Vegan Spinach Balls
These vegan spinach balls are healthy yet delicious little appetizers. You make them ahead of time and store them in the freezer until you are ready to bake them, so they are perfect for parties and holidays. They’re free of dairy and eggs, and can be made gluten-free as well! This may be the most delicious way to eat spinach!
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Why make spinach balls
If you have picky eaters and want to try to get your kids to like spinach, this is the recipe that you have been searching for! My kids go crazy over these spinach balls! (Plus adults love them too!)
They work great as a hot appetizer, a yummy side, or a snack. My kids even love them packed in their lunches! I love to make up a double or even triple batch and keep them in the freezer to pop into the oven whenever we want a healthy little snack.
I made these for Easter and the whole family loved them! I like how you can make them ahead and keep them in the freezer!
—Melissa
Ingredients and substitutions
- Frozen Spinach – frozen spinach is the easiest way to make these. You can use fresh, but you will have to steam it first.
- Vegan Butter – or any dairy-free vegan margarine or coconut oil will work. I like to use my homemade vegan butter.
- Stuffing Mix or Bread Crumbs – any vegan stuffing or bread crumbs will work. Use gluten-free varieties if needed.
- Vegan Cheese – You can use any store-bought variety that you want or my homemade vegan mozzarella cheese.
- Nutritional Yeast – this is optional, but it will give your spinach balls a little extra cheesy flavor. Nutritional yeast is a cheesy yellow flaky powder with an umami flavor.
- Soft Tofu – any soft or silken tofu will work. (I use this to replace the eggs in traditional spinach ball recipes.)
- Salt– for flavor.
- Pepper – for flavor.
Helpful tools
These vegan spinach balls are very simple to make if you have a food processor. I just throw in all the ingredients and give it a few pulses until all the ingredients are mixed together.
How to make vegan spinach balls
Step 1 – Start by thawing a 16 oz. bag of frozen spinach completely.
Step 2 – Press the spinach to the side of a bowl with a spatula to squeeze out all excess water and drain.
Step 3 – Then add the remaining ingredients and mix well. (I use my vegan melty mozzarella recipe in these and my homemade vegan butter. You can use those or your favorite vegan brands).
Step 4 – Then take about a walnut-sized ball of the mixture and roll it into bite-sized balls with your hands.
Step 5 – Place the spinach balls on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for about an hour until they are frozen. Remove frozen balls, place them into airtight bags or containers, and put them back into the freezer until ready to use. (These will keep well in the freezer for about 3 months.)
Step 6 – When you are ready to bake the spinach balls, place them back onto a cookie tray about an inch apart and bake them for 20 minutes. Serve hot.
How to make them gluten-free?
You can use stuffing or breadcrumbs in this recipe interchangeably. To make them gluten-free, I usually use these gluten-free Panko bread crumbs. Strangely, I find them at my local Asian market. If I don’t have these I also use Ian’s gluten-free Panko breadcrumbs.
Gluten-free tip: When I make them gluten-free make sure to let them sit for about 10 minutes before rolling into balls. This gives the breadcrumbs more time to soak up the moisture.
Make ahead
They are easy to make ahead and freeze. When you are ready to eat, just pull out the number you need and heat them up. Bake them on a cookie sheet directly from the freezer and you have a vitamin-packed spinach bite.
Make them whenever you have spare time and keep them in the freezer ready to pop in the oven. You may even want to double the batch to have lots on hand for quick snacks. Perfect for kids and they make great toddler food too! I love that you can just pop in however many you want and heat them up like you would tater tots or French fries.
How do I find vegan stuffing or breadcrumbs?
If you don’t need them to be gluten-free, you have a lot more choices of breadcrumbs or stuffing mixes that will work. Just be sure to check the packaging for dairy or egg products. Panko breadcrumbs work well, but the stuffing is seasoned, so it gives it more flavor. When I used to make them with gluten, I always used Pepperidge Farms cornbread stuffing because it’s easy to find, I know that it’s vegan, and the seasoning gives the vegan spinach balls a nice flavor.
More spinach recipes
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Orzo Pasta with Spinach
- Spinach Muffins
- Cauliflower Risotto with Spinach
- Spinach and Tofu Ricotta Stuffed Shells
- Vegan Spinach Dip
Vegan spinach balls recipe
Vegan Spinach Balls
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz bag frozen spinach
- 1/3 cup vegan margarine , or my vegan butter
- 1 1/2 cup vegan stuffing or bread crumbs, use gluten free if needed
- 1/4 cup shredded vegan cheese
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup soft tofu, (silken tofu works well)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, (more or less to taste)
- 1 dash ground pepper, (to taste)
Instructions
- Thaw frozen spinach and press and drain all excess liquid.
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and then pulse a few times until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
- Take spoonfuls of the mixture and roll it into 1-inch balls with your hands.
- Place balls on a cookie sheet about an inch apart and set in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Remove the balls from the cookie sheet and place them in a freezer bag. Squeeze out the excess air and seal shut. (Keep frozen for up to 3 months).
When Ready to Eat
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Place frozen balls on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake from frozen at 375° F (190° C) for 20 minutes until the balls are firm and the outside is just barely starting to brown. Serve hot.
Notes
- Cooking time will vary slightly on your oven and on the size of the balls.
- If you are using gluten-free panko breadcrumbs, allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes before rolling into balls. (It takes longer for it to soak up the mixture).
- If you are not making these gluten-free, Pepperidge Farms cornbread stuffing mix works well for this recipe.
- The salt needed in the recipe will depend on the type of breadcrumbs or stuffing used. Some already have added salt and it will need less salt added.
- Make sure to drain the excess liquid off of the spinach or your balls will be too wet.
- Don’t bake the balls without freezing them first. They will be too soft and flatten out.
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I made these gluten free. They are really good served with a salad. They do need something else though… a sauce or a bed of veggies or wrapped in pita bread with veggies. I will make these again!
What can I have in place of tofu? I can’t have it. But these sound very good and I would like to try them.
I use the tofu instead of egg in traditional spinach ball recipes. You could probably swap it out for just egg or use my recipe for chickpea flour eggs. (You will need to use an amount equivalent to 6 eggs.) https://thehiddenveggies.com/egg-substitute-for-any-recipe/
Do you think I may be able to replace the tofu with chickpea flour?
Mum can’t have soy.
I’m assuming I would also want to add a little liquid (how much?) to the flour, whisk, and let soak before adding…
Also, just thought I’d mention for anyone else, many recipes like this calling for gf breadcrumbs I almost always substitute an equal amount of a mix of almond flour and whatever other gf flours I’ve got. I’ve tried several, has always worked for me.
Hope that helps someone.
Gf bread / breadcrumbs are VERY hard to come by here.
(And when it’s sometimes around $10 for a tiny box/ bag, I’d much rather use something I already have! 🙂
That’s a great idea, Kat!
I think that you could, but I’ve never tested it. I use chickpea flour all of the time for an egg replacer, you just need to make sure that it cooks thoroughly so you don’t get that funny chickpea flour taste from raw chickpea flour. I have a post about how to use chickpea flour as an egg replacer, here is the link. ( I would do the equivalent of 2 eggs. https://thehiddenveggies.com/egg-substitute-for-any-recipe/
I am at the food processer stage. I have a good large Cuisnart, but it won’t adequately
mix it all up. Do you feel it might be too dry?
That’s strange, maybe double-check that you added everything? It should be soft enough to blend and easily roll into balls with your hands.
How much fresh spinach would I need to substitute for frozen, I have spinach growing like crazy in my garden and would prefer to use this
To use fresh spinach, you will need to steam the spinach and then press the water out of it. You will need about 2 cups of wilted pressed spinach. I think that you will need to start off with about 6 cups of fresh depending on how firm you pack it. Hope that helps! PS- so jealous that you have fresh spinach in your garden now while I sit here in the cold. 🙂
Do you have to put the mixture in the food processor?
It really helps to mix it up well, but you don’t need to if you don’t mind stirring a lot. 🙂
what kind of vegan shredded cheese have you found you like to use in these?
Hi June, I like to use the shredded Daiya or my own vegan Mozzarella. You can find the recipe here: https://thehiddenveggies.com/vegan-mozzarella-recipe/
Hope that you enjoy them! They are one of my favorites!
I made these for Easter and the whole family loved them! I like how you can make them ahead and keep them in the freezer!
So glad that you liked them!
These are so good! I made these because I also want a savory snack before dinner when I get home. These scratch the itch and sneak some vegetables in too.
YUMMM!
Yum!