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A Vegan Falafel Bowl with fresh tomatoes, red onions, and tahini dressing.
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5 from 2 votes

Vegan Falafel Bowls

These vegan falafel bowls combine scratch made falafels, with turmeric garlic rice, marinated onions, and tahini sauce for the ultimate vegan meal prep lunch or dinner idea
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Overnight Soaking8 hours
Total Time9 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Servings: 4 bowls
Calories: 632kcal

Ingredients

For The Falafels

For the Marinated Onions

  • 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
  • hot water
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • ¾ cup parsley, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon za'atar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (omit if oil free)
  • 1 pinch salt

For the Tahini Dressing

  • 1 cup tahini
  • cup lemon juice
  • 1 zest of a lemon
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • water, if needed

For the Garlic Turmeric Rice

Additional Toppings

  • cilantro
  • cherry tomatoes, halved
  • green onions, sliced

Instructions

For the Falafels and Garlic Turmeric Rice

  • Soak dried chickpeas overnight. 
  • Once soaked and ready to proceed, start by making the garlic turmeric rice.
  • Drain chickpeas from water and lay them out on a towel.  Thoroughly pat them dry.  Get as much moisture out as possible.
  • Add chickpeas to a food processor with the remaining ingredients.
  • Pulse, scrapping down the sides often, until all the ingredients are chopped up and a thick batter is left.
  • Roll into 1" balls (you can use a cookie scoop to ensure even size).

For Deep Fried Falafels (Traditional)

  • Once all the balls are made, heat oil in a deep fryer or heavy bottomed pot and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees F.
  • Add the baking soda to the oil.
  • Drop falafels into the oil and cook for 2 ½-5 minutes, moving around to ensure golden brown on all sides.
  • Remove from the oil and lay on a towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Repeat with remaining balls.

Other Falafel Methods

For the Marinated Onions

  • Place sliced onion in a bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for 10 minutes.
  • Drain onions and dry with a towel.
  • Add red wine vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain anything more than a teaspoon of the vinegar from the bowl.
  • Add the remaining ingredients together and cover. Place in fridge until ready to serve (at least 30 minutes)

For the Tahini Dressing

  • Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir until very well combined.
  • If needed, add water 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

Compiling the Bowls

  • Once everything is ready, layer the rice in the bottom of the bowl. Then add some of the falafels and marinated onions. Top with cilantro, green onions and sliced tomatoes. Drizzle with tahini dressing.

Video

Notes

*Video shows how to make the falafels. 
*See post for details on cooking methods and dried vs canned chickpeas.
**Nutritional facts are just estimates. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Does not include rice values. 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 632kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 786mg | Potassium: 979mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1156IU | Vitamin C: 49mg | Calcium: 188mg | Iron: 7mg