Vegan Puff Pastry Cups With Marinara Meatballs

It’s nearly time for Jay to go back to school and I have been trying to come up with fun and healthy meal ideas for my teen; meals I know won’t go from the lunch box into the cafeteria trash bin. With these Vegan Puff Pastry Cups with Marinara Meatballs, which are as easy and quick to put together as they are delicious to eat, I have a certain winner. One of the realities I have confronted as I have raised my son is that controlling what he eats all the time is not only impossible, it is unrealistic. Before I had a child I had all sorts of wonderful plans of the healthy vegan meals I was going to raise him/her on, creating a paragon of good health. But within days of meeting Jay, reality set in: not only does he – like most children – have extremely strong opinions about what should go into his tummy, and anything healthy is usually not on that list, he is quite unabashed about not eating whatever it is that I’ve cooked for him when it doesn’t meet his approval. While I can control matters to some extent at home, the problem is exacerbated in the school lunch room where the school lunch ladies and monitors are too busy with dozens of kids to always know what His Craftiness is up to. Jay is not one of a kind. Every time I’ve been in a school cafeteria, I’ve been shocked by the amount of food kids throw away, especially healthy food that comes from home, packed lovingly by well-meaning moms and dads. Coolness in the cafeteria, it appears, is directly proportional to how many processed foods you carry in your lunch box. So this is a battle you need to wage with cunning. Over the years I’ve blogged about some of the school lunchbox meals I’ve created that I can be fairly certain Jay will eat even when out of sight. I’ve shared with you easy vegan lunch box ideas and 25 vegan school lunches your kids will love – be sure to check out those posts for more ideas. Also read this post on 66 Kid Friendly Vegan Recipes, which includes a guide on making family meal times stress free while keeping your child well fed, if you haven’t already. The recipe I have for you today for Vegan Puff Pastry Cups with Marinara Meatballs is a great addition to these lists, and you can be sure no child or teen will be able to resist them. They have pizza-like flavors and are easy to transport in a lunch box. When I make school lunches for Jay I try to give a little, and the “give,” in this case, is the crispy, crackly puff pastry. The meatballs and the marinara make this meal healthy enough, and he loves both, so I can be sure he will eat it. What is even better for you, the cook, is that the entire recipe takes just minutes to put together, especially if you have marinara sauce handy. The only work you need to do is roll out the puff pastry and cut it. I usually use storebought vegan meatballs for this recipe, just to make my life easier, but you can definitely use homemade, bean-based meatballs, like these vegan air-fryer meatballs.

Why you will love these Vegan Puff Pastry Cups

They’re tasty. Sure, they’re kid-friendly, but I challenge you to find an adult who can resist them. The marinara and vegan cheese create pizza like flavors and encased in that crunchy golden puff pastry it’s all just too deliicous for words. They’re incredibly easy to make. You can put this together in minutes with storebought marinara, vegan meatballs and vegan cheese, although if you want to make this healthier you could try making a homemade marinara sauce like this easy, five-ingredient version I have on the blog. It’s truly the best marinara ever. And, depending on what your child will eat, you can make your own healthy homemade meatballs, like these vegan air fryer meatballs. Both the marinara and meatballs can be made in advance. They are easy to pack in a lunch box. The marinara keeps the meatballs juicy but it is not runny after going through the oven, and you can easily pack these puff pastry cups in a lunch box for easy, mess-free transport to school.

How to make vegan puff pastry cups with meatball marinara

Storage instructions

These can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. The puff pastry cups are crispiest out of the oven, but they remain crispy enough at room temperature for a while, so they will still taste great when your child opens their lunch box. If eating at home, reheat them in a 350-degree oven for five minutes.