Vegan Gluten Free Falafel
by: claire cary
This easy baked vegan falafel is quick, flavorful, and comes with a creamy dill dressing that you will want to drown all your meals in! These falafel are vegan, gluten free, and the perfect recipe for meal prep.
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Ingredients
Falafel:
- 8 ounces dry chickpeas soaked (see notes)
- ½ large or 1 small yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- ⅓ bunch cilantro
- ⅓ bunch parsley
- 2-3 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ - ⅓ cup chickpea flour see notes
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Optional: 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Dressing:
- 1 cup hemp hearts
- 2-3 large cloves garlic
- Juice from 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup plain unsweetened plant milk
- ½ - 1 tsp sea salt
- 2-3 tsp dried dill depending on preference
Instructions
- Cover your chickpeas and soak overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Chop the onion into large chunks and add to a food processor with the garlic.
- Pulse a few times until they are broken up into small pieces, but not completely mushy.
- Add in the chickpeas and pulse a few times until broken up.
- Add in all remaining ingredients except for the flour and process until everything is well mixed and the mixture turns green.
- Pulse in the chickpea flour until well combined. Start with 1/4 cup and only add more if the mixture is too wet. You don't want the mixture to get too dry! It should be pretty moist, but easy enough to work with.
- Use a spoon or use your hands (I like using the smallest of these cookie scoops) to roll into 1-2 inch balls. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Bake for 20 minutes, flip, then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.
- To make the dressing, simply add all ingredients to a blender and process until completely smooth (about 30 seconds).
- Serve the falafel with hummus, pita, a salad, the dressing, etc!
Notes
You want to soak the chickpeas, but not cook them. This will ensure the texture of the falafel is not too mushy. 8 ounces is half a regular bad of dried chickpeas, just be sure to cover them completely to soak as they will expand!
The falafel will dry out slightly in the fridge, but will store well for 5-7 days.
Start with 1/4 cup flour and work your way up. How much you need will depend on exactly how long the chickpeas were soaked for an how runny your tahini is.
If you have a convection oven, I suggest using the convection setting at 400 degrees. In this case, bake for 15 minutes, flip and then check again at 10 minutes. With convection, they cook more evenly and in total will probably need around 25-30 minutes of baking.
Serving: 4falafel / Calories: 291kcal / Carbohydrates: 39g / Protein: 14g / Fat: 8.9g / Fiber: 8.1g / Sugar: 4.5g
