Falafel Salads with Garlic Tahini

This delish salad will be your new mid-week go to! Perfect for din, & even better as leftovers for lunch. Plus, you’re gonna want to drizzle that dressing on ERRRYTHING. PLUS we made a new VIDEO to show you how!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
This delish salad will be your new mid-week go to! Perfect for din, & even better as leftovers for lunch. Plus, you’re gonna want to drizzle that dressing on ERRRYTHING. PLUS we made a new VIDEO to show you how! Vegan, dairy free, egg free + gluten free.
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Homemade falafel salad with a drizzle of garlic tahini. Naan, red onion, tomato, lettuce

This delish salad will be your new mid-week go to! Perfect for din, and even better as leftovers for lunch. Plus, you’re gonna want to drizzle that dressing on errrything. And, we made a new VIDEO to show you how!

Why you’d love these fabulous Falafel Salads with Garlic Tahini Dressing

  • A great batch recipe, perfect for making as meal prep on Sundays;
  • The perfect balance of healthy sustaining proteins, energy giving complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats (plus, packed with iron which I’ll talk more about below);
  • Drizzled with the most delicious garlicky tahini dressing; and
  • A super affordable meal, that both the flatties and fam will love.

This gorgeous recipe is super quick, light and easy. It takes a classic falafel combination, jams it packed with fresh herbs for flavour, colour and extra nutrients, then sets them atop a gorgeously smooth massaged kale salad. All topped off with the most amazing creamy Garlic Tahini Dressing. You are going to want to make double the dressing recipe alone after you try it, it’s that good.

The only prep you have to do for these falafels is to simply pop your dry chickpeas in a big bowl of water the night before. They’ll soak up all the water (two cups of chickpeas will quickly become five), and become soft and tender. You can even do this two days in advance which I often do, so that the chickpeas have begun to sprout by the time you cook them, enhancing their nutritional content even more (the amount of protein actually increases after sprouting!). Simply rinse off the next evening, drain and use, or leave the drained chickpeas sitting in your colander covered with a tea towel for another day to let them sprout.

Hope you love these delicious homemade falafels. Watch the vid above, give them a go, and let me know what you think. I hope this one becomes a staple in your weekly routine as much as it is in ours.

chickpea falafel cooked in pan

Where can I get my Iron from?

Iron – the power nutrient. Iron is the most common mineral deficiency in the world, affecting 2 billion people or over 30% of the world’s population. This is particularly prevalent amongst women, children and pregnant women, in both developing and industrialised countries as well.

This is caused by a number of factors – inadequate intake of a range of iron rich foods; poor absorption due to malabsorptive conditions, suboptimal diet, alcohol, coffee, environmental factors and stress; infectious disease in developing countries; and other compounding nutrient deficiencies such as vitamin B12, vitamin A and folate. Not only can iron deficiency make you feel tired and run down, it can also cause more serious consequences such as impaired physical and cognitive development in children, or failure to thrive.

It’s a common misconception that the only place you can get iron is from red meat, and yet there are so many more wonderful sources if you look past the media hype and beef and lamb industry propaganda (have a look next time you’re at the doctors surgery on the back of the nutritional pamphlets… you might be shocked to find who the authors are). Chickpeas in particular are one of my favourite iron pumping foods, with 2.9g per 100g of cooked beans (similar to red meat). They’re easy to source, simple to cook (or you can buy pre-cooked in cans), high in protein (19%), and as you’re going to find out shortly, exceptionally delicious in these falafels!

cos lettuce, red onion, tomato and parsley covered in falafel and garlic tahini dressing

Garlic Tahini Dressing

I’ve served these gorgeous falafel salads with some simple toasted wholemeal pita breads, along with extra Garlic Tahini Sauce for drizzling. The whole recipe makes 42 odd falafels so enough to feed a crowd of 8, but we normally just save the extras for a second dinner or popping on lunches over the coming days. They make great salad toppers to add a punch of protein and iron to your lunch, or inside salad stuffed pita pockets!

cos lettuce, red onion, tomato and parsley covered in falafel and garlic tahini dressing with lemon wedge and fresh pita bread

More tasty salad Ideas

Have a fantastic rest of your week!

Falafel Salads with Garlic Tahini

This delish salad will be your new mid-week go to! Perfect for din, & even better as leftovers for lunch. Plus, you’re gonna want to drizzle that dressing on ERRRYTHING. PLUS we made a new VIDEO to show you how!
5 from 1 vote
Servings 8
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Falafels

  • 2 c dry chickpeas soaked overnight*
  • 1 c fresh parsley packed
  • 1 c fresh coriander packed
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemon juice and flesh
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Kale salad

  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 1 c cucumber sliced
  • 1 c tomatoes quartered
  • 1/2 c red onion thinly sliced

Garlic tahini dressing

  • 1/2 c hulled tahini
  • 1/2 c hot water
  • 1 lemon juice and flesh
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp liquid sweetener e.g. coconut nectar/brown rice syrup
  • 1 tsp sea salt

To serve

  • 8 small wholemeal pita breads
  • Fresh herbs optional
  • Sesame seeds optional

Instructions

  • Falafels: Soak your chickpeas overnight in a big bowl of water, then drain and rinse before using. You can also do the two day soak and sprout method, by leaving them in your colander on day two covered with a tea towel – they’ll sprout little tails by the next day.
  • Roughly chop your herbs, then blend all falafel ingredients in a food processor.
  • Heat a little coconut oil in a fry pan on medium high, then fry tablespoon sized balls on each side for around 3 minutes until golden.
  • Kale Salad: Pull the kale leaves off their stems by grabbing the stem with one hand and pushing your thumb and forefinger from the top of the stem down to the tip, removing the leaf. Wash and dry the leaves (put the stems in the compost), roughly chop, place in a bowl with the olive oil, apple cider vinegar/lemon juice, and sea salt, then massage with your hands for a minute until the leaves go bright green and soft.
  • Garlic Tahini Dressing: Blend all ingredients in a blender until super creamy and smooth. Make double if you dare – it’s incredible on anything!
  • Plate up the kale salad on each plate, top with cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, falafels, drizzle with dressing, then top with extra herbs and sesame seeds if desired. Serve with freshly toasted wholemeal pita breads, or your favourite gluten free pita/wrap equivalent. Put the extra dressing on the table in case anyone wants a top up!

Recipe Notes

  • Make it gluten free: Use your favourite gluten free pitas or wraps, or serve alongside 1/2 cup of brown rice per serve.
  • The smoother the paste, the softer, more delicious, and authentic tasting the falafels will. Too much texture will mean crunchy slightly uncooked falafels (when it’s more blended, they cook quicker). So be sure to blend enough (not a complete puree, but not too far off).
  • If you still find your falafels are a little crumbly (or your food processor isn’t able to get a smooth enough mix), you can add 2 tbsp of chickpea flour to the mix to help the binding process.
  • Leftover dressing (if there is any!) will keep in the fridge in a sealed jar for 3-4 days – it will thicken overnight making it great for spreading on toast toppers and burgers. Otherwise simply add a bit more water to thin out the next day.
  • Leftover falafels will keep in the fridge for up to a week, and can freeze for up to a month. Simply take them out to defrost, and reheat in a pan on low to serve.
  • Don’t like coriander/parsley? Feel free to use all of one or the other instead of the blend.
  • This falafel salad is also equally as delicious on a simple mesclun or cos salad, which I often use if kale isn’t in season. Choose your favourite salad base!