I could drink this sauce.
Hear me out. Have you heard of steak Diane? It is generally steak sauteed with shallots and a cognac, Dijon cream sauce. Welp, I made you these vegan steak Diane meatballs and I can honestly say they are the best thing I have eaten in a while. The steak-like meatballs are the absolute best texture of any vegan meatball I have eaten. And this sauce. Holy crud, this sauce. It would make a shoe taste good!
These vegan steak Diane meatballs are made from tempeh and lentils and are only 6 ingredients total. They are heavy on the protein and heavy on the flavor. Not to mention that they are baked in the oven instead of being fried. Cutting way down on time, effort and oil.
While the meatballs bake, all you need to do is whip up the steak Diane sauce. Sauteed shallot, a splash of cognac(if that’s your thing), some Dijon mustard, a bit of tomato sauce, veggie broth and some coconut cream. It may sound a little strange, but this may be the best sauce I have ever tasted.
Serve these AMAZING vegan steak Diane meatballs over mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower for one of the best meals of your life. This whole recipe is incredibly easy, simple to make gluten free, and pretty healthy. I can’t think of a much better thing to do with your time than make these meatballs!
Vegan Steak Diane Meatballs
Ingredients
Vegan "Steak" Meatballs
- 8 Ounces Tempeh
- 1/2 Cup Cooked lentils
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Ground flax seed
- 3 Tablespoons Water
- 1/2 Cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Black pepper
For the Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 Shallots, sliced
- 2 Tablespoons Cognac(optional)
- 1 Cup Vegetable broth
- 1 Tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato sauce
- 2/3 Cup Coconut cream or full fat coconut milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chives for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Now, make the "meatballs". Add the tempeh, lentils and garlic to a food processor. Pulse for a second to start breaking them down. Set aside for a moment.
- Then, in a small bowl, whisk together the flax and water to make a flax egg. Let it sit for a minute until it looks thick. Then add it to the food processor as well.
- Next, add the panko, onion powder, salt and pepper to the food processor. Pulse everything in the food processor, scraping down the sides as needed until everything is blended, but still has some texture. It should hold together well. If you squeeze it and it doesn't stay together, process a little longer.
- Then, taking about 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture in your hand, squeeze it together and then roll into a ball. Place it on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray and repeat with all of the mixture. You should get about 15-20 meatballs.
- Spray the tops of the meatballs with more non stick spray and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Flipping them after 10 minutes.
- While the meat balls are baking, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil on medium high in a large skillet and add the sliced shallots. Saute the shallots for about 2-3 minutes reducing heat as needed, until they are translucent.
- Then add the Cognac if using, and saute for another 2-3 minutes until the shallots have absorbed most of the Cognac.
- In the meantime, in a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable broth, soy sauce, Dijon mustard and tomato sauce. Then pour that into the skillet. Simmer on low for about 5 more minutes.
- Now, pour the coconut cream into the skillet and whisk to combine. Continue to simmer on low until the meatballs are done. Taste and adjust seasoning. Adding a few pinches of salt and pepper of needed.
- Once the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve over mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower and drizzle the sauce on top. Sprinkle with chives.
Hi Lauren. This looks so amazing; can’t wait to make it! Can you suggest an alternative to the tempeh? Thanks!
This is off the top of my head, and I have not tested these alternatives. However, I think the best alternatives would be either walnuts or chickpeas. I would up the amount of lentils to maybe a cup and do 1/2 of walnuts or chickpeas. If you use chickpeas, I would add them to the food processor at the end so they still have some texture and don’t turn to hummus.
Podrías sustituir el temple por soja texturizada o proteína de soja. Saludos!!!👋
I want to thank you, personally for bringing this into my life. I’ll be making this next week. I’m drooling now, oh my god…
I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand to make the meatballs, so I just used storebought frozen meatless meatballs, so I can’t speak to those (even though I’m sure they are awesome), but this sauce…. it seriously is magical. I put it over mashed potatoes for dinner and then reheated leftovers for lunch and put it over pasta and both were delicious.
Could you use red wine instead of Cognac?
Totally! I bet that would be delicious!
I wouldn’t even be able to tell that these were vegan meatballs! I definitely need to give this a try. great recipe!
Absolutely amazing! Never ate or used tempeh before and wasn’t sure how it all would taste but we all loved it. The sauce is incredible I told my husband I just want to sit and drink it ha! Thank you for this deliciousness
So I’ve decided that no one in my family likes tempeh…which is a bummer. But I made the beijing tempeh and while everyone LOVED the flavor, they didn’t like the actual tempeh. So, that being said…how much tempeh flavor are in these? If it’s a prominent flavor, I’ll try the variation you gave to someone who asked for substitutions. Thanks!
I honestly don’t think they taste like tempeh, however I do like tempeh, so I don’t want to steer you in the wrong direction. I would say if you really hate tempeh, you might still be able to taste it. I do think with all the other ingredients and the way it is processed really makes the flavor very mild!
For people that don’t care for tempeh, I have read recommendations from other sources that you can steam tempeh before using it in recipes to remove the bitter flavor. I haven’t made this recipe yet, but look forward to it!
I do steam it for 15 minutes. Everytime I use it. I could not taste it in this at all. The sauce is GREAT!
Puedes sustituir temphe por soja texturizada o proteína de soja.
I wouldn’t change a thing! It was perfect!
Absolutely delish!!
These were SOOOOO Good!! First time making Vegan “Meatballs”, but your recipe is super easy, super quick, and and they tasted AMAZING.
…AND THE SAUCE!! Wow!!
Thanks and I cannot wait to make more of your delicious creations.
I don’t have any cognac. Will it taste very different without it? What can I substitute?
You can leave it out if need be. I think it will still be delicious. I can’t think of any replacement that would be similar in taste.
Hi Lauren,
This looks amazing! Which kind of side veggies would you recommend with this dish? I want to up the veggiw content, but I have a hard time imagining how the sauce will taste and therefore finding a veggie pairing.
Thanks!
I think it would probably be great with green beans, broccoli, any greens, like kale. I honestly usually serve it with anything green and I think it works!
Hi! I’m
New to vegan world but am LOVING your site. What a great tool to help people embrace this lifestyle. I’m learning there are SO many types/colors of lentils. What one do you recommend here? Thx!
I like to use brown lentils for these “meatballs”! I hope you enjoy and let me know if you need help with anything!!
Hi! Can I substitute garbanzo beans for lentils?
Yes, I think that would work out! I haven’t tested that, but it should work the same.
I bought al the stuff for this but I forgot the coconut milk. Can I substitute almond milk??
It might not be as creamy and thick if you use almond milk, but I still think it would work and taste great!
Just made this. delicious! I’m going to donor the sauce recipe next time though because i poured a ton on my meal and had none for leftovers 😂
Can these meatballs be made in bulk and frozen, then baked?
Love love love this recipe! This is a staple in our house, made every few weeks. I use real meaty meatballs so I can’t speak to the meatball portion of the recipe but the sauce is very good! It’s delicious and rich without being heavy
What kind of lentils did you use in this recipe?
I used brown lentils. Any will work, but I think brown are best!
Hi Lauren, this will be my first attempt with Tempeh, do you think it would be ok to bake the meatballs and freeze them for quick use when your in a hurry?
I’m new to vegan but have been a vegetarian for years…I think you’re amazing 😊
Yes! I think freezing them and reheating them will work! They hold up really well!
Love this recipe! I would double the gravy next time because it is sooooo good! Thanks Lauren. You are my go to recipe site!
Hey Lauren! The flavors of these meatballs were awesome! I’m an amateur in the kitchen and made them too dry, should I add more lentils (I used black lentils) or more water?
If they were a little too dry they probably need a bit of fat, like olive oil or a bit of veggie broth.
Hi Lauren, for this recipe when you say tomato sauce do you mean ketchup or more passata? Thank you! I’ve tried and loved so many of your recipes can’t wait to do this one.
When I say tomato sauce, I mean canned plain tomato sauce. The kind you would use to start a pasta sauce, but without any seasoning yet.
Great, thank you so much for your reply. So excited to try this sauce!
Can you use GF rolled oats instead of planko? or do you have any GF options for planko?
I have not tried that with this recipe, but I have tried that with other similar recipes with great success, so I do think that would work fine for this recipe too!
I made this last night with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. It was absolutely delicious; a restaurant quality meal!
I love all of your recipes but this one tops the list. Oh, and the squash carbonara, and the portobellos au poivre, and the jalapeno burgers. Well, I think you get it, love love, thank you for these amazing recipes.
I’ve had this one bookmarked for a while and finally made it. It’s so good! The sauce is unreal.. Next time, I’ll be sure to double it. Adding this to my regular rotation. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
This was delicious!! I was looking for a tempeh recipe that wouldn’t require steaming, and this hit the spot. I wasn’t sure about the sauce while I was making it – the dijon was very overpowering at first – but after cooking down it was delicious! I think next time I would start it with a roux so it would thicken up more.
I love love LOVE this recipe! Thank you so much! I have made this several times and it always turns out amazing. My son had two huge servings!
You’re famous in this house because of this one. I triple the sauce cause…. Well …. It’s really the best part. My husband requests this often and it’s so so comforting. Thank you, magic woman!