You’ll love this quinoa falafel drizzled with a creamy avocado tahini dressing. It’s protein-packed thanks to the quinoa and chickpea combo, and it’s also naturally gluten-free!
My love of falafel goes way back
I’ve loved falafel ever since my aunt Annie introduced me to it as a kid. She took me to a Middle Eastern restaurant outside Montreal and ordered me a plate of vegetarian goodness, including tabouli, hummus, and falafel. At the time, I wasn’t even sure exactly what I was eating, and it wasn’t until years later, when I was in NYC for the first time, that I had falafel again and remembered what it was and how much I loved it.
Well-aware of my deep and eternal love for falafel, my mom saved this recipe from her local newspaper. She made it for me when I was home for Easter and it was really great. I’m including the recipe below, because it’s delicious and really easy to make vegan.
My mom made the following changes to the recipe:
- She lightly fried the onions before adding them to the mixture
- She used gluten-free bread to make the breadcrumbs (she’s gluten-sensitive)
- She used vegan sour cream (Tofutti) instead of the yogurt for the cucumber sauce
The falafel were so good that I was craving them at lunch today. I decided to substitute the breadcrumbs with quinoa for an extra protein boost…
… I also didn’t have any parsley on hand, so I decided to use cilantro (fresh coriander) instead…
… and with that came the idea serving it with an avocado-tahini dressing!
I did a test-run of one of the quinoa falafel balls and found that it crumbled quite a bit during the frying stage. So, I added 2 vegan eggs worth of EnerG egg replacer to the rest of the mixture, and that really helped to keep the patties from falling apart.
These aren’t your typical hard round falafel patties – they’re soft and light…
Serve them straight-up – as an appetizer or a main – or in pita bread sandwich. You could also make the patties bigger to make falafel burgers. Mmm!
Updates – Quinoa Falafel with Avocado Tahini Dressing Recipe
March 3, 2014 – This recipe (along with my Quick & Easy Indian Curry Quinoa) was featured in the March/April 2014 issue of Go Gluten Free Magazine. It’s so cool to see my humble little recipes in print 🙂
PrintQuinoa Falafel with Avocado Tahini Dressing
Falafel made with canned chickpeas and quinoa for a big taste and protein boost, topped with a creamy avocado dressing. Vegan and Gluten-Free
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Appetiser, Main, Entree
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern, Southwest
Ingredients
- 540 mL can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
- vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup cooked quinoa
- 2 tbsp cilantro (fresh coriander)
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 vegan “eggs” (such as Ener-G Egg Replacer)
Avocado Tahini Dressing
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/4 c tahini
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)
- 2 tbsp cilantro (fresh coriander)
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Blend all dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender. Set aside.
- Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until no more whole chickpeas remain.
- Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat and fry the onions and garlic until soft.
- Combine chickpeas, onion mixture, quinoa, cilantro, cumin, salt, pepper, and vegan “egg” mixture.
- Form the mixture into 12 balls, and flatten them slightly.
- Heat a couple tablespoons vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the falafel patties and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.
- Serve with dressing, either straight-up, or in pita bread with lettuce, tomato, etc.
Can I use tofu (sliken or normal/ firm) instead of the egg replacement?
I think you really want a good binding agent so the balls stick together as much as possible when frying. If you don’t have EnerG egg replacer, then try using ground flax seeds instead.
My wife and I tried this recipe but found the mixture was too pasty. We tried to bake them in the oven beforehand and then pan fry them but nothing seemed to work. It was unfortunate because we were both really looking forward to making falafel gyros with homemade tzatziki. We have some mixture left over and are going to try adding more quinoa and/or breadcrumbs to thicken it up. The flavour was good and we were pleased with how that turned out but the runny and pasty texture was regrettably something we couldn’t work with.
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I just tried the original falafel recipe since I didn’t have quinoa. Really delicious, we cleaned out the plates 🙂 Greetings from The Netherlands.
I am excited to make this recipe because I absolutely love falafels, but I just realized I am out of quinoa. Can I substitute brown rice or some other grai? Thank you.
Sorry for the delay. Brown rice may work? Let me know if you tried it!
I made this today and am greatly impressed! I like to eat the Falafel straight without any sauce. Thank you!
I made this recipe tonight and the falafel wouldn’t stay together
I sprinkled what was supposed to be a falafel over a salad with the dressing and it was still amazing!
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I just recently became vegan and just made this so amazing oh my god thanks heaps!!
I’m not sure how I came across this, but sure glad I did. I cannot wait to try this recipe ! Thank you
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These were truly delicious. I used the leftover dressing on my salad the next day!
Yum, great idea. Thanks for sharing!
These look great and so nutritious, inspring me to get cooking again 😉 thank you
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You’re so welcome 🙂
I followed your recipe and I am enjoying your falafels with the avocado tahini (and black bean and corn salsa) right now. Very tasty! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Best wishes,
M
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I’m so glad to hear it. Thanks for taking the time to write 🙂
do you think i could use eggs instead of vegan eggs? not a vegan here 🙂
Sure
Hi Angela!thanks for your wonderful blog! How much, or what was the size of the avocado you used? here in Puerto Rico we have some eeally small and other very large, larger than my hand, for example…. Im not sure how much to use.
A medium-sized avocado is fine. Let me know how you like it 🙂
Hello, I wanted to substitute the vegan eggs for soft tofu. How would I go about doing this? Can’t wait to make these! They look delicious!
You can reference this site, but I personally don’t think that tofu would work as well with binding everything together. Good luck and let me know if it works out: http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/egg-replacements.aspx
Love this recipe, although my daughters have a soy and sesame sensitivity so I make my own tahini with roasted sunflower seeds instead of sesame, it actually tastes very similar, still very yummy! Slowly trying to change to a vegan lifestyle but my husband and girls are a little more picky when it comes to more vegetables and no meat/dairy, but this was a hit with them, thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that this was a hit with your family. Love the idea of using sunflower butter instead of sesame. I will definitely try that. Thanks!
Agree with some of the above comments – they were a little more soft/moist in the middle than I was expecting but they tasted great! Also next time I will put the batter in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before molding into patties, I think it will help keep them together when in the pan. Off to make the sauce now and eat the rest…. 🙂
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How much chickpeas would I need if I’m boiling them myself?
Can I use flax eggs to substitute?
Do you know if they freeze well?
Thanks!! 😀 😀
Hi Michelle! You may want to Google and confirm it, but I believe that 1/3 cup of dried chickpeas should do it. The flax egg will work and I’m not sure about the freezing yet, sorry!
My family and I have been trying to transition to a vegetarian diet. I have been trying many things and new recipes. Many have been ok at best. Tonight I was very discouraged at trying another vegetarian recipe to only throw it away. Normally I would double a recipe like this for my family, but figured I better not in case it’s another disappointment. I found this recipe pretty quick and had all the ingredients for it except limes. I substituted fresh lemon juice instead. What a pleasant surprise! We have never eaten falafel at all so I didn’t know what to expect. My biggest critic, my 12 year old son, loved them! Everyone wished there was more! The dressing complimented the falafel so well! I added dill to it and some garlic for more flavor. This recipe is in my book as a keeper now. I will try baking these also sometime to cut back on the fat. I will be searching this website for more delicious recipes! Thanks for helping to encourage this vegetarian journey! Was feeling like giving up!
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Hi Denise! Thank you for taking the time to write such a heartfelt comment. I can’t begin to tell you how good it made me feel to read it. I’m so happy to know that my humble recipe may have saved you from going off the vegetarian deep-end 🙂 I hate that all of your other attempts were such flops, but I hope that you’ll find a few more favorites on my site, and eventually fill your own recipe box full of easy and delicious vegetarian recipes. Again, thanks for the kind words and good luck to you!
This is an amazing recipe. I often make this falafels as I make some of your other recipes..
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These look delicious and look to be gluten free. I have celiac disease and I am going to try them. I love that they’re made with quinoa instead of bread crumbs! Thanks so much for sharing.
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You’re so welcome – please let me know if you try them 🙂
This recipe is on my “to-do” list ASAP. It looks delicious and must taste great with all of the possible reviews. I will try it with a flax egg since I do not have the EnerG. My question is…do you think that I can bake these? I’m thinking that they might not be as crispy on the outside but, otherwise, what do you think?
Thanks for your recipe inspiration!
Hi Lindsay – I think baking will work. If you try it, can you please comment and let me know? Thanks!
I made these last night & they were so good!! I loved them with the dressing!
My only issue was that they kept falling apart when I tried to keep them together while frying, etc. For the most part it was fine, but that was my only hiccup.
Delicious! Thank you!
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Hi Eva – Sorry to hear that. They’re certainly fragile, but should have held together enough to fry them. Did you use the egg replacer?
so hubs and i made these! but didn’t have ingredients for dressing.
i love falafel so much that i usually eat it just plain, anyway … no dressing. (next time, we’ll make it since it sounds fabulous and looks luscious in your pix!)
these were so tasty, tho we added a LOT more herbs, spices and salt (and Braggs aminos, too.)
now, i may have had more chickpeas cuz i used dried ones that i soaked overnight, then cooked in crockpot for several hours. it was hard to find out how much 540 mL would be in cooked peas. so i used a generous 2 1/2+ cups… maybe a little more than would be in the can you use? about 1/3 to 1/2 c quinoa.
added fresh flat leaf parsley from kitchen herb garden… and fresh cilantro … about 3 big cloves of garlic 😀 … plenty of fresh cracked pepper, some spicy paprika. threw in about 3 T of vegan egg replacer (it’s in a jar in freezer and i can’t remember if it’s Ener-G or a different one.) worked great!!
this is a wonderful recipe to play with. adding the quinoa is absolutely ingenious! such a nice texture it gives. we cooked in coconut oil… and they were simply scrumptious!!
thank you for sharing your brilliance, Angela!! new treat for us vegan foodies!! 😀
Hi Suz! I’m so glad that you liked these – I bet they were even better with all your additional ingredients! Thanks so much for taking the time to write 🙂
just found this recipe a little bit ago … already soaking the chickpeas tonight to cook in the morning… and then we’ll make this!! YUM!!! i love love love falafel!!! can’t not wait to make these!!
Can I substitute cannelli beans for the chickpeas? I am not fond of the flavor or texture of chickpeas.
Hi Ruth! I don’t see why not? Can you please let me know if you do? I’d love to update the recipe for my readers 🙂
They turned out good. I also added a seeded chopped cucumber to the dressing to make it more like tzatziki. Even my omnivore hubby liked it. He had seconds and didn’t eat any meat last night. Woo Hoo!!
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These look downright delicious – they might just get a test run to be our burgers for camping!
Thanks for sharing!!
Theses are amazing! So easy and cheap ad delicious! Thanks.
You’re welcome, glad you like ’em!
These are so good! Thank you so much for this!! 🙂
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You’re welcome!
I didn’t think I would ever get my boyfriend to eat a vegan meal. usually I cook two dishes for dinner – one for me and one for him, but he really liked those falafel with the Tahini. I’ve tried more of your recipes and he enjoyed all of them. Thank you very much, it safes me a lot of time just cooking one dinner!!
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Hi Regina – Thanks for taking the time to comment, it made my day!!
Hi Angela,
I love your blog! I don’t have egg replacer at home, but I do have ground flaxseed and was hoping I might be able to skip a trip to the store. 🙂 Do you think 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed mixed with about 6 tbsp of water could also do the trick as an egg substitute? Thank you thank you!
Hi Katie – I’m so sorry for the delay! Yes, that should work. Let me know how it turned/turns out for you, and I’ll update the recipe. Thanks!
Hi Angela!
I just stumbled upon your website when looking for some new recipes to try and I am super excited to try a lot of yours. I’m trying this one tonight, though I don’t have regular quinoa only red quinoa so I’m going to try it.. hope it won’t mess up the recipe!
Also looking forward to trying the puffed quinoa peanut balls!
Thanks
Fabienne
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Did you like the quinoa falafels? Did you try the quinoa peanut butter balls? Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Angela,
How have you been? The quinoa falafel looks amazing, and I must try this avocado tahini dressing! We recently bought tahini, so it would be a great ingredient for many dressings and sauces. Thanks for sharing and I hope you guys are healthy.
Hugs,
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
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I’ve been great, but so busy as I guess you can tell. I’m finally catching up with your comments. I felt like I couldn’t respond until I acknowledged the award you nominated me for. I hope you’ve been well – your blog and photos are looking amazing!
Hi Angela,
Thanks for the great website!
Just wanted to let you know that I made it tonight and was a hit! I didn’t have any vegan egg replacement but did have some flaxseed meal. I put 3 tablespoons of it with 5 tablespoons of water and it perfectly hold together!
Thanks a lot!
Elise
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Hi Angela!
Just found your blog and I absolutely love it! Made the falafels yesterday and they were the best I’ve ever made:) I’m celebrating a year as a vegetarian soon and are starting to cook more vegan food, friends and family say that I wont get all the protein I need from eating vegan but I don’t believe them! Thanks for inspirations and delicious recipes! Love from sweden
Hi Malin – Thanks for trying the recipe and taking the time to comment 🙂 You can definitely get enough protein. The trick is to sneak a good amount in at breakfast, so you don’t have to try as hard the rest of the day. A smoothie with a high-quality protein (I use raw hemp powder) is a great option. Good luck!
Wow! I made these last night and was blown away by the flavour. Perfect hot or cold. This will become a firm favourite at home 🙂 Thanks for the great recipes, very inspiring!
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You’re so welcome – thanks for taking the time to comment!
these look amazing!! i am starving. will make them for my family tomorrow. will let you know how they come out. your pictures are beautiful!
Thanks! Let me know what your family thought of them 🙂
Loved it!! I’m not vegan so I didnt have EnerG and was out of eggs, tried to make it without it and it was falling apart. Tried to substitue it with mayo and it didnt work but the mayo added a nice touch. I also used parsley instead of coriander, and added some breadcrumbs. Yum yum
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Thanks for commenting – glad they worked out with all those changes!
This looks amazing, especially the dressing
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Thanks very much!
Yuuum! These felafel sound so delicious! Love the idea of adding quinoa for both added nutrition and texture. You’re right – traditional felafel is often so dense and heavy, despite being yummy. Your version sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing… and I love your blog. Definitely bookmarking it! x
Thank you! Let me know if you try them 🙂
hi there! I love this recipe and couldn’t wait to try it ! I’m in the process of making them right now, actually! anyway , I was wondering , are they suppose to be soft on the inside ? I wasn’t sure if I just didn’t cook them enough or they were suppose to be that way, because they look amazing on the outside! 😀
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Hi Sabrina – Yes, I would say that they’re rather soft on the inside and not firm like regular falafel. Hope you still liked them!
I tried the recipe tonight and it was a great hit. The avocado sauce is such a good complement to falafel. The mixture for falafel seemed little watery so I added some corn mill. Healthy and easy recipe!
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I’m glad you liked the falafel and the sauce. Sorry to hear it was watery, but good idea with the corn meal. Thanks for writing!
I tried these today Angela, with sprouted and cooked chickpeas. Didn’t have fresh coriander (cilantro) but used ground coriander with the cumin and it was still delish. Looking forward to trying them when I have fresh coriander. Thanks for sharing… The quinoa is a great addition.
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Glad you liked it. I need to try it with sprouted chickpeas – what a great idea.
These look exceptional, but the dressing in particular! I had to share on my Facebook page – such a nice, fresh, spring recipe! I can’t wait to give it a go. Thank you 🙂
Thanks for sharing it! I’ll check out your blog when I get a moment – it sounds delicious 🙂
These are so cute & fun! These would make a great small meal snack too — which is something I’m on the hunt for right now. 🙂
Yes, exactly! I included them in my “snacks” category as well. Thanks for visiting & commenting – I owe you a visit!
The dressing sounds delicious!!! Have to give it a try. Love the pics 🙂 Greetings from Amsterdam!!!
Thank you!! Let me know what you think of it 🙂
Do you have the nutritional facts for your recipes?
Sorry, it’s not something I’ve integrated into the site at this time, but it’s on my “To Do” list. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Love your site! I’m currently making a slow transition in to a vegan lifestyle and it’s great to find so many recipes to spice it up!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com has a recipe building function on it that will give you the nutritional break-down of all your favorite recipes. It takes a bit of time to enter everything in…but it’s totally worth it!
Congrats on your move towards a vegan lifestyle! Glad my recipes are helping. Thanks for the tip about myfitnesspal – I’ll check it out 🙂
I actually made them today I couldn’t find the vegan egg substitute however I used soft tofu and and blended it with a bit of water .. worked perfectly. I was making these for a friend who is lactose intolerant and vegan and gluten intolerant. I think the dressing could use a bit more lime and actually some garlice but probably cause I added too much tahini. Very impressed with your recipe!! Thank you!
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What a great recipe! Those look so good, that I will definitely make them this coming week.
Thanks! Let me know what you think of them 🙂
I made them tonight & was impressed! Excellent recipe!! Thank you for sharing 😉
I slightly Carmelites the minced onion & did use 2 eggs. The mixture was not firm enough to form patties, so I just spooned the mixture in medium heated olive oil, then covered. Honestly, a very, very good recipe that I will make again !
Glad you enjoyed them, thanks for writing 🙂