Having an air fryer has been a true game changer. It helps make delicious meals in minutes and you can master the air fryer quickly!. As someone who doesn’t eat meat, I love finding fun ways to add in more protein in my diet. Falafel is one of my favorites because it’s chickpea based, but typically fried in a ton of oil. This version, made in the air fryer is lightly oiled and packed with beets. I paired the falafel with a light roasted garlic tahini sauce and this recipe is gluten free, vegan, and nut free!
Boiled Beets: for this recipe, you will need to boil your beets. You can easily do this a couple of days in advance and store them in your fridge.Â
Roasted Garlic: for the sauce, which I was inspired to make from the cookbook Tahini Table, I used roasted garlic. I love making garlic this way because it tastes delicious eaten plain or in a sauce. To properly roast a head of garlic, line a baking tray with parchment paper and peel off most of the paper from the outside of the garlic cloves and trim off the top, about ¼’’ so you see the top of the garlic cloves. Drizzle olive oil over the garlic, wrap garlic in tin foil, and cook in the oven for 40 minutes. You might need to cook it longer depending on the type and size of garlic, but you will want the garlic to look golden brown and the center clove is soft when poked with a fork!
To make these falafel, use a high-speed blender or food processor. Blender together the chickpeas, garbanzo bean flour, beet, garlic, parsley, salt, and cumin. Lightly spray the base of the air fryer with olive oil. Then roll 2 tbsp balls and place in the air fryer. It’s important to never stack the falafel, otherwise they will not cook properly. You might need to do two rounds of air frying depending on the size of your air fryer!
I used garbanzo flour in this recipe which is an underrated flour for sure. I absolutely love it because it’s high in protein, iron, and fiber and is made with only chickpeas. It’s also an affordable budget friend flour, that is gluten free and great in savory dishes.
Air Fryer Beet Falafel with Roasted Garlic Tahini Sauce
Cooking & Baking Supplies
- Air Fryer
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- olive oil to coat air fryer
Falafel
- 1 15oz can chickpeas
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1 beet, boiled
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
Roasted Garlic Tahini Sauce
- 1 head of roasted garlic
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- sprinkle of salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp cumin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Take a full head of garlic and peel off most of the paper from the outside, trim the top about ¼’’ to show the top of the garlic, drizzle olive oil over the clove, wrap garlic in tin foil, and cook for 40 minutes (until the garlic is golden brown and the middle clove is soft when poked with a fork).
- Boil your beets by , bringing 4-6 cups of water to a boil. Then add in your whole beets, with the skin on (cut the stem off), and boil on low heat for 35-40 minutes or until they are soft when poked with a fork. Let the beets cool, then remove the skins. You can store in your fridge for up to 3 days if you want to make these in advance.
- In a high-speed blender or food processor, add in all of the falafel ingredients and blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Coat the base of your air fryer with olive oil.
- Scoop out 2 tbsp of the falafel mixture and roll into balls. Place on the base of the air fryer, making sure to not stack any on top of each other.
- Cook in the air fryer at 370 degrees for 13 minutes. Flip at the halfway mark and continue until all falafel mixture is used.
- Remove the roasted garlic from the oven, let it cool, and squeeze out the garlic into a small bowl or jar. Mash the garlic with salt and ½ tsp lemon juice and let it sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in the remaining sauce ingredients to the bowl (olive oil, tahini, water, cumin) or jar and shake or mix well.
- Top your falafel with the roasted garlic sauce + ENJOY!
