Healthy Homemade Falafel Bowls with Quinoa

Full of flavour and plant-based goodness, this recipe for healthy homemade Falafel Bowls with Quinoa is the perfect healthy lunch or dinner option. They’re simple to make, consisting of easy oven-baked (or air fryer) chickpea falafels, fibre-rich cooked quinoa, crisp fresh vegetables, a quick lemon tahini sauce, and feta cheese. This Mediterranean-style quinoa bowl is vegetarian, and with a few simple substitutions can easily be made vegan and gluten-free.

As a dietitian, one of my goals is to share healthy suggestions for dinner that are also incredibly tasty. Healthy eating is so much easier when the food tastes good!

This falafel dinner recipe totally fits the bill. The bowls come together in about 40 minutes, and are flavourful and good for you. Another healthy vegetarian dinner you could try is this recipe for Black Bean & Sweet Potato Taco Salad Bowls, or my Hearty Fried Halloumi Cheese Grain Bowls.

What is Falafel?

Falafel is a dish often served on platters or stuffed in pita in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisine. Falafel are patties or balls made out of chickpeas or fava beans (sometimes both), herbs, and spices, and are traditionally deep fried.

Falafel can be an easy vegetarian recipe, with ingredients including chickpeas, fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro or dill, spices like cumin and paprika, and aromatics like onion or shallot and fresh garlic.

Falafel is also a great recipe for experimentation because you can make them with a variety of nutritious ingredients including different herbs, spices, nuts and seeds, and other legumes like lentils.

Is Falafel Healthy?

Generally speaking, the ingredients in falafel are nutritious and healthy for you.

However, falafel is traditionally prepared by deep frying, which may not be the most beneficial cooking method from a health standpoint.

Deep frying requires a lot of oil (which is fine in moderation) cooked at very high temperatures. This can lead to the formation of trans fats, which are associated with higher risk of conditions like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and more.

In this recipe, we will be baking or air frying the falafel, which are more favourable cooking methods for health.

So yes! The falafels in this recipe are good for you as they’re a source of plant-based protein, fibre, and healthy fats. Falafel bowls with quinoa are a great balanced meal option, because they offer us protein, fibre-rich carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lots of nourishing vegetables.

Ingredients for These Falafel Bowls with Quinoa:

To make the Mediterranean quinoa bowls, here’s what you’ll need:

For the Falafels:

• Canned chickpeas
• Shallot
• Garlic
• Flour
• Sesame seeds
• Fresh parsley
• Fresh cilantro
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil for cooking

For the Bowls:

• Arugula
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Sesame seeds
• Parsley/cilantro for garnish

For the Lemon Tahini Sauce:

• Tahini
• Lemon juice
• Liquid honey or maple syrup
• Garlic
• Water

How to Cook the Falafel:

Making the chickpea falafel is actually really simple! Start by combining the falafel ingredients in a high-speed blender of food processor, until the mixture is well-combined but still textured (not a puree).

Next, shape the mixture into patties (about 1 heaping tablespoon per patty). The mixture should make approximately 20 falafel (4-5 per serving).

Brush the uncooked falafel with olive oil, then arrange them evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment or your air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to cook in 2-3 batches.

For oven baking: Bake the falafel at 375F 10-12 minutes, flip the patties, and bake for another 10-12 minutes until golden and crisp on the outside.

For air frying: Air fry the falafel at 375F for 8 minutes, flip the patties, then for another 8 minutes until golden and crisp on the outside.

How to Make Chickpea Falafel Bowls with Lemon Tahini Sauce:

While the falafel cooks, you can prep the vegetables, quinoa, and lemon tahini sauce. To make the sauce, whisk together tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic, liquid honey, and salt. Add water to thin the sauce to your desired consistency.

Once the falafel is cooked, you can build the bowls. Start with arugula as the base, add cooked quinoa, chopped cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, feta cheese and sesame seeds.

Serve up your healthy quinoa bowl recipe with a generous drizzle of lemon tahini sauce and enjoy!

Substitution Suggestions:

Make Vegan Falafel Bowls:

To make them vegan, you can either omit the feta cheese or substitute it for a plant-based feta variety. You can also use maple syrup instead of honey in the tahini sauce.

Is Falafel Gluten Free?

It can be! To make them totally gluten-free, just use a gluten-free flour (I recommend 1:1 gluten-free flour) instead of all-purpose flour in the falafel recipe.

Storage/Meal Prep Tips:

If you have leftovers, I recommend storing the fresh ingredients separately from the cooked ingredients in the fridge so that you can reheat the cooked ingredients that are meant to be served warm, then combine everything together. Leftovers will keep well in the fridge up to 5 days.

For longer storage, the falafel is freezer-friendly. Store the falafel in an airtight container in the freezer and it should keep for 2-3 months.

This recipe is great for meal prep! You can batch prep the falafel, bowl ingredients, and sauce to keep on hand for lunch/dinner all week. Or build 4-5 falafel bowl servings at once and store them in individual meal prep containers to grab and go for cold lunches!

Connect with Hannah Magee, RD!

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do. If you try it, let me know what you think by leaving a rating and a review in the comments below. Oh, and be sure to take a photo and tag me on @hannahmagee_rd so I can see!

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