These Spring Vegetable and Meatless Meatball Bowls are hearty, delicious, and filling! They’re loaded with veggies, quinoa, meatless meatballs, and topped with fresh pesto.
This post has been sponsored by Gardein and Earth Balance products. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
These Spring Vegetable Bowls are perfect for this time of year, when you really want to eat spring produce, but it’s also a little cold outside and you crave comfort food. If that’s you, I got you covered!
My Meatless Meatball Adventure
Let’s talk about grocery shopping with a small, unpredictable toddler. Some days, Eli is amazing at the grocery store. He charms everyone we pass by, waving and smiling at them, and I feel so proud. Other days, he cries and squirms the entire time, and I want to pretend we aren’t related. 🙂
Recently, he’s been getting a few new teeth, and he hasn’t been the best shopping partner at the grocery store. My goal is to get in and out as fast I can and if the first store I go to doesn’t have an ingredient, it’s getting cut from the recipe.
I went to Whole Foods a few days ago to buy the ingredients for these Spring Vegetable and Meatless Meatball Bowls, and I tried to get my stuff as fast as I could. I made my way to the frozen food aisle for my favorite Gardein™ Meatless Meatballs and sure enough, they were completely out.
I died inside for a second, thinking I’d have to make these some other time because I was not going to another grocery store. Then, all of a sudden, an amazing woman appeared out of nowhere with boxes upon boxes of frozen food to stock. And, sure enough, she had a big box of these meatless meatballs on her cart! She had to spend a few minutes digging for them, but she didn’t mind at all because she knew that I was in a hurry. I literally could have hugged her! Major points for Whole Foods!
I was able to get my Gardein Meatless Meatballs, Earth Balance Buttery Spread, and all my veggies, and come home and make these delicious bowls! You can find your local Whole Foods here, and use this coupon to save!
Although I’m a vegetarian, my husband isn’t. But over the past year, I’ve gotten him to eat so many more vegetarian meals, and it makes me happy. He especially loves these meatless meatballs, so we eat a lot of them around here. They have such great texture and flavor that I’m certain he doesn’t miss the regular ones at all. This makes it easier to choose plant-based food without giving up taste, convenience, or quality. 🙂
Meatless Meatball Bowls with Pesto Bowls Recipe Ingredients
- Vegetables – I used broccoli florets, carrots, snap peas, and bell pepper.
- Earth Balance Buttery Spread – I’ve been using Earth Balance for many years now, and even though I’m not completely dairy-free, I always use Earth Balance instead of butter. You can substitute it 1-for-1 in any recipe that calls for butter, and it tastes great! It gives these roasted veggies a nice, rich taste that makes them a little more special than usual. 🙂
- Salt and pepper
- Dried quinoa
- Herbs – Go with the chopped fresh herbs you prefer; I used parsley.
- Gardein’s Classic Meatless Meatballs
- Pesto sauce – You can use store-bought or the recipe below for my Spinach Mint Pesto.
- Spinach Mint Pesto – Baby spinach leaves, fresh mint leaves, chopped walnuts (or your favorite nut), nutritional yeast, lime juice, minced garlic, salt, and olive oil.
How To Make This Spring Vegetables and Meatless Meatball Recipe
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place all the diced veggies on a large baking sheet and toss with the melted Earth Balance, salt, and pepper. Roast the veggies until they are fork-tender, 30-40 minutes, flipping them once.
- Rinse quinoa and add it to a medium-sized pot with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook quinoa until tender, 10-12 minutes. Let quinoa cool and then mix in chopped herbs. You could also add some salt, to taste, if desired.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and spray with cooking spray, or use 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook until they are browned and warmed through, 7-10 minutes.
- If using homemade pesto, add all pesto ingredients to a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.
- Assemble bowls: to each bowl add 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/4 of the roasted veggies, 3 meatballs, and about 1/4 cup of pesto. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, if desired.
These Spring Vegetable and Meatless Meatball Bowls with Pesto are great for a quick and easy dinner or a healthier meal prep lunch! The roasted broccoli doesn’t last quite as long as my usual meal prep lunches, but they’re great for taking 2 days in a row. I hope you enjoy!
Be sure to utilize these savings during your next visit to Whole Foods for the Gardein Meatless Meatballs and Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread → https://ibotta.com/rebates?q=GardeinEarthBalance
Have a question about this recipe? Ask me in the comments, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Looking For More Meatless Meat Recipes?
Vegetarian Meatball Subs with Vegetables
Spicy Baked Pasta with Vegetarian Meatballs
Easy Vegan Meatloaf with Lentils and Chickpeas
Vegan Taco Meat with Tofu and Walnuts
Spring Vegetable and Meatless Meatball Bowls with Pesto
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Vegetarian Meatball Enchilada Bake
See Exactly How I Make This Dish Below
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Spring Vegetable and Meatless Meatball Bowls with Pesto
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This hearty and filling bowls are packed with roasted spring veggies, vegetarian meatballs and pesto!
Ingredients
- 2 cups small broccoli florets
- 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
- 2 cups sugar snap peas, cut in half
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 2 teaspoons Earth Balance Buttery Spread, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup dried quinoa
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, I used parsley
- 1 bag Gardein’s Classic Meatless Meatballs
- 1 cup pesto sauce, store-bought or you can use the recipe below for my Spinach Mint Pesto
Spinach Mint Pesto:
- 2 1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, or your favorite nut
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place all the diced veggies on a large baking sheet and toss with the melted Earth Balance, salt and pepper. Roast veggies until fork tender, 30-40 minutes, flipping once.
- Rinse quinoa and add it to a medium sized pot with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook quinoa until tender, 10-12 minutes. Let quinoa cool and then mix in chopped herbs. You could also add some salt, to taste, if desired.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and spray with cooking spray, or use 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Add meatballs to the pan and cook until browned and warmed through, 7-10 minutes.
- If using homemade pesto: add all pesto ingredients to a food processor, or blender, and blend until smooth.
- Assemble bowls: to each bowl add, 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/4 of the roasted veggies, 3 meatballs and about 1/4 cup of pesto. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, if desired.
Notes
Recipe makes 4 bowls. This recipe is great for dinner or a meal prep lunch! It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. (The roasted broccoli doesn’t do quite as well if left longer.)
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Dinner, Lunch, Vegetarian
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