You don’t need meat to make meatballs! These vegetarian Zucchini Meatballs make a delicious meatless meal paired with pasta and your favorite sauce.
Add some zucchini meatballs to your Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe. Or serve them with your favorite Olive Garden salad and garlic bread!
Vegetarian Meatballs
The search for the perfect meatless Monday dinner is over with these Zucchini Meatballs! So here’s what you want to ask me: DO THEY TASTE LIKE MEAT?
No. They don’t. I’ll be honest. But they taste AMAZING. Just as hearty and satisfying as biting into a meaty meatball but with a lighter twist.
In fact, I prefer meatless options that don’t try to imitate the taste of meat. It’s entirely it’s own thing! Pile your Zucchini Meatballs onto a sub or a bowl of pasta and you have a healthier alternative to meat that’s truly delicious.
The texture of these meatballs is wonderful. The breadcrumbs help hold them together, and baking them browns them up slightly. Zucchini meatballs are an easy vegetarian dinner idea that everyone at the table will enjoy.
Ingredient Notes
- Zucchini – Use our guide on how to shred zucchini for best results. We leave the skin on for this recipe, but if you prefer you can peel them first.
- Breadcrumbs – White or whole wheat breadcrumbs (not Panko) work best. For a low carb alternative, substitute ground chickpeas or pork rinds!
- Parmesan cheese
Easy Instructions
Cook Zucchini. The perfect meatless meatballs start like so many good things: sauteeing garlic in olive oil! Add the zucchini to create a tender texture and infuse it with that irresistible garlic flavor.
Most of the moisture will cook out of the zucchini as you saute it but you’ll still need to squeeze the extra water out using a colander or clean towel.
Make “meatball.” Combine the zucchini with the other ingredients for the meatballs, then roll the mixture into balls.
Bake. Place the meatballs on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until firm and lightly browned.
Serve over pasta or Zoodles with a flavorful spaghetti sauce or on a toasted hoagie. Don’t forget the extra cheese on top!
Tips and Tricks
- Do not skip the draining of the zucchini process. Unless, of course, you want soggy meatballs that fall apart!
- For an even browner meatball, you can flip them over after the 20 minutes, and brown them on the other side for an additional ten minutes. The extra baking time will also dry them out even more, giving them a chewier texture. I enjoy them both ways!
- I use a 2 Tablespoon scoop to make my perfect meatballs. Scoop the “meat” then use your hands to press and roll them into a ball. Place them on a foil lined baking sheet.
- Once these are cooked, add your sauce and enjoy warm. OR, let them cool, place them in a freezer safe ziploc bag and freeze until ready to use! Each batch makes about 20 meatballs.
Recipe FAQs
I don’t recommend it as the flavor won’t be nearly as vibrant. The fresh basil adds an amazing dimension to these meatballs.
Yes, swap out the breadcrumbs for a gluten free variety or ground up pork rinds for an easy gluten free option!
No. The cheese and egg in the meatballs make these unsuitable for vegan diets, but they are 100% vegetarian.
More Vegetarian Dishes
Zucchini Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves pressed
- 4 cups shredded zucchini
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- several cranks of black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with non stick foil. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, drizzle olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute. Add in shredded zucchini.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, until most of the water in the skillet has evaporated. Transfer to a colander and press out remaining liquid.
- In a large bowl combine bread crumbs, egg, seasoning, basil, and parmesan cheese. Mix with the zucchini until fully blended.
- Using a 2 Tbsp scoop, form 20 balls, rolling tightly, and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until firm and lightly browned.
- Serve meatballs with your favorite sauce on pasta, zoodles, or a hoagie with cheese! ENJOY!
Notes
- Do not skip the draining of the zucchini process. Unless, of course, you want soggy meatballs that fall apart!
- For an even browner meatball, you can flip them over after the 20 minutes, and brown them on the other side for an additional ten minutes. The extra baking time will also dry them out even more, giving them a chewier texture. I enjoy them both ways!
- I use a 2 Tablespoon scoop to make my perfect meatballs. Scoop the "meat" then use your hands to press and roll them into a ball. Place them on a foil lined baking sheet.
- Once these are cooked, add your sauce and enjoy warm. OR, let them cool, place them in a freezer safe ziploc bag and freeze until ready to use! Each batch makes about 20 meatballs.
Nutrition
Meatless Monday might just become your favorite day of the week when Zucchini Meatballs are on the menu! Whether you eat them with pasta, in a sub sandwich or on their own, these meatballs are heaven for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.
I just made these and they are so so easy and so so yummy!!! I’m vegetarian and I’m going to be making these more often! Thank you for the recipe.
I do not have non stick foil can I use parchment paper or regular foil instead?
Parchment paper would work great!
My whole family loved the zucchini meatballs. Thank you I am adding this to our meal plan.
I make something like this from time to time. I don’t saute the zucchini at first. I simply make sure to wring it out really well.
I need to be very mindful of carbohydrates. Is there an alternative to the breadcrumbs. Thank you.
You can find chickpea crumbs in most large grocery stores or use crushed pork rinds!
I need to be very mindful of carbohydrates. Is there a substitute for the breadcrumbs?
I watch my carbohydrates as well and I used Parmesan cheese in place of the bread crumbs and it turned out yummy
I made these today and they are delicious! I didn’t have enough zucchini so I used a zucchini/carrot combo, added nutritional yeast to the mixture, and I drizzled more olive oil onto the balls at the 10 minute mark during baking. I’m trying to sway my family towards a vegetarian diet and these definitely helped- amazing reviews by all.
So happy to hear it! be sure to try the “greek” version of these as well with the homemade tzatziki. SO GOOD.
I was wondering if nutritional yeast could be used in place of parm cheese to make vegan
I have not tried that! but if you do, let me know how it turns out 🙂
The zucchini meat balls where delicious. I used nutritional yeast instead of cheese to bake the vegetables meatballs.
Nutritional yeast is a great addition!
Used egg replacement ( aquafaba ), 3 in total, and baked a little longer. A dash of hot sauce and maybe 1/2 tsp onion powder. Great!
They were so good, much easier to make. Thanks for the recipe. Going to make sure this recipe is in my cook book…
Made these today and they are delicious. We are whole food plant based so I made a flax egg and used nutritional yeast. Thank you for the great recipe. Zucchini is so good and it’s terrific to have another way to use it.
great tips, thank you 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
They were delicious. I did change things a bit. Added an onion, added fresh basil, oregano, chives and parsley and some crumbled feta. Am making another batch tomorrow. I have an abundance of zucchini’s in my garden at the moment.
TI will love it I will try this soon
Can I use squash too? I only have 1 zucchini on hand ☹️
I’ve been looking forward to seeing this recipe. I have a garden full of zucchini, so it’s much appreciated. I wonder if the uncooked “meatballs” will freeze well. I’m going to give it a try…wish me luck!
Yay, so glad! My only concern with freezing BEFORE cooking would be the zucchini might get too soggy (if you’ve ever frozen shredded zucchini you’ll know what I’m talking about 🙂 ). However, freezing these AFTER baking is totally doable, and delicious! THAT I’ve tried for myself 🙂
Can egg be skipped to make it real vegetarian?
Many vegetarians eat egg…but if you prefer to leave it out, feel free! You may need to add a splash of water to help bind it together.
I didn’t realize you were going vegetarian! These look delicious and I’m sure are making the change much easier 🙂
So far it hasn’t been too hard, but thinking about Thanksgiving with no turkey??? Not sure what to do about that, LOL
Looking forward to making this variation of how I have been using up my zucchini. Did you use fresh or dry bread crumbs?
I used dry because I was afraid fresh would add too much moisture (and the zuccchini already has extra moisture). I would say if your fresh breadcrumbs are pretty moist (ie FRESH), maybe leave out the egg? Let me know if you try it!
I think it’s awesome you’ve taken the vegetarian leap! Congrats! It’s wonderful to hear you feel great, too! 🙂
Awww thanks! We’ll see what happens when it comes to Thanksgiving?????? No turkey, LOL