I come from several generations of vegetarians.  Until the last 15 years that was REALLY weird.

Yep, I was the teenage girl at Wendy’s ordering a burger without the burger.

Even though my family and I do eat meat, nostalgic comfort food remains meatless for me. Today I am sharing one of my very favorite recipes.  It comes from my grandma and my mom still makes it for family gatherings today.

Now that I have sampled many of the meated foods that vegetarian food tries to mimic, I truly believe that these veggie versions stand on their own.  If you try this recipe, don’t think of it as meatballs, but as a completely different food that you and your family can enjoy.

Grandma’s Meatless Ball Recipe ingredients

• 1 cup of nuts {I use pecans}
• 1 cup Special K breakfast cereal
• 1 cup Wheaties breakfast cereal
• 5 slices of Whole Wheat bread
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 Leek
• 3/4 cup grated Cheddar Cheese {I like sharp}
• 3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• 5 eggs
• Canola oil for frying
• 46 oz. jar Spicy Vegetable Juice
• Chopped fresh parsley

How to make Meatless Balls recipe

Step 1

Thoroughly chop nuts. We like ours very fine. Just stop it before you end up making pecan butter!

Step 2

Fully grind the breakfast cereals into crumbs. It is OK if there are still some flake-like parts.

Step 3

Make breadcrumbs out of the 5 slices of Whole Wheat bread. If you have dense or dry bread, then start with 3-4 slices. I used commercially popular whole wheat bread that was very soft with thin slices.

Step 4

Finely chop the onion & leek.

These first 4 steps use a food processor. Then dump each chopped/ground ingredient into a large mixing bowl.

Step 5

Add the 2 kinds of cheese and 5 eggs to the chopped ingredients.

Step 6

Mix with a large wooden spoon {or your hands}.  Don’t over-mix or it will be hard to form into balls.

Let’s talk texture here:  If you can easily create a palm-sized ball with the mixture that doesn’t go immediately flat, then you have exactly the right texture.  If it is too wet then add some additional bread crumbs or cereal crumbs.  If it is too dry, then add an additional egg.

Step 7

Make a meatless ball and then drop immediately into pre-heated oil on high or medium-high. Continue making and dropping meatless balls into the oil until the pan is full. Use tongs to turn over the meatless ball – just make sure that it is lightly brown on the outside. If they are sticking on the bottom, use a spatula to gently dislodge. They usually cook for about 4 minutes total. Drain on paper towels.

Step 8

Place all the fried meatless balls in a baking pan with a cover {or use aluminum foil on a coverless dish}.  Pour the jar of Spicy Vegetable Juice over the meatless balls trying to nearly cover all the meatless balls.

Step 9

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes – 1 hr.

How our meatless balls always turn out

I’ve been having this since I was a little girl, and I would say this is really good comfort food for me. The savory smell invites everyone to just dine and enjoy the dish! The good news is that this is meatless balls recipe can be left in the oven for a longer period of time if the temperature is decreased. It also stores well and can be reheated easily. (But usually we don’t reach the reheating part because my family finishes it in just about 15 minutes).

Have you tried my grandma’s awesome meatless balls recipe? How was it?

This article has been updated and was originally sponsored.