Tender Tempeh Meatballs that I Hope You'll Try
They're fully saturated with flavor and, in my opinion, impossible not to love
Tempeh may not be everyone’s favorite plant-based protein — just a guess based on the response I see when I share tempeh recipes — but I’m not ready to give up quite yet. In case anyone needs a refresher, tempeh has a lot going for it:
It is very high in protein, containing roughly the same amount as beef at 31 grams per cup, cubed
It’s also high in fiber, with 14 grams per cup, cubed, and rich in a bunch of other vitamins and nutrients like B12, calcium, magnesium, and more
It’s a fermented food, which has the advantage of being good for digestion
It’s been around centuries, and is central to Indonesian and Javanese cuisines (which is where it originated)
It’s fun, with a pleasant tender density and mild, mushroomy flavor
If you aren’t a fan on your first attempt, don’t give up right away. It could be an ingredient that grows on you (this is what happened for me with tofu, something I didn’t eat as a kid with but have ultimately come around to loving).
In the tempeh recipe I’m sharing today — which will be the last one I share for a little while, I promise — I use sweet, punchy flavors that always play off tempeh’s nuttiness so well by simmering the crumbled tempeh in a mix of pineapple juice, miso, maple, and rice vinegar. This may sound incredibly weird, but I’m telling you it works.
The pineapple juice doesn’t impart nearly as much sweetness as you’d expect, and I think it’s kind of hard to identify in the finished meatballs. But like in the Charlie Bird Farro Salad where the grains are cooked in cider, or Yi Jun Loh’s One-Pot Coconut Water ABC Soup with coconut water ingeniously making up the broth, you’ll unearth a surprising savoriness in the fruit.
And I was absolutely certain that these meatballs were going to need an egg to hold them together, but guess what? In my tests, the eggless version is better! Better flavor, better texture, better economics. A win for everybody.
If you’re a paid subscriber, check your inbox for a little bonus recipe I sent out at the same time, which is the one photographed above. It’s very simple, with rice and lightly dressed cucumbers, but includes a dynamite sauce that just zips the whole thing up into a perfect meal.
Relatedly, we’ve been working with PBPs (plant based proteins) quite a lot on the paid subscriber side of things. Here’s a peek of what’s been cooking lately:
Before we get to the recipe, I have a book recommendation that is not a cookbook, but feels very appropriate anyway. My friend friend
, who you may know as one of the original, genre-defining food bloggers Amateur Gourmet, has just published his first novel Food Person. How good is that cover?I got to read it early, and I pretty much devoured it in one sitting. The protagonist is a cookbook obsessed Food Person who dreams of writing a cookbook herself. The story charges into motion when she lands a gig to ghostwrite a cookbook for a celebrity (one who reminds me of Lindsay Lohan).
It’s got everything you’d hope for — it’s funny and smart, has lots of evocative descriptions of food and cooking, plenty of nods to canonical cookbooks, a little peek behind the curtains of this corner of the publishing industry, and characters to root for.
If you’re a Food Person yourself and looking for a satisfying escape, my guess is that you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Adam has events coming up in New York next week, and elsewhere across the country, too.
Ginger-Miso Tempeh Meatballs
This recipe halves very well if you only need a dozen meatballs, but the leftovers keep great in the fridge for several days, too.
To make these GF, my recommendation is to use GF panko or coarse, GF breadcrumbs. You may also be able to use almond meal, but start with less and add more as needed.
I’m a big fan of the pineapple juice at Trader Joe’s and always have it in the cupboard. In place of pineapple juice, I imagine that apple juice or cider would work just as well.
Yield 24 balls | Prep time 25 minutes | Cook time 25 minutes
Olive oil or avocado oil
½ onion (red, white, or yellow)
½ teaspoon fine salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger (or 2 tablespoons freshly grated)
2 (7.5- or 8-ounce) packages tempeh
1 cup pineapple juice
¼ cup water
¼ cup white (shiro) miso
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 small bunch cilantro, stems and leaves, minced
¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1. Set a skillet over medium heat, and once it’s hot, add enough oil to cover the base in a thin film. Add the onion and salt, and sauté just until the onion is translucent, 3 minutes or so.
2. Stir in the garlic and ginger, then crumble the tempeh into small pieces, right into the pan. Pour in the pineapple juice, water, miso, maple syrup, and rice vinegar, stirring to combine, and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered until there’s not much liquid pooling in the bottom of the pan, 7 to 10 minutes (it will have a thick, gravy-like consistency). Scrape into a mixing bowl and cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Stir the cilantro, breadcrumbs, and arrowroot into the tempeh. You should be able to easily shape the mixture into a meatball, but if it refuses to hold together, add a tablespoon of breadcrumbs more. Shape into golfball-sized portions (you should get about 24 of them), and space them out on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle, brush, or spray them lightly with a bit more oil.
5. Move the pan to the oven and bake until golden brown and firmed to the touch, about 25 minutes. Use tongs to flip them over halfway through baking. Cool for about 5 minutes before serving. They’ll keep for 4 or 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Note: I realize the downloadable PDF feature is occasionally not working. I have raised this issue repeatedly with Substack, and been told that it is unlikely to get fixed anytime soon… I’m sorry about this. I continue adding the PDFs with my fingers crossed. You can always send me an email and I can provide the PDF another way.
I’m a huge fan of tempeh! Far more than tofu. I’ve added this recipe to my list!
It seems like this recipe is flexible enough so you could swap ginger and cilantro for something like basil and chilies for an Italian-esque riff.
I actually really love tempeh! (Although I'm the only one in my family unfortunately.) I'm adding these to my list; could be good to take to the office for lunch. Thank you!