Oh hi. Last week I was in New Mexico due to an urgent family matter. While the circumstances were unfortunate, I was lucky enough to spend time with many of my family members that I hadn’t seen in over a year.
While down there, I learned that a few of my cousins recently started doing Crossfit. I’ve always been nervous about Crossfit, probably because one time I watched the Crossfit games on ESPN and saw women flipping tires and bulked out like the Hulk. That’s awesome, but it’s just not me. However, I needed a good workout and my cousins certainly didn’t look bulky, so I decided to sign up for an afternoon sweat session.
And guess what?! It was AWESOME. Yes, it was difficult and my legs were sore for a few days, but I loved the energy and lifting aspect of the class. I can definitely see how you could get easily toned. I’d love to know if any of you have ever done Crossfit!
Anyway enough fitness talk, we’re going to be doing plenty of that thanks to the #SummerSWEATSeries. Today, all I want to talk about is how amazing this meatless black bean meatloaf is.
So let’s get to it…
Of course, you know me, Trader Joe’s grocery lapper. And while I was pacing around the produce section pondering what I would make next, I thought about how awesome a southwest meatless meatloaf would be. I’ve had my mom’s lentil loaf plenty of times and was craving something a little bit different.
Later that day, I was taking this loaf out of the oven, topping it with some creamy, spicy sauce and licking my plate like I hadn’t eaten in days.
FYI, when you live alone, it’s fairly easy to lick your plate because no one is watching/judging you. Well, except Milly (my overly curious cat).
Make your own oat flour for this black bean loaf
Good news, you can easily make your own oat flour right at home to use in this vegetarian black bean loaf recipe. Check out my tutorial with all of my best tips & tricks. So easy!
I ate this loaf for a few days then froze the rest of the slices for later. Turns out, it still tastes fantastic when reheated. I would however recommend leaving the sauce off if you plan on freezing.
So what do you think? Almost 13g of protein and 15g of fiber per serving. Can I get a YES!
Thought so.
The Most Delicious Meatless Black Bean Meatloaf with Creamy Avocado Verde Sauce (vegan, gluten free)
A vegetarian meatless black bean loaf packed with spices, cilantro, corn and topped with the creamiest 3-ingredient sauce. It’s vegan, gluten free, and SO filling.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, if you like heat
- 1/4 cup finely diced cilantro
- 2 - 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup sweet corn (organic preferred)
- 1/2 cup gluten free oats
- 1/2 cup gluten free oat flour (you can make your own!)
- freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
- For the sauce:
- 1/3 cup salsa verde (green salsa)
- 1/2 avocado, mashed
- 2 tablespoons finely diced cilantro
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
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Mix flaxseed meal and 1/2 cup water to a small bowl and place in the refrigerator while you make the rest of the loaf. The flaxseed meal will help bind the loaf together.
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Place large pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Once oil is hot, add in onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrots and jalapeno; saute for 5-7 minutes or until onions are translucent and carrots begin to soften a bit. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in spices and cilantro; set aside.
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Using a blender or food processor, blend beans from 1 can. Transfer to the bowl with the sauteed veggies, and stir in the remaining beans along with the corn, oats, oat flour, and flaxseed meal (from the fridge!). Add salt and pepper, then taste and add more spices or salt and pepper if desired.
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Add mixture to prepared loaf pan, pressing and smoothing to the side to make sure it bakes evenly. Bake loaf for about 35 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 5-10 minutes.
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Make the sauce by combining salsa verde, mashed avocado and cilantro in a medium bowl. Smooth over black bean loaf once ready to serve. Makes 4 servings.
Recipe Notes
This is freezer-friendly. Simply wrap tight or place in a freezer safe ziploc bag. Will stay good for up to 3 months. You can also bake and then freeze it in the loaf pan, just ensuring that it is tightly covered.
I recommend leaving the sauce off if you plan on freezing.
73 comments
You mention preparing a glaze, but I don’t see it in the ingredient list or any other mention of it.
Typo!
Sodium content per serving?
Any substitutes for the flaxseed meal? An egg maybe?
Sure that should work! Or a chia egg.
Hi, this sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it! I’m also wondering about the glaze?
Sorry! No glaze – that was a typo on my end, as I took the instructions and adapted it form my vegan loaf 🙂
Can’t wait to make this. What is in the glaze?
No glaze! Just the avocado-verde sauce!
How long will the avocado sauce stay good in the fridge, if at all? This looks great!!
Avocado turns grey very quickly! I put it with salsa and was disappointed with the visual part even though the taste was great!
Whoops my mistake, didn’t use the correct sauce! Used what I thought was salsa verde but it wasn’t. So can’t wait to retry as it really is a taste sensation!
This is soooo delicious! I really like what the flaxseed meal, oats, and four add to the texture. I didn’t have salsa verde, so I just added some smashed avocado with salt to the top. This is going to be one of my go-to meals when I need something healthy by filling and tasty!
tge recipe calls for 2 cans of black beans but I only see one in use. So does it only need one can or did you not write when to add the second can of beans? By looking at the pictures it looks like there are both blended and whole beans in the loaf. I just wanted to double check, before I try out the recipe. It looks delicious!
Hi! The recipe instructions do include when to add both of the beans in step 4:
Using a blender or food processor, blend beans from 1 can. Transfer to the bowl with the sauteed veggies, and stir in the remaining beans along with the corn, oats, oat flour, and flaxseed meal (from the fridge!). Add salt and pepper, then taste and add more spices or salt and pepper if desired.
I made this last night and my whole family loved it! It was a great meatless dish! I served it with Spanish rice, and it was great. I made the recipe mostly as written, but I left out the cayenne pepper, used regular oats and oat flour, and I also put in a whole avocado in the sauce instead of a half. I think I’ll double the sauce next time, it was so good! You have a winner with this recipe!
Thanks Sharice! 🙂
Anyone ever tried this in the CrockPot?
Oh Wow this looks AWESOME I can’t wait to try it!
This was really satisfying and enjoyed by all. I will definitely make again.
Delicious! I am not sure why, but I cut this into 8 slices, and when I put all the ingredients in for a calorie count, it gave me 415 (for 8!)
fixed it!
I make this recipe with greek yogurt, breadcrumbs and sautéed vegetables. It comes out perfect everytime. It holds together well and I make my own glaze. Amazing.
What ingredient is the yogurt replacing?
Greek yogurt sounds delicious!
So what is he calorie count?
Can I use all purpose flour instead of oat flour?
I made this last night for the first time, and substituted the oat flour with all-purpose flour since it was all I had on hand. Delicious. The flour binds everything together and gives the meal substance. It shouldn’t affect the taste much.
Hi! Is it ok to use regular oats here? I just have a TON and don’t really want to buy gluten free ones. Do you think they would work the same? Would it change the calories at all? Thanks!
regular oats are gluten free
Be careful about that claiming something is gluten free. The response in the comments section that all oats are gluten free is inaccurate and potentially dangerous. If you actually have Celiac disease and are not just following food trends, it is important to know that regular cereal meals from cereals that do not themselves contain gluten almost always have significant amounts of gluten as a result of milling and storage in common facilities.
Anyone who actually requires a gluten free diet knows that, but if you are preparing a dish -this one, for example- (sounds GREAT) for someone who suffers from Celiac disease, you will do them a great disservice by telling them that you’ve prepared gluten free food for them if you have assumed oat, rye, etc to be gluten free and not used specifically labelled gluten free cereal grains.
This looks really tasty, but I don’t like anything spicey (hot). If I left out all the ingredients that will make it tasty “hot” (jalapenos, chili powder and the cayenne pepper), will it still taste just as good? Thanks!
Sure you could do that. Verde sauce isn’t really spicy, so I wouldn’t worry about that.
Can you substitute chia for flax?
Could you just use one can of black beans and one can of organic refried black beans which are essentially already mashed?
Please could you include the Sodium levels in your nutritional information — people like me with heart problems have to eat very low levels of sodium. This recipe should be safe …but without your recipe stating it to be so, we can’t take the risk.
My husband was not excited (to say the least) when I told him we were having black bean meatloaf, but this recipe was a hit! We’re already excited about the leftovers 🙂
This was SUPER delicious! Surprised my boyfriend with this meal and he loved it too. My only concern was that it fell apart quickly – Does that mean I didn’t cook it long enough?
Made this last week and it was tasty! Would also make a great burger w/o adjusting the recipe too much!
Hi could you tell me how to heat i your lovely. Meatloaf once frozen
Can I put it in the microwave
Thank you
Yes you can, but I recommend thawing it out first. 🙂
Just wondered if the nutrition numbers were correct. The 73.3 grams of carbs?…when I put it in WW to get the points it kept telling me to recheck my amounts…
Made this last night it was delicious. Had left overs tonight and just as yummy. I made another batch of the sauce because it was so good. Thanks for all your great recipes.
Do you cook the corn first or add it raw? Also, is it possible to add quinoa to the mix? I’m thinking of adding a cup of cooked quinoa.
These are essentially really nice refried beans. We used the leftovers in enchiladas. Very tasty! I baked at 375 for 45 min until internal temp was 160.
That’s an amazing idea! I’ll have to try it next time 🙂
According to this site https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/ to replace flax seed with egg you use1 tbsp flaxseed + 2.5 tbsp water. Since you recipe call for 3tbsp flaxseed how many eggs would you use? Thanks. I tried it today with 1 egg – hopefully it works out!
I did 1/2 cup of oats and the 1/2 cup was bread crumbs. I don’t understand, but my loaf “fell apart” – any suggestions? I also used 1 egg instead of the flax seed/water combo…
Any ideas 🙂 thanks.
I would make sure your bread crumbs are finely ground in order to replace the oat flour here, and adding another egg!
Had a meatless Mothersday with my Family and used this recipe. It was delicious! My husband, two yearold and Nine yearold Loved it! Thank you for sharing. It’s a keeper! For our slow transition to plant base.
Fabulous! I’m glad the whole family loved this one 🙂 I’ve got tons of delicious plant-based recipes for you to try if you search by “vegetarian”!
This is definitely a go-to recipe now!! I love it so much! I make it in a muffin tin and cook it for about 30 ish minutes instead. They hold together so well. Thank you for the great recipe!
So happy to hear that!! Love this for an easy, meatless dinner 🙂
This looks so delicious! I cannot believe you made a meat-free loaf that actually looks yummy. Most of the ones I have tried were disappointing but this one is probably even a recipe my kids would eat! I can’t wait to make it!
It’s delicious! Hope you get a chance to try it 🙂
When you say “flaxseed meal,” do you mean ground flaxseed? Is it the same thing? New to this kind of cooking and I found ground organic flaxseed at the store but didn’t see anything specifically labeled “flaxseed meal.” It looks mealy, kind of like wheat germ.
Yes it is finely ground flaxseed! It should look like what’s on this package.
I made this last night but I must be doing something wrong. The consistency is very soft and feels uncooked even after 40 minutes in oven. I noticed a similar consistency in other BB recipes, sliders, meatballs, etc. Is it the BB’s ? What should the consistency taste like? I love the recipe, help.
The consistency is definitely different than other typical ‘meat’loaves. Black beans tend to have a mushy texture. I think it’s delicious, but if you’d like it to be more firm, try using an egg instead of flax eggs or adding more flour.
this recipe is my favorite vegetarian meatloaf!
this is the most delicious vegan meat loaf!!
Im making this now. Looking forward to it!! What kind of side(s) are suggested?
Do the oats have to be gluten free? Can they be the quick cook kind?
Nope they don’t have to be gluten free and yes, the quick cook kind will work!
This recipe was a winner with everybody! I particularly like your idea to blend the black beans in two different ways to give it the correct texture. I left out the corn, I did not make this vegan, as I used a teaspoon of bacon grease plus coconut oil to fry up the onion etc., and two eggs that I needed to use. I also love the avocado topping, I never would have thought of that. We all agree it was fabulous.
Quite tasty, but didn’t hold up as a loaf at all – more like a pan full of spicy, refried beans with veggies to eat with brown rice or wrapped in corn tortillas!
Haha oh no! well, I’m glad you could still put it to use. Sorry it didn’t turn out for you!
Really enjoy this recipe. I was living with a vegan this past summer and had some flax seed & cans of beans lying around, so we gave this recipe a shot. Now it’s a part of my monthly rotation. So healthy, so *cleansing*, and it can basically be made in a food processor! Does it get any easier?!
This has been one of my favorite ambitious kitchen recipes I’ve made so far! I didn’t make any substitutions to the recipe. The flaxseed and blended black beans really helped bind these ingredients into a well formed loaf. I also discovered that dipping some jalapeño lime tortilla chips into the the loaf and verde sauce was an incredible life decision. Highly recommend this recipe! It has the perfect amount of spice, great texture and overall kept me full for hours.
Delicious! This is in our regular meal rotation!
I’m so glad!!
One of my favorite recipes! I’ve never made it as a loaf, I prefer to use a muffin tin for anything like this because I love the end pieces. Cooks it same amount of time. Very flavorful and filling! I love to have it with salad and some corn chips. Last time I bought avocado salsa for the topping and will do that from now on as it keeps better but if you’re finishing it in one sitting, no worries.
Perfect! Love that idea!