30 Minute Vegetarian Meatballs 

Here they are! The meatballs of the hour that are, in fact, not meatballs.

Because they are VEGETARIAN MEATBALLS!

Made without beans and without nuts but featuring cauliflower and brown rice and quinoa.

As much as a good MEAT-ball meatball from time to time, today we’re talking about these little vegetarian meatball nuggets of powerhouse that are inspired from the (here comes the weird zone) spicy cauliflower burgers.

They’re made with cauliflower, brown rice, quinoa, panko, eggs, and a nice big pinch of garlic and spices. And they don’t require hours of prep. That’s it! It’s just simple, straightforward, SUPER YUM plant-based goodness in the form of vegetarian meatballs made weeknight-dinner-friendly, because real food that matches real life is where it’s at.

And don’t we know it, guys? DON’T WE KNOW IT.

Ingredients for 30-minute cauliflower vegetarian meatballs.
We’re Working with Easy Ingredients Today
Here is your wonderfully do-able ingredient list:

panko breadcrumbs
brown rice
eggs
cauliflower florets OR just a bag of frozen cauliflower rice
spices

Cauliflower vegetarian meatballs on a sheet pan being scooped up with a spatula.
Meatless meatballs in a pan with sauce with a wooden spoon.
Why I Absolutely Love These Vegetarian Meatballs
There are a few things that I think we can all approve of with these vegetarian meatballs:

INGREDIENTS: Basic, whole, wonderful –> Cauliflower // Brown Rice // Quinoa // Garlic // Spices // Eggs // Panko. Also – no beans. Which is kind of nice, right? since a lot of vegetarian meatballs are bean-heavy. All hail the versatility of cauliflower!
TIMING: 30 minutes. The cauliflower is not high maintenance here. Just a quick simmer in some hot water to soften it up, and then as a bonus on being speedy, you can use those amazingly convenient garlic brown rice/quinoa packages from Seeds of Change that you buy en masse at Costco – you know the ones, right? – and then your cauli and your rice and everything else gets pulsed around in our favorite appliance of all time THE FOOD PROCESSOR in order to make the mixture. If you can enlist the help of a few vegetarian meatball rollers (this is why people have children, right?), you will have vegetarian meatball dinner on the table AND vegetarian meatball stockpile built-up in your fridge in no time.
ADAPTABILITY: Cook once, eat many times. This recipe makes a million and a half meatless meatballs which means that you can use them with many different sauces in many different recipes for years to come. Er, no. Not years. But seriously – you will have a TON of meatballs with this recipe, so start brainstorming serving and/or sauce ideas
Close-up of cauliflower vegetarian meatballs.
Cauliflower vegetarian meatballs stacked in a container.
When I brought these to my sister after she had a baby, she declared them to be perfect finger food for her two-year-old since he loves things he can hold and dip and nibble on at his own slow-eating pace.

How cute is the visual of your favorite two-year-old dipping a veggie meatball made with cauliflower and quinoa and brown rice into ketchup, marinara, or ranch (not above it) or – for the foodie toddlers out there – a little spicy masala sauce?

It’s like a chicken nugget meets veggie burger in kid-friendly size and friendly tastes.

White hand holding a plate with cauliflower vegetarian meatballs, white rice, and fresh herbs sprinkled on top. There is a fork on the plate with greens.
I cannot get enough of these vegetarian meatballs with a few gallons of the 30 minute masala sauce, but you will be happy doing just about anything with these. They are begging for some creative serving combinations and a good drench in a delicious sauce, and as we know, sauce is life.