Air Fryer Gluten Free Falafel Recipe

I won’t lie to you; this air fryer gluten free falafel is a commitment. While the entire work time is not much more than any of my other recipes, you have to remember to soak the chickpeas the night before, and then at least an hour before you want to eat them, you have to grind them, mix, them, and roll them into balls, and then you bake them and prepare your favorite accoutrement.

So, yeah, you need to be committed, but the result is well worth it. And if you love falafel and are gluten free or you’re trying to avoid fried foods or both, this will definitely crush that craving. And while it takes a good memory to remember to soak the chickpeas and it takes 30 minutes of prep before you actually cook, it’s very easy. My air fryer gluten free falafel also makes 13 large falafel, so you may have leftovers to enjoy through the week or you could opt to make the falafel smaller to enjoy as part of a mezze platter with some fried halloumi, hummus, and whipped labneh.

In other words, there are options to make and serve this. For this recipe, I just make it my favorite way, which is a cross between a wrap and a sandwich. So, I serve it with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, sliced cucumbers, and plenty of my famous tahini sauce. But there are so many options, so get inspired and make it your own!

Serves 8 at as an appetizer or 4 as a main course.

Tools:

A food processor will be necessary. I only had a blender on hand, so I did batches of 1/2 cups and pulsed the blender for 10 – 20 seconds at a time and then mixed it all together at the end. It worked!

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried chickpeas, soaked in water for 18 -24 hours.

1 red chili

6 cloves of garlic

1/2 onion

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon bharat

1/2 cup parsley

1/4 cup cilantro

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon of each, salt and pepper

1 cup of tahini sauce

For Serving:

Arabic bread, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, Za’atar, and cucumbers

Instructions:

1. Once the chickpeas have soaked, drain them. Combine them with chili, garlic, onion, parsley, cilantro, bharat, cumin, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large food processor. Pulse to combine in 20 second increments until mixture kind of looks like sand.
2. Roll into little “meatballs” and place them on parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. In the meantime, you can prep any toppings, including the tahini sauce. To make the sauce combine tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor. Run until smooth, adding water as needed to thin it out. The result should be about the consistency of mayonnaise.
4. Once the falafel have finished chilling, preheat your air fryer to 400F and air fry for 20 minutes, turning over half way through. Depending on your air fryer, this may have to be done in increments.
5. And now it is time to eat. Make your air fryer gluten free falafel the way you like it and enjoy!