A healthy Baked Falafel sandwich packed with nutrients and tahini sauce.
To date, my favorite falafels are Mamoun’s Falafel in New York City. Back in the day they just sold for $2. Mamoun’s is a total hold in the wall in the West Village and serves up the most delicious falafels I’ve ever had.
Unfortunately, most falafels are fried, so I opted to make my healthier by baking them.
Tips on making Healthy Baked Falafel:
- Blend the main ingredients in a food processor.
- Bake the falafels in the oven.
- Prepare the middle-eastern cucumber, tomato, onion salad.
- Assemble falafel sandwiches using veggies, baked falafel, and tahini sauce.
Can I make this Falafel Recipe without egg?
Personally, I haven’t tried it, however you may try using a flax egg and see how that works out. Mix 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal with 3 tbsp water. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
What sauces can I use in a Falafel Sandwich?
For this recipe, I used tahini sauce which tastes the best. Feel free to add hummus, baba ghanoush, or tabouli as per your taste. Additionally, I love Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and Siracha for some added heat.
Baked Falafel is:
Healthy
Vegetarian
Delicious
Nutritious
Packed with Good Fats
Soft and Slightly Crispy
Baked, NOT Fried
Easy Weeknight Meal
Dairy-Free
Made with Whole-Wheat Pita
How to make Baked Falafel recipe step by step?
Make the Falafel
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine all the Baked Falafel ingredients in a food processor.
3. Pulse, but don’t blend until smooth. This is what you should have.
4. Using a mini-scoop, form little balls and place them on a baking tray.
5. Into the oven for 25 minutes, flipping halfway.
6. Once done, this is what you should have. Set aside.
Prepare the Middle-Eastern Salad
1. Chop cucumber, tomatoes, and onions. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper.
2. Top with fresh cilantro. Mix well. Set aside.
Assemble Falafel Sandwich
1. Bake half a whole-wheat pita in a toaster oven – bake for a couple of minutes at 400 degrees.
2. Take a dollop of tahini and dilute it with water. I love Trader Joe’s Herbed Tahini. It’s so fresh.
3. Add tahini to the inside of a baked pita.
4. Fill with fresh spinach leaves.
5. Add 3 pieces of baked falafel.
6. Add 2 spoonfuls of the middle-eastern salad you prepared. Finally, top with diluted tahini sauce.
Optional: top with hot sauce – I like Siracha and Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
More Chickpeas Recipes
Enjoy Baked Falafel Sandwich!
Baked Falafel
Ingredients
Baked Falafel
- 15 ounce can organic chickpeas rinsed & drained
- 1 small onion
- large handful fresh cilantro
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 green chilies
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup desi atta Indian flour or white flour
Middle-Eastern Salad
- 1 large cucumber peeled & diced
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 medium red onion chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- fresh cilantro to taste
Assemble Falafel Sandwich
- 3 whole-wheat pita bread baked & warmed
- 1 tbsp herbed tahini diluted with water, I like Trader Joe's brand
- 1/3 cup fresh spinach chopped
- 3 baked falafel pieces
- 2 spoonfuls middle-eastern salad
- 1/2 tbsp herbed tahini diluted with water, I like Trader Joe's
- hot sauce optional
Instructions
Make the Falafel
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine all the Baked Falafel ingredients in a food processor.
- Pulse, but don't blend until smooth. This is what you should have.
- Using a mini-scoop, form little balls and place them on a baking tray.
- Into the oven for 25 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Once done, this is what you should have. Set aside.
Prepare the Middle-Eastern Salad
- Chop cucumber, tomatoes, and onions. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper.
- Top with fresh cilantro. Mix well. Set aside.
Assemble Falafel Sandwich
- Bake half a whole-wheat pita in a toaster oven - bake for a couple of minutes at 400 degrees.
- Take a dollop of tahini and dilute it with water. I love Trader Joe's Herbed Tahini. It's so fresh.
- Add tahini to the inside of a baked pita.
- Fill with fresh spinach leaves.
- Add 3 pieces of baked falafel.
- Add 2 spoonfuls of the middle-eastern salad you prepared. Finally, top with diluted tahini sauce.
- Optional: top with hot sauce - I like Siracha and Frank's Red Hot Sauce.
ww………..baked filafel sandwich…………superb
Can you stop by place and cook me falafels- this looks delicious! I LOVE Middle Eastern food, probably because Lebanese food was so freely available in Nigeria! Did you ever go to Al Basha? Best restaurant ever!
I'm sold. Making these for dinner tonight 🙂 I love Mamoun's too! There's one in New Haven (another hole in the wall) that I used to go to a lot when I lived there for a year.
PS- we have the same oven 🙂
These sound great! I am so going to make these this week… Quick questions though, is there any other vegetables that I could put in the falafel to make them lower in calories? AND Is there any ingredients that could make them higher in protein? Either way- They sound amazing!
Oooo yummy! I've never ventured into making falafel and I would like to try them out some day. My family's a big meat-eating one, so you're more likely to get kebabs in their tummies. But, this is a great alternative for a sandwich. I love that it is baked and not fried!
@Khushboo – haha! It'd be cool if you lived around me so we could share recipes. Regarding Nigeria, we actually never ate out, and I left when I was 9. I'll have to look up Al Basha. 🙂
@Gina – wow, Mamoun's is awesome! If you make this, do let me know how it turned out. Oh, I have a GE oven, it's pretty good.
@Peanut Butter Lover – Hmm..other vegetables to make them lower in calories? I thought 'chickpeas' were high in protein and lower in calories. I would also look into edamame or green peas or perhaps even frozen spinach (with the water completely drained). What do you think? Let me know. 🙂
@BeetleBuggy – I love kebabs too, but typically don't cook meat at home. However, when dining at a MIddle Eastern restaurant, I will totally order chicken kebabs.
looks yummy cant wait to try it.
@Honey – Thanks. I don't have all of those vegetables available and I was curious as to what else would taste good because I am not familiar with Middle Eastern food.
This recipe piqued my interest however, so I scoured the internet for more Middle Eastern inspired dishes. I found two that look amazing:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/upside-down/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Shawarma/Detail.aspx
@Honey – Haha. Another comment from me! I made a variation of this tonight. It was great: http://peanut-butter-lover.blogspot.com/2011/12/easy-middle-eastern-recipe.html
Those baked falafels are looking good!
@Kevin – glad you visited and approve. I love your originality and recipes. 🙂
i made these falafel but they were too thin and the recipe isnt as good as mama's traditional lebanese ones
@Anonymous – Sorry to hear that. I wouldn't be able to compete with your mama's traditional Lebanese falafel anyway 🙂 These are baked as well.
do you think this would work with just an egg white instead of the whole egg?
@Anonymous – I'm pretty sure it would.. start with 1 egg white, and add another egg white if need be.
Just wanted to thank you for sharing this recipe. I tried it out last night and I am loving it – easy, healthy, AND I like it better than the fried falafel I've had in the past which can tend to be very dry. Plus, cooking my own chickpeas and using my own ingredients is a much better way to control what goes into my body as well as cuts down on costs. This was a lovely recipe that I will be making over and over so once again, thank you for sharing it. 🙂
@Teeni – you're welcome. It's fun cooking these kinda foods at home because you know exactly what's going in your body, and at least it isn't fried. So happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
Falafel sandwich is a popular recipe from Middle East, consists of chickpeas that are shaped into patties.
Falafel sandwich
This looks AMAZING. I love Middle Eastern food and could seriously eat Falafel every day of my life. Going to be making this recipe this week!!
@Marysa – it was really good, let me know how it goes after you make it. 🙂
I just tried this last night and it turned out pretty good! my only thing is that I felt like mine were a little more gooey on the inside then i would have liked. Could that be because I pulsed it too much in the food processor? Or just that i need more baking time? I had put it in the oven for 30 mins already and i was afraid if I did it longer then maybe it would burn.
@Jeel – I wouldn't bake them in the oven much longer, perhaps you can try baking them at 375 degrees, or even 350 for a little longer. Mine were very slightly gooey as well, but I liked it that way since they aren't deep fried.
Yummy! Thanks for sharing!
If I make the batter the night before would that be okay. I want to make it tonight then bake them tomm night since I'm having friends over tomm night. Please let me know soon and great recipe by the way.
Kajal
@Kaju1982 – I am sure the batter will be okay if you make it the night before, but then again, I haven't tried it so I can't confirm. Give it a try. Let me know. Thanks.
I made the batter last night and tested it out. I made it a little to salty. How can I fix that?
@Kaju – To fix the salt issue, I would make another 1/2 batch of falafel and add it to your current mixture. See if that resolves the issue. Not sure how much salt you used, so you may need another 1/2 batch, 3/4 or another full batch.
Made these last night and they were absolutely delicious. Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
These are so good! Been making them for a few years. Instead of using canned beans, what would you reccommend as cooking time and amount of dried beans?
I looooove falafel! This baked sandwich version sounds delicious!
Made these and they were delicious!!!! Thank you for sharing a great and easy recipe… can’t wait to try more ????
What can you replace the eggs with?! Also do you have a post anywhere for tzatiki sauce recipe 😀
Hi Purvi, i don’t have a recipe for tzatiki, however when i made it in the past – use 2% or higher Greek Yogurt. Grated cucumber with the water squeezed out, lemon juice, garlic, salt, black pepper, good quality olive oil, and fresh dill. Taste as you go along, and I’m sure it’ll be good. 🙂
What’s a egg replacement for this recipe?
Hi Purvi – I haven’t tested, but if you don’t want to use an egg, just omit. It should be okay.
I made these yesterday for lunch and used the flax egg. They came out perfect! So delicious 😋 Great recipe!
These were really yummy and so easy to make. I loved the healthier version and it came together quite quickly – perfect for a weekday meal!