Two things I love in life: Buffalo sauce and Sub sandwiches. Combining the two is a no brainer. This is a really, really quick and perfect way to dine. Vegan Buffalo tempeh meatball subs are the greatest for so many reasons! Fast, delicious, spicy, protein filled goodness.
The prep for this maybe takes 10 minutes. You just throw all the meatball ingredients into a food processor and process for a few minutes. Form into balls and brown in a pan. I recommend a cast iron pan for this type of thing. They give you such an amazing crust. Then you just toss in some Buffalo sauce, serve on a nice toasted hoagie roll! I topped mine with my blue cheese sauce, which just so happens to be the best vegan blue cheese of all time!
Let’s talk about the flavoring of these meatballs for a second. I added hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder and celery salt into the mixture. This insures that they taste amazing right off the bat, even if you don’t toss them in the buffalo sauce! The celery salt is the perfect complement! We all know how well celery goes with buffalo sauce and blue cheese! You can definitely eat them as is, but tossing them in the sauce takes this up a notch!
The texture of these meatballs are perfect! You can eat them just as a snack or appetizer and just let people dip them in vegan blue cheese. However, who doesn’t love a good sandwich, and of course, who doesn’t love more carbs!
I promise you will not regret the decision to make these buffalo tempeh meatball subs. This recipe will make about 3-4 subs, depending on how large you make your meatballs. You may even be able to make more if you make the meatballs smaller. I am totally obsessed with these subs! My husband asked if the leftovers could be all his! I hope you enjoy too!
Vegan Buffalo Tempeh Meatball Subs
Ingredients
Buffalo Tempeh Meatballs
- 8 oz. Tempeh
- 1/2 C. Bread crumbs
- 1/2 C. Panko bread crumbs
- 2 Tbsp. Flax meal
- 3 Tbsp. Water
- 2 Tbsp. Hot sauce, I used Frank's
- 1 tsp. Celery salt
- 1 tsp. Garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Onion powder
- 1/4 C. Water
- 2 Tbsp. Olive oil for cooking
Buffalo Sauce
- 1/4 C. Vegan butter, I used Earth Balance
- 1/4 C. Hot sauce
For the Subs
- 4 Hoagie rolls
- Celery(optional)
- Vegan blue cheese(optional)
Instructions
- Make the meatballs, in a food processor, combine the tempeh and two types of bread crumbs. Pulse for a second to start breaking up.
- In a small bowl, make a flax egg by combing the flax meal and 3 Tbsp. of water. Let sit for a minute to thicken.
- Add the flax egg, hot sauce, seasonings and 1/4 C. of water to the food processor. Process, scrapping down the sides when needed until the mixture comes together and is a nice fine texture. You should be able to squeeze it together and it stays.
- Once the meatball mixture is ready, form balls by grabbing a small amount of mixture and rolling it in your hands. Roll all of the mixture into balls.
- Heat olive oil on medium high in a cast iron skillet if you have one, if not you can use a non stick pan. Place the meatballs in the skillet and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes until nice and brown.
- Next, make the Buffalo sauce, melt the vegan butter in the microwave, usually takes about 30 seconds. Mix with the hot sauce. Whisk until fully combined. Once the meatballs are done, toss the meatballs in the buffalo sauce.
- Toast the Hoagie rolls if you want, then place as many meatballs in the roll as you want. Top with celery if you like and vegan blue cheese sauce. You can also drizzle with more Buffalo sauce! Enjoy!
Sarene Condino
I just found your page on Pinterest and I just wanted to tell you how creative and fun your recipes look! I am so excited to try them. I am not a vegan (but I’d love to be one day) and I still struggle as a vegetarian with missing certain comfort food favorites. But my love of animals keeps me committed. Like you, while I also appreciate the health advantages, it’s the hatred of the animal cruelty and needless loss of life, that motivates my choice of a plant-centered diet. I haven’t dabbled much with seitan or tempeh but you’ve even convinced me to give those a try with some of the amazing recipes you’ve come up with. Thank you and keep them coming!
Lauren Hartmann
Thank you so much! Let me know if you ever have questions or need help with anything!