These vegan meatballs with tomato sauce are a perfect hearty, weeknight meal that will leave you feeling super satisfied and full. This recipe uses Linda McCartney’s vegetarian meatballs – I really love the texture of these meatballs, but another brand that you like will work just as well.

Alternatively, if you prefer to avoid meat alternatives, you could try making your own veggie meatballs from black beans, pui lentils, o chickpeas, but these often result in slightly crumblier ‘meatballs.

How to make meatballs with tomato sauce

To make this Linda McCartney meatballs recipe, let’s first look at all the ingredients you’ll need:

• Linda McCartney meatballs: These are about £2.50 from the frozen section in most supermarkets (I’ve found them in Tesco, Waitrose, and Sainsbury’s). Other vegan meatballs you might like are the Green Cuisine ones, or the Beyond Meat meatballs.
• White onion
• Garlic
• Tomato puree
• Mixed herbs
• Oregano
• Tinned tomatoes
• Rigatoni pasta

Making your vegan meatballs sauce

What makes this recipe really special, in my opinion, is the warming tomato sauce that brings everything together to result in a beautiful, hearty vegan meatballs recipe. Once you know how to make a simple tomato pasta sauce, you’ll never need to buy a ready-made jarred version again.

To make the sauce, you start by finely dicing your white onion and mincing your garlic.

You then saute these over a gentle heat in a frying pan for 5 – 10 minutes, waiting until the onions are soft, translucent, and starting to caramelize in places – being patient with your onions is really important, it does pay off!

Once the onions are cooked, add tomato puree, mixed herbs, salt and pepper. After cooking the puree and spices with the onions for another minute or so, tip in your tinned tomatoes and stir. Fill the tin with water about a third of the way up, then add this too.

Bring the sauce to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes. If you like your sauce a little chunkier, it’s ready to eat – but you could also remove the sauce from the heat and blend with an immersion or hand blender for a smoother consistency.

You might also like to check out similar recipes including my jackfruit bolognese, red lentil spaghetti bolognese, or this amazing creamy roasted butternut squash pasta sauce!

Meanwhile, you’ll be roasting your vegan meatballs and vegetables in the oven (for about 25 minutes).

Roasted vegetables

I love bulking up my dishes with roasted vegetables – not only does this normally mean I can make an extra portion out of what I’m cooking, but it’s also an easy way to get some healthy nutrients into hearty meals like this.

In this recipe, I simply roasted red pepper and mushrooms chopped into bite-sized chunks in a little olive oil alongside the meatballs.

Other great vegetables for pairing with vegan meatballs with tomato sauce are courgette (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), red onion, butternut squash, and fresh cherry tomatoes.

What’s the best pasta for vegan meatballs?

Of course, the most traditional pasta to use for a vegan meatball dish would be spaghetti. However, I actually prefer using rigatoni for this dish!

I find it just works better with meatballs and chunky roasted vegetables. However, feel free to use whatever pasta shape you prefer most!