Spaghetti with Vegan Meatballs

This easy gluten free Spaghetti with Vegan Meatballs uses pantry staples, including vegan meatballs that taste like pizza!

This Spaghetti with Vegan Meatballs was another creation from looking into my pantry and figuring out what I could make. It is one of my favorite ways to come up with recipes.

An art professor in college once told me that when you set rules for yourself, you actually come up with more ideas. I find that to be true with creating art as well as recipes. So the rules for this recipe, including the vegan meatballs, was that I could only use items from my pantry. (No shopping allowed!)

I knew for awhile that I wanted to make a different kind of marinara than my Roasted Tomato Sauce. I already had the crushed tomatoes. Next, it was a matter of what kind of vegan meatballs to make. When I saw kidney beans in my pantry, I knew they had to be used.

Kidney beans have never been one of my favorites, so I was quite happy to mix them with other ingredients into vegan meatballs. The kidney beans were originally going to be used in chili, but I think they were put to better use here. They ended up tasting like pizza, so that was a win in my book.

I ended up making Vegan Meatball Sliders also, which was a fun way to eat them. I am such a sucker when it comes to mini foods. They are not only cute, but perfect for a party.

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Spaghetti with Vegan Meatballs

Ingredients

• 8 ounces gluten free spaghetti
• marinara
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 (28 ounce) crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup basil
• salt and pepper
• vegan meatballs

Instructions

1. Cook spaghetti according to directions, but al dente. Save 2 tablespoons of pasta water.
2. Add olive oil to a hot pan. Add chopped onion and cook on medium high heat until translucent.
3. Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer.
4. Add crushed tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer on medium high heat for thirty minutes. Add 2 tablespoons pasta water, spaghetti, and vegan meatballs. Cook for another few minutes.