This Vegan Meatloaf is incredibly easy to make & is sure to please with it’s deep & savoury flavour. Serve sliced & smothered in rich, thick gravy for a truly satisfying meal!
I have received a few emails over the past few months asking if I could come up with a Vegan Meatloaf recipe.
I think something people find hard when transitioning to veganism, is making alternatives to family favourites like meatloaf, shepherd’s pie, spaghetti bolognese, pot roast etc.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN MEATLOAF
SEE MY VIDEO FOR A VISUAL GUIDE. FOR INGREDIENTS & FULL INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST
Vegan versions of recipes like meatloaf can be just as tasty as non-vegan versions and don’t have to be complicated to make. This Vegan Meatloaf is really straightforward. Here’s how:
STEP 1
All you have to do do is chop the onions, garlic and mushrooms.
If you can I suggest taking the lazy way out and doing all the chopping in a food processor. It’s then super quick and easy.
I have this one and love it:
It holds 14 cups so all fits in. If you have a smaller one you might have to chop in batches but it will still be quicker than doing it by hand.
STEP 2
Then you mix the chopped mushrooms, onions and garlic with all of the other ingredients in a big bowl and press tightly into a loaf pan before baking.
I can’t recommend these USA Loaf Pans enough:
I use mine for recipes like this and for making Whole Wheat Bread and other quick breads and nothing ever sticks, even with very minimal greasing (or none at all if I forget).
STEP 3
Bake the meatloaf and make the really quick, super tasty vegan gravy.
STEP 4
Rest the meatloaf for a few minutes before slicing and serve with whatever takes your fancy.
HOW TO SERVE MY VEGAN MEATLOAF
I have included a recipe for a quick and tasty gravy to make as an accompaniment to this Vegan Meatloaf but if you have any of my Red Wine Vegan Gravy leftover from another meal that also works well.
A couple of thick, hearty slices make the perfect partner to Vegan Yorkshire Puddings, crispy roast potatoes (have you tried my Healthy No Oil Crispy Roasted Potatoes?)
And some Vegan Green Bean Casserole on the side will take your meal right over the top!
Or a huge, fluffy pile of mashed potatoes and some delicious steamed vegetables, all drizzled with gravy. I have also made it and smothered barbecue sauce all over the top before baking, then served it with more for drizzling. It works so well!
Comfort food at it’s best!
PLANNING YOUR THANKSGIVING MEAL?
DOWNLOAD MY VEGAN THANKSGIVING DINNER MENU, SHOPPING LIST AND TIMELINE HERE!
It makes Thanksgiving effortless. All you have to do is print it out, shop from the shopping list, then make it the recipes while following my time line.
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER VEGAN MEATLOAF
Leftovers are absolutely fantastic when stuffed inside the mushrooms in this Easy Vegan Mushroom Pie recipe instead of the caramelized onions. Seriously, seriously good! I highly recommend you try it!
They are also great sliced thinly in sandwiches or just reheated again and served with potatoes and gravy as before. I could easily eat this a few days in a row.
Leftovers reheat perfectly too. Just wrap individual slices or a wedge of it in lightly greased tin foil and bake in the oven.
This meatloaf is incredibly full of flavour and texture. The mushrooms give it amazing depth but not in an obviously mushroomy way. In fact, my husband who does not like mushrooms happily ate this two nights in a row and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was shocked when I told him that they were the main ingredient.
TASTY & NUTRITIOUS
As well as tasting good, this Vegan Meatloaf is really good for you.
It is totally oil free, gluten free and packs a massive protein punch with 10 grams per slice. (If anyone asks you where you get your protein from, please throw a slice of this in their face!).
CAN I PREPARE VEGAN MEATLOAF IN ADVANCE?
This Vegan Meatloaf recipe be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a few days before baking so is great if you like to batch cook or prepare food at the weekends ready for the week ahead. At holiday time it’s always lovely to have things like this made up ahead so on the day you can enjoy more time with your family rather than in the kitchen.
You can also bake it, cool it and keep in the fridge, then reheat the whole thing in the pan wrapped in tin foil. That way you can bake it in advance then warm it through just when you need it.
PLEASE NOTE
To make this Vegan Meatloaf, you need some already cooked red and green lentils. It is important that these lentils are not overcooked as otherwise they will make the meatloaf mushy. Cook them until just tender. I give some more specific instructions in the recipe notes.
This recipe was originally published on April 15th 2016 and updated with new photographs and a video on Sept 6th 2018.
And if you love this recipe, you might also enjoy my Mushroom Lentil Loaf with Cranberries and my Vegan Roast.
Check out my cookbook too and subscribe to my email list for a fabulous FREE eCookbook featuring my top 10 recipes. Being on the list means you will be first to see my new recipes and you’ll be kept in the loop on all things new and exciting too!
Vegan Meatloaf with Gravy
Ingredients
For the vegan meatloaf
- 1 small onion , finely chopped, golf ball size
- 2 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 198g | 1 cup cooked red lentils (measured after cooked)- do not overcook the lentils. They should be just soft. Red Lentils don't take long to cook at all and if they are overcooked and soggy it will make the meatloaf soggy. For tips on cooking see recipe notes.
- 198g | 1 cup cooked green lentils (measured after cooked)- do not overcook the lentils or the meatloaf will end up soggy. They need to be just tender. For tips on cooking see recipe notes.
- 226g | 3 cups mushrooms , finely chopped (measured after chopping). White, button, cremini (brown) or portobello are all fine to use.
- 62g | 1/2 cup walnut pieces , To make nut-free you can sub the walnuts for half a cup of oats or half a cup of sunflower seeds
- 4 tablespoons | 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
- 1 cup / 108 g bread crumbs , made from a stale loaf of bread, or use panko crumbs, or gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 90 g | 1 cup oat , rice, spelt or wholewheat flour (see recipe note for how to make oat flour)
- 1 tablespoon Tamari (or coconut aminos , or soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- up to 120mls | 1/2 cup water , you might not need any at all
For the gravy
- 2 medium onions , chopped
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons tamari , or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch (or just regular all purpose flour)
- 480mls | 2 cups mushroom broth , or 2 cups of water and 3 mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 370°.
- Make sure the onion, garlic & mushrooms are chopped finely. If you have a food processor you can do this in there with the regular blade.
- Put them in a large bowl then add all other meatloaf ingredients except the water.
- Mix very, very well together. There is a lot of it and it is hard to mix with a spoon so it's much easier to get your hands in there and squidge it all together well.
- You need it so that it sticks together nicely when you squeeze it with your hands. If it does this easily then don't add any water. If it's still a little crumby and wont come together add water very gradually until it just starts coming together. I often need no water at all. Definitely don't add more water than it needs or it will make the loaf soggy.
- Lay a strip of parchment paper down the length of a loaf tin with enough length either end to act as handles for pulling the finished loaf out ( my tin is 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75 inches. Any tin roughly that size will be fine)
- Spoon in the meatloaf mixture and pack down really tightly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. Keep an eye on it towards the end. You want it to go a bit crusty and brown on the top but not too dark. You can cover it with a piece of foil if it does start going too brown.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin, covered tightly in foil for at least 15 minutes but up to 30 is ok. Then remove and slice.
For the gravy
- Sauté the onion slowly over a low heat until a deep golden brown.
- Transfer to a blender with all of the other ingredients and blend until very smooth.
- Pour into a pan and stir over a medium heat until thickened and piping hot.
- If you prefer your gravy a little thinner just add some boiling water from a kettle and stir well until you get the consistency you like.
- Serve the meatloaf sliced and doused in gravy.
Notes
- Don't soak them prior to cooking.
- Rinse in a sieve with fresh water to remove any dust or debris.
- Cook on a stovetop, using 3 cups of liquid (water, stock) to 1 cup of dry lentils. Be sure to use a large enough saucepan as the lentils will double or triple in size.
- Bring to a boil, cover tightly, reduce heat to low and simmer until they are tender.
- For whole lentils, cook time is usually about 15-20 minutes.
- For split red lentils, cook time is typically only about 5 minutes.
- Spoon a couple out and taste them to check done-ness periodically and as soon as they are ready, drain and leave to cool.
Estimated nutrition per serving:
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Syl says
Do you think it would work if I used mini silicone loaf pans? What would the baking time be?
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m not a fan of silicone pans for cakes etc as they don’t cook as evenly and don’t provide enough support, but with a meatloaf they should be ok. I can’t give advice on timing as I’ve never tried it in mini pans and don’t know exactly how big/small they are. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe though. Just bake until they feel firm on top and are starting to crisp up and go golden on top. I would also stick a metal skewer into the middle and check it comes out piping hot.
Lynn says
This looks really good! I’ve gone back to being a vegan and am searching for new recipes :) I just need gluten free bread crumbs, lol. There’s always another ingredient I need! I’ll be back with a review once this has been made and gobbled up!
Audrey says
Hello :) what are your thoughts on using canned lentils?
A Virtual Vegan says
To be honest with you, I’ve never bought canned lentils so I have no idea what they are like, but as long as they aren’t too soft they should be ok to use. If they are soggy they will make the whole meatloaf soggy though. They should ideally be just tender to work well in this recipe. Hope that helps!
Frances says
Hi…I just finished putting together a double match together and I realized that I have prepared it 4 days in advance (I haven’t cooked it yet). Can I freeze the uncooked loaves, or should I bake them and then freeze them. Will either one of those work, if not I’ll be eating them all before Thanksgiving :)
(I have prepared and mixed the ingredients on Thursday [today] and my Thanksgiving meal is Monday).
Melanie McDonald says
Hi Frances. I haven’t tried freezing this meatloaf myself so can’t say for sure. I have prepared it 2 days ahead though and kept it wrapped in the fridge until the day, then cooked it and it was fine. Even more flavourful if anything. And I have cooked it once when my family were away and kept it in the fridge for a week after, reheating it slice by slice for myself and it was fine for all that time.
I’m kind of on the fence with it as it’s 4 days. I think they should be ok uncooked in the fridge if well wrapped.
I think they would be ok if you freeze them uncooked too (although I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried it). I’m thinking if I were going to freeze them though I would probably do it after cooking (and once they’d cooled). Then take them out on Sunday and defrost them in the fridge overnight. Then warm them through in a 350°F oven for 20-30 mins, or until piping hot. You’ll be able to stick a knife in the centre, pull it out and touch it to see how hot they are in the centre.
So I’m on the fence but leaning towards just leaving them uncooked in the fridge. I’m pretty sure they will be fine.
I hope that helps. Sorry there’s no definitive answer and happy thanksgiving!
TonieRenee says
I am interested how this turns out as well. Freezing causes things to lose moisture and cooking twice can also cause dryness. It would probably be fine to freeze in foil with shiny-side-in, and then bake with foil still on (the shin will allow for crisping/browning).
Please let us know what is done and the results.
Thanks
Frances says
Hi…I ended up baking the loaves the following day, and then reheating them 3 days later. They were all devoured and no leftovers. They were delicious.
Melanie McDonald says
I’m glad you managed to make it work and that you enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know!
Courtney Caldwell says
Was looking for a Dr. Sebi-approved recipe and found this one. Just made this meatloaf recipe tonight and it was a success! Used another gravy recipe, but it paired nicely. Added sides of purple roasted potatoes and green beans. Phenomenal taste. Will definitely make again, thanks for sharing!
Melanie McDonald says
I’m really pleased you enjoyed it Courtney!
Lee says
I made this loaf last night for my vegetarian son. He thoroughly enjoyed it and so did I. Thanks for a great recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m glad you both enjoyed it Lee. Thank you!
laraine krantz says
what could i use instead of lentils? My partner is newly vegan and is having trouble processing them…could I use something like butter beans (chick peas are also a problem)
A Virtual Vegan says
The problem with using beans instead is they tend to be moister so you would need to adjust other things to stop it becoming too wet. You could try it with beans. I think black beans might work better than butter beans as they are a little firmer and have a better flavour. Just have more breadcrumbs to hand, ready to add if necessary, to make it all a bit drier if it ends up too wet.
Lauren says
What could I use instead of breadcrumbs please?x
A Virtual Vegan says
There isn’t really a sub for the breadcrumbs. They are there to absorb moisture and make the loaf more sliceable. Without them it can be a little damp. Nothing else absorbs moisture in the same way except flour, and I wouldn’t advise increasing that as it could end up becoming a bit gummy in texture. If it’s the gluten that is the issue you can use gluten-free bread.
Sandy says
What I’vei used is brown rice cakes (tamari flavoured) and crushed them up in the food processor similar to bread crumbs consistency and they worked for me. U could try it.
Susan says
Am I crazy or have you changed this recipe since last year? The ingredients I have written down have half as much as flour and no bread crumbs. That seems like a pretty big change texture wise. How does this new version compare to the old one? Loved the original but happy to try this new one if it’s an improvement :)
A Virtual Vegan says
No you’re not crazy, I did amend it slight after making my Cranberry Lentil loaf which is based off the same recipe. I wanted it to be a little firmer and easier to slice. I think it’s better now and it’s had great feedback since. Let me know what you think if you try the newer version!