Glue & Glitter

Air Fryer Falafel Balls

by

Disclosure: This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for helping me keep the lights on!
See my Privacy Policy for more details.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Air Fryer Falafel Balls are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect on salads or stuffed into a pita. Drizzle with homemade tahini dressing!

Air Fryer Falafel Balls are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect on salads or stuffed into a pita. Drizzle with homemade tahini dressing!

My air fryer obsession continues with this crispy air fryer falafel. This recipe is adapted from my Baked Falafel Sliders. If you want to make baby falafel but don’t have an air fryer, I recommend heading over to that recipe. It’s a great one!

Air Fryer Falafel Balls are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect on salads or stuffed into a pita. Drizzle with homemade tahini dressing!

A friend on Instagram recently mentioned that he bought an air fryer but is having trouble finding vegan recipes to make in it, so this one’s for you, Ian!

I have some other air fryer recipes in the works – including pumpkin doughnut holes – so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out my roundup of a dozen fun vegan air fryer recipes to tide you guys over.

You can watch a video of this recipe below, or get the written recipe at the bottom of the page.

How to Use Air Fryer Falafel Balls

These little balls of deliciousness are super versatile. Serve them up over salad greens, as pictured, or stuff them into a sandwich or wrap.

For sandwiches and wraps, you may want to flatten these a bit, rather than cooking them up as big spheres. They can be a little bit cumbersome in a sandwich, as-is.

You can also dish them up as part of a meze spread, with hummus, baba ghanoush, stuffed grape leaves, and fresh and pickled veggies to go with.

Air Fryer Falafel Balls are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect on salads or stuffed into a pita. Drizzle with homemade tahini dressing!

Air Fryer Falafel Balls are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect on salads or stuffed into a pita. Drizzle with homemade tahini dressing!

Air Fryer Falafel Balls

Air Fryer Falafel Balls are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect on salads or stuffed into a pita. Drizzle with homemade tahini dressing!
3.56 from 9 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Vegan
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 42 minutes
Servings: 3
Calories: 473kcal
Author: Becky Striepe

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
  • 1/2 cup minced carrots
  • 1/2 cup roasted - salted cashews
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 2 cups cooked or 1 15 ounce can chickpeas - drained and rinsed
  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • juice of 1 fresh lemon
  • 1 tablespoon flax meal
  • 1 teaspoon each ground cumin and garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Instructions

  • In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Cook the onions and carrots until they soften, about 7 minutes, then transfer them to a large bowl.
  • Put the cashews and oats into your food processor and grind until you get a coarse meal. Add that to the bowl with the veggies.
  • Put the chickpeas into your food processor with the soy sauce and lemon juice and puree until they’re semi-smooth (some chunks are totally okay). You’ll probably need to stop and scrape down the side a few times to get things moving. Transfer those to the same bowl, then stir in the flax and spices. Make sure everything is incorporated really well, and use a fork to mash up any big pieces of chickpeas that you encounter while you’re stirring. It’s fine if you don’t mash every single chickpea. This recipe is very forgiving.
  • Use your hands to create 12 falafel balls from the dough, then arrange them in a single layer in your air fryer basket.
  • Cook at 370 for 12 minutes, shaking after 8 minutes.
  • Serve stuffed into a wrap or on top of salad greens with Magical Tahini Dressing.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from my Baked Falafel Sliders. If you want to make baby falafel but don’t have an air fryer, I recommend heading over to that recipe. It’s a great one!

Nutrition

Calories: 473kcal
Tried this recipe? Share your photo!Mention @GlueAndGlitter or tag #ggveg on Instagram!

About Becky Striepe

(rhymes with “sleepy”) is a vegan food writer and cookbook author. She been vegan since 2006 and developing simple vegan recipes since 2008.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Mary Chittick

    September 2, 2017 at 4:58 pm

    These falafels are delicious. I cooked at 400 for 12 minutes for better browning. I have a Nu Wave. They came out perfect. Thank you. Oh and I didn’t have time to make the sauce so I got some Tahini Sauce at Trader Joe’s and added in some dill. Worked great.

    Reply

  4. Laura

    February 20, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    These came out great! The only thing I did that was different was I threw the onions and carrots in the blender along with the chick peas, because I’m not a great dicer and I thought my carrot pieces were too big. I love using the Air Fryer- I shudder to think how much oil I used making these before, in a frying pan!

    Reply

    • Becky Striepe

      February 20, 2017 at 6:57 pm

      Ooh that is smart! I’m making these for an event this coming weekend, and I may steal your idea for the sake of time!

      Reply

    • Becky Striepe

      September 12, 2016 at 8:35 pm

      Thank you, Ian! I appreciated the kick in the pants. I’d really gotten into a routine and stopped experimenting with my air fryer!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.