Home Dinner Zoodles with Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs

Zoodles with Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs

by Ann
9 comments

Adapted slightly from Cooktoria

Zoodles with Vegetarian Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #meatless #meatballs #recipe


A healthy, delicious meatless dish made from mushrooms, zucchini (ok, I used yellow squash), and a bit of cheese and breadcrumbs that is surprisingly convincing at masquerading as the “real” thing.

Meatballs made of mushrooms? Yes, I went there. Yes, if you pay close attention, you will be able to tell there really isn’t any meat there, but somehow they do sort of fool you into thinking you are really eating spaghetti and meatballs. The right textures are there, and the right colors. The sauce pulls it all together and makes it real.

Zoodles with Vegetarian Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #meatless #meatballs #recipe

I had a bunch of mushrooms in my fridge (yeah, I have a bad habit of buying too much food …), so I went trolling the internet looking for something interesting to do with them. And even though I’m not a vegetarian (and I have to admit, I am tempted to toss some REAL meatballs in with the mushroom ones), when I stumbled across this recipe from Cooktoria, it felt like something that needed to happen.

It was funny how much the chopped mushrooms resembled meat as I was cooking them, and how much they looked like meat when I was making them into balls … and even funnier how they kind of taste like meat when I ate them. But then mushrooms have always been sort of meaty tasting, in their own earthy sort of way. That’s one of the things I have always loved about them. Mushrooms are healthy, low calorie, full of good things for the body … and yeah, they have a meaty quality to them, so they make the perfect step-in for meat in a meatball.

Also interesting are the zucchini noodles (zoodles!) … they clearly are not noodles, but they looked like noodles and while I could certainly tell that they weren’t real pasta, they did a dang good job of tricking my brain into thinking I was eating a carb-ilicious meal, without all the carbs. It certainly wasn’t my first time eating zoodles, but I was once again amazed at how easily my mind was fooled.

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Zoodles with Vegetarian Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #meatless #meatballs #recipe

Zoodles with Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 3 hours
  • Yield: 2 - 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the vegetarian mushroom meatballs:

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 of a medium onion, peeled & chopped fine
  • 23 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped fine
  • 10 oz. mushrooms, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal (for GF, use gluten free oats)
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (for GF, use gluten free breadcrumbs)
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon Red Robin Seasoning (or your favorite seasoned salt)
  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg, whisked.

For the zoodles:

  • 12 yellow crookneck squash or zucchini (about 8 inches or so), made into zoodles (zucchini noodles) with a zoodler
  • 12 teaspoons avocado oil
  • Red Robin Seasoning & freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the top:

  • Marinara sauce, freshly shredded parmesan cheese and fresh oregano or basil leaves

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat, then add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are browned and the liquid has pretty much evaporated.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the mushroom mixture, oats, breadcrumbs, seasonings and cheese. Stir in the egg. Put the mixture into an airtight container, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Shape the mushroom mixture into balls about 1 – 1 1/2 inches in diameter, setting them on the prepared pan.
  4. Bake the mushroom meatballs at 400 F for about 15 minutes or until set. Carefully transfer them to a saucepan and pour marinara sauce over to coat the meatballs. Heat over low heat for 15 minutes more.
  5. While the meatballs are simmering in the sauce, add the avocado oil to a frying pan and saute the zucchini noodles until tender.
  6. Transfer the zoodles to a plate and top with the meatballs and sauce. Sprinkle with extra parmesan and fresh herbs and serve.

Notes

You may need a second squash to make 4 servings. One zucchini or yellow squash is about 2 servings.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2017, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

Zoodles with Vegetarian Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #meatless #meatballs #recipe

This recipe was shared at Foodie Friends Friday, Gluten Free FridayWeekend Potluck, Sunday Fitness & FoodClever Chicks Bloghop and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.

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9 comments

Ann February 1, 2017 - 9:35 am

This looks like one big plate of healthy and savory deliciousness, Ann!

Reply
Lynn Elliott Vining February 1, 2017 - 2:14 pm

As usual, your dish looks and sounds delicious!!! I have to make this one soon!

Reply
Deanna February 1, 2017 - 4:52 pm

This looks so amazing!!

Reply
Ann February 1, 2017 - 11:04 pm

Thank you, Deanna! It was really good.

Reply
Abbe@This is How I Cook February 2, 2017 - 12:04 am

I think this is to good to be true!

Reply
April J Harris February 7, 2017 - 1:35 pm

I’m always looking for hearty, satisfying vegetarian dishes and your Zoodles with Parmesan Mushroom Meatballs definitely fits the bill, Ann! This is a lovely meal! Scheduled to pin and am going to share on the Hearth and Soul Facebook page. Thank you so much for being a part of Hearth and Soul!

Reply
Ann February 7, 2017 - 10:53 pm

Hi April, I was surprised how well these vegetarian meatballs tricked my taste buds … they’re sooo yummy. Thank you so much for hosting the party and for all the hard work you do. You rock!

Reply
» Mushroom Ricotta Meatballs Sumptuous Spoonfuls March 4, 2017 - 7:07 pm

[…] I made those vegetarian mushroom “meatballs”, that got me thinking about meatballs … and I found myself craving some REAL meatballs, you […]

Reply
Meatless Zucchini "Meatballs" + 20 more zucchini recipes | Sumptuous Spoonfuls September 9, 2018 - 11:21 am

[…] I did some thinking on this and here’s my theory: most of us have savored spaghetti and meatballs at some point in our lives, so we’ve trained our brains to believe that balls of “stuff” in an Italian tomato sauce must be meatballs. And so, when we encounter a ball of deliciousness in a really good Italian sauce, our brains tell our taste buds “that’s meat!” Don’t get me wrong: your taste buds will not be completely fooled. I mean, zucchini does not taste like meat … it just doesn’t. But it turns out you can actually kind of trick your brain into believing that it is. (Or at least it worked for me … If this doesn’t happen to work for your brain and you want a vegetarian “meatball” that tastes even more like meat, try this mushroom meatball recipe.) […]

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