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Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce

Crispy and healthy baked falafel with hazelnuts drizzled with creamy lemon-mint sauce: easy-to-make, low-fat and so delicious! Much better than deep fried!

Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Another Great Collage of the Served Dish

Baked falafel is the discovery of the year for me. No deep frying, no oil, no greasy pans. This simple baked falafel is just as nice and crispy as the deep-fried one. Its health benefits are enormous: high protein and fiber content, blood sugar regulation effect, calcium, iron, phosphate, zinc, magnesium, selenium, potassium, numerous vitamins (B-6, C, K, etc) and very low cholesterol content at the same time! In other words, falafel will keep you full longer and provide key nutrients, minerals and vitamins without unnecessary calories and fat.

Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Holding One in Hand

If you haven’t tried falafel yet, you should do it! Falafel is the ultimate Middle-Eastern street food, made of chickpeas and traditional spices, which is mostly served stuffed into pita pockets drizzled with a tangy sauce. But there is a dozen of other ways to eat falafel. Savory pies, veggie burgers, pizza, power bowls, vegan hot dogs, stuffed vegetables, wraps, curry, gyros, salads, even Scotch eggs and falafel waffles! Here is an article on different ways to enjoy falafel, which I encourage you to check out. Some of the ways are insanely creative and fun to make at home!

 

Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Full Tray Ready to Go

I made this baked falafel out of chickpeas, hazelnuts, garlic and a bit of herbs and spices. It’s very easy to throw together and it comes out nicely textured and moist from the inside, while being nice and crispy from the outside.

It has just right amount of spiciness with a little refreshing touch from the lemon-mint sauce. And by the way, this sauce just requires 3 ingredients: lemon, mint and Greek yogurt!

Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Holding a Sauce for the Dish

Falafel itself is really easy to make as well. You just have to combine all the ingredients in a blender, pulse until combined and crumbly, form patties or balls or whatever shape you like and bake them in the oven. The whole thing takes less than 30 minutes!

Serve it with a glass of ayran drink and Mediterranean couscous salad for a nice summer lunch or dinner.

Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Delicious Meal Served with Greens

One more thing I need to mention here is that falafel is freezing nicely, so it really makes sense to make a big batch, freeze it and use later for different dishes. I have some recipes coming soon for you, involving falafel, so I recommend you to keep you baked falafel ready!

Update: I posted recipes for Spaghetti and Vegan Meatballs and Vegan Falafel Burger, to give you some more ideas!

This time I incorporated it in a very simple salad: raw spinach, avocado, cherry tomatoes, olives and sunflower seeds.

I put falafel on the side and drizzled it with creamy lemon-mint sauce. It came out nice and fresh, just what you might be craving in the beginning of spring!

Alternatively, you can make a delicious dressing adding green harissa sauce for spiciness and flavor.

 
Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Holding One in Hand
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5 from 2 votes

Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce

Crispy and healthy baked falafel with hazelnuts drizzled with creamy lemon-mint sauce: easy-to-make, low-fat and so delicious! Much better than deep fried!
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 505kcal
$5

Ingredients

For the falalfel:

  • 8 sprigs mint
  • 8 sprigs cilantro
  • 8 sprigs parsley
  • 200 grams or 1 cup chickpeas cooked, garbanzo beans
  • 200 grams or 1 cup grated hazelnuts
  • 1/2 green hot pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 shallot
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon tahini paste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons rice flour
  • salt
  • black pepper

For the sauce:

  • 200 grams Greek yogurt
  • juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • 5 sprigs mint

For the salad:

  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 avocado
  • 150 grams cherry tomatoes
  • 80 grams olives
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

Instructions

  • FALAFEL: Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 390 °F. Combine all the ingredients for the falafel in a blender and pulse until combined and crumbly.
    Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Two Vertical Images Collage
  • Form 24 patties or balls and arrange them on a parchment-covered baling sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
    Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Other Two Vertical Images Collage
  • SAUCE: Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and pulse them in a blender until combined.
    Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce - Collage of the Meal with the Sauce
  • SALAD: Arrange the baby spinach on two plates. Slice the avocado and cut the cherry tomatoes in halves. Arrange 4 falafel balls on each plate, add olives and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Drizzle with lemon-mint sauce Enjoy!

Notes

Falafel is freezing nicely, so it makes sense to make a big batch, freeze it and use later for different dishes: savory pies, veggie burgers, pizza, power bowls, vegan hot dogs, stuffed vegetables, wraps, curry, gyros, salads, Scotch eggs and falafel waffles. See the link above for different ways to eat falafel.

Nutrition

Calories: 505kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 239mg | Potassium: 733mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1610IU | Vitamin C: 23.8mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Follow @happykitchen.rocks on Instagram and show me the recipes you are making from my blog using the hashtag #happykitchenrocks!

 

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Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce Hand Collage with Text Overlay
Crispy Baked Falafel with Hazelnuts and Creamy Lemon-Mint Sauce Collage with Text Overlay
Recipe Rating




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Michele

Monday 5th of December 2022

Do you freeze these before or after you bake them?

Elena Szeliga

Monday 5th of December 2022

Hi Michelle, you don't need to freeze them at all. You might want to freeze the leftovers to eat them later :)

John Campbell

Sunday 30th of June 2019

I know this is an old recipe but I was wondering if there was a substitute for hazelnuts that would work for this recipe, I’m new to the whole, “no meat” thing and I’m allergic so, it would be great for some help

Elena Szeliga

Sunday 30th of June 2019

Hi John, if you are allergic to hazelnuts specifically, you can use any other nuts - ground walnuts, almonds, macadamia or maybe even pistachios. If you are allergic to all nuts, then you can double the amount of chickpeas and not use nuts at all. Hope that helps! If you are new to meat substitutes, you might want to check this tempeh taco "meat". It's so good!

Tasty Recipes

Wednesday 9th of March 2016

Elena another great recipe, amazingly tempting!! Wonderful and creative work; hats off to you ^^ Stefania

Elena Szeliga

Wednesday 9th of March 2016

Thank you so much, Stefania! I'm glad that you like my falafel! :)

Ksenia @ At the Immigrant's Table

Tuesday 8th of March 2016

I truly adore baked falafel (as you've seen from that sneak peek into my e-book ;)), but had never thought of using hazelnuts in it! Brilliant.

Elena Szeliga

Tuesday 8th of March 2016

Thank you, Ksenia! Sure I've seen and I can't wait for your e-book! ;)

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About Elena Szeliga

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Elena Szeliga is the founder of Happy Kitchen.Rocks, where she shares delicious and healthy vegetarian and vegan food, from weeknight dinners to veganized classics and gourmet appetizers. Her recipes have been featured at Better Homes & Gardens, BuzzFeed, Country Living, The Kitchn and Reader’s Digest. Her mission is to help cook easy vegetarian and vegan meals with simple and fresh ingredients. Read more about Elena.

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