Vegan Cocktail Meatballs with Orange Glaze GF

Vegan Cocktail Meatballs with Orange Glaze GF: Savory mini mushroom meatballs are baked and then drizzled in a sweet, spicy, sticky orange sauce that makes for incredibly addictive and elegant cocktail appetizers. They will keep everyone coming back for more! And more!  

“The night you gave me my birthday party… you were a young Lieutenant and I was a fragrant phantom, wasn’t I? And it was a radiant night, a night of soft conspiracy and the trees agreed that it was all going to be for the best.”      –Zelda Fitsgerald

Today a younger friend invited us over to his pad for tea and conversation around 6pm. You know what we told him? Six is too late for us. We’re halfway through dessert at six and eying our pajamas. Asleep by 9 most nights we are. I’ve also begun to write like Yoda, I have. Who am I to publish a cocktail meatball recipe when I can barely stay up past sunset? But draw closer dearly beloved. Let me tell you tales of my youth. There were nights when I smudged kohl on my lids and tied silk scarves in my hair. Parties when I sang the moon and stars to sleep and heard the ringing of soft morning bells as I drifted home on aching feet with my spiky high-heels slung over my shoulder. 

“It is easy to decide on what is wrong to wear to a party, such as deep-sea diving equipment or a pair of large pillows, but deciding what is right is much trickier.” –Lemony Snicket

And oh the parties we threw in our 20s, 30s 40s. The days of plannings, and fussing and cleaning. We threw costumed New Years parties with themes like Moulin Rouge and Old Hollywood Glamour. Garden parties in June with armfuls of pink roses and fairy lights.  

But it took until my 50s to figure out the secret to a truly fantastic party. Was it the days of lists and planning, shopping and cooking and freezing and sending my guy to the market five times for forgotten ingredients? No. The secret: A relaxed host and hostess who enjoy every moment of the party. All the decorations, and cocktail meatballs on toothpicks don’t make for a good party. It doesn’t matter if the silverware is polished or your dress is embellished with gold thread. If you are exhausted and on edge and worried that you won’t live up to self-imposed impossibly high standards. Then your party will bomb. Greet your guests with a genuine smile, ask your guests for help cutting the credutee, and for god sake leave yourself enough time for a pre-party shower. 

Vegan BBQ Ribs

Maple Glazed Vegan Ham

Succulent and full of flavor, this Maple Glazed Vegan Ham Roasty healthy home-made seitan recipe. 

Check out my Aquafaba page!  For tips, tricks and to see all of my Aquafabulous recipes.

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Vegan Cocktail Meatballs with Orange Glaze, GF

Total Time

2 hrs

 

Savory mini mushroom meatballs are baked then drizzled in a sweet and spicy sticky orange sauce to make these incredibly addictive and elegant cocktail meatball appetizers. They will keep everyone coming back for more!

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: Asian, Italian

Keyword: "meaty", GF, glaze, mushroom

Servings: 50 Total meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 cups mushrooms small diced
• 1 tbsp Oil Canola
• 1/4 small sweet potato peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup onion small diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 2 1/2 tbsp aquafaba liquid left over from cooking legumes,
• 1 3/4 cups cooked black beans you can sun any bean for the lentils
• 1 cup GF panko
• 1 tbsp  herbes de Provence
• 1 1/2 tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper top taste
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke, or 1 tsp smoked paprika for optional yums

Orange glaze

• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tbsp sriracha or more if you like the kick
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 juice of one orange

Instructions

Orange Glaze

1. Add together all the glaze ingredients in a small pan, stir, and bring to a boil.

2. Turn down the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes until thick and sticky.

3. Set aside

Vegan Cocktail meatballs

1. In a small bowl stir together your flax and aquafaba, and set aside to thicken.

2. In a large saute pan heat your oil over medium heat and sauté your mushrooms, onions, sweet potato, and garlic. Stir frequently and cook until the mushrooms are cooked down and the sweet potato begins to soften, about 20 minutes.

3. Place your beans in a bowl with the cooked smushrooms, sweet potato, onion and garlic and give them a good mash with a potato masher or your hands. The beans are going to work like a tasty mortar, to hold your meatballs together.

4. Add in the aquafaba/flax mixture and the rest of your meatball ingredients and mix well. I think this is best done with your hands. Really get in there and massage the ingredients together. 

5. Cover the bowl and let the mixture rest and cool in the fridge. (you can freeze it at this point if you want to make it it the future). This is important for the texture to hydrate right. After it has fully cooled. About an hour. Check the texture by forming a tbsp of the mixture into a ball and seeing how it holds its shape. If it is too wet then add more bread crumbs by the tbsp until you get the right texture.

6. Heat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

7. Place parchment on a large cookie sheet and form your meatballs in 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp balls.

8. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Brush with glaze and bake 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and skewer with toothpicks or rosemary stalks as I did. Serve with extra sauce.