These Vegetarian Meatballs Subs with Vegetables are perfect for a quick and easy, minimal ingredient vegetarian dinner that the entire family will enjoy! Serve with a side salad for a complete meal that can also be enjoyed for lunch. Busy nights call for easy dinners, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to be delicious, like these Vegetarian Meatball Subs!
We try to always make sure we have a pack of vegetarian meatballs in the freezer to help with quick and easy dinners during the week. We do a lot of pasta and meatballs, but I always love a good meatball sub! These Vegetarian Meatball Subs with Vegetables are perfect for those nights you want something easy, but still super delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Vegetarian Meatball Sub Recipe!
- It’s a minimal ingredient recipe. You only need about 6 ingredients main ingredients for this dinner, which is my kind of meal!
- Meatball subs are such a family friendly meal. Everyone loves a good Italian inspired meal! You can even serve them deconstructed for your children, with the meatballs, cheese and bread served separately.
- They are quick and easy to make. All you need to do is crisp up the meatballs (which is totally optional), cook your veggies, mix in the sauce and assemble your meatball subs.
Vegetarian Meatball Sub Recipe Ingredients
- Meatballs – I love the Gardein vegetarian meatballs, so I used those. They have a great taste and texture and I like that they’re not too carb heavy. You can use any kind of vegetarian meatballs you like, you can even use homemade ones if you want.
- Vegetables – I added zucchini, onion, red and green bell pepper and garlic for this recipe. You can use any veggies you already have on hand though. The goal is to just bulk up the sauce a little bit and pack those veggies in!
- Marinara Sauce – I just used a cheap jarred marinara sauce because I had planned to spruce up the recipe with veggies, garlic and some seasonings. You can use any kind of sauce you like. Rao’s Homemade sauce is always a delicious option, although it’s on the pricier side.
- Sub Buns – Any kind of sandwich or hotdog buns will work. You can even just use regular sandwich bread that you’ve toasted, if desired. I like to toast my buns a little bit so they don’t get too soggy, you could also toast them with a little bit of garlic butter.
- Cheese – I used fresh mozzarella cheese, to fancy things up a bit, haha! But, shredded mozzarella, or another other cheese of choice is good too.
How To Make Easy Vegetarian Meatball Subs
- You will want the meatballs completely thawed, so if you are using frozen ones, thaw them in the refrigerator, or on the counter, overnight so they are ready to go for dinner in the evening.
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. I like to start by browning the vegetarian meatballs. This step is totally optional, but I like them to have a little color and crispiness to the outside before I add them to the sauce.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the olive oil, zucchini, red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix everything together. Cook veggies until softened, and starting to brown, 7-10 minutes, and then add in the garlic and dried oregano. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant. I like my veggies to be pretty cooked and browned, but you can cook them to your desired doneness.
- Add the marinara sauce to the vegetables, mix together and then add the thawed/browned meatballs. Allow everything to cook together for just a few minutes.
- Assemble your meatball subs. Place your sandwich buns on large baking sheet. You can toast them for a couple minutes before adding the toppings, or add them immediately. Toasting the buns first will help them not get soggy with the marinara sauce.
- I like to add a couple spoonfuls of the veggie sauce to the bottom of the bun, next add about three of the meatballs and top with another couple spoonfuls of the veggies and sauce. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and place meatball subs in the oven. Cook until cheese is melted and and buns are crispy. Top with fresh parsley or basil, if desired and enjoy!
Meatball Sub Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
- Are these meatballs subs vegan? The vegetarian meatballs I used were also vegan, I believe, but this is not a vegan recipe. It can easily be made vegan by using vegan meatballs and vegan cheese though.
- Can these meatballs subs be made gluten free? Yes, just make sure to use a gluten free veggie meatball and gluten free sandwich buns.
- How many subs does this recipe make? It really depends on how many meatballs you add to each sub. I put 3 meatballs in each sub and was able to make 4 of them.
- Do these vegetarian meatball subs keep well as leftovers? The buns do get a little soggy, but they can easily be heated back up in the oven to get a little bit of that crispiness back.
Have a question I didn’t answer? Ask me in the comment section and I will get back to you ASAP!
Looking For More Easy Vegetarian Dinner Recipes?
Crispy Rolled Bean and Cheese Burritos
Gnocchi White Bean Bake with Broccoli
Vegetarian Chick’N Parmesan Sliders
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Vegetarian “Meatball” Subs with Vegetables
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These Vegetarian Meatballs Subs with Vegetables are perfect for a quick and easy, minimal ingredient vegetarian dinner that the entire family will enjoy! Serve with a side salad for a complete meal that can also be enjoyed for lunch. Busy nights call for easy dinners, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to be delicious, like these Vegetarian Meatball Subs!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (12.7 oz) bag of prepared vegetarian meatballs, or about 12 homemade vegetarian meatballs, completely THAWED
- 2–3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium sized zucchini, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 (24 oz) jar marinara sauce, or pasta sauce
- 2–3 teaspoons crushed Calabrian chilis, if desired
- 4 sub sandwich buns
- 1 cup shredded, or fresh, mozzarella cheese
- Fresh parsley or basil for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- You will want the meatballs completely thawed though, so if you are using frozen ones, thaw them in the refrigerator, or on the counter, overnight so they are ready to go for dinner in the evening.
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. I like to start by browning the vegetarian meatballs. This step is totally optional, but I like them to have a little color and crispiness to the outside before I add them to the sauce.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the olive oil, zucchini, red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix everything together. Cook veggies until softened, and starting to brown, 7-10 minutes, and then add in the garlic and dried oregano. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant. I like my veggies to be pretty cooked and browned, but you can cook them to your desired doneness.
- Add the marinara sauce to the vegetables, mix together and then add the thawed/browned meatballs. Allow everything to cook together for just a few minutes.
- Assemble your meatball subs. Place your sandwich buns on large baking sheet. You can toast them for a couple minutes before adding the toppings, or add them immediately. Toasting the buns first will help them not get soggy with the marinara sauce.
- I like to add a couple spoonfuls of the veggie sauce to the bottom of the bun, next add about three of the meatballs and top with another couple spoonfuls of the veggies and sauce. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and place meatball subs in the oven. Cook until cheese is melted and and buns are crispy, 7-10 minutes. Top with fresh parsley or basil, if desired and enjoy!
Notes
There might be some of the veggie sauce leftover, it just depends on how much you decided to put on each sub sandwich. Sauce can be reused with pasta or even on pizza.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner, Vegetarian
- Method: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: American
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