Falafel salad is a flavor-packed dish that's too easy to make. This is again a high-protein snack. Drizzle some nutty tahini sauce and make a filling nutritious salad. It's vegan as well as gluten-free.
If you are on a high-protein diet, this can be one of the easiest and yummy salads to add to your menu. This is so easy to make yet it's delicious. Add all your favorite herbs and greens to the falafel salad bowl.
What is Falafel?
Falafel is a Middle Eastern cuisine made with chickpeas. This is one of the most popular street food there and a vegetarian version of meatball. These are traditionally deep-fried snacks. But you can make them healthier by baking them in the oven or air fryer or shallow frying.
You can make your falafel from scratch or use the frozen ones for a quick meal.
Since chickpeas are rich in protein, falafel is a high-protein appetizer or snack. Because of a high-protein pulse, falafel is normally filling the tummy.
Check out my traditional falafel recipe here. If you want to add a little variation to the falafel, here is my tricolor sesame falafel in three colors/ flavors. Also, check out my healthier version with air fryer falafel.
Falafel Salad
Falafel salad is a bowl full of nutritious food that has falafel and other vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, and greens. Feel free to add your favorite greens, and veggies roasted or raw to the bowl of falafel with a drizzle of tahini, olive oil, etc. Plus, these are vegan as well as gluten-free.
For falafel salad, you can make falafel with freshly soaked chickpeas, or canned chickpeas with a little variation in the recipe of course. Otherwise, you can also consider adding the frozen falafel for a quick solution for lazy night dinners.
I agree that the fresh homemade falafel is my favorite option too. But when I'm in no mood to spend time in the kitchen I go for the frozen ones and they are good too.
How to make falafel from scratch?
To make the best falafel that won't fall apart while cooking, it's the best idea to cook them from scratch. However, you can make it with canned chickpeas but you need to add flour to this to make a tight shape that won't fall into pieces. Uncooked soaked chickpeas bind well without adding flour and help in holding the shape the best.
Pulse the ingredients together to make the mixture for falafel. Then shape them into balls or patties-like discs. Then deep fry them in hot oil till they turn crispy and golden in color.
Once the falafel is ready, assemble the salad ingredients in a mixing bowl.
What Ingredients Do I Need For Falafel Salad?
Falafel
Tahini Sauce
Lemon Juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh Salad Greens/ Lettuce
Sliced onions
Green Cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Kalamari Olives
Jalapeno / Green Chillies
Olive oil
Any other salad veggies/ greens of choice
Fresh herbs (cilantro/ parsley/ mint)
How to make falafel salad?
Make your falafel - either from fresh soaked chickpeas, or frozen falafel. Both will work in this recipe.
Make salad dressing - In a mixing jar, add tahini sauce, olive oil, minced garlic, salt to taste, and lemon juice. Close the lid and shake to mix the ingredients to make the dressing.
In a large mixing bowl, add the falafel, and break them into pieces (roughly crumbled into larger chunks). Add the greens, onions, cucumber, lettuce, and olives. Drizzle the tahini lemon dressing into the bowl. Toss well. Nutritious and yummy falafel salad is ready to serve.
Falafel Salad With Tahini Dressing
Equipment
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas Or frozen falafel
- 1 cup cilantro leaves
- 1 onion
- 4 - 5 garlic
- 1 jalapeno/ green chilli
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp red paprika
Tahini Lemon Dressing
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic minced
- salt & pepper to taste
Salad Ingredients
- 1 cup lettuce greens
- 1 sliced onions
- ½ jalapeno
- 1 tbsp kalamata olives sliced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes diced
- any other salad vegetables
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas over night.
- Remove from water and transfer to the food processor.
Make the falafel
- Add other ingredients mentioned above in the ingredients list to make falafel into the food processor.
- Pulse it to a fine mixture.
- Grease your palms and shape a tbsp of mixture into roundels or patties discs.
- Deep fry or shallow fry the falafel. Remove from oil when it's cooked to crispy and golden.
Salad dressing
- In a glass jar add the ingredients mentioned above in the ingredients list under salad dressing.
- Close with a lid and shake/ whisk to make the salad dressing.
Make the salad
- In a large mixing bowl, add the falafel, and break them into pieces (roughly crumbled into larger chunks).
- Add the greens, onions, cucumber, lettuce, and olives.
- Drizzle the tahini lemon dressing into the bowl.
- Toss well. Nutritious falafel salad is ready to serve.
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