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Baked Spinach Falafel & Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

This is a delightful, and lighter take on the tradition falafel recipe! These Baked Spinach Falafel are perfect for that well-rounded dinner.

This is a delightful, and healthier take on the tradition falafel recipe! These Baked Spinach Falafel are perfect for that well-rounded dinner.

I have always been a fan of trying new foods from different cultures and parts of the world, even when I was a child I was not too afraid to dabble in traditional Chinese food, all kinds of Mexican food (I do live in Southern California!), Japanese, Italian and of course Polish food that was fed to me by my grandparents. My palate didn’t really diversify until I was in college and a little after I graduated; I tried Indian food for the first time and immediately fell in love.

But, there were Mediterranean dishes that I had become enamored with, and as a whole, this food appeals to me even more now that I am vegan. With refreshing dishes like tabouleh and cucumber salads, bold use of garlic and onion, many vegetarian options, and of course, hummus, how can you go wrong?

This is a delightful, and healthier take on the tradition falafel recipe! These Baked Spinach Falafel are perfect for that well-rounded dinner.

This brings me to the first time that I tried falafel. With its crunchy, albeit fried, exterior; the warm middle, seasoned with cumin and parsley is comforting but not too heavy. Don’t get me started on the tzatziki sauce; even though the first one that I tried was from Daphne’s (a chain restaurant) I could not stop eating it. Ever since I went vegan I’ve been dreaming of recreating my own tzatziki sauce to try out, hoping that it would live up to my aged expectations.

Baked Spinach Falafel

For this Baked Spinach Falafel recipe, I changed things up a little. I had made baked falafel before, using a recipe from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Moskowitz, so I knew some of the ingredients that would be essential to making these; otherwise I sort of went with it to see what would happen. 😉 Because these are baked, and not fried, they are lower in fat but aren’t extra crispy on the outside. Also, I pulsed my falafel mixture a little too much in the processor so it was of a smoother consistency than I desired; make sure not to do that!

Yield: 6

Baked Spinach Falafel

Baked Spinach Falafel & Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

This is a delightful, and healthier take on the tradition falafel recipe. With some added greenery, and being baked instead of fried it's perfect for that well-rounded dinner.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 2 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
  • 1 cup diced white onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients, except for the rolled oats, into a food processor. Pulse the mixture until it is in between a chunky consistency and a paste (much like very coarse sand). Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Fold the rolled oats into the mixture until it is evenly combined.
  3. Form 2-3 tablespoon-sized spheres on a greased baking sheet about 1 1/2" apart from each other. Pat them down so that they are about 1" thick, this is so they bake more evenly.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then very carefully turn them over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. The top and bottom should have a little brown on them.
  5. Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes, serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 225Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 195mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 8gSugar: 6gProtein: 9g

The nutrition information is calculated by a plug-in, and isn't always accurate. Please calculate your own with the products that you use, as it will be different for everyone.

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Cashew-Based Tzatziki Sauce

  • 1 Cup Raw Cashews (Soaked for 1-2 hours)
  • 1/2 Cup Water
  • 1 Cup Cucumber (Grated)
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 1 Small Clove of Garlic
  • 1/4 tsp. Dried Dill
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. Place the cashews, water, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and dried dill into a blender and puree until extremely smooth, add the salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Drain the grated cucumber slightly then fold into the sauce while it is inside of the blender. Pulse a couple of times so that the sauce is still chunky. Refrigerate for half an hour before serving so that it will give the full effect once used.

Plate of baked falafel in a tortilla with vegan tzatziki and fresh ingredients

This Baked Spinach Falafel wrap definitely hit the spot, and you better believe I was piling on the extra tzatziki sauce. I wish that I had some pitas on hand for this, but warmed flour tortillas were used instead. Eat these falafel in hand-held form like I did, with some spinach or even romaine, red onion, sprouts, and tomato. Mmm.. This is what was left of them.

The bloghop, this month, is filled with so many amazing blogs! I love that I’m able to be a part of it, and continue to share the foodie love. Here’s a list of all of the bloggers that are participating!

Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Please join in on the #greenslove fun by linking up any greens recipe from the month of March 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #greenslove event! The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.

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Was essen wir heute - veganer Essensplan KW 16 plus zwei 2019 - DieCheckerin.de

Monday 25th of January 2021

[…] nach diesem Rezept […]

Zachary

Saturday 11th of January 2020

My goodness just came across this post and was going to give the Tzatziki a pass, as normally I just eat hummus when I make falafel, but I tried it because of the comments and I think it was the best vegan Tzatziki I've had in my entire life.

I've only had one other that was about as good, and I've tried dozens of them (at vegan restaurants mostly).

Jackie @ Vegan Yack Attack!

Thursday 16th of January 2020

AAAAH I'm so stoked to hear that!

Braden

Thursday 29th of August 2019

I've been looking for a good vegan Tzatziki sauce for awhile and this one looks great! Thanks for sharing Jackie!

Jackie @ Vegan Yack Attack!

Thursday 29th of August 2019

It's my pleasure! This is one of my favorite sauces, truly.

Top 10 Recipes of 2012 & An Overview

Saturday 27th of October 2018

[…] Baked Spinach Falafel with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce– This is a delightful, and healthier take on the tradition falafel recipe. With some added greenery, and being baked instead of fried it’s perfect for that well-rounded dinner. […]

Oil-free Pesto Tomato Chickpea Salad - Vegan Gluten-free

Wednesday 25th of July 2018

[…] it inside of a pita pocket and top it with vegan tzatziki sauce and pickled onions. […]

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