Who says comfort food has to be unhealthy? These vegan Swedish meatballs are not only absolutely delicious, but healthy too! Using ingredients like white beans, oats, and cashews gives this meal a healthy kick while giving you all the comfort feels.
mashed potatoes (or rice or noodles of your choice)
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh green onions, sliced
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400° F (204° C). Begin soaking cashews in the 1 cup filtered water; set aside. If you're making mashed potatoes, go ahead and get your potatoes boiling.
Next, make the meatballs: add all ingredients to a large food processor (I use an 11 cup and it fills up a little more than half), and pulse until half mixed. You want this to be chunky, not mushy. Grab a 9 x 13 baking pan and grease the bottom lightly with oil to prevent sticking. Then, using a mini ice cream scoop, scoop out your meatballs and line the baking pan. This will make 20 meatballs. I like to scoop out 20 balls and then go back and use my hands to reshape them. Pop in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
While the meatballs are baking, make your sauce. I typically let my cashews soak for about 20 minutes, but if you are concerned about consistency, you can let them soak longer if need be (see notes). Add all gravy ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth. This will be RUNNY and thin, but don't worry! Once you bake this, the cashews act as a thickener and will thicken up the sauce.
After the timer is up, pull out the meatballs and pour the sauce on top. Use a spoon to turn the meatballs around in the sauce. Pop back in the oven for 15 full minutes-- this is important because the longer it is in the oven, the thicker the sauce will get. While this is cooking, tend to your mashed potatoes by draining and mashing. You can also add some butter to the potatoes if you desire.
Lastly, after the meatballs are done and the sauce is thickened, pull out your pan. Serve Swedish meatballs and gravy on top of mashed potatoes, and top with chopped fresh parsley and fresh green onion slices.
Notes
A note on soaking cashews: I soak mine in filtered water for typically 20 minutes, although I use a Ninja blender and it does pretty well. If you’re worried about the creaminess of your cashews, I suggest soaking them for 20 minutes in HOT water, to ensure they blend properly.
I use full fat coconut milk, but light also works here too. If you don’t want to do coconut, try using another plant-based milk of your choice. Just keep in mind that it may change the consistency slightly.
Don’t want to do Mozzarella? That’s ok! Just swap it out for 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast or skip it completely. I find that the cheese helps hold these together while also providing a delicious taste.