Vegan Meatloaf Recipe
Written by Sneh Chaudhry on December 22, 2021
This vegan meatloaf is the best ever. It’s hearty, satisfying, loaded with flavour and glazed with a sweet and spicy tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Vegan Meatloaf:
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 Small Onion (100g) White, Yellow or Brown, finely chopped
- 2 (15-ounce) cans Chickpeas Drained (3 cups)
- 4 Slices Brown or Whole Wheat Bread (160g) processed into breadcrumbs
- 2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Mustard
- 2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
Tomato Glaze:
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste (56g)
- 1 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
- ½ Tbsp Maple Syrup
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Paprika
For Serving:
- Fresh Basil Optional
Instructions
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Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic to a frying pan with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
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Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper so that the meatloaf can be easily lifted out. Set aside.
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Drain the chickpeas and add them to a mixing bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher until roughly mashed.
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Make your breadcrumbs by breaking up the 4 slices of bread and placing them into a blender and pulse blending until it makes breadcrumbs.
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Add the breadcrumbs, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, mustard, flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, tomato paste and cayenne pepper to the mixing bowl. Add in the cooked onions and garlic. Mix very well into a thick batter. Make sure everything is evenly mixed (it’s a very thick mix). Transfer this into the parchment-lined loaf pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
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Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
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While the meatloaf is baking, mix the tomato paste, brown sugar, maple syrup, garlic powder, salt and paprika in a bowl and stir together.
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When the meatloaf has baked for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven and remove the foil. Spread on the tomato glaze evenly and return it to the oven, (no foil, uncovered) to bake for a further 15 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the loaf pan by lifting the meatloaf out with the parchment paper. Let it cool down for another 10 minutes.
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Slice and serve with fresh basil.
Notes
- I used 4 slices of a regular pre-sliced thick-cut sandwich bread for the breadcrumbs. This makes around 2 cups of homemade breadcrumbs. If you use a store-bought version of breadcrumbs such as panko breadcrumbs then you will only need only around 1 cup of breadcrumbs since store-bought breadcrumbs are drier than freshly made breadcrumbs. Use only as much as you need to get the meatloaf mix to the consistency that you see in our photos in the blog post above. Chickpeas can also vary in their moisture content, so being a little flexible with this is important.
- The tomato glaze is so good that we sometimes double it and use all of it for a thicker tomato glaze topping! If you like it as much as we do, you might want to do the same
