Sweet Potato and Turmeric Falafels (Baked)

Sweet Potato and Turmeric Falafels and baked in the oven for an easy and healthy weeknight meal. Enjoy them on top of a salad, in a pita wrap, or on its own with a drizzle of traditional tzatziki dressing. 

Falafels. Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, falafels.

Much like most of the recipes in this space, this recipe came about around 8:15pm as I was starving for dinner with only 45 minutes to go before, The Night Of, premiered on HBO (a favorite of mine). Waiting for my homemade veggie soup to finish cooking - with 1.5 hours left to go, mind you - I rummaged the kitchen cabinets and found nearly enough ingredients for the falafels that I made a few weeks back. Yet, with the quinoa jar running on low, I peeked into the fridge and ran my hands through all the green grocery bags that lined the bottom drawer (I'm lazy and never actually take the vegetables out of the bag). I grabbed ahold and looked down to find one lone sweet potato. I stopped for a second, literally one second, since my hunger was increasing by the millisecond and thought, well, why not give it a try?

With a myriad of spices, including the holy-grail that is turmeric, chickpeas and spicy cilantro from the garden, these falafels popped out of the oven tasting and smelling delightful. I made a citrus salad to balance out the heaviness of the falafels, which made for one delicious meal.

Thirty minutes into the show, my soup finally finished cooking, and with that I had a double dinner that Sunday night. And I will now keep these falafels as a new staple in my kitchen...made mainly on Sunday.

xx M

2-Sweet-Potato-and-Turmeric-Falafels-Baked | www.8thandlake.com
3-Sweet-Potato-and-Turmeric-Falafels-Baked | www.8thandlake.com

Serves: 12-13 balls

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients for the Sweet Potato and Turmeric Falafels:

- 1 sweet potato (baked or steamed)

- 14oz can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro or parsley (I used cilantro)

- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1 tablespoon ground cumin

- 1 tablespoon ground coriander

- juice of half a lemon + zest of that half

- 1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375F. Then simply place the steamed or baked sweet potato into the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds, breaking down the sweet potato. Then add in the remaining ingredients into the food processor. Pulse for another 15-20 seconds until the chickpeas have been broken down but are not totally blended - we do not want to turn the mixture into humus - we want there to be small chunks of chickpeas throughout. 

Then on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, scoop out the falafel mixture with an ice cream scooper and place on the sheet. Just make sure the falafels are no bigger than an inch thick. They should be pretty small. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is slightly golden brown and crispy. Enjoy!

Toppings:

- I like to add 4-5 falafels on top of a simple salad - arugula, celery, olives, cucumber, hemp seeds and tomatoes salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing (as seen above).

- Or add the falafel into a collard green or pita wrap.

- Or enjoy on its own with a little tzatziki dressing.

4-Sweet-Potato-and-Turmeric-Falafels-Baked | www.8thandlake.com

So, What Do You Think?

Have you tried a sweet potato falafels before? I love the consistency when you bake them off in the oven - a creamy center with a crispy outside. And feel free to save the rest in the fridge and simply reheat when you're ready to enjoy the rest.

But in the meantime, you can find one more delicious falafel recipe right here! 


I also love seeing your take on any of the recipes from the blog so don't forget to tag me on Instagram - #8thandlake - so I can see your creations! 

You can also find me on Snapchat with more photos and clips of my everyday life - username - marie8thandlake and on Pinterest - to see what my dream reality would look like ;)

Lots of love from the west coast,

xx Marie