Comforting, hearty, tangy, and ‘meaty’- this is the best vegan Beyond Meat meatloaf. This lentil-free vegan and vegetarian meatloaf recipe has the most convincing taste and texture!
Why You’ll Love This Beyond Meat Meatloaf
This veggie meatloaf is a family recipe passed down from my mom. She would make a vegetarian version of this meatloaf growing up and it was one of my favorite meals!
Here’s why we love this recipe and you will too:
- No Lentils or Mushrooms: Thanks to Beyond Meat, this meatloaf is 100% plant-based, making it a great choice for picky omnivores you may be serving it to.
- Easy Recipe: With a food processor to make the prep easier, this vegan meatloaf is simple to put together.
- Incredibly Flavorful: With our homemade tangy BBQ sauce and sautéed veggies every bite of this meatloaf is full of deliciousness.
- Substitutable Ingredients: Whether you’re out of Just Egg or prefer not to use it, you can easily substitute it with a flax egg.
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MarleneVegan Meatloaf Ingredients
This veggie meatloaf is made with just a few simple ingredients, most of which are easily accessible. All of these meatloaf ingredients help flavor and bind the veggie loaf!
Below are the core ingredients that we’ll be using in this flavorful, “meaty” loaf:
- Beyond Meat: The star of our recipe, providing a hearty, meat-like texture that replaces ground beef. I chose to use the sausages over the patties since the package contained 14 oz of ‘meat’. They also have a more compact consistency which will help hold the meatloaf together.
- Gardein Plant-Based Beefless Crumbles: These frozen crumbles come in a large 13 oz bag. They’re more affordable than the Beyond Sausages, and they add a nice texture to the loaf. You can also use these homemade vegan ground beef crumbles.
📌 TIP: The vegan ground beef crumbles help balance the flavor of the meatloaf. Beyond Meat can have an overpowering flavor that drowns out the other spices, but using half Beyond Meat and half beefless crumbles helps create a better flavor. Of course, you can use more Beyond Meat if you prefer.
- Just Egg: Typical meatloaf calls for eggs to bind everything together. Today I’m substituting in a little bit of Just Egg. You can now find this at your local grocery store (I get mine from Kroger).
- Oats & Breadcrumbs: These two ingredients, in addition to the Just Egg and the Beyond Sausage, help hold the loaf together and help it keep its shape once cooled.
- Onion, Pepper, and Celery: These veggies add really nice flavor to this Beyond Beef meatloaf.
Homemade BBQ Sauce Ingredients
What I LOVE about this recipe, is the tangy, homemade bbq sauce. It’s incredibly easy to make and only takes about 5 minutes. This BBQ sauce is used in the vegan & vegetarian meatloaf mixture, and it’s also used on top of the loaf. To make this easy bbq sauce, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Tomato Sauce
- Ketchup, or tomato paste
- Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
- White Vinegar
- Brown Sugar
- Yellow Mustard or Dijon Mustard
Substitutions
While this recipe is delicious as it is, there are a few substitutions you can consider based on your dietary needs or personal preference:
- Beyond Meat Sausages: If you don’t have Beyond Meat Sausages, you can substitute the Beyond Meat Burger Patties or their packages of Beyond Ground Beef. Just be sure to use the same amount. You could even use Impossible Burger in this recipe.
- Just Egg: If you prefer or need to, you can substitute the Just Egg with a flax egg. To prepare a flax egg, mix 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed with 5 tbsp of water and let it thicken for about 5 minutes.
- BBQ Sauce: While homemade BBQ sauce is recommended for its tangy, sweet, and savory flavor, you can use a store bought version if you’re short on time. Just remember that the taste might vary a bit.
- Vegan Worcestershire Sauce: this can be substituted for 1 tablespoon soy sauce if you’re in a pinch.
- Brown Sugar: feel free to swap coconut sugar or maple syrup in the homemade BBQ sauce.
- Breadcrumbs: If you’re gluten-free, you can opt for gluten-free breadcrumbs or more ground oats as a replacement.
- Oats: If you don’t have oats on hand or prefer not to use them, you can substitute them with an equal amount of additional breadcrumbs.
egg substitutes in meatloaf recipes:
This vegan meatloaf can definitely be made without any eggs! We just need to sub in a binder in its place. My preferred egg replacement in this vegan meatloaf is Just Egg.
In combination with the oats, breadcrumbs, and sautéed veggies, the Just Egg does an amazing job of replacing real egg and holding the veggie meatloaf together. It creates beautiful, clean slices of meatloaf after it’s baked.
Note: In the past, we’ve tried to substitute flaxseed for the binder, but the loaf came out a bit too crumbly. If you’d like to substitute JUST Egg, flax may not work as well as (but it will still be delicious!).
Helpful Equipment
- Food Processor
- Large Bowl
- 9×5” Baking Pan
- Parchment Paper
Step-By-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make the vegan Beyond Meat Meatloaf! A video tutorial is above the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 🎥
prepping the veggie meatloaf ingredients
STEP 1: Pulse the old-fashioned oats into fine flour or powder. You can transfer the oats to another bowl. Then, finely chop (or pulse in a food processor) the onion, green pepper, and celery.
STEP 2: You’ll sauté the veggies to get most of the water out of them. This is so the meatloaf mixture doesn’t become too wet.
STEP 3: You’ll then combine those sautéed veggies with the Beyond Sausages, meatless crumbles, parsley, Just Egg, and a bit of the homemade BBQ sauce in the mixing bowl.
STEP 4: Next, you’ll mix everything until well combined and shape the mixture in a large loaf pan. You can shape the loaf with a spatula or with clean hands. I like to use some parchment paper in the loaf pan to help remove the vegan meatloaf when it’s done baking.
STEP 5: The last step before baking is to pour of the homemade BBQ sauce on top of the loaf. This will get all caramelized and browned after baking, creating a perfect meatloaf glaze.
baking the meatloaf
STEP 6: This vegan meatloaf needs to bake for a good amount of time to cook all the way through. I recommend baking it covered at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
📌 TIP: Covering the loaf will help keep the BBQ sauce on top from burning. You can then uncover the loaf and bake it for 15 more minutes at the same temperature.
STEP 7: To get a bit of crispy caramelization, at the very end you can increase the temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Serving the Vegan Beyond Meat Meatloaf
This vegan meatloaf is so delicious straight out of the oven! You can slice it up and it will hold together pretty well when it’s piping hot. But it keeps its shape even better if it’s left to cool for a few minutes.
I love serving this with some fluffy mashed potatoes, green beans, and topped with fresh chopped parsley. You could also serve it with Roasted Brussel Sprouts. This meatloaf would also make a delicious Thanksgiving main course (alongside my stuffed acorn squash and lentil shepherd’s pie).
The recipe below makes a large amount (about 2 cups) of the homemade BBQ sauce. You’ll use about 3/4 of a cup on and in the actual loaf, and the remainder is great for topping. I drizzle a little bit over my slice and mashed potatoes, which I highly, highly recommend! It’s so tangy, sweet, and savory, and adds so much extra flavor to the dish! This really is the Best Vegan Meatloaf with Beyond Meat!
Storage
Keep any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It can stay fresh for 3-4 days.
It can also be frozen in an airtight container for 2 months.
FAQ
Thanks to Beyond Meat, the steps to make this veggie meatloaf are very similar to a traditional meatloaf. I like to use a food processor to make the prep easier, but it’s not necessary. You’ll want to mix together the vegan meat, breadcrumbs, oats, veggies, bbq sauce, and Just Egg. Then you’ll shape the loaf, cover it in more BBQ sauce and bake it!
A flax egg can be substituted for Just Egg in this recipe. Please note, that Just Egg does a much better job at holding the vegan loaf together. Flax will work but the texture will be crumblier after baking. To use a flax egg, mix 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed with 5 tbsp of water. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes to thicken before adding it to the meat mixture.
While you technically can use store bought BBQ sauce, I don’t recommend it and I can’t guarantee the end result will be the same. This homemade BBQ has a ton of tangy, sweet, and savory flavor that can’t be replicated with a store bought bbq sauce. Since this BBQ sauce is used in the meatloaf mixture and on top of it, it plays a key part in flavoring this meatless meatloaf.
More comforting vegan Main Dishes!
- Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
- The Best Vegan Beef Stew
- Creamy Vegan Chicken & Rice Casserole
- Vegan Sunday Roast Dinner
Did you make This vegan Beyond Meat Meatloaf Recipe?
I’d love to know! Leave a star rating and comment below!
Video Tutorial
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The Best Vegan Beyond Meat Meatloaf
The best vegan Beyond Meat Meatloaf. This lentil-free vegan and vegetarian meatloaf recipe has the most convincing taste and texture! It's topped with a tangy, homemade BBQ sauce that's sweet, savory, and just about perfect.
Ingredients
BBQ sauce
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Meatloaf
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats, pulsed into a flour
- 2 medium yellow onions, quartered
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped into 3" pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 3" pieces
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 13-oz package vegan frozen ground beef, thawed, I used Gardein Beefless Ground (or sub more Beyond Meat)
- 1 14-oz package Beyond Sausages, Beyond Burgers, or Beyond Ground Beef
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup fine bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup JUST Egg see notes for substitutions
- 1/4 tsp salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Make the BBQ Sauce
- Combine all of the BBQ sauce ingredients into a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture begins simmering and the brown sugar dissolves.
- Add any salt and pepper to taste (this will depend on how much salt your ketchup has).
- Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Set aside while prepping the other ingredients.
Prep the Ingredients
- In a food processor or high speed blender, pulse the old fashioned oats until they are a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add the onion, celery, and green pepper to the food processor, and pulse until finely chopped, but not juiced. If you don't have a food processor, finely chop or mince the vegetables.
- Sauté onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic in a heated pan with a tablespoon or two of olive oil (over medium-low heat). Cook until most of the water evaporates, about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the thawed beefless ground and Beyond Meat to the food processor and pulse until medium-sized crumbles emerge. Place them in a large bowl.
Make the Vegan Meatloaf
- Create a well in the center of the Beyond Meat mixture. Add the sauteed veggies to the 'meat' mixture.
- Add in the oats, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce, the Just Egg, garlic powder, oregano, and chopped parsley. Add the salt & pepper. Mix them into the 'meat' mixture.
- Stir the mixture until all the ingredients are well combined. The mixture should adhere together.
- Place the mixture in a large loaf pan and shape it into a loaf. Cover the top of the loaf with more BBQ sauce (about 1/4 cup). You could grease or line the loaf pan with parchment if you'd like. Cover the loaf with foil.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes.
- Then uncover and bake for 15 more minutes at 375 degrees F.
- Increase heat to 425 degrees. Bake uncovered for 15-20 additional minutes until the top is slightly browned (for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes).
- Serve with mashed potatoes. Top with parsley and more BBQ sauce.
Notes
- JUST Egg can be substituted for 2 flax eggs. Mix 2 tbsp ground flaxseed with 6 tbsp of water. Set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Straight out of the oven when hot, the loaf may crumble a bit when cut. If you leave the loaf to cool slightly, it holds together very well!
- Add any additional salt at the end after baking. Salt levels will depend on the brand of ketchup you use in the BBQ sauce.
- You can also use homemade vegan ground beef instead of store-bought crumbles.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 15gProtein: 21g
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Jason says
Well, I made it. It was delishus.
Marlene Otto says
I made this tonight. You wouldn’t even know it was vegan. Very good!
Linda Marcucci says
Was fantastic..can I make ahead and freeze? Do I freeze before or after I bake it?
Emily says
Hi Linda! I’ve never frozen this prior to baking before, so I’m not sure how it would turn out. I’d recommend freezing it after baking and reheating in the oven.
Monica Hoffmann says
Has anyone tried the “egg replacer” by bob’s red mill in this recipe? I think it’s a little different than the flax egg that Emily mentions.
If not, I’m going to give it a go. My co-op and whole foods are both out of just egg and naturally, I’m making this tomorrow.
Emily says
Hi Monica, I haven’t tried Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer in this particular recipe, but I suspect it will hold the Beyond Meatloaf together better than flaxseed. Just make sure to use the equivalent of 1/4 cup, so the amount of liquid in the loaf stays the same. I believe the ratio for BRM Egg replacer is 1 tbsp egg replacer + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg.
Inger says
Wondering your thoughts on using cooked lentils as a substitute for 14 oz of beyond beef or sausage?
Emily says
Hi there, I haven’t tried this substitution before. The mixture may have more moisture, so the amount of oats may need to be increased. Also the amount of salt may need to be increased since Beyond Meat has a good amount of sodium. If you try it out, let us know how it goes!