My keto falafel are so tasty. You won't believe this low carb version is made with cauliflower instead of chickpeas! They are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and packed with flavor from spices and fresh parsley. Includes a step by step recipe video.
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Falafel is one of the fast foods I have been missing since I've started eating a keto diet.
Before I went low carb, I ordered it often from a Middle Eastern food truck close to my place. The falafel were super crispy and served in a pita bread with salad and lots of tahini dressing.
But, they were not keto at all. Why?
Because traditional falafel is made from chickpeas or fava beans, which makes it naturally high in carbs. In fact, a single falafel ball can contain 5-6g net carbs.
How I made falafel keto friendly
My keto version swaps the chickpeas with cauliflower. Cauliflower is naturally low in carbs. By making this simple substitution, a serving of 3 crispy cauliflower falafel is only 4.8g net carbs!
This keto falafel recipe got the thumbs up from my whole family. It is on a par with my spinach balls!
🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Authentic flavor and superbly crunchy. I'm going to show you how to make crispy keto falafel that have a light and fluffy texture without EVER falling apart.
- Naturally gluten-free
- Nutritious and packed with veggie goodness
- Only 15 minutes prep
- Works as a lunch or dinner with a salad. Or, serve as a keto appetizer with the tahini dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- Cauliflower - The fresher, the better!
- Onion - finely chopped.
- Egg - I used large eggs.
- Almond flour and sesame seeds - I'm using ground almonds, which is equivalent to regular almond flour. Super-fine almond flour will also work.
- Parsley and coriander - both flat leaf or curly parsley are fine. Don't substitute this with dried.
- Garlic and spices - Fresh garlic will lend better flavour than garlic powder. But if powder is all you've got, don't sweat it! Also essential are cumin, pepper and oregano.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
It's surprisingly easy to make keto falafel. Here are the basic steps with step by step images.
For detailed instructions, scroll down to the recipe card. Also, watch the recipe video to see exactly how the falafel mixture should look and how to cook it.
Step 1: Place the cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulse to a rice consistency. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and microwave until soft.
Step 2: Allow to cool slightly and transfer to a muslin cloth, fine tea towel or strong kitchen roll. Squeeze out as much water as possible.
Step 3: Heat olive oil in a non stick frying pan. Fry the onion on a medium heat until soft. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant.
Step 4: Add the cauliflower and onion mix to mixing bowl along with all the spices, seasoning, lemon juice, eggs and olive oil. Mix to combine.
Step 5: Roll / press into balls and place on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with a good covering of olive oil.
Step 6: Bake until golden on the outside and soft in the middle and to your liking. They will firm up as they cool.
Tahini Sauce
Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with a hand balloon whisk. This will stop the tahini splitting.
Katrin's Top Tips
Squeeze all liquid out of the cauliflower. This means - squeeze, squeeze, and when you think you're finished, squeeze once more! This is important to make the falafel more robust.
Check your dough. If it is too wet to work with, add 1-2 tablespoons more almond flour. This could happen if you squeezed less water out of the cauliflower than I did.
Be generous with the olive oil. Make sure you drizzle over plenty of olive oil before baking. This will keep them moist and makes them super tasty.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Pan-frying makes the falafel nice and brown all over, but they are a little more fragile than the ones made in the oven. Also, you'll need a generous amount of oil for the pan. To make the batter sturdier for pan-frying, increase the amount of almond flour to ⅔ cup / 70g.
Cauliflower falafel would be perfect for air frying. Put them on parchment paper just like in the oven so they don't stick. This should take a little less time than in the oven.
The most common cause is that you did not squeeze enough water out of the cauliflower.
Use the same amount of sesame flour or 3 tablespoons coconut flour.
Store keto falafel in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Or, freeze the falafel for up to 3 months.
Yes. Re-heat them in the oven or gently pan-fry.
Serving Suggestions
I served my low carb falafel on a bed of cauliflower keto tabbouleh for lunch. This Middle Eastern salad is light and fragrant and takes only 15 minutes to prepare.
The combo was delicious!
You could also go for a simple green salad or even a Greek salad with olives and feta cheese. Not quite authentic, but the flavours mingle well.
Or go for the Berlin Food truck option and put them in a keto pitta bread with salad and sauce!
They would also be delicious with my tahini bread.
Related Recipes
Here are more keto cauliflower recipes to try:
- Cauliflower Tortillas30 Minutes
- Cauliflower Rice Sushi (Keto)40 Minutes
- Keto Risotto21 Minutes
- Keto Cauliflower Fried Rice12 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Falafel
Video
Ingredients
- 1 small cauliflower 350g florets / 3 cups cauliflower rice
- ¼ cup of each / 15g each fresh parsley and fresh coriander chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small onion ¼ cup / 40g, finely chopped
- ½ cup / 50g almond flour
- ½ tbsp each ground coriander and sesame seeds (cilantro)
- ½ tsp each cumin, dried oregano, pepper
- ⅓ teaspoon cayenne or turmeric
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs large
- 1 tablespoon olive oil + 2- 3 tablespoon for drizzling before baking
Tahini sauce
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 1 garlic clove small
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon ice cold water
- Pinch of flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C.
- Place the cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulse until a rice consistency.
- Transfer to a heatproof bowl and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and transfer to a muslin cloth, fine tea towel or strong kitchen roll and squeeze out as much water as possible. This is important to help the falafel stay tougher.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non stick frying pan. Fry the onion for 2 - 3 mins on a medium heat until soft. Add the garlic and fry for 1 more minute until fragrant.
- Add the cauliflower and onion mix to the mixing bowl along with all the spices, seasoning, lemon, eggs and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix to combine. Roll / press into balls and place on a greaseproof lined baking tray. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle or brush over a good covering of olive oil.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden on the outside and soft in the middle and to your liking. (Start checking from about 15 minutes as depends how big you make your falafel as to how long they take.) They will also firm up as they cool.
Tahini Sauce
- Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with a hand balloon whisk. This will stop the tahini splitting. Drizzle tahini over the falafel before serving or serve on the side.
Eve
Since my cauliflower was so big, I made 2 1/2 times the recipe. I squeezed the heck out of the cauliflower and it was nice and dry. When I added the eggs, I should’ve done one less egg because it was way too liquidy and I had to add almost another 2 cups of cauliflower rice (before squeezing) from my freezer! I love the size (Used a used a 1.5 inch cookie scoop) and that these are more moist than her other recipe. They are a little too salty, but I can work with that 😉
Parth Shah
Oh no, I hate cauliflower. Is there no other option?
Katrin Nürnberger
I think you could try using broccoli instead of cauliflower. I have a recipe for broccoli fritters that use riced broccoli and we all really like it.
Vanessa
Hi thank you for the recipe, question can I freeze them? Should I cook them first before freezing or after? Thank you
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Vanessa, you can freeze this recipe. I would cook the falafel first and then freeze.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should work as well.
Leah
I love these, think they taste better than the original falafel. They are great with yogurt when I am too lazy to make the tahini sauce, thanks for the great recipe
Rosa
Hi,
I love all your recipe I post your site everywhere
Just a quick question is the tahini sauce counted in the nutrition ?
Thank you
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Rosa, thanks for asking. I've added it in the recipe: including the tahini sauce it's 5.9 net carbs per serving.
Rachel Buckley
Falafels were delicious. The Tahini sauce wasn’t to my personal taste. Will definitely be cooking the falafels again.
Katrin Nürnberger
Glad you liked the falafels! If you are not a fan of tahini, you could eat them with a yoghurt sauce instead.
Clare Allan
This looks amazing. Any tips on cooking the cauliflower if you don't have a microwave? (I can see I'm going to have to get one, but not sure I can wait for this!)
Katrin Nürnberger
I would steam them. Or, if you don't have a steamer, use only a little water in your pot and cook with the lid on.
Clare
Thanks, Katrin, I just made them and they turned out really well. I steamed the cauliflower for a few minutes in a sieve over simmering water. These are great falafel with really good flavour and texture. And that tahini sauce is completely delicious too.
S
Absolutely delicious!!!! I only had coriander, so I doubled that and didn’t put in the parsley, but that was the only change I made. Really tasty on a salad bed for lunch. Not as dry as your regular falafel. Perfect!
Suzanne
Will it taste as good without the sesame and tahini? One of us is allergic and not just an intolerance.
Katrin Nürnberger
Of course. You could serve it with a yoghurt based sauce.