Easy and tasty little vegan meatball appetizers made with spiced up beans and cranberries will become your go-to appetizer to feed your veggie and gluten free guests (as well as meat eaters too!) Perfect for a crowd, and great for making ahead of time.
These Spicy Sweet Vegan Cranberry Meatball Canapés are perfect for entertaining in the holiday season! You can make them ahead of time, ready to bring out of the fridge or freezer and give a quick blast in a hot oven, to serve to friends and family plus, they're also healthy and gluten-free!
If you're looking for the perfect party appetizer or Canapés and want to check out some of my other festive favourites, these mini Vegan Sausage Rolls are always a hit. I always like to make a batch of this luxurious but really quite thrifty to make Vegan Mushroom Pate to serve on crackers or as part of a vegan charcuterie board.
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🧆Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you'll need to make this classic party appetizer.
- Kidney Beans (or black beans) full of protein and the main ingredient. Beans are so versatile, cheap and healthy. I choose to use tins/cans of beans but you can also use beans you have cooked yourself.
- Garlic & Red Onions: these add a lovely savoury-sweetness to the bean balls and help round out the flavor.
- Smoked paprika: Warming and smokey, perfect for adding layers of flavor.
- Cumin: Cozy and warming with a subtle spicy flavor.
- Cinnamon: A hint of cinnamon creates a lovely sweet but warming flavour.
- Oregano: For a savory herbal note and umami flavor.
- Dried Cranberries : Tangy and sweet, these are very festive and perfect for making the meatballs ec
- Ground Flaxseed mixed with water to form a flax egg. This helps to bind the bean balls while baking.
- Olive Oil: To fry off the onions and garlic and also to help the bean balls get crispy in the oven.
- Salt & Pepper
For the optional spicy tomato dipping sauce (ingredients not shown in the photo):
- Chopped canned tomatoes: Choose tomato passata or finely chopped tomatoes.
- Garlic cloves- of course!
- Chilli , Oregano, cumin and cinnamon: warming and uplifting spices.
- A little olive oil : to simmer the garlic in.
- Salt & Pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Follow along with these photo instructions to make this easy recipe!
1.Sweat the onion & garlic with a tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
2. Add the herbs and spices letting them cook for a minute to release their flavours. Add the cranberries and drained beans. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Mash up the beans with a potato masher or fork. This should start to form a chunky paste. Season with salt and Pepper
4.Make the 'linseed/flaxseed egg' by mixing the ground linseed/flaxseed with the water. It will form a sort-of gel-like consistency.
Add this to the bean mix and combine well until you have the perfect texture.
5. Oil an oven tray, then use a cookie scoop to scoop out the meatball mixture into walnut size balls. Roll to make these even.
6. Spritz the bean balls with a little oil and lay out in a single layer on the baking sheet.
You can then put them in the fridge if you're making ahead of time, or put the straight in the oven at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes.
Head to the recipe card below for the instructions for the spicy tomato marinara sauce.
Hint: If the mixture is still a little 'loose' add some cornstarch or potato starch to help bind the beanballs.
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Here are some easy ways to switch up this plant-based meatballs recipe. NB: This recipe is already gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free.
- Other Beans- I chose to use kidney beans, however black beans, turtle beans or brown lentils would work well.
- Other sauces - replace the spicy marinara sauce with Tomato and Onion Chutney, a warm cranberry sauce mixed with a little tomato ketchup and soy sauce or your favourite chili sauce.
- No flax egg - replace the flax egg with cornstarch or potato starch. Mix in enough until the mixture is firm and can be scooped.
- Fresh herbs: Add in chopped parsley, thyme or rosemary for a lovely festive flavor.
- Make in Air Fryer: Reheat or bake the homemade veggie meatballs in the airfryer on 180c/260f for 8-10 minutes.
🔪Equipment
If you wish you can make this recipe in a food processor, however once the beans are cooked a little, all you need is a potato masher to make these meatballs. You'll also need a large baking sheet and a cookie scoop (or you can use 2 teaspoons to make the bean balls.
🫙Storage
Once cooked, you can store leftover meatballs in an airtight container for up to a week. If you wish, you can freeze the meatballs - either cooked or uncooked. Simply pop onto a tray and freeze, then once frozen, put into a zip-lock bag. Bake or air fry from frozen, Serve hot!
Top tip
This recipe makes great meatball sliders too! Just add your favourite mini rolls, some onions and extra marinara sauce!
❓FAQ
You can choose to use a flax egg , breadcrumbs or potato starch to bind vegan meatballs together.
More Appetizers
Looking for more canapes or snacks?
Dips
Here are some great dips that would be amazing served alongside these beanballs.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Cranberry Meatballs (Spicy Sweet Bean Ball Canapés)
Equipment
- Large frying pan
- Masher
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
For the Spicy Bean Balls
- 480 g (1⅓ cups) kidney beans (drained (2 standard tins/cans))
- 1 small red onion (finely chopped)
- 3 tablespoon dried cranberries (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 4 teaspoon ground linseed/flaxseed (mixed with 3 teaspoons of water)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Spicy Bean Balls
- In a large frying pan, sweat the onion & garlic with a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add all the herbs & spices & let them sizzle for a minute to activate their flavours.
- Add the drained kidney beans & cranberries. Cook for a few minutes until the beans start to fall apart a bit.
- With a masher or back of a fork, mash the beans to form a thick, chunky paste.
- Season with salt & pepper & let the mixture cool a bit.
- Mix the ground linseed with the water & allow to form a thick gel.
- Combine the linseed mix in with the kidney bean mixture (this is the binding agent!).
- Roll into walnut sized balls, then baste with some olive oil.
- At this stage you can either put the balls into the fridge, or into the freezer until ready to use them.
- When ready to cook, heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
- Put the balls on an oven proof tray & cook for around 15 minutes (longer if from frozen) until slightly crisped on the outside.
For the Spiced Tomato Sauce
- Sweat the garlic in some olive oil & add the spices.
- Add the tomatoes & cook down until reduced.
- Season with salt & pepper & if needed, add some sugar to taste.
- Let cool a little, then blend until smooth
To Serve
- Serve the spicy bean balls on a platter with the sauce to dip it in.
Nutrition
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