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Vegetarian Recipes

Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

I make a version of these cinnamon rolls nearly every year for Christmas. The first time I made them was in 2010, inspired by the version in Lotta Jansdotter’s book. They’re beauties. Everyone LOVES them. The base recipe is for a version of Lotta’s beautiful, homemade, hot from the oven, loaded with sugar and spice, golden, buttery, classic cinnamon rolls.
Favorite Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Cinnamon Roll Basics

To make cinnamon buns you start by making a buttery yeast dough. I know some of you shy away from yeast-based recipes, because of perceived difficulty, but these really are fun to make. One thing to know, they do take time. You’ll need to let the dough rest and rise at various points, but most of that time isn’t active, so don’t let that deter you. Also, once you get the hang of things, you can play around with all sorts of different fillings in future batches. If you want to explore something beyond cinnamon sugar, the filling can be anything from jam, a sweet compound butter, a flavored cream cheese filling. Have fun, experiment, and use this recipe as a jumping off point.
Favorite Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

How to Make Cinnamon Rolls: The Process

Making cinnamon rolls goes like this. Mix the dough. Let it rise. Roll it out. Put down the filling. Roll. Slice. (Freeze here, if you’re going that route). Another rise. Bake. Lotta sprinkles her cinnamon buns with pearl sugar before baking, which gives them a nice crunchy top, but I know a lot of people like a thick slathering of icing – to the horror of some Swedes, I might add. Sometimes I serve these w/ raw sugar on top and icing on the side, and often use the icing from these hermit cookies
Cinnamon Rolls being Filled with Cinnamon Sugar

Variations

I’ve made little tweaks over the years reflected here. Above you see a version of the cinnamon rolls topped with icing. Alternately, you can do a simple sugar sprinkle before baking. I include instructions for both below. You can also play around with the flour. I’ve done versions with a percentage of rye and also whole wheat flour, for a kiss of rustic-ness. There are some great insights in the comments as well.
Favorite Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Make Ahead Magic

One of the great things about these cinnamon rolls, is that you can prepare them ahead of time. You can even freeze the pre-baked rolls. The night before you’re ready to bake them, leave them to thaw, covered, on your counter, and bake them in the morning. 
Cinnamon Roll Swirl Loaf

To Make A Cinnamon Swirl Loaf:

This is an easy tweak to the below cinnamon roll recipe & results in a beautiful, braided loaf. Don’t be intimidated – it looks much more difficult than it is. Promise! The basic jist is this: instead of slicing your two tubes of tightly rolled cinnamon roll dough into individual buns, slice each tube lengthwise with a sharp knife and arrange them side by side, cut side up. See the illustration below to understand how to braid the strands. You should now have four “strands.” If you are having trouble slicing, try getting your knife a bit wet, and clean between each cut.
Cinnamon Roll Swirl Loaf

To braid: Pinch the top ends together. Now, take the left strand and move it over two strands (to the right) and under one strand back to the left. Switch to the other side: take the most right strand and lift it over two strands to the left and back under one strand to the right. Repeat, alternating from left side to right side until the loaf is complete. I find it easiest to say out loud, “over two under one, over two, under one.” Pinch the ends together and carefully lift and tuck into a 9×5 loaf pan. It really doesn’t have to be perfect, just aim for a reasonably tight braid.

Continue with the recipe as written, allowing the twisted loaf to rise in a cozy spot. You’ll bake at the same temperature noted in the recipe, but for longer with the twisted loaf – closer to 30 minutes. And with a loaf like this, where you run the risk of a doughy interior if you under bake, I like to use an instant read thermometer to make sure the interior hits about 190F. If the top of your loaf darkens before the dough is cooked, tent a piece of foil over the top for the duration of the bake.
Cinnamon Roll Swirl Loaf - close-up

More Ideas:

There are a lot of way to go from classic cinnamon rolls to something else. Here are some of the ideas that have come up over the years. For the vegans out there, Shannon notes, “1 cup wheat whole wheat flour and used coconut milk and a flax egg. Topped with nutella and whipped cream.” I make a version of the icing with creme fraiche, always a hit, but buttermilk is great too, and easier to come by.

Danielle had this to add,” I added 1 tsp of a medicinal masala chai spice blend I ordered on etsy, and it put these over the top!” I love this idea, and heartily encourage experimenting with other spice blends as well. I make these at times with a cinnamon, rose petal, sesame blend. Also, hard to go wrong by using a bit of lemon zest in the bottom of your baking dish.

Hope you love these as much as we have over the years! If you’re looking for breakfast recipes don’t miss this healthy granola, or the best waffle recipe (seriously!), these classic pancakes, a loaded frittata, tofu scramble, Herb Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs, and the baked oatmeal is always popular.

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Cheesy Vegetarian

Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs

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.

Vegetarian Mediterranean lentil meatballs served with spaghetti and tomato sauce.

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.

Mediterranean lentil meatballs on a baking tray.

⭐ What’s in these Lentil Meatballs?

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:

  • black olives
  • sun-dried tomatoes
  • parmesan-style cheese
  • fresh basil
  • garlic

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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🥗 Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegetarian meatballs. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

Ingredients for Mediterranean lentil meatballs laid out with text overlay.
  • cooked lentils. I used lentils from a can, because they’re so convenient – just drain them well, and they’re ready to use. If you can’t get canned lentils, you can boil dried brown or green lentils until they’re soft, then continue with the recipe as written. I would not recommend using red lentils for this recipe, as they will not give quite the same end result.
  • eggs
  • plain flour (I used wholemeal for extra fibre)
  • sun-dried tomatoes
  • black olives
  • parmesan-style cheese. ‘Real’ parmesan isn’t vegetarian, but there are plenty of vegetarian alternatives, which are very similar. Often, supermarkets sell a generic ‘Italian hard cheese’, which is usually vegetarian.
  • fresh basil
  • garlic granules

Spaghetti with tomato sauce and Mediterranean lentil meatballs.

🖨 Printable Instructions

Overhead shot of Mediterranean lentil meatballs with spaghetti.

Print

Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs

Easy vegetarian lentil meatballs, made extra tasty with Mediterranean-inspired ingredients. These are so simple – just mix and bake!
Course Main meal
Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean
Diet Vegetarian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 25 meatballs
Calories 216kcal
Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

  • 2 x 390g tins green lentils, thoroughly drained (470g, or ~ 2 2/3 cups, in total when drained)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons sliced black olives, roughly chopped
  • 5 pieces sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 50 g (~ 1/2 cup) finely grated vegetarian parmesan-style cheese
  • 1 teaspoon garlic granules
  • Few sprigs fresh basil, roughly chopped
  • 85 g (~ 2/3 cup) plain flour (I used wholemeal)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F). Add all of the ingredients, except for the flour, to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to mix the ingredients thoroughly. It’s fine if the lentils get a little mashed up.
    Ingredients for Mediterranean lentil meatballs mixed up in a mixing bowl.
  • Add the flour, and mix well to combine.
    Mediterranean lentil meatball mixture in a bowl.
  • Lightly grease a baking sheet. Use clean hands to form the mixture into ball shapes, and place them on the tray. The mixture will be quite sticky – they don’t have to be perfect balls. I managed to get 25 balls from the mixture.
    Uncooked vegetarian Mediterranean lentil meatballs laid out on a baking sheet.
  • Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, until the lentil balls are slightly crispy and just firm.
    Crispy vegetarian Mediterranean lentil meatballs on a baking tray.
  • Serve with spaghetti and tomato sauce, if desired.
    A plate of spaghetti served with Mediterranean lentil meatballs.

Nutrition

Serving: 5balls | Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 27.6g | Protein: 14.9g | Fat: 5.6g | Saturated Fat: 2.2g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 201mg | Potassium: 325mg | Fiber: 8.3g | Sugar: 1.9g | Calcium: 125mg | Iron: 3mg

💭 Recipe FAQs

Can I prepare these lentil balls in advance?

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.

Can I freeze these lentil meatballs?

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.

How should I reheat leftover vegetarian meatballs?

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.

How should I serve vegetarian lentil balls?

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.

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