Middle East Falafel Recipe
Equipment
- Air Fryer
- Oven
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 1 medium onion (peeled and roughly chopped) or ½ cup frozen sliced onion
- 30g plain plant-based protein powder I used pea protein isolate OR 4 tablespoons of chickpea flour or other gluten free flour
- 4 teaspoons (cloves) minced fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander (ground cilantro)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 30g (a handful) of fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
- 30g (a handful) of fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor until it is all incorporated but don’t over-blend. The mixture should be chunky and you should be able to form it into a ball that sticks together. If it doesn’t stick together add 1 teaspoon more protein powder at a time until it is the right consistency.
- Use a spoon or a small scoop to scoop some of the mixture. Roll it into a ball.
- Repeat until all the mixture has been rolled into balls.
- Follow the instructions below to cook with your preferred equipment.
Air Fryer
- Line your air fryer basket with parchment paper or spray your basket with oil.
- Place the balls into the air fryer basket making sure none of them are touching each other. You might have to do this in several batches if they don’t all fit.
- You can also increase the crispiness of the falafels by spraying them with oil spray before baking.
- Bake at 200C/400F for 5-10 minutes or until the falafels are golden brown.
Oven
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or spray a non-stick baking sheet with oil.
- Add the balls to the baking tray making sure none of the balls touch each other. You can also increase the crispiness of the falafels by spraying them with oil spray before baking.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
Storage: This recipe keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days in an air-tight container. It also freezes well for up to 3 months. Defrost it before using it. Reheat it by warming it up gently in the oven or air fryer.
Nutritional Information: The nutritional information is for one serving of the recipe.
Ingredient Swaps
Almost all ingredients can be swapped for other ingredients. See the section called Ingredients substitutions in the blog post for easy ingredient swaps.