like real meat would feel. If you haven’t felt real meat in a while sorry…my husband is a die hard carnivore. anyhow…they fried up beautifully, crusty on the outside from browning but still as soft as I remember the original meatballs from the can. and yes…my brother and I ate a lot of that stuff growing up. Thanks Isa.
I made these today for my dining coop and they were awesome. My friend who really likes meat and who was disappointed that we weren’t having real meatballs went back for thirds. Thanks!
The pan was stainless steel and I used a metal turner – cast iron instead, maybe?
Yes, stainless steel really doesn’t like panfrying moist things like these meatballs.
As a vegetarian, one thing I miss more than anything is my mom’s meatballs! I know my mom’s meatballs & Spaghetti-Os aren’t a good comparison but any mention of the word “meatballs” gets me hungry! Can’t wait to try this!
Your entry had me laughing! We must be close in age : )
So good! I’m on batch 4 of the lentil balls. This time I used panko breadcrumbs and they were super – and moister too.
I found it easier to pulse the lentils alone in my sadly underpowered 2 cup chopper and then add in the rest of the ingredients.
These are by far the best vegan meatballs i have ever made!!! I made the meatballs alone for a pasta dish I was doing. i made them into the standard size meatball, I got about 10 meatballs. Not only did they taste good and stay firm but they look exactly like the meatballs I used to eat as a kid. This is going to be my new go-to meatball recipe. I have been searching for this type of recipe for a few years now. Thanks Isa for all that you do!
As a couple of folks above mentioned, I may not have kneaded the lentil mix for long enough – my meatballs were not as solid as I had hoped. However, I had always preferred the meat sauce to sauce with meatballs so we improvised, smashed our lentil balls and enjoyed a very thick sauce. Lovely.
I just made the lentil balls since I already had some home made sauce I wanted to use. I thought these were the best meatball substitute I’ve tried so far. The only thing I think I’ll do a little differently next time is add at least another garlic clove (love garlic!) and maybe a bit of dried oregano. The seasoned crumbs I used were lacking a bit of flavor. All in all though, I can’t wait to make these again.
As a new vegan I just discovered your blog and absolutely love it! Former 14 year old goth! YES!
I also had the problems with the too mushy meatballs, i solved it by adding simply a handful of UNCOOKEd yellow lentils, and a tiny bit of flour. It turned out extremely nice, as the raw lentils will moisten during the baking time. AND they mke the meatballs somewhat more “al dente” 🙂
Awesome! Thanks..
Although this didn’t taste like Spaghetti-O’s to me, it was pretty good. I think the sauce was good/fine before the cashews. I too ended up with meatballs that fried just fine, but then turned to crumbles (after oven) mixed in. I did find that my meatballs stuck at first b/c the pan was too hot. Husband said it tastes more like Beefaroni.
Of course this taste amazing, but my meatballs were kind of ‘soft’ … not really firm. I used dried lentil that I cooked. What should I do next time to have firmer meatballs??
I had a moment of pure bliss last night – I was grumpy, wanted dinner, and remembered I had a container of these in the freezer. YUM!
I’m going to make a big batch of the sauce and freeze in portions for future de-grumpifying.
So very good. Thank you Isa, for another great recipe. Glad I didn’t half it, I would be sad if we didn’t have plenty of leftovers. I used whole wheat tiny elbow pasta whole foods brand. Perfect!
Will definitely make again, with some tweaking- the meatballs survived the pan fry stage, emerged beautifully intact, firm and delicious after the baking. I threw them into the sauce for 5 minutes to warm through and they completely disintegrated-not into a bolognese like texture, more like the paste we used in first grade for our art projects. The taste was amazing, tho. Will also soak cashews for more than 1 hour, as this wasn’t enough to enable a thoroughly smooth blending.
If preschoolers were allowed to vote for president, I think you’d have a couple of write-in votes after today! My 4 and 5 year old sons wanted me to make this recipe for lunch today, minus the meatballs (5 year old is grossed out by even fake meats). They LOVED them and I love that you made it possible for them to have junk food without the junk!
Is there anyway to make this gluten-free – the lentil meatballs that is? Is there something I could replace the vita wheat gluten flour with? I really want to make this! THANKS!
Oh my goodness! This pasta and these lentil balls are everything to me! They are soooo good and remind me of my youth. Everything worked out perfectly. I used my vitamix for all of the chopping and pureeing because I don’t have a food processor. The lentil balls held together perfectly. I’m in awe! These were so easy!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I just ordered your cookbook.
Well that is a glowing review if ever there was one! Thank you!!!
This is so good! I was asked (begged) to put this in “regular rotation”. The lentil meatballs are incredible. Had to stop myself from popping them into my mouth like some kind of savoury snack. We had this with crispy romaine leaves tossed with the AFR Green Goddess dressing and it was a fabulous combination. Mmmmmm.