Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs
Cabbage casserole is one of those old-fashioned Southern recipes that always hits the spot. It’s warm, creamy, and SO easy to throw together. In less than an hour, I’ve got a delicious side made from simple ingredients that’s perfect for busy weeknights, holiday dinners, or potlucks! You’ll notice I left out eggs in this casserole (who can afford eggs these days?!) and really played up the natural texture of the cabbage, truly making it the star of the show.
I’m a texture person. Anything mushy without any variation in texture just generally isn’t my thing. So, naturally, I love cabbage any way you prepare it; it’s amazing raw (in fact, it’s my veggie of choice for dipping in my white bean hummus!), it’s incredible cooked down (like in colcannon), and I LOVE it baked like it is here in this super easy, ultra-affordable cabbage casserole. The cabbage becomes tender with a slight bite, the buttery Ritz cracker topping adds crunch, and the rich cream sauce ties it all together with melty sharp cheddar for that extra cozy touch.
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**We use Better Than Bouillon to make our broths at Budget Bytes to keep ingredient costs low.
Preheat your oven to 350°F and gather all of the ingredients.
Prep your ingredients: Chop one small head of cabbage (about 2 lbs.) into bite-sized pieces. Be sure to remove the tough stem and inner core.
Dice one large yellow onion into small pieces and shred an 8 oz block of sharp cheddar cheese.
Assemble the filling: Place the chopped cabbage, diced onion, 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley, and all but 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese (set aside the reserved 1/4 cup shredded cheese for now) into a 9×13” casserole dish.
Toss everything together gently until well combined.
Make the creamy sauce: Over medium heat, melt 1 stick salted butter and whisk in the ¼ cup heavy cream, 1 cup vegetable broth, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking often, until the mixture looks foamy and cooks down by about 1/4.
Make the casserole: Pour the seasoned cream and broth mixture over the veggies in your casserole dish.
Top with ½ cup crushed Ritz crackers, sprinkling them evenly over top.
Then, finish your homemade cabbage casserole off with the reserved 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake: Place the casserole dish into your preheated oven and bake at 350°F for 45 min. Serve and enjoy!
Just like my squash casserole recipe, this one can easily be prepped ahead to save you time on busy days. You can assemble the casserole (minus the Ritz cracker and shredded cheese topping), cover it, and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. When you’re ready, let it come to room temperature while your oven preheats, top it with the crushed crackers and cheese, then bake as directed.
I went with air fryer chicken drumsticks in the pictures here because they’re quick, crispy, and juicy—just the perfect match for this casserole. It also pairs wonderfully with grilled chicken breast or baked ham (especially for Easter!) Or, if you’re serving BBQ of any kind, this casserole makes the ideal creamy side to balance out all that smoky goodness!
This creamy cabbage casserole makes great leftovers. Once cooled, store them in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can also freeze this dish for up to 3 months, but do keep in mind cream-based sauces can separate once thawed. The cabbage and cracker crust will also become much softer. Reheat any leftovers in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F until heated through. Be sure to thaw any frozen cabbage casserole in the fridge overnight before reheating for the best results!
The post Cabbage Casserole appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Don’t you just love it when a recipe is as simple as ‘mix + bake’? No pre-cooking, no unnecessary extra steps – just mix together all of the ingredients, and pop it in the oven. And that’s just the case for these vegetarian lentil meatballs (lentil balls? vegeballs? meatlessballs?). They couldn’t be easier.
Other easy ‘mix and bake’ recipes → easy nut roast; baked fajita rice; Boursin pasta.
I served my lentil balls with spaghetti and tomato sauce – spaghetti and meatballs is such a classic that’s hard to improve on. If you prefer, you could equally serve these vegetarian meatballs with couscous and tzatziki, stuffed into pitta bread, or even just eaten straight from the oven (no judgment here). They’re packed with Mediterranean-inspired flavours, and they’re super versatile.
The basic recipe for these lentil meatballs is canned lentils + flour + egg (the same base I used for my cheesy lentil burgers). Once you’ve got that far, you can jazz things up however you like. I added:
If you like, you could easily switch things up to bring a different flavour profile to your meatballs – maybe you could make a Tex-Mex version, or use some Indian spices, for example.
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Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegetarian meatballs. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
You could certainly mix together the ingredients in advance, and then store the mixture in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or so, until you’re ready to shape and bake the balls. The meatballs are tastiest when freshly baked, but if needed, you could even bake them in advance, and then reheat when you’re ready to eat them.
I didn’t experiment with freezing these balls, but it’s the sort of recipe I have had luck with freezing in the past, so I definitely think it’s worth a try.
The easiest way to reheat these lentil meatballs is in the microwave. They do dry out a little and lose their crispiness when reheated, but they’re still tasty. Alternatively, you could re-crisp them in the oven or air fryer.
I served my meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce, which worked beautifully. You could alternatively serve them stuffed into pitta bread with some tzatziki, or alongside some mashed potato.
The post Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.
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