Gluten-Free Vegan Raw No-Bake Broccoli Balls are an easy and healthy recipe to make with only 9 clean, real food ingredients. They're the perfect plant-based snack ready in about 10 minutes that everyone will enjoy!
Here's Why This Recipe Works
Here's why this recipe works - my top 3 reasons:
- Can Be Made With or Without A Dehydrator
- Versatile Plant-Based Snack
- Made With Only 9 Clean, Real Food Ingredients
Can Be Made With Or Without A Dehydrator
The great thing about this recipe is you can make them two different ways:
- You can make them and roll them into bite-size balls, and because they are raw, enjoy them immediately. They have a softer and moister texture, but are delicious!
- You can put them in a dehydrator if you prefer a little crispier texture.
Versatile Plant-Based Snack
This raw food recipe for no-bake broccoli balls is so easy to make and it's also a great way to let your little ones help - especially making the balls!
While they would make a great side dish for a family meal, appetizer for a party or a super healthy snack, there are other ways you can enjoy the recipe.
For example, add the mixture to a piece of romaine lettuce and make a wrap, sprinkle the mixture over a salad, or use it as a dip with grain-free chips or crackers.
They're especially fun to dip in your favorite raw dressing or dip, and a couple of my favorites are this Raw Creamy Jalapeno Dressing and my Raw Spinach and Avocado Dip.
And, if you're loving these broccoli balls, I also have another healthy vegetable ball recipe that's really good too...my Clean Eating Vegan Sweet Potato and Pecan Balls, which are perfect during the holiday season.
Made With Only 9 Clean, Real Food Ingredients
Are these raw broccoli balls healthy?
In my opinion, yes!
Let's compare the ingredients in this recipe with traditional broccoli balls that usually have dairy and/or meat in them:
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Parmesan Broccoli Balls Ingredients: broccoli, Parmesan cheese, eggs, butter or margarine, sausage or ground meat, onions, salt, pepper
Gluten-Free Vegan Raw No-Bake Broccoli Ball Ingredients: organic broccoli, organic raw cashews, organic onion, organic garlic, organic extra-virgin olive oil, organic jalapeno, nutritional yeast, Himalayan pink salt
My healthier plant-based version is made with clean, real food ingredients and is not only raw but vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, keto/low-carb (only 5 net carbs per ball), paleo-friendly, and made with Medical Medium® healing food ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe: Step-by-Step Instructions
Here is how to make this recipe and I'll show you with step-by-step instructions below:
This is a really simple recipe to make (and your kids will love to help too!) and all you need is a food processor!
Step 1: Prepare the Broccoli
Firstly, de-stem your broccoli and cut it into bite-size floret pieces.
You don't have to get too crazy with this step because it's all going into the food processor but it will make it easier to process if the pieces are small.
- Process #1: Here you'll add the broccoli pieces and the cashews to the food processor and process until they are broken down into small pieces, but take care not to over-process.
- Process #2: Next, you'll add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and instead of processing them, this time you will pulse them about 30-40 times. You want the mixture to have a paste-like consistency.
Step 2: Adjust the Seasonings
Secondly, take a taste of the mixture and see if you want to add a little extra salt, garlic, nutritional yeast or jalapeno.
If you don't like spicy or will be serving these to children, you may want to leave out the jalapenos.
Step 3: Make the Balls
Thirdly, take out a spoonful of the mixture at a time and squeeze it together tightly in your fist and then shape them into a round ball shape with your fingertips.
Step 4: OPTIONAL: Use A Dehydrator
Fourthly, if you decide to dehydrate the broccoli balls, just put them on a mesh tray and dehydrate them at 115 degrees for 10-12 hours, or until slightly "crispy" on the outsides.
The difference between the two?
The dehydrated ones will have more of a drier texture and will be slightly "crispier" and won't be as moist and sticky as the non-dehydrated ones.
They also won't have the same bright green color, but are still raw and delicious!
Step 5: How To Store the Broccoli Balls
Lastly, store the balls in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Vegan Snack Recipes?
Check out these:
- Roasted Smashed Potatoes with Smoked Paprika Habanero Sauce
- Spicy Red Pepper and Spinach Sweet Potato Hash Browns
- Rosemary and Garlic Sweet Potato Medallions
- or my CLEAN EATING Cookbook with 75+ plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! 🙂
Gluten-Free Vegan Raw No-Bake Broccoli Balls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups organic raw broccoli florets
- 2 1/2 cups organic raw cashews
- 1/4 cup organic red onion
- 2 cloves organic garlic
- 1 tablespoon 100% pure avocado oil
- 1 organic jalapeno
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast*
- 1/2 teaspoon organic ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Add the broccoli pieces and cashews to a food processor and process until they are chopped into small pieces, taking care to not over process.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse approximately 30-40 times, or until everything is well combined and has a wet, crumbly consistency.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
- Take out a spoonful at a time, squeeze it tightly together in your fist, then shape them with your fingertips into small bite-sized balls.
- Option 1: Enjoy and refrigerate any leftovers.
- Option 2 (Dehydrator): Put the balls on a mesh dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 degrees for approximately 10-12 hours, or overnight.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Hi, I'm Karielyn! I'm the published cookbook author of CLEAN DESSERTS and content creator of The Healthy Family and Home™ website since 2012. I specialize in creating easy, healthy plant-based and Medical Medium® compliant recipes that are gluten-free + vegan and made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating.
Bridgette Mitchell says
Hi are there other oils you recommend using other than avocado oil?
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Bridgette! My oil of preference is pure avocado oil, but you could always substitute it with another healthy oil such as organic extra-virgin olive oil or even hemp seed oil.
The only oil I would not recommend to use is coconut oil since it will harden when you store the balls in the refrigerator and might give them a strange texture.
Thanks for your question and I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Kelly says
Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes! I'm looking forward to trying many of them.
(Just FYI, nutritional yeast is not medical medium approved.)
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Kelly! Thanks so much and I'm glad you're here!
You are correct - nutritional yeast is not a Medical Medium approved food 🙂
Because it's not, I made a notation in the recipe to omit the nutritional yeast to keep the recipe 100% Medical Medium compliant and provided a substitution recommendation of 1/4 organic hemp seeds.
Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the recipes!
Madison says
Hi, I'm really interested in trying these out! Do you have the nutritional information once prepared? Thanks!
Karielyn says
Hi there Madison! I just happened to be in the process of adding nutritional information on all my recipes...all 500+ of them lol! I moved this one up to the front of the list for you and it's all updated on the post. Just keep in mind it's just an estimate 🙂
Thanks for your question and I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
kathryn l m cano says
Hi there! is there a substitute for the nuts? my son is dairy/egg/nut /gluten free 🙂 Thank you in advance!
Karielyn says
Hi there Kathryn! I haven't made them without the cashews, but I would try substituting with either hemp seeds (will give extra protein!), sesame seeds (will give extra calcium!) or sunflower seeds (if he can have seeds). If he can't have any of those maybe some gluten-free breadcrumbs would work.
And worst case, you could try making them without the cashews or any substitutions and just serve it as a dip or spread. The mixture may not hold together to form a ball shape, but it's really good just eating it with a spoon.
Thanks for the question and I hope you are able to make them 🙂
Mel says
Can I sub something for the nutritional yeast? It gives me migraines
Karielyn says
Hi there Mel! Yes...you can substitute the nutritional yeast with 1/4 cup organic hemp seeds.
I haven't tested this but you could try organic gluten-free bread crumbs which should work too.
Thanks for your question and I hope you get to enjoy the recipe 🙂
Shannon says
My husband is on a raw diet now so I tried these, they are really good! I had to substitute almonds for the cashews and omit the onion due to allergies but they are delicious. Thank you for the recipe. 😀
Karielyn says
Hi there Shannon! I'm so glad to hear that you and your husband enjoyed the recipe and thanks for sharing the tip about substituting the cashews with almonds...that was very helpful!
I appreciate you trying out the recipe and taking the time to let me know you both liked it 🙂
Low carb momms says
Just made these and they are A-MAZ-ING! Didn't even make it into balls, just ate it with a spoon. Will definitely dehydrate next batch. Thanks for a yummy healthy snack.
Karielyn says
Hi there! I'm so glad to hear you liked them...and I have ~definitely~ eaten my share with just a spoon because I couldn't wait to roll them into balls lol!
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it 🙂
Kait says
Mmmm! These look great! Any substitute suggestions for the jalapenos? I have wimpy taste buds;)
Karielyn says
Hi there Kait! You could leave out the jalapenos, I just added them for extra flavor. Feel free to add something else in it's place like extra onions, garlic, etc.
Thanks for the question and I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Jo says
Just made these and I think they are delicious!
Karielyn says
Hi there Jo! I'm so glad to hear you enjoy them! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked them...I really appreciate it 🙂
Charlotte fitzhardinge says
I'm sorry...but there is no way these can taste good.
Karielyn says
Hi Charlotte, I'm sorry...but you're wrong! Yes, they can, and do, taste good. I actually made these again today since I had a huge bag of organic broccoli from Costco and they are amazing! Maybe you should give them a try before leaving a comment with no merit 🙂