Cheat’s Gluten Free Falafel Recipe With Tahini Sauce

Serves: 3–4 (makes 14)

Takes: 20 minutes

Whenever I fancy falafel, it’s always served with a flatbread I can’t eat as I'm on a gluten-free diet, and when I’m in supermarkets, the most readily available falafel always contains wheat!

Fortunately, my food processor makes making my own an absolute breeze and the air fryer never fails to deliver the perfect, crispy finish. As I’m never organised enough to make falafel ‘properly’, using dried chickpeas and soaking them overnight, I often rely on my ‘cheat’s’ version which uses canned chickpeas instead. So, if that sounds like you, too, then this recipe has you covered!

Ingredients

Vegetable oil in a spray bottle, for greasing
Salt and ground black pepper

For the falafel

400g can of chickpeas, drained, reserving 60ml (¼ cup) of the liquid from the can
50g spring onion greens, roughly chopped
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp garlic-infused oil
Handful of chopped parsley
Handful of chopped coriander
100g (generous 1½ cups) gluten-free breadcrumbs
2 tbsp gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour

For the tahini sauce

140g (⅔ cup) Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp garlic-infused oil
2 tsp lemon juice

Method

Add all the ingredients for the falafel (including the reserved water from the chickpea can and ½ teaspoon of salt) to a food processor. Pulse for around 20 seconds or until everything has been broken down and a smooth ‘dough’ with visible breadcrumbs forms.
Heat or preheat the air fryer to 180°C. Generously grease the base of the air fryer basket or crisping tray by spraying it with oil.
Use an ice-cream scoop to portion out the falafel mixture and roll into balls (about 40g each). Place as many as will comfortably fit into the air fryer without touching, and spray generously with oil. Flatten them down with the back of a spoon until they’re around 1.5cm thick and air fry for 10 minutes, flipping them over halfway through and spraying once more with oil, until golden on the outside. Repeat with any leftover falafel mixture.
Meanwhile, in a small dish, mix together the ingredients for the sauce until smooth, then season with salt and black pepper.

Notes:

If you don’t have an airfryer, you can deep fry them in a deep frying pan or large pot with 2cm of oil. Cook in batches for around four minutes, until browned.

I like to serve this in bowls with shredded lettuce and the tahini sauce drizzled over. Sprinkle over some dried chilli flakes too, if you like.

Once cooked and cooled, freeze for up to three months. Air fry from frozen at 180°C/350°F for 8–9 minutes.