Falafels are delicious, crunchy morsels of nutrition that can slip easily into a lunchbox or on top of a salad. We love falafels because they are a fantastic vegan option while on the low FODMAP diet.
Simple to prepare, falafel is a popular Middle Eastern food made from chickpeas, herbs and spices and formed into small balls or patties. You’ll often find falafels served in sandwich or kebab form, but they are delicious on their own with a punchy sauce too. Falafel patties are packed with plant protein and are a great way to ‘bulk up’ your meat-free dishes.
You’ll notice that chickpeas are the superstar ingredient of falafel. Canned chickpeas are low FODMAP in ¼ cup serves as enough of the galacto-oligosaccharides leach out of the chickpeas and into the brine. Just ensure you wash and rinse the chickpeas well before using in your falafel to reduce the GOS content as much as possible.
Garlic and onion are often flavour staples in falafels, but these foods are both high in fructans, an oligosaccharide (the ‘O’ in FODMAP). They are high in fructans even at very small quantities, so are best omitted from low FODMAP dishes. We’ve replaced the garlic and onion with innovative FreeFOD products. FreeFOD low FODMAP garlic replacer contains maltodextrin and natural garlic flavour to emulate the taste of garlic in your low FODMAP cooking. Similarly, the FreeFOD low FODMAP onion replacer contains maltodextrin and natural onion flavour. These certified FODMAP Friendly products can be used in a wide range of cooking applications – soups, sauces, pasta, curry, meat rubs, and everything in between! They are also water soluble, so can be used where infused oils can’t. You can purchase FreeFod products online.
Low FODMAP Falafels
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
2 medium carrots (peeled & grated)
1 cup canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed well)
1 lemon (zested and juiced)
Handful of chives, finely chopped
Handful of coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika, ground cumin
4 tbsp gluten free plain flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp FreeFOD garlic replacer
1 tsp FreeFOD onion replacer
(If you don’t have access to FreeFOD products, use garlic-infused olive oil instead and add more chives & spices).
Method:
1. Place the peeled carrots, drained chickpeas, lemon juice & zest, herbs, spices and FreeFOD products into a food processor.
2. Blend ingredients until they form a smooth paste. If the mixture seems too dry, add a tablespoon of water.
3. Once combined, add the gluten free powder. The paste should be mould-able – so not too wet.
4. For crispy falafel, preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with paper. Lightly grease the baking paper by brushing some olive oil. Scoop out the falafel using a tablespoon and mould to form small patties.
5. Bake the falafels for around 10 minutes each side, until golden brown.
6. Serve the falafels with your favourite low FODMAP dressing such as our zesty yoghurt hummus!
