Falafel is one of my favorites! I’ve been on a mission this year to come up with a healthy version, and I think I’ve finally got it! This is one of our own recipes that I developed after a lot of trial and error. I actually do this a lot, but many of them don’t make it to the blog. This one hit the mark, so here it is!
My favorite way to enjoy falafel is over a lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and onion salad. Topped with some lemon tahini sauce, and a few splashes of hot sauce. Totally delicious!!
A falafel sandwich is a little more traditional, and a big hit with the kids. We serve them in either a whole wheat or sprouted grain pita. I think my kids could eat these every day. It’s funny to me too, because they never complain about the amount of veggies I stuff into the sandwich with the falafel and tahini sauce. They just eat it all up!
To get started, first make the falafels. See below for pictures. The important part here is to get the batter to the right consistency. It should be just thick enough to hold together on the baking sheet, but not thick enough to handle very much. I found it worked best when just thick enough to place a clump in the palm of my hand to shape it, and then lightly place it on the parchment paper.
If you prefer you can make your own chickpea flour by blending some dry raw chickpeas in a high powered blender. That’s what we do. I throw a handful or two of dry chickpeas into the vitamix and blend it on high until it’s powder. It’s super loud, but really quick and easy. It seems to save well too.
| Baked Falafel | | Print |
- 2 cups chickpeas (in liquid, lightly strained, reserve liquid)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion
- ½ bunch parsley
- ½ bunch cilantro (or use all parsley if you don't like cilantro)
- 1 tbsp braggs liquid aminos
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ cup chickpea flour (as needed)
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- black pepper (to taste)
- Cayenne pepper (optional, to taste)
- Preheat oven to 425
- Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, parsley, cilantro, braggs in a food processor, and process until coarsely mixed. Add additional chickpea liquid as needed until the mixture blends throughly.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine processed chickpea mixture, cumin, coriander, flax seed, pepper, and chickpea flour as needed to create a batter thick enough that you can clump it together.
- Place in 12 clumps (loosely shaped like balls) on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- bake at 425 for 25 minutes, or until golden brown
While the falafels cook you can chop the vegetables for the cucumber salad. I like them diced small, others like them a little more chunky. Do whatever you like!
| Cucumber Salad | | Print |
- 1 cucumber
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 small red onion
- Dice everything and toss it in a bowl.
Then, the last step, make the lemon tahini sauce!
| Lemon Tahini Sauce | | Print |
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup tahini
- ⅓ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 garlic clove
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until fully blended.
- Add water as needed if it seems to thick
Falafel “balls” before baking, they are really more like clumps. They aren’t firm enough to really pickup without completely deforming them.
Cook them until they are golden brown. They will still be a little soft on the inside, and that’s exactly what you want.
The cucumber salad looks so colorful and delicious!
? Can’t wait to try it out!? Looks awesome!
Thanks Graeme, and let us know what you think after you try them out!
Oh, I’d eat that….?
Going to crank this out! Serving up with the baked fries. Yummmmmm!!!! Thanks!
Tried it. Liked it!!
I made this tonight & it was delicious
Update… made it! Delicious!!
Saved this. Have you considered adding Pin with Pinterest buttons or other social share button? You have good stuff here! It would be nice to make it easy to spread the word.
Thanks for the recipe! It looks delicious! Not sure I understand..if you grind the chickpeas where does the chickpeas liquid come from..or can you use canned chickpeas..thank you very much!
Oh, I better take a look at that to clarify. Basically, you are using cooked or prepared chickpeas (canned, or cooked from dry) for most of the recipe, and then grinding the dry chickpeas to use as chickpea flour just to thicken up the mixture so you can form it into balls. As you suspected, the liquid you use to keep things moving in the food processor is whats left over int he can or cooked chickpeas. I hope that helps!
This looks like a really good recipe! Can’t wait to try with garden fresh veggies!
This is THE BEST falafel recipe I’ve tried! Delicious and balanced!!