Easy Vegan Falafel with Tahini Dressing

Recipe Difficulty: Easy! You'll need a food processor to make the mixture.

​Recipe Tags:

• Falafel with canned chickpeas (don't judge, I love my falafel as they are)
• Easy Falafel
• Quick Falafel
• Gluten Free Falafel

My Falafel Recipe Notes
This is my easy falafel recipe. I really love them and I ONLY ever want them with LOTS of the tahini dressing I'm sharing. So good. 

I don't always follow the rules...
I've been making falafel this way for years and years. Purists will say you HAVE to start with dried and soaked, uncooked chickpeas. They are correct, that's the authentic way to make falafel. I tried it that way once....they were decent...but I have always used canned chickpeas, and I really love the results. The texture is definitely different than the authentic version, but I like it....maybe better??? Simple & flavourful.  I use a bit of baking powder in the mixture to add a bit of lightness to the fritters. 


About Tahini Dressing
The tahini dressing is sooo tasty. I honestly put so much of it on my falafel...like every bite needs to be super saucy.  I make this ahead of time preferably. It will thicken up in the fridge. You can adjust the consistency by adding a little more water to thin it out, or a bit more tahini to thicken it up. If I'm using it on my salad I like it a bit thinner, in a wrap a bit thicker. So the recipe is a bit loose in that sense. If you like extra heat you could add a bit of sambal oelek to the dressing or some chipotle chili in adobo sauce. 

Falafel Variations
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Pita Wrap
 I just piled on loads of veggies, loads of sauce, and ate it with a knife and fork. Works for me! I made the falafel into "cakes" and used 3 per pita wrap. Then, a handful of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, some fresh lettuce, a bit of red onion, and PLENTY of sauce. 

Buddha Bowl
You can also make a fun buddha bowl! It's basically a salad. Just load in spinach, greens, maybe some roasted sweet potato, tomato, cucumber, some pickled onions and olives would be nice. How about pita chips too? Or even make tabbouleh and have some of that in there. Then of course some falafels and ALL the tahini dressing (pictured below)

Green Lettuce Tacos
ANOTHER variation, is to make lettuce wrap tacos with some frilly green lettuce. I actually LOVE it this way. They were a bit messy to eat, so I just doubled up on my lettuce to make a sturdier "shell". I added in chopped tomato, cucumber, red onion, falafel, cilantro & sauce. Done!! I like to add just a bit of sauce to the tacos, then have extra on the side for drizzling on a bit before each bite. (That is what is pictured above)


Now for the recipes!!!

Much Love

Recipes: Falafel & Tahini Dressing

Yield : 38 falafels (depends how big you roll them)

Falafel
        Ingredients:

• 2 x 19 oz cans chickpeas
• 1 white onion, chopped 
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chile flakes 
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt (I use flaked, I buy it at bulk barn)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil, divided. (plus more for cooking falafel)
• 2 tbsp. tahini
• 1/4 cup chickpea flour
• 2/3 cup parsley, chopped

Method:

1. Sautee onion and garlic in 1 tbsp of the olive oil until softened. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili flakes to the pan and stir around for a few minutes to toast the spices. 
2. In a food processor, blitz together the onion mixture with the remaining ingredients. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed. 
3. Portion them into patties or balls. 
4. You can shallow fry the falafel, or deep fry them. I tend towards shallow frying my patties and deep frying the balls. 

 
Tahini Dressing: 
Sometimes I double the recipe because I will eat lots over several days with my falafels, and it keeps in the fridge for at least a week if not two. 
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Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup tahini
• approx 1/2 cup water (as needed)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 6 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• S & P

Method:

1. Whisk together everything except the water.
2. Whisk in water a bit at a time until desired consistency. 
3. Season with S & P. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a splash more lemon or rice wine vinegar if it's not tasting bright enough.
4. If you aren't eating the dressing right away, pop it in the fridge until ready to serve.
5. The sauce will likely thicken once refrigerated, so add a bit more water to thin it out before serving if needed.