Vegan Cocktail Meatballs, Grandma-Inspired.

Do you have a family meatball tradition? When I asked Josh's grandmother for her treasured cocktail meatball recipe, with the intention of creating a vegan version, I was pretty certain it'd be nothing like the original. I haven't even tasted the original. So I wasn't trying to "copy" them, but I was inspired by them...because let's face it, a veggie meatball will never taste like a meatball.  And that's okay with me.

1950 meets 2011...These were fresh, flavorful, and fun to eat. And just retro enough to make a grandma happy...don't forget the toothpicks! 

Upgrades...while grandma uses a traditional cocktail meatball sauce of Heinz Chili sauce and concord grape jelly, we decided to make our own chili sauce with organic grape jelly, giving the meatballs a 2011 update.

Here is the recipe we worked from, via A Veg*n for Dinner. Our changes:

Omit the vegan bouillion.

Use fresh parsley instead of thyme

They are on the bready side, so we're tweaking the recipe a bit to include less bread and more vital wheat gluten. 

Chili Sauce

1.5 cups organic ketchup

1/2 white onion, minced

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

8 oz organic grape jelly

Sear meatballs on medium high heat until lightly browned. Heat chili sauce ingredients over medium heat, stirring often. Then add meatballs to sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Simmer on low until ready to eat. 

These are best served hot or cold, not at room temperature, simply because they are softer in texture at room temp. Something we're going to test in our next batch.