Easy Vegetable Bake with Vegan Meatballs & Roasted Vegetables

Looking for a hearty dinner? Try this one-pot vegetable bake with vegan meatballs and roasted vegetables served on creamy mashed potatoes. 

Easy Vegetable Bake with Vegan Meatballs & Roasted Vegetables

Heartier dishes are now on the menu as we travel through autumn into winter.

My latest recipe is an easy after-work dinner, where the oven does all the work.

It's an easy vegetable bake with vegan meatballs and roasted vegetables with a rich sauce.

Totally delicious!

I know you'll love it.

Why is this vegan meatball recipe so good?

Still need convincing? 

Here are my favourite things about this vegetable bake or you might call it a roasted veggie casserole.

 Same thing, same great taste.

• Easy - Super simple to make, the oven does all the work.
• Minimal chopping - the peppers are cut into chunks and the mushrooms are halved, that's it.
• One-pot - this vegan vegetable bake is cooked with meatballs and the sauce in one dish.
• Sauce cooked with the veg - the vegan meatball sauce is cooked along with the vegan meatballs and veg, so no extra pots on the go.
• Cheap family meal - no fancy ingredients and you can add extra veg or vegan meatballs to bulk it out.
• Freezer friendly - make it for the freezer or freeze any leftovers.
• Tastes great - so tasty!
• Comfort food - like a hug in a bowl.

What are vegan meatballs made of?

There are lots of different vegan 'meatballs' out there.

Each supermarket has its own selections now, in the chilled and frozen aisles. 

So much choice.

There are usually made with pea protein, beans or soya, often with oats or seeds added.

You'll also find vegan Swedish-style meatballs and flavoured tomato and basil meatballs to name a couple.

I have tried a few types and enjoyed them all.

Generally, I buy the Goodlife Vegetable Protein Balls with Spinach and Kale or Birds Eye Meat-Free Swedish Style Balls.

Are vegan meatballs a healthy option?

The healthiest option is always to make homemade vegan meatballs, but to be honest the shop-bought versions are pretty good.

They are packed with good ingredients like vegetables or beans, spices, seeds and sometimes oats.

All are a good source of protein and fibre and the ones I've looked at have no artificial colours or flavours.

Homemade vegan meatballs

Shop-bought vegan meatballs have their place and they are super convenient for easy meals, but homemade are easy to make if you have some time.

Here are a few of my homemade vegan meatball recipes.

1. Aubergine Meatballs - made with aubergine (eggplant) and lots of seeds and nuts
2. Beanballs - made with kidney beans
3. Chickpea Meatballs - made with chickpeas and rice (serve with easy homemade marinara)

Love veggie meatballs, try vegan meatballs subs and one-pot vegan meatball spaghetti bake.

What you need to make this vegetable bake with vegan meatballs

This is a super easy recipe with simple ingredients. 

Here's what you need and a few tweaks you can make to this vegan traybake.

1. Vegan meatballs - use your favourite
2. Mushrooms - flat cap, closed cap or chestnut
3. Sugar snap peas
4. Red pepper - or other colour of peppers
5. Yellow pepper
6. Tinned tomatoes - canned cherry tomatoes preferably, but chopped tomatoes are ok too
7. Tomato puree
8. Balsamic vinegar
9. Dried oregano
10. Garlic powder - or fresh garlic
11. Chilli flakes - I only added enough for warmth, but feel free to add more or skip them
12. Cornflour - cornstarch
13. Vegetable stock
14. Potatoes - cooked and mashed to serve (optional)

Meatball swaps

Here are a few swaps you can make for the meatballs.

• Falafel - would also work well
• Onion bhajis - not the fresh type, but the frozen ones that come as little balls
• Sausages - cut into bite-sized pieces
• Burgers - vegan burgers cut into bite-sized pieces

Vary the vegetables

You can vary up the vegetables each time you make this.

It's a great way of using up leftover veg in your salad drawer.

Here are a few ideas of other vegetables that would be good in this easy veggie bake recipe.

• Artichoke - save the hassle and buy jars of antipasti
• Asparagus
• Aubergine - also known as eggplant
• Butternut squash
• Corn
• Courgette - also known as zucchini
• Leeks
• Peas

Frozen vegetables are a good option too

If you're watching your budget or trying to use up what you have, you could also use frozen vegetables in this vegetable bake recipe.

Just use what you have and add it when the fresh veg would be added.

You could do a mixture or fresh and frozen vegetables if you like.

Toppings

I don't add any toppings to this dairy-free vegetable bake, but I've had a few ideas.

• Garlic breadcrumbs - scattered over the bake for the last few minutes.
• Seeds - a mixture of seeds scattered over the bake for the last few minutes.
• Grated cheddar - a vegan cheddar is another last-minute option.
• Feta - or why not crumble some vegan feta over the bake as you serve it?

Best type of dish to cook a vegetable bake in

Sheet pans (American style) are my pans of choice for cooking this type of vegan traybake dinner.

I bought mine (3 different sizes) from the evil giant that is amazon.

They are heavy gauge aluminium, so they don't bend out of shape and they are nice and big so you can lay your veg out in a single layer so they roast evenly.

You could also use a roasting pan or any casserole dish.

If your oven-proof dishes are smaller, you may need to use more than one.

Can you cook this easy veggie bake in an air fryer?

In theory, you definitely could bake this in an air fryer.

It would be easier to cook in one of the air fryer's with shelves as you can divide the bake between 2 or three dishes on different shelves.

Just remember to rotate the dishes as the top cooks quicker.

And indeed, the whole dish will cook quicker.

How to serve a vegan veggie bake

Now ignore that red wine, although it is rather gorgeous served with a glass of red wine.#

Mind you it would be pretty good served with a glass of beer or cider too.

Anyway, that's not what I was meaning to talk about.

I love to serve this in wide shallow bowls (pasta bowls would work well) on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.

Total comfort food.

Want to serve it even more simply? 

Serve it with buttered crusty bread to mop up that gorgeous vegan meatball sauce.

Storing leftovers

Just pop your leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container once they are cool.

To cool them quickly, move them into another dish.

They will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Reheat in the microwave, in a pot or in the oven, covered with foil.

You can also freeze them for 3-4 months, then defrost in the freezer overnight, before reheating.

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More vegan traybakes to try

Here are a few more of my favourite vegan traybakes for you to try.

• Chinese Sweet & Sour Tofu Rice Bake
• Easy Vegetable Gnocchi Bake
• Moroccan Vegetable Tagine with Chickpeas
• One-Pot Vegan Hot Dog Bake
• Sheet Pan Aubergine & Chickpea Bake
• Vegan Burger & Onion Bake

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How to make an easy vegetable bake

Scroll down for step-by-step photos followed by a full printable recipe. If you don't have a printer, hit print then save as a PDF.

Step 1

• Add all the vegetables and vegan meatballs to your roasting dish or sheet pan.
• Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper and pop in the oven to roast.

Step 2

• Add all of the tomato sauce/gravy ingredients to a bowl or jug and mix well
• Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3

• Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven and carefully pour in the sauce/gravy.
• Try to spread it as evenly as you can, then pop the casserole back in the oven.
• Once it is cooked, serve over a bed of creamy mashed potato.
• Enjoy!

traybake, meatball bake, one-pot, vegan one-pot, vegan meatballs

dinner

Italian, vegan

Yield: 4

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum

Easy Vegetable Bake with Vegan Meatballs & Roasted Vegetables

Looking for a hearty dinner? Try this one-pot vegetable bake with vegan meatballs and roasted vegetables served on creamy mashed potatoes.

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 400g (14 oz) plant-based meatballs
• 4 large mushrooms
• 160g (5 ½ oz) sugar snap peas (snow peas or fine beans)
• 80g (3 oz) tenderstem broccoli (or the florets of half a broccoli)
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 400g (140z tin) chopped tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or fresh garlic clove crushed)
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder (more if you like)
• salt and pepper
• 500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
• 1 tsp cornflour (made into a thick liquid with a little water)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/350f/gas mark 4.
2. Add the vegan meatballs, mushrooms and peppers to a large sheet pan, roasting pan or ovenproof dish. You may need two so they lie flat and not heaped over each other.
3. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over a little oil, then roast for 10 minutes before adding the broccoli and peas and cooking for another 10 minutes.
4. If you are serving this bake with mashed potatoes, pop the potatoes in a pan to boil now, then when ready mash with some vegan butter, salt and pepper.
5. While that is roasting in a large jug or bowl, make up the vegetable stock, then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, vinegar, oregano, garlic and chilli flakes, then season with salt and pepper and mix well, then stir in the cornflour mix to help thicken the sauce.
6. Once the vegetables have had 20 minutes, carefully pour in the sauce and cook for another 15 minutes.
7. Take out and serve with crusty bread or mashed potatoes.
8. Enjoy!

Notes

Frozen Veg

If you're watching your budget or trying to use up what you have, you could also use frozen vegetables in this vegetable bake recipe. Just use what you have and add it when the fresh veg would be added.

Leftovers

Just pop your leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container once they are cool. To cool them quickly, move them into another dish.

They will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave, in a pot or in the oven, covered with foil.

Freezing this bake

You can also freeze them for 3-4 months, then defrost in the freezer overnight, before reheating.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

379.76

Fat (grams)

25.43

Sat. Fat (grams)

8.49

Carbs (grams)

18.12

Fiber (grams)

4.89

Net carbs

13.23

Sugar (grams)

8.63

Protein (grams)

21.28

Sodium (milligrams)

630.57

Cholesterol (grams)

72

This information is approximated using a nutrition and calorie calculator.

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