Vegan & Gluten-free Green Falafel

Did you know you can make green falafel by adding collard greens? These falafel are made using canned chickpeas and they’re pan-fried in the pan for super quick falafel! 

I’ve always loved the green Falafels one could get at Maoz, but somehow whenever I made Falafel at home I never used enough parsley or cilantro to get them to have a green color on the inside. So I thought I’d step up the game and add in some of the green collards I had in the fridge. And yeesss… finally… green Falafel! :)

Collard greens are an amazing source of vitamin A, C, K, calcium, and manganese. So they are the perfect addition to protein-rich falafel.

In contrast to previous Falafel recipes (Huge Batch of Falafel, Oil-Free Cilantro Falafel), this time I’ve used canned chickpeas. The Falafel are even quicker to make because they don’t require the dried chickpeas to soak overnight. Yeah to spontaneous Falafels! ^.^

If you have a food processor, these Green Falafels are super easy to make. Just blitz up the green collard leaves & chickpeas, mix in the spices & chickpea flour, form little patties & pan-fry them. Easy as that! What I really like about this recipe is, that you don’t have to decide a day ahead if you’re making falafel because the chickpeas don’t require soaking.

Serve Green Falafel with …

I’ve had the Green Falafel in a simple lamb’s lettuce salad with tomatoes and a hummus dressing (hummus mixed with water & lime juice) and it was delicious! The Falafel would be also great in wraps (especially with homemade tortillas), pita bread, on couscous, or simply to snack on their own (I may or may not have done that…).

Vegan & gluten-free Green Falafel

Elephantastic Vegan

Recipe for vegan & gluten-free Green Falafel. Super easy and quick to make, don't require soaking of the chickpeas. Yield about 12 Falafel.

3.85 from 38 votes

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 12 falafel

Calories 50 kcal

Equipment

Food Processor

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 large green collard leaves
• ▢ 17 oz canned chickpeas
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoons besan/chickpea flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon canola oil

Instructions

 

• Wash the green collard leaves and remove the stems, roll it up and blitz it in the food processor until fine.
• Drain the chickpeas (save the water for some Aquafaba magic, if you like) and add them to the food processor and blitz until broken up.
• Transfer the mixture into a large bowl, add in the salt, garlic powder, lime juice and give it a good mix.
• Add in the chickpea flour into the mix until you can form little patties (I've added 2 tablespoons).
• Heat a large pan with the canola oil (the bottom should be coated) and add in the Falafel once the oil is hot. Let it pan-fry (on medium to high heat) for about 7 minutes on each side. They should be crispy on the outside and soft but not mushy on the inside.

Nutrition

Calories: 50kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 2gFat: 2gSodium: 257mgPotassium: 68mgFiber: 1gVitamin A: 20IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 14mgIron: 0.6mg

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