Sweet Potato and Kale Balls
Gotta love ya some balls right?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I LOVE kale and sweet potatoes. I know I know what’s a girl to do. The troubles (eye roll). After the holidays I surely over did it in the snack department. (YIKES!) I just kept saying “Oh it’s Christmas” or “Oh it’s New Years, I’ll start fresh Monday.” Who else says things like that? LOL Starting fresh on Monday is universal I believe. We all think it’s pointless to start something in the middle of the week. How ludicrous! Ahhh the excuses.
Well excuses no more my fellow Healthees! Because these balls are bangin’ and yeap, I’m going to say it…Good. For. You. That’s right YOU! (and you and you over there in the back)
(Look at that crunchy super awesome kale…Oh Kale Yea!)
With these babies here I used Italian seasonings to give it that sort of meatball vibe minus the meat. (Duuuh!) When they come out of the oven they have almost the same texture of a meatball. I know that sounds odd but it’s true. The baking part gives them a light outer crunch and they hold together so well. Just like a meatball, meatballs. (Did you just call me a meatball? Yes I did…pffft healthy meatballs…hehehe.)
With only 2 medium sized sweet potatoes I made 12 palm size balls. That’s a nice size ball if ya ask me. I housed them with my son while the hubs was at work. At first I felt guilty but then realized “Hey, I’m eating kale too. It’s only like the queen mother bee of all things green so I’m good I’m good”.
Topping these sweet potato and kale balls with hemp seeds is a MUST! They add that slight nutty flavor and added crunch but it’s not overpowering at all. It compliments all the flavors nicely. Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself and make em’ eh?! (Shoulder shrug and facial expression in which you cannot see but I totally made one.)
Recipe adapted by Hallie Klecker from DailyBitesBlog. But I originally found this from Ricki Heller. Thank you!
Prep Time: 15 minutes ~ Cook Time: 30 minutes ~ Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1 1/2″ pieces
2 tbsp full fat coconut milk
1 c kale, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
salt/pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Steam or boil sweet potatoes until tender. Transfer to a large bowl and mash with fork.
- To the mashed potatoes add coconut milk, kale, onion and all the seasonings. Mix until well combined.
- Wet your hands and take a palm size full of potato mixture and roll into a ball. Repeat process until necessary. You can do a little smaller than palm size if you’d like.
- Place on baking sheet and top with hemp seeds.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Makes 12
Hey! I tried this one out tonight because I love eating those kind of little bites as lunch in a tortilla bread but sadly, even though I followed your receipe, the balls didn’t came out like a kind of meatball’s texture. They feel more “liquidish” and they don’t hold up well together. Is it possible that I did something wrong or that the receipe is missing an ingredient? The taste is still awesome but definetly, the texture is not as expected…
Hi Jessica, I’m not sure what went wrong. Could be a number of factors. When I make these they’re not exactly like a meatball because of what they’re made with however they do bind together nicely and don’t usually fall apart.
How large should the sweet potatoes and onion be????
you can use a regular size medium sweet potato and a regular size onion. Is that what you meant?
The ingredients in this recipe really excited me and I was quite hopeful. Unfortunately, the results were not what I expected and I am wondering if I did something wrong. The balls were quite wet and certainly not a solid state by the end.
Halfway through baking them, I decided to try and save half the balls. I took half of them out of the oven, placed them into a dish and mixed some oat flour into the yam mixture to try and bind them and help create a different texture. I reshaped the resulting mixture into balls and put them back into the oven. The resulting yam balls were definitely edible but didn’t have repeatabily and the other half of the balls (using the original recipe) were not enjoyable and remained quite wet.
Wondering if you have any suggestions as to what went wrong?
Pingback: Sweet Potato Almond Butter Smoothie | NeuroticMommy
Pingback: #WeEatWednesday: Bliss ball recipes – Saving Mummy's Pennies
Pingback: Most Popular Recipes of 2015 and Hello 2016 | NeuroticMommy
Pingback: 50 Mouthwatering Meatless Meatballs You Must Try At Least Once
Pingback: 31 Easy Meatball Recipes for Quick-Fix Meals | Chino Hills Fitness
At first your instructions say that cook time is 30 minutes but then the last step says 20 minutes. Which one should I use? (I don’t want to burn or under cook them) thank you! I’m definitely going to try this in the next few days. Don’t know if I’m going to share with my roommates though! Lol! I just looooove sweet potatoes! !
Hi Laurie! Cook time says 30 minutes because that also includes the 10 minutes of steaming or boiling of the potatoes. 20 minutes is the correct time to bake them. If you want you can do an extra 5-10 they won’t burn but will be a bit more firm and maybe a bit crunchy depending on what you use for topping. I used hemp seeds but my mom used breadcrumbs. Enjoy and I totally don’t blame you if you don’t want to share hahaha I get that feeling all the time too! LOL
Pingback: Saturday Six | Vegetarian Yakisoba, Crispy Green Beans and Whipped Feta Dip | Your Vegetarian Kitchen
Um, these look amazing! And so easy…I would love be it my toddler would eat them! Either way, they will be added to our meal plan for the week!
Oh how wonderful! Enjoy! =)
Could you add some mashed chick peas or fava beans to the mixture?
I’m sure that would taste amazing! I may try that too. Let me know how it turns out =)
These look so yummy! Do you think they would freeze well? Not sure they will last that long but if they do….;)
They have yet to be made to freeze here but you can try and see how they thaw out. I make them and hands out of nowhere reach for them. LOL Keep me posted =)
So glad you liked Hallie’s recipe! And yours came out just like hers–so glad they worked out well! I bet the Italian seasonings worked really well, too. Thanks for trying them out! 🙂
They are amazing. I make them all the time now. My son loves them and so does my hubs. It’s a great alternative to the traditional meatball for vegan or vegetarians. Amazing and Thank you!!!
I’m obsessed! All my fave ingredients. Can’t wait to make this
They are so addicting!!! LOL Keep me posted when you make them so we can talk about how good they are!