$7.63 Chickpea Meatball Pasta (Makes 4 Servings!)

I’m sure many of you, especially in the current economic climate, are in search of inexpensive recipes that can also fit into your plant-based lifestyle (whatever level of plant-based you may be).

That’s why I love making posts like this so much. I feel like it can be a great help to people who have a strict budget but also care about being vegan or vegetarian.

Today’s post is a comfort meal, that being chickpea “meatballs” with marinara sauce and rigatoni pasta.

This is a nice, hearty meal, perfect for cold winter days. It’s also a great meal-prep option for the week!

Let me show you how to make it.

The Ingredients

As for our ingredients, we have one onion, a can of chickpeas, a container of Italian seasoning, a box of rigatoni, some fresh garlic, a jar of pasta sauce, and a bell pepper (the color is not important).

We will also need a few tablespoons of flour. I don’t usually like to include ingredients not on the receipt, but in this case it was necessary to bind the meatballs.

The total on the receipt was just $7.63, which will vary depending on which store you go to. I just went to my local ShopRite.

The Prep

We’re going to start with the marinara sauce, because it needs to simmer for a while. I’ll be showing you how my mom used to make it!

Start by chopping the onion and the bell pepper, as well as 6-10 cloves of the garlic.

Heat a medium pot over medium-low heat, and add a tablespoon or so of oil or vegan butter (whatever you happen to have on hand. you can even use some water if you need to).

Add the vegetables to the pot and heat, stirring often, for 10-15 minutes (until the onions are translucent).

Add the jar of sauce (I like to add a little water to the empty jar after I pour it in, to shake and get the extra), 2 tablespoons of the Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring it to a low boil, then cover and simmer for an hour or two. The flavors will marry, and it will be better the longer it sits.

Next, we’ll make the chickpea “meatballs.” Start by draining your chickpeas (save the aquafaba!) and adding them to a medium bowl. Mash well, like really well.

Then, we’ll add 1/4 cup of our reserved aquafaba, 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste, an 4-6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.

You should get about 15 meatballs out of this recipe. Roll your meatballs (wet hands make this easier to do), then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet (also, spray the parchment paper with oil first).

Bake the meatballs at 350F for 40 minutes, flipping halfway. To get more color on them, you may also wish to broil them for 2 minutes on each side after baking them.

While the meatballs are baking, you can boil your pasta. Just follow the package directions, and feel free to use something other than rigatoni if you’d like! That was just my preference.

When everything is ready, simply plate your pasta and top with the chickpea “meatballs” and sauce!

The Final Meal

And you’re ready to eat! This meal comes in at just $7.63, only $1.91 per serving.

I did this for a meal-prep for the week. I will say this: adding vegan cheese really takes this up a notch. If you don’t have that, it’s still good though!

Obviously the “meatballs” are not going to taste like meat. That being said, they’re a tasty, low-cost substitution for meatballs that still has some protein to it.

The sauce is a sentimental recipe for me, since it’s how my mom used to make it. I hope you enjoy it too!

I hope you liked today’s recipe! I’m really passionate about providing low-cost recipe solutions to those of you on a budget.

Everyone deserves to eat, and if you need help, don’t be afraid to reach out to someone who can help (such as Feeding America).

Thanks so much for reading. Until next time, peace 🙂