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Growing up, I was never a fan of meatballs.
While my friends in elementary school all eagerly anticipated the cafeteria’s “spaghetti & meatball day” each week, I always opted for the peanut butter and jelly “brown bag” instead. I didn’t like ground beef, and I certainly didn’t like marinara sauce.
In fact, I didn’t even try a meatball until I was a waitress in college. I was a border-line vegetarian at this point, but the chef insisted that I try his grandmother’s recipe. So, I did, and it was life-changing. I’ve been a fan of meatballs ever since. 
These particular meatballs are a far-cry from the ones served in a school cafeteria.
They’re also a far-cry from the meatballs I tried in college.
But since they’re ball-shaped and served in marinara sauce… let’s just go with it, okay?
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Italian Meat(less) Balls
makes 10 balls
Ingredients:
2 cups juice pulp, loosely packed (preferably carrot or beet based)
1 egg, beaten
3 oz. crumbled feta (preferably goat’s milk)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, combine the juice pulp and seasonings. I used dried herbs, to keep the mixture from getting too wet. Think of them as a “substitute” for the breadcrumbs that are in traditional recipes. (I used the pulp from Austin’s morning juice– a mix of carrots and cucumber– but beet pulp would give these a lovely red color, too!)
Add in the crumbled feta and egg, and mix well to create a uniform batter. Scoop the batter into 2″ balls, and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, at least an inch apart from each other.
Place in the middle of the oven, and bake for 15 minutes at 375F. 
After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and gently flip them over. The bottoms should be slightly golden brown. Return to the oven, and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until firm.
The finished meat(less) ball should be crisp on the outside, and somewhat tender on the inside. Almost like a veggie-fritter! Delicious on their own, these little bites could be served as an appetizer with a warm marinara dipping sauce, but I prefer them tossed in marinara sauce, over a bed of pasta or steamed vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 cups juice pulp , loosely packed (preferably carrot or beet based)
- 1 egg , beaten
- 3 oz . crumbled feta (preferably goat's milk)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, combine the juice pulp and seasonings. I used dried herbs, to keep the mixture from getting too wet. Think of them as a "substitute" for the breadcrumbs that are in traditional recipes. (I used the pulp from Austin's morning juice-- a mix of carrots and cucumber-- but beet pulp would give these a lovely red color, too!)
- Add in the crumbled feta and egg, and mix well to create a uniform batter. Scoop the batter into 2" balls, and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, at least an inch apart from each other.
- Place in the middle of the oven, and bake for 15 minutes at 375F. After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and gently flip them over. The bottoms should be slightly golden brown. Return to the oven, and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until firm.
- The finished meat(less) ball should be crisp on the outside, and somewhat tender on the inside. Almost like a veggie-fritter! Delicious on their own, these little bites could be served as an appetizer with a warm marinara dipping sauce, but I prefer them tossed in marinara sauce, over a bed of pasta or steamed vegetables.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 164, Fat: 10g, Carbohydrates: 7g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 12g
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Hope you all enjoy them!
Reader Feedback: Was there a food you hated as a child, but LOVE now? I can’t believe I hated marinara sauce– it’s one of my favorite things ever now!!
Has anyone made these in an air fryer? What do you recommend on timing?
Thank you!!
OMG! Soooo good! Due to allergies, I omitted the egg and added cumin and paprika. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Amazingly delicious. I mixed in a little cheese and flour to make sure they’d stick together nicely. So delicious but also could be served as appetizers – no need for sauce or pasta. I printed this recipe out to put in my fav recipe book! Thank you.
We ALWAYS have deviled eggs at big family dinners. When I was a kid I wouldn’t eat the yellow yolk mixture. My aunt didn’t like the whites, so we would always trade. But NOW, I love the whole deviled egg. I still take my aunt’s hard boiled egg whites though. LOL…
Just curious if these freeze well?
We are juicing 5 lb of carrots every couple of days, so I was looking for a way to not waste the pulp. We’ve made these three times now, and they are gonna be a staple for my wife and I! We do double the eggs, add extra Feta, roll ’em smaller (1 1/4″ or so), and cook them a touch longer rotating them twice. Really great recipe, thanks a lot!
Megan, can you make these into patties instead? I like this better than the beet patties. I think they would be delicious on a grain less bagel.
Yes, I think patties would work just as well!
These have become one of our favorite dinners… its a VERY rare thing to find a dish that all 5 of us are happy with, and this one does it!
YUM. I made these with okara (soy bean pulp) instead of juice pulp. We make a lot of soymilk and varying up okara recipes can get tricky. Soy pulp is probably quite a bit less flavorful than juice pulp, so I added diced onion, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire, and upped the spices just a little. And they are oh so tasty! We ate them with spaghetti, but even on their own they are really good. Thanks!
Useful recipe and was actually looking for something with pumpkin, so used your recipe as a base for a pumpkin version- substituted canned pumpkin, goatcheese and quinoa- omitted oregano for a non-italian version and drizzled a cilantro pesto on top… so tasty…