Whether you steam or fry them, these falafel are a cinch to make and pack up for your next picnic!
Fried falafel are hands-down delicious. They are crispy and firm on the outside and spongy soft on the inside. But…they’re fried. Steaming maximizes the nutritional profile and results in a falafel that is made in 20 minutes and maintains a firm texture, inside and out. So feel free to toss these into your salad, roll them up in a quinoa wrapper (as shown) or pop them into your mouth as you’re lounging on the picnic blanket. Which way will you enjoy falafel next?
This recipe was inspired by the Smitten Kitchen and modified to make this gluten free, plant based and vegan, allium free (no onions, no garlic), nightshade free, corn free, soy free and oil-free (steamed) recipe. We love it with the oil-free cauliflower tahini sauce. ๐
In our home, we fry these for company, but eat them steamed (sometimes pan-cooked) when it’s just us. We love them stuffed inside a quinoa-based wrapper made using the Grain Free Crepes recipe (without the oil) and poured into smaller, thicker rounds. With that…
…let’s begin! Jump to Recipe
Process the Falafel Mix
Add the rinsed, soaked chickpeas (black or white) to your food processor with all of the other ingredients. Process until you have a fine, grainy mixture with pieces the size of couscous or quinoa kernels.
Note: I used soaked, black chickpeas here. Feel free to use white chickpeas, or substitute another bean altogether in this recipe.
Steam the Falafel (Option 1)
Transfer to a bowl and shape into about 14 ping-pong-sized balls (or larger patties), and steam for 12 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes and serve!
Pan-Cook the Falafel (Option 2)
Preheat a skillet at medium-high temperature. Add the room temperature, steamed falafel to the preheated pan in the desired amount of oil and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Serve!
Falafel with Cauliflower Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
Falafel
- 1.5 cups soaked or sprouted chickpeas
- 0.5 cups flatleaf parsley
- 0.75 cups chopped cabbage substitute fennel bulb or carrots for low FODMAP
- 2 tbsp oats Ground through food processor or blender, substitute oat flour or GF Flour of choice
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger up to 2 tbsp, to taste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice to taste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp 7-spice blend
- 1 tsp salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Cauliflower Tahini Sauce
- 3 cups cauliflower, chopped
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp lemon juice to taste
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp herbs (flatleaf parsley, dill, etc.) to taste, not shown here
Instructions
Steamed Falafel
- Preheat water for steamer
- Add all ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until fully mixed and chickpeas are the consistency of couscous. Transfer to a bowl
- Shape into balls or patties.
- Carefully place in steamer. Cook for 12 minutes. Let rest with cover closed for ~3 minutes more. Remove and serve!
Cauliflower Tahini Sauce
- Steam the cauliflower for 10 minutes. This step can be done alongside the falafel.
- Add the steamed cauliflower with tahini, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and any herbs in a high speed blender. Puree into a creamy sauce that has the texture of yogurt adding water as needed to get the desired consistency. Alternately, run the ingredients through a food processor and then a standard blender to achieve a similar consistency.
Notes
Tried this recipe or just have something fun to share? I’d love to hear about it. ๐
Chelsea
27 May 2019Ohhh I’ll have to try steaming them! I’ve made the ones from smitten kitchen (fried) and they’re delish – but I don’t love cooking with that much oil. Will try this way next time!
admin
3 Jun 2019Exciting! You’ll have to let me know how it turns out ๐