These lentil balls are full of Asian flavours. You can serve them as part of an Asian inspired bowl or on a vegan Bahn Mi sandwich. You could also serve them with a sauce along with some rice and vegetables for a healthy and satisfying dinner. They make a great appetizer that won’t disappoint.
For people who have trouble digesting beans, lentils can be a good alternative. They are from the legume family, but because lentils are smaller than most beans, they can be easier to digest. Lentils come in a few different varieties such as brown, red or yellow, green, puy and black. They all have different textures that lend themselves to different dishes. We suggest that you use brown lentils for these Asian Lentil Balls because they hold their shape fairly well, but are soft enough to be mashed.
Lentils are also quite versatile and they have a ‘meaty’ texture. This makes them a good ground meat substitute in dishes such as spaghetti Bolognese, meatballs, meatloaves, and shepherds pie.
Don’t worry about getting enough protein on a plant based diet. Lentils lentils pack almost 18 grams of protein into 1 cup. They are also rich in soluble fibre and resistant starch. This contributes to blood sugar control, aid in lowering cholesterol and gut health.
The Asian flavours in these lentil balls come from scallions, chili paste, sesame oil, coconut amino’s, ginger, garlic and cilantro. You can feel free to sub the coconut amino’s with tamari if that is what you have on hand.
We hope you try out these Asian Lentil Balls. You may also want to try out these White Bean and Artichoke Patties with some Indian Spiced Tomato Chutney. These Italian Style Lentil Meatballs are also a great go to.
Let us know if you make these Asian Lentil Balls and just you served them. It’s all about sharing great ideas! Leave a comment and a rating and don’t forget to show us a photo of yours by tagging us @plantedandpicked on Instagram and hashtagging it #plantedandpicked. Power with Plants!
Ingredients
Lentils
- ¾ cup dried brown lentils
- 1½ cups water or vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Lentil Balls
- cooked lentils
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs (can be gluten free)
- 2 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 2 tbsp sliced scallions, white and light green parts only
- 2 tbsp coconut amino's or tamari
- 1 tbsp garlic chili paste
- 1 tbsp toasted seseme oil
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp minced garlic (about 1 large clove)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the lentils in a colander.
- Place lentils, water and coconut oil in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. The liquid should be absorbed and the lentils soft.
- While the lentils are cooking, you can measure out and prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place cooked lentils and the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to combine the ingredients. You will want to ensure that there is still some texture to the mixture. If you over-mix the ingredients, the mixture will become pasty.
- Roll 2 tbsp of the mixture into a ball and place on parchment-lined cookie tray. Continue to roll the rest of the lentil balls. We tyipcally get about 18 balls.
- You can brush a little avocado oil over the lentil balls before placing them into the oven, but it is not necessary. It does help them to brown a little more.
- Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Turn over halfway through.
- Alternatively, you can cook these lentil balls in a frying pan in some avocado or coconut oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
Just made the delicious Asian Lentil balls,they are a must for everyone to try!
Thank you so much for commenting. We are glad you enjoyed them!
I haven’t made the recipe yet but wanted to ask if you have a recipe for the sauce that is being spooned over the asian lentil balls in the pictures. I’d like to make that at the same time. This looks like a great recipe!
Hello Deb, thanks for checking this out. The sauce is a sweet and sour pineapple sauce that we’re just putting a post together for now. We expect to post it next weekend if that’s alright. If you’d like to make it sooner, please send us an e-mail at [email protected] and we’ll reply the ingredients and instructions! Thanks again 🙂
Hi Planted & Picked, I finally made the Asian Lentil Balls today and the sauce. I liked them and next time I will process them a bit more in the food processor because the outside texture was too chunky. I wanted to make it more like your picture 🙂 I’ll put comments on the sauce recipe too. Thanks again for a good recipe!
Hi Deb, thanks for the comments and the kind rating on the Pineapple Sweet and Sour Sauce! So happy you tried out the lentil balls as well. We had them last night and the kids had seconds…kid approval is one of our metrics!