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Sweet potato falafel (vegan, with air fryer version)

Golden, crispy little falafel made of sweet potatoes, chickpeas and spices. Beautiful stuffed into fresh bread with hummus, Greek yoghurt and snow pea shoots, or just layered across a little fresh salad.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
25 mins
Servings: 30 falafels
Calories: 6 kcal
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

For the falafel
  • 1 medium to large ish sweet potato (or 2 small ones!)
  • 1 can of cooked chickpeas 9 ounces/250 grams net weight
  • 1/2 a medium onion finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
  • 1/2 of a lemon worth of juice
  • sesame seeds for scattering over
optional ‘accompaniments’
  • chopped tomatoes & spring onions/scallions pitta bread or another type of fresh bread, hummus, Greek yoghurt or tahini dressing, snow pea sprouts

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cook in a microwave for about 10 minutes or until soft. (you can roast them if you prefer for about 45 minutes or so or until soft)
  2. In the meantime, pulse the chickpeas a few times in a food processor until still a little bit chunky.
  3. Mash the pulsed chickpeas and sweet potato together with all of the other ingredients apart from the sesame seeds. Cover the mixture and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.
  4. Take spoonfuls of mixture about the size of a walnut and form into balls. Flatten the balls into a patty and press a few sesame seeds into them on both sides.
  5. Heat up a layer of oil in a skillet/frying pan until quite hot, then fill the pan with patties. Let them cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy.
  6. Remove from the pan and serve immediately with fresh bread and accompaniments of your choice.

Notes

  • Air fry for 15 minutes. Spray the air fryer basket and falafel lightly with olive oil and cook for 15 minutes, turning half way.
  • I would highly recommend making a batch of your own hummus for this recipe. My go-to recipe is this quick hummus and 2-ingredient flatbread. 
  • This incredible 5-minute tahini dressing goes really well, too. 
  • This recipe makes quite a large amount of falafel, so you can keep the dough in the fridge for a few days quite comfortably.
  • I prefer to keep the uncooked dough in the fridge and then quickly fry them up fresh before eating rather than frying them all first then keeping in the fridge. If you want to though you can pre-cook them all, then quickly reheat them in a hot pan when you want to eat them. 
  • Yes! Either freeze them uncooked, then let defrost and pan-fry as normal, or freeze cooked, then defrost and re-fry quickly in a hot oiled pan. 

Nutrition Information

Calories 6kcal (0%) Carbohydrates 1g (0%) Sodium 41mg (2%) Potassium 26mg (1%) Vitamin A 655IU (13%) Vitamin C 0.5mg (1%) Calcium 5mg (1%) Iron 0.1mg (1%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 30falafels

Amount Per Serving

Calories 6

% Daily Value*

Calories 6kcal 0%
Carbohydrates 1g 0%
Sodium 41mg 2%
Potassium 26mg 1%
Vitamin A 655IU 13%
Vitamin C 0.5mg 1%
Calcium 5mg 1%
Iron 0.1mg 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.