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–+ servings
Vegan beetball soup ciorba de perisoare vegane reteta

Beetball Soup | Vegan “Meatball” Soup

This hearty beetball soup tastes just like the classic meatball soup you grew up with, but it's made entirely from lentils and beets. A tangy, comforting vegan bowl that's ready in about an hour.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Choose Serving Size 8

Ingredients 

Beetballs:

  • 150 g red lentils
  • 1 beetroot small, fist-size, grated
  • 1 onion diced
  • 3 tablespoons flour I used Schar GF flour, or you can use regular flour as well
  • 4 tablespoons psyllium husks or 2 eggs, beaten (non-vegan alternative)
  • 2 teaspoons thyme
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Soup:

  • 1 carrot chopped or grated
  • 1 parsnip chopped or grated
  • ¼ celeriac small celeriac, grated
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tomatoes peeled and chopped
  • 3 L water or more, if the soup seems too rich in veggies
  • 2 cups vinegar from the pickles jar Important! Vinegar from pickles is sweeter than regular, plain vinegar. If you don't want to use this, you can also make the soup sour by adding lemon juice or borscht, to taste.
  • sea salt and ground pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons lovage celery or parsley leaves, chopped

Instructions

Beetballs:

  • Boil the red lentils for 15 minutes. (While the lentils boil, you can start the soup using the instructions below.)
  • Drain the lentils, add them to the food processor and blend until smooth. Do not add any water!
  • Move the lentil paste into a large bowl. Add all the other beetball ingredients and mix. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
  • By now the mixture should be sticky enough to shape. Form the beetballs and set them aside.
  • You can either steam the beetballs (if you have a steamer) or "steam/bake" them in the oven.
  • Using a steamer:
  • Place the beetballs on the steamer plate and steam them for 15-20 minutes.
  • Using an oven:
  • Add a small pot filled with water into the preheated oven.
  • Put the beetballs on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
  • Let them steam/bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200C.

Soup:

  • Add the water to a large pot.
  • Add the chopped onion, carrot, parsnip, celeriac and tomatoes.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Let them boil for 15 minutes.
  • Add the vinegar from the pickles jar and let the soup boil for another 10 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat.
  • Add the beetballs and chopped herbs.

Notes

Add the beetballs to the soup off the heat so they hold their shape. Pickle-jar vinegar is sweeter than plain vinegar, so taste as you go and adjust the sourness with lemon juice or borscht if needed. The psyllium binder keeps this fully vegan; the beaten eggs are only an optional non-vegan alternative. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.