A recipe for sweet potato falafel pitas filled with crunchy veggies and drizzled with a delicious tahini sauce!Ready in 30 minutes when using slow cooker sweet potatoes.
Note: This recipe is part of my 3-in-1 recipe series in which I provide one base slow cooker recipe, and three ways to serve it. See this post for instructions on slow cooking sweet potatoes.
Falafel fans, hands up! Me me me!
I do love a good falafel, but I don’t want to mess around with frying. And I thought the sweet potato flavors would go wonderfully in a falafel, so this sweet potato falafel recipe was born.
Wrapped up in a pita with fresh crunchy veggies, and drizzled with a delicious tahini sauce (don’t skimp on the tahini sauce), these are so fresh, flavorful and delicious! And guess what? Mr. I-don’t-eat-vegetarian-food (Ben) didn’t miss the meat at all. He said he was full but not over-stuffed. WIN!
So. Some notes about this sweet potato falafel recipe. They don’t have the same texture as a deep-fried authentic falafel. They are much softer. I actually did try shallow frying them (actually the falafels pictured were shallow fried), but I recommend baking them for the following reasons: a) healthier b) better texture on the inside of the falafel c) easier d) the pan-fried ones never really got crispy. And what’s the point of frying if they’re not crispy?
So we’re good with baking them? Good!
Check out the other slow cooked sweet potato recipes:
Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes 3 Ways {base recipe}
Slow Cooker Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Sausage and Pepper Jack
Slow Cooker Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas
Sweet Potato Falafel Pitas with Tahini Sauce
Pitas are stuffed with baked sweet potato falafels and crunchy veggies, then drizzled with a delicious tahini sauce! Ready in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Falafels
- 19 oz/540mL can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup sweet potato puree from slow cooker sweet potatoes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup flour
Pita Fillings
- 1 pint cherry toms, halved
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons red onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups cucumber, chopped into small pieces
Tahini sauce
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup water (or more?)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
To serve
- 4 large pitas.
Instructions
Sweet Potato Falafels:
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas for a few minutes (it will take some elbow grease). They will be chunky but broken up.
- Stir in the rest of the falafel ingredients: sweet potato puree, garlic, lemon juice, cayenne, baking powder, cumin, salt, pepper, egg and flour. Stir until completely combined.
- Form 1.5 tablespoon balls (I used my cookie scoop to tightly pack) and place on baking sheet. Flatten slightly with a spatula (around 1 inch thick).
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Break one open to make sure they are cooked inside.
While falafels are baking:
- Mix up the fillings: cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, red onion and cucumber.
- Shake together all tahini sauce ingredients.
- Serve immediately.
I’m definitely trying these, Denise. Love that they have sweet potatoes in them and you don’t have to fry them.
I did try frying them, just with a few teaspoons of oil, and it just didn’t turn out…they didn’t cook quite right…I love a solution that is easier and healthier 🙂
Dear Denise, this looks wonderful! I love falafel and love the idea of baking them over frying. I have to give these a try sometime. xo, Catherine
Thanks so much, Catherine! It’s so much easier baked 🙂
It’s really sad, but I’ve never encountered a falafel that wasn’t overly dry. I know they have to be better than that somewhere, and I’m not going to give up looking. 🙂 These look nice and moist, and I love my sweet potato! This looks like the perfect version for me — I need to try this!
I agree, it’s pretty hard to find a not dry falafel. I got pretty close once, but that was with a pot of oil, and I’m not going to do that for a falafel! The baked version of these was a little dry, but with the tahini sauce I didn’t even notice.
if I wanted to make then ahead of time should I bake then freeze? Or freeze the falafel uncooked
Hi Jen, I’m so sorry, I don’t know how I missed your comment! I hope I’m not too late. I’ve never frozen them before, but I would think that you’d want to bake them all the way through, cool them, and then freeze. Let me know how they turn out for you!
I made these with my husband last night. They’re pretty tasty, but it’s a lot of prep (way more than 15 mins, even with two people splitting up the prep work). The falafel was undercooked at the 12 minute mark, so I cooked them longer. Luckily they were still moist and not at all dry. Our verdict: good, but won’t be making this again.
Hi Katie, thanks so much for your review 🙂
Yesterday, I made the ultra creamy sweet potatoes in my crock pot, and today I tried these! It did take longer than 15 mins of prep, but it was still pretty simple for a weeknight dinner. And the falafels were really tasty! My husband and I enjoyed this a lot, and I’ll probably make them again! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Mary, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I might need to update the recipe. Maybe I was just super fast the day I tested them 🙂