This easy falafel salad recipe features crispy baked falafel, fresh vegetables, and creamy tahini dressing for a satisfying Mediterranean style meal. Perfect for weeknight dinners or meal prep!
One of the world’s best vegan recipes, in my opinion, is falafel. These Middle Eastern chickpea balls are so meaty and satisfying, I feel like I could eat them every day! One of my favorite ideas for how to eat them is this falafel salad.
Make a batch of my baked falafel, then layer them with crunchy veggies and top with a creamy, zingy tahini dressing. You can also use purchased frozen falafel, or even repurpose takeout leftovers! This one is a massive hit with my family.
5 Star Reader Reviews
“BEST RECIPE EVER! The falafels are amazing and so easy to make!” -Erin
”I made this last night and my family loved it. I made the falafel with half parsley and half cilantro. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with such great flavor. The lemon tahini dressing was slightly bitter by itself, but on the salad it was perfect. Thank you for this recipe!” -Siriana
Ingredients You’ll Need
Falafel is a Middle Eastern ball of chickpeas, herbs and spices that’s deep fried. It’s most often served as an appetizer with dip, or in a pita as a falafel sandwich. But an alternative way to eat it is deconstructed, in a salad! It makes a satisfying vegan and gluten free dinner idea, served in a big bowl with a creamy sauce or dressing. Here’s what you’ll need for this falafel salad recipe:
- Falafel: this Baked Falafel recipe is perfect for easy meals, but you can substitute with classic fried falafel or frozen (see below)
- Tahini sauce: the zingy Tahini Sauce or Lemon Tahini Dressing ties the salad together with creamy richness
- English cucumber: English cucumber is key: the flavor is milder and it doesn’t have a tough peel or seed
- Kalamata olives or Castelvetrano olives: Olives are essential for the Mediterranean flavor, though you can omit if you’re not a fan.
- Carrots, radishes, tomatoes, and lettuce: These fresh veggies round out the salad.
The Falafel Options
This falafel salad is perfect with my baked falafel, which is quick and easy, made with canned chickpeas. Or, it’s excellent with my classic falafel recipe: just remember to soak dry chickpeas overnight! Here are a few more options:
- Baked falafel: Baked Falafel is a shortcut for easy dinners, made with canned chickpeas and baked in the oven. Leftovers save well, so consider making a double batch and refrigerating or freezing. Also try them with dip or in kid lunch boxes!
- Classic falafel: My Classic Falafel recipe uses dried chickpeas, like a traditional Middle Eastern falafel. The flavor is excellent and it’s worth remembering to soak them overnight, and dealing with the tricky elements of pan frying. It’s just that good!
- Frozen falafel: Many grocery stores carry frozen falafel in the frozen section. Let us know if you have favorite brands (Target has them, which means they’re pretty widely available!)
- Restaurant falafel: Ordering Greek or Middle Eastern takeout? Here’s a tip: order extra falafel, then serve the leftovers over a salad. It’s a great way to create another meal!
Sauce Ideas: Tahini Sauce & More
The Tahini Sauce for this falafel salad is one of my favorite staple recipes: it’s so delicious and versatile! It’s dairy-free which makes it customizable for many diets. You can also use one of these alternatives sauces that work with a Falafel Sandwich, too:
- Tahini Sauce has the best creamy, zingy and balanced flavor. It really brings the elements in this salad together! It also fits many diet options: vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free.
- Quick Cucumber Sauce or Tzatziki are both full of flavor with Greek yogurt, lemon, cucumber and dill! This first sauce is a shortcut version.
- Cilantro Sauce is another vegan sauce, deliciously fresh with lots of cilantro and blended cashews as the body.
Storage and Meal Prep Tips
This salad is great for meal prep, but you need to keep the components separate. You can store the baked falafel in the fridge for up to a week: they reheat very well in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes or in an air fryer for a few minutes.
The chopped vegetables stay fresh for 2 to 3 days when stored separately in the fridge. The tahini sauce lasts up to 1 month refrigerated.
Dietary Notes
This falafel salad recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Falafel Salad
Pin RecipeThis easy falafel salad recipe features crispy baked falafel, fresh vegetables, and creamy tahini dressing for a satisfying Mediterranean style meal. Perfect for weeknight dinners or meal prep!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
For the baked falafel*
- 15-ounce can chickpeas
- ⅓ cup Old Fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 small red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, loosely packed (or fresh parsley)
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
For the salad
- 1 recipe Tahini Sauce
- 1/2 English cucumber, sliced
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 2 radishes, sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 handful Kalamata olives
- 8 cups salad greens
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Dab the chickpeas with a paper towel to remove extra moisture and set them aside.
- Place the rolled oats in a bowl of a food processor. Process 30 seconds to 1 minute until they are the texture of flour. Pour into a separate bowl and set aside.
- Roughly chop the red onion and peel the garlic. Place them into the food processor with the cilantro and pulse until finely minced, stopping and scraping down the bowl once. Add the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and process until combined, stopping and scraping the bowl once. Then add the oats and pulse until a uniform dough forms. (Be careful not to over-process the dough: you’ll want it uniform and shape-able with a little texture. See the photo below!)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use your hands to roll the dough into 12 balls that are 1 ½ tablespoons each, then flatten them into discs (use a size 40 cookie scoop, if you have it). Place the discs on the baking sheet and brush the tops with olive oil.
- Bake the falafel for 15 minutes until golden brown, then flip and bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown on the other side. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before eating. (Storage info: The baked falafel store very well! Refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months. Consider making a double batch and storing leftovers.)
- While the falafel bake, make the Tahini Dressing.
- To serve, place greens on a plate. Top with baked falafel, shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, sliced tomato, sliced radishes, and Kalamata olives. Drizzle with tahini dressing and serve.
Notes
*Makes 12 small falafel: consider making a double batch and storing leftovers. To make a short-cut version of this salad, use frozen purchased falafel. Or, it’s a way to repurpose leftover falafel from restaurant takeout!
Leftovers and meal prep: This salad is great for meal prep, but you need to keep the components separate. You can store the baked falafel in the fridge for up to a week: they reheat very well in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes or in an air fryer for a few minutes.
The chopped vegetables stay fresh for 2 to 3 days when stored separately in the fridge. The tahini sauce lasts up to 1 month refrigerated.
More Mediterranean Recipes
This Falafel Salad is a great Mediterranean diet recipe that doubles as a filling vegan dinner recipe! Here are a few more recipes to try:
from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/k7reg2J
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