Marsala wine and plant-based meatballs make a a rich vegan dish. This meatball marsala tastes great over pasta, mashed potatoes, or rice.
Cooking with wine is fun to me because it creates complex flavors, and it makes me feel like an adult to cook with the wine instead of just drinking it! My family has been making meatball marsala for years during the winter holidays and the flavors taste so delicious and cozy to me! For this recipe I’ve removed the butter, and it didn’t even really change the dish that much! So I highly recommend this dairy-free meatball marsala with any of your favorite meat or meat-free balls. I’ve really been enjoying the Pure Farmland plant-based meatballs, or you can use my lentil meatball recipe!
Marsala Wine
Marsala wine is the star of this recipe. Cooking off the alcohol and reducing the wine makes a rich, flavorful sauce. Since a whole bottle of wine goes into this sauce, you want to make sure you get the right thing. Marsala wine is either sweet or dry. Sweet marsala wine is used in desserts like custard and tiramisu. You need a dry wine for this recipe or the flavor will be off. I’ve had the best success with this brand, but any dry marsala should work.
Vegan Meatball Marsala
Ingredients
- 3 small shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 24 oz. mushrooms
- 1 bottle dry marsala wine 750ml
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp fresh basil
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 package plant-based meatballs
Instructions
- Mince the shallot and add to a Dutch oven or deep skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the shallot becomes translucent. Mince the garlic and add to the pan. Cook until fragrant.
- Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut the caps into thin slices. Add to the pan and stir occasionally to cook all the mushrooms. Cook until they have reduced in size an released their liquid.
- Add the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil. If you are using dried spices, add them to the oil now so they will bloom and give more flavor. Add the marsala wine and stir to combine.
- Season with black and white pepper and salt. If using fresh basil, add the chopped leaves now.
- Bring to a simmer and simmer for about 15 minutes so the sauce will reduce and the alcohol will cook off.
- Add the flour to thicken the sauce. To avoid clumps you can sift the flour into the sauce with a sifter or fine mesh strainer. Stir to combine and continue to simmer as the sauce thickens. If the sauce is still too thin you can thicken it with more flour. If it becomes too thick, you can thin the sauce with vegetable broth.