Fantastic Red Lentil Millet Meatballs (Kids Friendly & gluten-free)

This is a fantastic recipe for red lentil millet meatballs, which can be a perfect addition to any lunch or dinner. You can serve these lentil meatballs with fresh Greek salad, roasted potatoes, and dip; complete and nutritious. It’s an entirely plant-based proposition, easy to make, kid-friendly, and flavorful.

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Everything you need to make red lentil millet meatballs

• Millet groats (best base for patties, and burgers!)
• Rel lentils
• Pumpkin puree (store bought, or homemade)
• Walnuts (toasted and blended)
• Onions
• Garlic cloves
• Olive oil (or rapeseed oil)

FOR SPICES

• Cinnamon
• Tumeric
• Smoked dried paprika (the best spice ever!)
• Nutritional yeasts (optional for cheesy flavor)
• Herb pepper (or cayenne pepper)
• Salt to taste

Millet GROATS should be your best friend in the kitchen; here is why

Millet Groats is amazing. Besides the high nutritional value, which you can learn more about below, it has enormous use in a kitchen. It’s useful for everything. It’s versatile and neutral in taste, making it easy to use in sweet and savory recipes. It’s perfect for breakfast porridge (a much better proposition than oats), for desserts, for sauces to thicken up, for puddings, for soups to make them more filling, and for salads (with roasted veggies). In today’s recipe, we use millet as a base for meatballs.

I found millet groats the best base for making burgers, patties, and meatballs throughout my cooking journey. I also use it for baked pates bread spreads. You will see a lot of recipes with millet. It’s fantastic to discover what else you can make from this simple and humble grain, which offers much. Once, I made herb butter using millet as a base… it was delicious!

How do you build meatballs, patties, and burger bases?

I want to tell you more about building a base for burgers, patties, or meatballs in today’s post. It’s pretty straightforward; there are only a few things to remember and the rest of your creativity.
In plant-based kitchens, we do not use eggs, so many struggle with this because of how they will; how is it possible that the patties won’t fall apart without an egg? Well, it is possible.

Millet groats and any groats play a massive role in that. It thickens up the base. I usually use buckwheat flour to keep the recipe gluten-free, plus I found buckwheat flour to thicken up and hold the patty’s base very well. I want to share a few examples of how I build patties based on how easy it is to come up with different flavors and combinations.

First, let’s take a look at today’s recipe;

• Millet groats + red lentils + buckwheat flour + pumpkin puree + toasted nuts (to boost the flavor) + spices
  Millet as the primary grain, and red lentils as a protein base. That’s my primary choice; I add buckwheat flour to help the patty’s base hold once it’s baked. I also like adding toasted nuts; this step adds a unique touch of flavor. Then, the rest are spices and other additives like pumpkin puree in this recipe.
  
• Millet + smoked tofu + buckwheat flour + onions & leek (sauteed with spices) + fresh parsley + toasted sunflower-seeds or walnuts)
  
• Brown rice + red beans + green lentils + buckwheat flour + beetroot (cooked and grated, blended) + toasted walnuts + onions (sauteed with spices)
  
• Rice + plain tofu + sauteed spinach + toasted sunflower-seeds + onions (with spices)

As you can see, the main rule is to understand that in order to build any burger or patty, you need to have the grain/ groats and protein as a base, plus a touch of buckwheat (or regular) flour. Then the rest is your creativity.

The nutritional use of millet grOATS

Millet groats is abundant in nutrients and health-beneficial phenolic compounds, making it suitable for food and feed. The diverse content of nutrients and phenolic compounds present in finger and pearl millet are good indicators that the variety of millet available is essential when selecting it for use as food. Research has shown that millet phenolic properties have high antioxidant activity. The presence of phytochemicals in millet grains positively affects human health by lowering the cholesterol and phytates in the body.

Nutritionally, millet’s energy value, protein, and macronutrient contents are comparable and sometimes higher than conventional cereals. They significantly contribute to human diets due to their high energy levels, calcium, iron, zinc, lipids, and high-quality proteins. In addition, they are also rich sources of dietary fiber and micronutrients.

Read more here.

How to make red lentil millet meatballs; step-by-step

STEP 1:

Cook millet groats and red lentils. I like to cook them together; this saves dishes and time. Make sure to rinse millet groats and lentils through the water. Continue this process until the water is clear.

You can do this the day before, let it cool down, and use it the next day. When we are here, I would like to mention that this is a great savory porridge idea. Sometimes, when I don’t have enough time, I cook lentils and millet groats together in veggie bullion broth; I add some spices, sauteed onions, and veggies (carrot, pumpkin, or sweet potato) I have on hand. Coconut milk adds extra creaminess. I usually serve it with chopped green herbs, pita bread, crackers, or sourdough bread. It’s yummy!

STEP 2:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Add water or vegetable broth to a pot with rinsed millet groats and red lentils (if you have). Please bring it to a boil, lower the heat, and cover it with a lid. Cook until millet groats and lentils absorb water fully.

I like to check with my spoon at the bottom if any liquid is left. If not, I turn the heat off and let it sit.

Let the cooked millet groats and lentils sit in a pot once you prepare other ingredients. You can take the lid off, and let it cool down.

STEP 3:

Prepare pumpkin puree. You can buy it in a store, but I encourage you to prepare your own. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Cut the pumpkin into cubes, pour olive oil, and sprinkle some salt. Mix with your hands. Place the tray with the pumpkin in the oven and roast it for about 20 minutes or until it is tender and soft.

It’s essential which pumpkin you choose and what quality. Sometimes, pumpkin can be very wet and liquidy after roasting; sometimes, it can be dry. My pumpkin was much dryer after roasting, but if you would end up with more watery, you would need to add more buckwheat flour or see how much meatball base is.

STEP 4:

In a blender, add thoroughly cooled-down cooked millet groats and red lentils. Blend just for a few seconds to break them down a little. Add the base to a mixing bowl.

You can skip this part, however, I found it’s better and easier to work with the base afterward.

STEP 5:

Blend roasted pumpkin and add to a mixing bowl with millet groats and lentils.

STEP 6:

Chop onion and add to a preheated frying pan. Dry fry for a few minutes. Dry frying is an excellent method to let onion and leek soften before adding oil. The process draws out all the moisture, so the final result is browned, super crispy, and tender. After a few minutes, add oil and continue frying.

STEP 7:

Add spices (smoked paprika, cinnamon, herb pepper, tumeric, and salt) and continue final frying for another few minutes. This will create a flavor profile for your filling. Let this stage go slowly. Fry it on a low heat.

This step is a perfect way to create the flavor profile for any dish. Once you sautee onions with spices, you are already building the first layer of flavor, and it makes a tremendous difference to putting herbs at the end of the cooking process. The oil binds everything well, and in the final result, the taste is not blind but fulfilled and aromatic.

STEP 8:

Add sauteed onions with spices to a mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix with your hands to combine. Add nutritional yeast, fresh garlic cloves, and oil (if needed). Form meatballs and place them on a baking tray. Brush them with oil (you can sprinkle some sesame seeds). Bake them for about 40-50 minutes.

FINAL STEP:

Let red lentil millet meatballs rest after baking, and serve them!

How do you serve red lentil millet meatballs?

• Roasted potatoes + Greek salad + yogurt dip
• Rice + carrot & celery salad + fresh herbs
• Potato puree + cabbage salad + tahini dressing
• Buckwheat with onion + vegetable stew + herbs

Here are a few ideas how you can compose a perfect meal using this recipe. I hope you enjoyed!

MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES FOR YOU HERE

Creamy Pumpkin Millet Porridge

Creamy Red Lentil Pumpkin Soup You Will Love (Spicy and Cozy)

Smoky Roasted Pumpkin With Tahini Sauce (Yummy!)

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes (Kid’s friendly)

I hope you will enjoy this red lentil millet meatballs recipe and will get some inspiration from today’s post. Let me know what you would like to see and what you would like to know. I would love to connect with you and help you even more!  
Domi

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