Zoodles with Black Bean Meat Sauce
Fool your friends with these Zoodles with Black Bean Meat Sauce. The “meat” in this sauce is made mainly of black beans but tastes just like ground beef!
Wahhh, Monday after a holiday weekend is always the worst! It’s so hard to get back into the swing of things!
With nearly a month to go until Christmas we have to find little ways to stay on track with healthy habits. It’s so easy slide from Thanksgiving to New Years eating poorly and neglecting to exercise.
An easy habit to get into is eating healthy during the week. This even can be tough because you are not always home, with holiday parties and whatnot, but if you make a conscious effort to cook healthy meals on weeknights when you are home it’s a small way to not completely derail during the holiday season.
Like most food bloggers, I’ll admit, I have mostly indulgent recipes planned for the blog over the next 4-6 weeks, because, well, it’s that time of year. Then once January comes food bloggers make a hard switch to healthy foods because we cater to the seasons and what is popular.
However, given that there is still nearly a month to go until Christmas I wanted to give you this recipe for Zoodles with Black Bean “Meat” Sauce to add to your list of healthy dinners to make leading up to the holidays.
Sometimes I am amazed by how you really can transform foods. If I didn’t tell you the “meat” in this sauce was made mainly of black beans you would think it was ground beef. The texture is nearly identical and the sauce is so flavorful that you really can’t tell.
Truth be told this “meat” sauce was actually a happy accident. I was trying for black bean “meat” balls, but they just would not stay together the way I wanted them to so I turned them into a meat sauce.
The sauce was so good that I didn’t even attempt the “meat” balls again and continued testing this recipe until I got it right. The “meat” is made of black beans, bread crumbs, almond butter, an egg and spices ground up in a food processor and browned in a sauté pan.
Assuming you skip the sprinkle on any parmesan cheese (as pictured), the recipe is vegan. I have also tested it using chick pea bread crumbs, they can be used as a 1:1 substitute for the regular bread crumbs if you are looking to make this a gluten free dish.
Zoodles with Black Bean Meat Sauce
Description
Fool your friends with these Zoodles with Black Bean Meat Sauce. The “meat” in this sauce is made mainly of black beans but tastes just like ground beef!
Ingredients
Black Bean Meat Sauce
- 1 15oz can black beans, drained
- 1 tbsp almond butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt, divided
- 2 tsp oregano, divided
- *1 cup bread crumbs
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 15.5oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 large zucchinis
Instructions
- In your food processor, process black beans, almond butter and egg on high until smooth
- Add 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic salt and 1 tsp oregano, process on high
- Add bread crumbs, pulse until fully combined
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
- Add black bean mixture, using a wooden spatula break into pebble-like pieces
- Sauté, stirring frequently, 5-7 minuets until browned
- Add diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp garlic salt, mix
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
- Meanwhile, using a spiralizer, spiralize the zucchini into spaghetti-like strands (zoodles)
- Set sauce aside, clean out pan
- Return to stove, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-low heat
- Sauté zoodles for 3-5 minutes, drain
- Plate zoodles, top with sauce
Notes
*To make this dish gluten free use chickpea bread crumbs
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