A hearty, vegetarian meatball casserole made with plant-based meatballs and veggies is a fun, family dinner recipe. This cheesy-good, twice-baked meatball casserole is made without pasta, so you can eat a whole plate without feeling guilty!
Place your casserole dish in the oven while it’s preheating.
When your oven is heated, remove the casserole dish carefully since it will be hot.
Lightly spray it with oil.
Arrange the meatballs in the dish.
Add ¼ cup of the marinara sauce to the meatballs.
Place the casserole dish in the oven and remove after 8 minutes.
While the meatballs are in the oven, prepare the sauce.
To make the sauce, heat a stainless steel pan and add coconut oil.
Empty the packet of frozen riced cauliflower blend in the pan. Don’t thaw it.
Close the lid and cook it for 6 minutes on medium heat.
Open the lid and add the remaining ingredients, except the chickpeas, cheese and garnish.
Mix well and turn off the heat.
Gently pour this sauce mixture over the meatballs.
Top with the crushed chickpeas.
Finally, top with the shredded cheese and return it to the oven.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the top cheese is starting to turn crispy.
Remove from the oven, garnish and serve immediately.
Notes
** Nutrition and calorie information is approximate.Tips for making the perfect meatball casserole
If possible, make your own marinara at home because you can control the ingredients.
I used a grass-fed cheese block for this recipe instead of using pre-shredded cheese. Cheese shredded from cheese block melts so much better than the pre-shredded cheese.
Preheat your casserole dish while your oven is preheating. It will cook the meatballs much faster.
Don’t thaw the cauliflower rice blend. Place all the ingredients for your frozen cauliflower blend into the pan and cook covered for 6 minutes. Thawing it will just make it soggy and ruin the taste of the casserole.
The plant-based meatballs come in a pack of 12. I only used 9, so, I put them the remaining 3 in a plastic bag and froze them for future recipes.