Baked Falafels (gluten-free)
Falafels are an amazing whole food, plant-based protein source to add to rice bowls or salads. This recipe is the easiest and healthiest, as these falafels are baked and gluten-free.
Ingredients
Produce
- ½ bunch of parsley roughly chopped
- ½ bunch of cilantro roughly chopped
- ½ medium-sized brown onion roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ lemon juiced
Pantry
- 1 can chickpeas drained
- ⅛ cup gluten-free flour or oat flour
- Oil or vegan butter for baking
Spices
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare the ingredients. If you don’t have gluten-free flour, just take ⅛ cup of oats and grind it into a flour in a blender.
- Combine all ingredients into a food processor and pulse the mixture several times. Do not over process. The desired end consistency should be coarse and piecey, but without large visible chunks of any one ingredient (see photo above).
- Taste a small amount of the mixture to make sure it’s to your liking. If it seems too wet, mix in more flour. It should be able to hold its shape easily.
- On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop out a heaping tbsp of the mixture and form into a small patty. You should end up with about 8-10 falafels.
- Before putting it in the oven, lightly brush the top of each falafel with a small amount of oil or melted vegan butter to help it crisp.
- Bake in the oven for 40 mins, flipping halfway through. Repeat the oil or butter coating on the other side after flipping.
- Let cool for 5 mins before serving. Keep in the refrigerator or freezer for future use.
Notes
Make it a meal! Serve in a pita pocket or bowl with fresh lettuce, hummus, olives, and tabbouleh.
Food processor or blender? It would be very difficult to make this in a normal blender (perhaps a Vitamix), as food processors achieve that course texture.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!