Baked sweet potato falafel recipe
These sweet potato falafel are both healthy and delicious. These make a great alternative to the traditional deep-fried version, though these bite-size mouthfuls still carry the classic flavours of cumin, coriander and garlic.
With the filling power of chickpeas, they make a great snack or salad accompaniment. I usually serve them with tabbouleh and hummus.
As a top ten blog recipe, you can also find this recipe on p.129 of my first cookbook, The Slimming Foodie.
Why you will love these sweet potato falafel
- Easy to make: The hard work is all done by the food processor here, so there isn’t any fiddly chopping.
- Versatile: These falafel go with so many other foods! I really enjoy them served with tabbouleh and hummUs, but they will go brilliantly with most salads, with rice, in a buddha bowl, in wraps, or just on their own!
- Keep well: These can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for 3 months. If you make a big batch then they can make a handy addition to meals for weeks to come.
- Taste great: The sweet potato adds lovely flavour and consistency to these, and as everything is blended they can make a great healthy snack for kids too!
How to make spicy sweet potato falafels
If you want to spice these up them add 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder, or some finely chopped fresh chilli into the mixture before baking.
So if you want to try an alternative to the traditional deep fried falafels then this falafel recipe sweet potatoes is the perfect choice that’s low in calories.
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Sweet potato falafel
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Diet: Low Calorie
Description
A delicious way to enjoy falafel without any added oil or flourÂ
Syn-free
Ingredients
- 2 small sweet potatoes or 1 large one
- 1 can (400g) chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1.5 teaspoons ground coriander
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt and pepper
- low calorie cooking spray
- A couple of pinches sesame seeds (optional- I used about 3g here)
Instructions
- Either bake or microwave the sweet potatoes so that the flesh is soft and fudgy. To microwave, pierce the skin a few times, pop on a microwaveable plate and cook for 5-8 minutes until cooked through. To bake, preheat the oven to 180c. Prick the potatoes a few times with a sharp knife and place them on a baking tray lined with foil. Bake for 40-45 minutes until they are tender throughout.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool enough to handle, then scoop out the flesh and put it, along with all the other ingredients (apart from the low caloried cooking spray and sesame seeds) into a food processor, seasoning to taste. Whizz up until completely blended.
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment and spray with cooking spray. Use your hands to shape the mixture into small rounds. Press down gently on each with a fork to flatten slightly and leave its imprint. If you want to use the sesame seeds, sprinkle a couple of pinches over the top now.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until the outsides are firm and the bottoms are crispy.
Notes
These are gorgeous served with this skinny aioli , sweet chilli sauce, or a simple yoghurt dip. Just a note: I used sesame seeds to make them look pretty- you don’t have to use them- they are so few that I haven’t added syns for them (if you are following Slimming Wolrd), I’ll leave this up to you!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Easy
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keywords: Sweet potato, falafel, family friendly, lunch
My fussy kids actually love these, thank-you!
I cooked these last night and had them with the Thai carrot and red cabbage salad, and they were wonderful! I had some left overs so I made up a falafel and Thai salad wrap for lunch today.
★★★★★
So glad to hear that you enjoyed these- they go so well with a salad like this!