This vegan meatloaf is the best ever. It’s hearty, satisfying, loaded with flavor and glazed with a sweet and spicy tomato sauce.
I can hardly even believe how good this vegan meatloaf is.
Even before it’s cooked it’s so darn good. Don’t taste the mix before you cook it, you guys! You’ll just want to eat it just like that, and you can too.
It’s all vegan and ‘pre-cooked’ so nothing bad would even happen if you did, but rather have patience because it gets even better when cooked.
And if you like this recipe then also check out our vegan nut roast.
How To Make Vegan Meatloaf
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- This vegan meatloaf recipe is based on chickpeas. This is mixed with onion, garlic, homemade breadcrumbs – and when I say ‘homemade’, I mean I put some sliced bread in the blender and made breadcrumbs – sweet chili sauce, dijon mustard, soy sauce, ground flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast, tomato paste and cayenne pepper.
- Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil, then mash up chickpeas with a fork or a potato masher, the object being to keep it quite chunky but not too chunky, add in all the other ingredients and mix it into a thick batter. Transfer it to a parchment lined loaf pan and smooth it down.
- Bake it for 30 minutes covered with foil.
- While it’s baking mix up a delicious tomato glaze of tomato paste, brown sugar, maple syrup, garlic powder and paprika and when the meatloaf has baked for 30 minutes, remove the cover and spread the tomato glaze on top. Put it back in the oven to bake for another 15 minutes (uncovered) and voilá!
Recipe Tips
Breadcrumbs. I used 4 slices of a regular pre-sliced thick cut sandwich bread for the breadcrumbs. It makes around 2 cups of homemade breadcrumbs. We just put the bread in the blender and pulse blend it to get breadcrumbs.
If you use a store-bought version of breadcrumbs such as panko breadcrumbs instead then you will need much less, in the region of 1 cup. This is because store-bought breadcrumbs are more dry than freshly made breadcrumbs. Use only as much as you need to get the consistency that you can see in our pics above.
Line your dish with parchment paper. It’s crucial to line your loaf pan with parchment paper, and not just line it, but have a parchment paper overhang so that you can lift the entire meatloaf out of the pan using the parchment paper.
This is necessary because the meatloaf isn’t super firm when it comes out of the oven, and the glaze on top is still quite wet, so you can’t be tipping it over onto your wire cooling rack the way you would with a loaf of home baked bread.
Let it cool for around 10 minutes after coming out of the oven, and then you just lift it right out with the parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack, let it cool for another 10 minutes and then serve.
How To Serve Vegan Meatloaf
This meatloaf is wonderful served with some vegan mashed potatoes or vegan mashed sweet potatoes or vegan stuffing, or alongside a delicious salad like our vegan kale salad or roasted butternut squash salad.
It doesn’t need gravy because it’s not at all dry, but if you do want to serve it with gravy, that would be awesome too. Especially if you’ve got some mashed potatoes on the side.
We have a wonderful vegan gravy recipe and a vegan mushroom gravy recipe, and either of those would be great. If you want to serve this with gravy you could forego the tomato glaze, but it’s so good I don’t recommend missing out on it.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
Make Ahead: You can make this up to the point that you would bake it, then just cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days, and then bake it when you’re ready.
Storing: Leftovers are amazing! So you will love love love having leftovers of this! Keep it in the fridge (covered) for 4-5 days. You can serve it cold or reheat it as you like.
Freezing: It is freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Wrap it well and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the oven until warmed through.
More Vegan Dinner Recipes
- Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
- The Best Vegan Lasagna
- Vegan Moussaka
- Vegan Pasta Bake
- Vegan Risotto
- Vegan Shepherds Pie
Vegan Meatloaf
Ingredients
Vegan Meatloaf:
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 Small Onion (100g) White, Yellow or Brown, finely chopped
- 2 (15-ounce) Cans Chickpeas Drained (3 cups)
- 4 Slices Brown or Whole Wheat Bread (160g) processed into breadcrumbs (see notes*)
- 2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
Tomato Glaze:
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste (56g)
- 1 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
- ½ Tbsp Maple Syrup
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Paprika
For Serving:
- Fresh Basil Optional
Instructions
- Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic to a frying pan with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper so that the meatloaf can be easily lifted out. Set aside.
- Drain the chickpeas and add to a mixing bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher until roughly mashed.
- Make your breadcrumbs by breaking up the 4 slices of bread and placing into a blender and pulse blending until it makes breadcrumbs (see notes*).
- Add the breadcrumbs, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, dijon mustard, flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, tomato paste and cayenne pepper to the mixing bowl. Add in the cooked onions and garlic. Mix very well into a thick batter. Make sure everything is evenly mixed (it's a very thick mix). Transfer this into the parchment lined loaf pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- While the meatloaf is baking, mix the tomato paste, brown sugar, maple syrup, garlic powder, salt and paprika in a bowl and stir together.
- When the meatloaf has baked for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven and remove the foil. Spread on the tomato glaze evenly and return it to the oven, (no foil, uncovered) to bake for a further 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the loaf pan by lifting the meatloaf out with the parchment paper. Let it cool for another 10 minutes.
- Slice and serve with fresh basil.
Video
Notes
- I used 4 slices of a regular pre-sliced thick cut sandwich bread for the breadcrumbs. This makes around 2 cups of homemade breadcrumbs. If you use a store-bought version of breadcrumbs such as panko breadcrumbs then you will only need only around 1 cup to 1 and ½ cups breadcrumbs since store-bought breadcrumbs are more dry than freshly made breadcrumbs. Use only as much as you need to get the meatloaf mix to the consistency that you see in our photos in the blog post above. Chickpeas can also vary in their moisture content, so being a little flexible with this is important.
- The tomato glaze is so good that we sometimes double it and use all of it for a thicker tomato glaze topping! If you like it as much as we do, you might want to do the same.
- This recipe was first published in March 2018. It has been slightly updated with extra tips and notes.
I would like to try this recipe, but without the paste. I also was wondering how I could lower the sodium content, as I’m a pretty good sized guy so I would need to eat like 3 servings or 4 to meet caloric needs. Also can I make it lower in fat? And can you use cooked chickpeas instead of canned? Thanks.
Hi Anthony, to lower sodium you could use a low sodium soy sauce. This is already a very low fat meal since the only fat added to the entire loaf is 1 tablespoon of olive oil, which you can replace with low sodium vegetable stock if you prefer. Cooked chickpeas are fine, you would use 3 cups.
I’ve only made this recipe once, but I was so excited to try it out because I love chickpeas except the meatloaf turned out dry and crumbly. It didn’t stick together well and I’m not sure why. I used 1 cup of storebought panko bread crumbs, could I have used too much to make it to be dry? Should I add something in? I followed everything by what the recipe says, except I used chili powder instead of cayenne pepper. Also, it took a lot of work using a fork to mash up the chickpeas! I wasn’t expecting that. Are the skins of the chickpeas supposed to be removed or is it okay to include the skin? Thank you for the help. I do hope to try it out again.
Hi Danielle, it may just have been a little too much breadcrumbs. The best thing to do is use only as much as you need to get the consistency right (and you’ll see the consistency in our photos/video). The issue is that even different brands of canned chickpeas can have different moisture content, so some will be more dry than others. The breadcrumbs we used – homemade – are a lot more moist than regular breadcrumbs. So if you make it again, either make up fresh breadcrumbs like we did, or just go VERY slow in adding the dried breadcrumbs in and only as much as needed to get the right consistency. All the best!
Can you use cannelloni beans instead?
I think you could!
This turned out fantastic! (As well as all of your other recipes I have tried).
Any idea as to how this recipe would work with lentil / do you have a lentil meatloaf recipe in the works?
Thanks!
Hi Joanna! I do have a lentil loaf recipe on my ‘to-do’ list! I haven’t tested this particular recipe with lentils but if you were using canned lentils I think it may work as a swap. 🙂
This looks great! My son has a flax allergy. Do you have a recommendation that might work for replacing it? Extra nutritional yeast? Wheat germ? Thank you!
You could replace it with extra nutritional yeast or even just leave it out. 🙂
Thanks for this delicious recipe. Will certainly be making it regularly. Suitable for Christmas and festive occasions with the red topping and green herbs on top ( I used chopped green spring onion). Was glad that I took your advice to make a double quantity of the glaze.
So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
When this came into my inbox, I was hesitant as I dont like chickpeas or hummus as much as I try to. but I have been craving meatloaf.
So I made it last night. I made the mistake of putting the topping on before baking (It took me almost an hour and a half to assemble this so I was in a hurry to clean up) but I simply scraped it off and baked it. The suggestion of doubling the topping was spot on. It was very moist and the topping knocked it out of the park. I didnt have maple syrup so used regular pancake syrup and it was still yummy. Had three small pieces and I was stuffed!
Love that I had all the ingredients other than the chickpeas (and maple) and will make again. I may add more seasonings next time but like to try recipes first before experimenting.
Thank you!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it Gina! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review!
This looks too good to miss! I’ll be trying this out tonight for sure!
Thanks Anna!
Hi, Im so excited to try this! I miss meatloaf! Can I use eggs instead of flax seed? (Im vegetarian not vegan. ) if so, how many? Thanks
Hi Nancy, honestly I’m not sure that would work well here. The ground flax seed isn’t really replacing an egg in this recipe, it’s just added in for texture and flavor. I really recommend you make it as is without any changes. All the best! 🙂
10/10!!! So good!! Shall most definitely be making this again. Had it with roasted veggies as a delicious winter dinner.
Thanks so much Miriam!
I’m thinking of making this recipe into small meatloaf ‘muffin’ portion sizes. I’m hoping it’s a great idea for meal prep and make ahead freezer meals. Any idea what the cooking time would be for them?
Looking forward to giving it a try ????
Hi Dawn, that sounds like a great idea! I’m not sure of baking times but I would guess about 30 minutes.
Hi, can this be frozen? I am guessing it can at step five, sub storing the mixture in the freezer. Thanks
Hi Alan, it’s definitely freezer friendly once baked. It can be frozen up to 3 months. However, I haven’t tried freezing it before baking, but I am guessing it should also be fine to do that! Either thaw in fridge before baking or bake directly from frozen, allowing extra time to account for it being frozen.
This is my second time making this meat loaf. I love it and so does my daughter. ????????????
Yay! Thanks Deb!
Any substitute suggestions for Sweet Chili Sauce? Is it possible to omit?
Hi Viola, yes you can omit it, or replace it with tomato sauce/ketchup or barbecue sauce or really any kind of sweet sauce. 🙂
Love this recipe at Christmas time.????
So happy to hear that! Thanks Deb!