It’s funny that when you say “beet balls”, you can’t help but notice how it rhymes with “meat balls”.

Please know that these aren’t meant to taste like meat, but to give you an alternate that’s just as tasty as meat! I do love how the redness reminds me of red meat, I can’t help but get fooled myself when I look at them.

With these, you can make the beet balls, or you can make them into patties. I made balls because I didn’t have bread for a burger. The length of time it takes to cook can also vary, depending on the size of the balls, so you’ll need to constantly check and even break one open to taste it!

I made sort of a gravy to go with it, but I think it would taste brilliant on rice or pasta, so you can try your luck cooking them into various dishes! Let me know what’s your favourite way of eating them!

It’s funny I ate a tonne of them, thinking I ate all this meat but in reality, I had plenty of veggies. Ah, the sweet life of healthy eating, it’s just so great!

Vegan Beet Balls and Oyster Mushroom Gravy

Vegan Beet Balls

5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked overnight
2 medium beets (or 1 large)
1 medium carrot
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup cooked cannellini beans
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes in olive oil
2 tablespoons walnuts
2 sage leaves, minced
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons high quality breadcrumbs (I used Trader Joe’s)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons garbanzo and fava flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon white cooking wine
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon Himalayan/sea salt
A pinch of red pepper flakes
A few sprinkles ground pepper

Be sure that you’ve soaked the dried shiitake mushrooms in water overnight, and drained out all the water and rinsed it properly. You can also try using fresh shiitake mushrooms if you can’t find dried ones, or any other mushroom substitute.

Chop the beets in medium sized chunks and the carrot in a few pieces. Peel the red onion and chop it up in whatever size you want, and peel and slice the garlic in small pieces. It really doesn’t matter what shape the pieces for these vegetables are, because you will be chopping them up in the food processor later.

Put the shiitake mushrooms, chopped beets, carrots, red onion, garlic, half a cup of cooked cannellini beans, sundried tomatoes and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until they’re in very fine bits. I do not recommend using a blender like Vitamix as it may puree everything by accident, and you want it shredded.

*Important note: If you don’t want the middle to be too wet, I recommend that you put this through a cheesecloth and squeeze out a little juice before adding the rest of the ingredients. I made mine without doing it, but I know that others may prefer it dryer.

Spoon everything out (should be very finely minced) into a large bowl, and add every other ingredient listed, from the vital wheat gluten all the way to ground pepper (yes, too long to list). Stir it in until everything is well mixed.

Spray some non-stick cooking oil on an oven tray (don’t use ones with holes).

Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).

Grab a bit of the mixture and shape it into a ball, then place it on the oven tray evenly. Don’t put them too close to each other. If you run out of room, you can use a second oven tray.

Bake in the oven for a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes, flipping the balls over every 20 or 30 minutes, just so the bottom doesn’t burn or stick. Though every oven is different, so I recommend that you check often and even taste test.

Oyster Mushroom Gravy

1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
2 cups oyster mushrooms
2 tablespoons white cooking wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Add a tablespoon of extra light olive oil in the frying pan and toss the oyster mushrooms in. Let it cook on medium high with you constantly stirring for about 5 minutes, then add the white cooking wine, vegetable broth, onion and garlic powder. Stir until everything is even, and let it bubble and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Take it off the stove and pour it into the blender. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth, then spoon it back into the saucepan.

Add 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce and stir until the mixture is very smooth. Have a taste, if it’s too salty, add a bit more water. It may be if your broth contains a lot of sodium.