Falafels are a staple for many vegans. They're so handy - vegan, high-protein little bites that can be used in sandwiches, wraps, in salads, or just dunked in hummus. For ultimate ease you can buy them from any supermarket, and I often do, but these ones are nearly always deep-fried so can be high in fat. Making your own vegan falafels at home is so easy and if you oven bake them then they have just a fraction of the fat content, so these delicious, high-protein little bites are better for us (as well as tastier AND cheaper)!
Vegan Baked Falafel Recipe
Ingredients (makes 16):
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
1 small white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
Breadcrumbs from 1 slice of bread OR 1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs*
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp olive oil & 1 tsp for coating
A pinch of salt and pepper, to taste
* I used dried breadcrumbs from a packet in this recipe. I'm all for making things as easy as possible so I keep some in the cupboard for recipes that call for them.
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Using a food processor, whizz up the onion and garlic until chopped finely. Next add all the other falafel ingredients, and mix for a little longer. You may need to scrape down the sides of the mixer a few times to make sure everything is thoroughly combined, but don't worry of there are still a few chunks of chickpeas as they can add nice texture to the falafels.
Now shape the mixture into 16 slightly flattened balls, and lay on the lined baking tray. At this stage you can use just 1 tsp of olive oil on a pastry brush to coat the falafels - this will help to make them turn golden on the outside. Pop in the oven to bake for 30-40 minutes, turning the falafels halfway through so they brown evenly on both sides.
Nutrition (per 4 baked falafels):
Protein: 5.9g (Women: 11.8% / Men: 10.7%)
Iron: 1.2mg (Women: 8.1% / Men: 13.8%)
Calories: 141 (Women: 7.1% / Men: 5.6%)
Sugar: 1.9g (Women: 2.1% / Men: 1.6%)
Total Fats: 5.6g (Women: 8.0% / Men: 5.9%)
Saturated Fat: 0.8g (Women: 4.0% / Men: 2.7%)
Salt: 0.1g (Women: 1.7% / Men: 1.7%)
Fibre: 4.7g (Women: 15.7% / Men: 15.7%)
See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.
