Vegan Rainbow Falafel in Pita Pockets:
Yes, these are my tri-colored and nutrition-packed vegan rainbow falafel wrapped in pita pockets.
When I first created the falafel lettuce wrap, I kind of fell in love with these tiny bite size baked fritters. Spicy falafels wrapped in crispy cool lettuce leaves and served with summery tomato salad and creamy sriracha sauce is a combination match-made in heaven. Now I have another falafel wrap recipe, which is vegan rainbow falafel wrapped in rustic wholewheat pita pockets and topped with fresh salads and my very popular two minute avo dressing.
Unlike the previous falafel recipe, this one has a lot of vegetables. Yes, three different types of falafels featuring three vibrant colors. The base of these falafels is raw garbanzo beans or Cholia what we call in Hindi. The raw garbanzo beans are full of nutrition, flavors and rich in many good nutrients. And, spinach, carrots, and beets add up more nutrition to these cute little baked falafels. Beetroots, even with a ton of health benefits, are not some of my favorite veggies. But spicy rainbow falafels hide the beetroot smell or flavor beautifully. Read more about the health benefits of beetroot by Healthtrends.com here.
Some Facts About Raw Garbanzo Beans:
A single serving(½ cup) of raw garbanzo beans offers B-vitamins, minerals, 19.3g of protein and 17.4 grams of dietary fiber. Now to that much fiber, you need to consume 4 medium apples, and for that amount of protein you will need a 4 ounce of baked fish. In short, this is a great protein source of vegans. While the protease is the concern in most green and raw beans, you can decrease its amount by soaking the raw beans in water for 24 hours.
Vegan Rainbow Falafel Recipe:
In my vegan rainbow falafel recipe, I have used raw garbanzo beans, shallots, cumin and green peppers, and fresh herbs. Garlic and cilantro offer a beautiful flavor to the falafels. For the green vegan rainbow falafel, I added spinach and purple potatoes and beetroot for the pinkish-purple falafels. And lastly, the turmeric and carrot gave that beautiful orange hue to my orange vegan rainbow falafel.
I also took ½ cup of soaked garbanzo beans for each falafel variety. It’s totally optional if you want to skip it. I didn’t have enough raw garbanzo beans, so I decided to take some soaked ones as well. You can add some canned beans too. However, the canned chickpeas or garbanzo beans make the mixture little mushy and doesn’t give a crispier texture to the baked vegan rainbow falafel.
Let’s start with the step-by-step guide:
Step-1:
Prep the Raw Garbanzo Beans:
- Start by shelling the garbanzo beans and collecting the beans in a bowl.
- Soak the beans in water for 24 hours.
- Drain and discard the water.
Step-2:
Prep other Ingredients for Vegan Rainbow Falafel:
- In a processor, take raw and soaked garbanzo beans, shallots, green chilies or jalapenos, cumin seeds, chili powder, cilantro, garlic pods and salt.
- This is the base for all the three falafel recipes.
Step-3:
Prepare Vegan Rainbow Falafel:
- For the green falafel, add half cup spinach and a dash of olive oil to the base falafel ingredients.
- Process well till the mixture is well combined.
- For the pink-purple falafel, add cooked purple potato and beetroot.
- Process well till the mixture is grainy yet well combined.
- For the orange falafel, add carrot.
- Process well till all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Stpe-4:
Cook falafels:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Take a small amount of the mixture and prepare small balls by rolling it between your greased palms.
- Place all the falafels on a greased baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes until the falafels are crispy on the out, and moist and flaky inside.
- Alternatively, you can pan fry or air fry these falafels too.
- Allow them to cool.
Step-5:
Prepare the Wrap:
- Now it’s time to prepare the wrap.
- For the green vegan rainbow falafel wrap, I took crispy shredded purple cabbage and pickled onion-tomato.
- For the purple-pink, it’s crispy shredded lettuce and pickled onion-tomato.
- And for the orange one, it’s collard green leaf or a leafy lettuce leaf and some pickled onion-tomato.
- Use fresh or store-brought pita pockets for the vegan rainbow falafel wrap.
- If using whole pita, just slice them into half and add falafels and toppings, and serve.
- The two-minute avo dressing tastes great with these pita wraps.
Nutrition Facts:
The nutrition fact here is per each vegan rainbow falafel pita wrap, which contains two to three falafels, topping and a pita bread. Per four falafels, it's 80 calorie with 13g total carb and 4 g protein.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Rainbow Falafel Recipe
Equipment
- mealthy CrispLid
- Oven
Ingredients
For Base Falafel
- ½ cup raw garbanzo beans
- ½ cup soaked garbanzo beans
- 2 shallots
- 4-5 garlic pods
- 2 green chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup packed cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste
For green falafel:
- ½ cup spinach
For Purple-Pink falafel:
- 1 small beet sliced
- 2 medium or small purple potatoes, (cooked)
For Orange falafel
- 2 medium carrots peeled and cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
Toppings
- ½ cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup chopped red onion + tomato, (with lime juice and salt)
- 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
- 1 cup 2-minute avo dressing, (or more)
Bread
- 2-4 pita bread cut into half for pockets
Instructions
Prep the Raw Garbanzo Beans
- Start by shelling the garbanzo beans and collecting the beans in a bowl.
- Soak the beans in water for 24 hours.(optional)
- Drain and discard the water.
Prep other Ingredients for Vegan Rainbow Falafel:
- In a processor, take raw and soaked garbanzo beans, shallots, green chilies or jalapenos, cumin seeds, chili powder, cilantro, garlic pods and salt.
- This is the base for all the three falafel recipes.
Prepare Vegan Rainbow Falafel:
- For the green falafel, add half cup spinach and a dash of olive oil.
- Process well till the mixture is well combined.
- For the pink-purple falafel, add cooked purple potato and beetroot.
- Process well till the mixture is grainy yet well combined.
- For the orange falafel, add carrot.
- Process well till all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Cook Falafels:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Take the processed mixture and prepare small balls on your greased palm.
- Place all the falafels on a greased baking sheet.
- Cook for 15 minutes until the falafels are crispy on the out, and moist and flaky inside.
- Allow them to cool.
Prepare the Wrap:
- For the green vegan rainbow falafel wrap, I took crispy shredded purple cabbage and pickled onion-tomato.
- For the purple-pink, it’s crispy shredded lettuce and pickled onion-tomato.
- And for the orange one, it’s collard green leaf or a leafy lettuce leaf and some pickled onion-tomato.
- Use fresh or store-brought pita pockets for the vegan rainbow falafel wrap.
- If using whole pita, just slice them into half and add falafels and toppings, and serve.
- The two-minute avo dressing tastes great with these pita wraps.
Air-Fryer/CrispLid option
- Preheat your air fryer or CrispLid at 350F for 3-4 minutes.
- Spray oil on a parchment paper and place falafels. You need to cook a single layer of falafels each time.
- Now add the Mealthy crisp basket on to the inner trivet inside your instant pot. Place the lid and choose 6 minutes of cooking time at 350F.
- If using air fryer, line the air fryer basket with parchment paper and add falafels. Set 6 minutes at 350F.
- Once the six minutes baking or crisping time is over, turn the falafels and cook for another four minutes till brown around the edges.
- Falafels May cook taster if they are small in size. Always keep a close eye on your falafels while crisping inside the CrispLid.
- Enjoy warm.
Notes
- Tahini, hummus and creamy vegan sriracha yogurt sauce goes really well with these falafels.
- Add some pickled jalapenos to the wrap as a topping.
- Use wholewheat pita bread for this recipe.
- Low-carb options: lettuce cups, cabbage cups and collard green leaves
Nutrition
Enjoyed this recipe? Then you may like my other falafel recipe too. And check my yum 2-minute avo dressing too, which tastes heavenly with these falafels.
K s
Delicious recipes??
Sophie
Thank you ?
Siena
That looks so colorful and delicious. My family and I love falafel but hate to fry them. The baked version fits us.
Sophie
Thank you and enjoy the recipe
Shannon
That is something new, adding veggies certainly lift up the flavors.
Sophie
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the recipe
Anna @ shenANNAgans
PERFECT! I will be trying your falafel for savoury boho bowls, love all the beautiful colours. I think it would make the food taste all the more wonderful too. 🙂
Sophie
Thank you so much Anna!
Sabrina
Hiya! I love this recipe, but I was wondering if it's possible for the finished falafels/patties (before popping them in the oven) to be frozen and defrosted later on.
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!
Sophie
Hey Sabrina, I never freeze them. However, you can freeze and use them later for baking. I think defrosting may not be necessary, not sure though!
Lballinger
These look beautiful! I ❤️ falafel! So, so yum! Question though and please forgive my ignorance, you say raw and soaked, but the directions state to soak the raw. Do you soak all the beans? Or just the 1/2 cup soaked? And for the raw do you mean regular dried or another kind? TIA!
Sophie
Thanks for your comment.
The raw garbanzo beans just like soy beans and edamame has leptin, which may be hard to digest for some. So soaking it for few hours make it stomach friendly and dried beans definitely require soaking. In that way, they swell up and be ready for some crunchy falafel.
Sherri
I absolutely love the idea of rainbow falafel! Such a creative way to change things up! There are so many fabulous flavors, I couldn't choose just one...I need all three of them! 🙂
Anita @ Daily Cooking Quest
I have never seen such colorful falafel before, and I love that the colors are all from healthy natural ingredients. I bet the kiddos will love their veggies when presented in this way. 🙂
debi at Life Currents
I saw raw garbanzos at my favorite Mexican market the other day. I really should have bought some. And, I love falafel, your version looks fabulous! This is a must make!
Elena
These wraps sound like a perfect summer lunch to me! So pretty and healthy. I love that you can sneak veggies into these falafels.
Jacqueline Meldrum
My mouth is watering just looking at them. I love freshly cook falafel and they look amazing. Sharing these now.
Nicole
This looks gorgeous! I wonder if I could get my son to finally eat falafel if I make it rainbow colors. I’m going to have to give it a try. 🙂
Stephanie
Such a great idea to make rainbow falafels and the perfect way to get in extra veggies. I love all the flavors in these and I can't wait to make these with all those yummy toppings.
Choclette
h what fun. I love falafel and I've made carrot falafel a few times, but your rainbow ones are just gorgeous and I love the idea of having three different flavours and colours all at the same time.
Sophie
Thank you so much, hope you enjoy making these.
srivari
Informative one
srivari
very informative