This is definitely no side salad! Mini-falafels mixed in with diced veggies and my Vegan Chive & Dill Tzaziki make this a delicious and hearty meal. Perfect to eat in a lettuce wrap, pita pocket, on its own, or over greens!

Do you love falafels as I do? They’ve been one of my favorite foods ever since I tasted my first one back in high school. My number one spot to find them was a little kiosk on Pacific Avenue, in Santa Cruz, where I grew up. Sad to say, they’re not there anymore. One of my times back to visit I walked up and down downtown trying to find them, but without luck.

My mom never liked falafels which is why I hadn’t had one until high school. She had only had one once, probably before I was born and called it a “Fal-awful.” This makes me so sad. I know the one she had probably just wasn’t very good. Hmm… to-do list… make mom try falafels again!

It’s summer, which is my favorite time of year for things like salads and wraps, and I had a Mediterranean craving. Usually, I will eat falafels wrapped up in gluten-free naan with the appropriate veggies and either a vegan tzatziki, ranch, or tahini dressing. This time I wanted to ditch the bread, and I had visions of mini-falafel balls mixed up with it all. Sounded so good! Plus, this way if you want it in a pita or wrap, just spoon it all in, making it even easier than trying to cram in each individual vegetable.

With my falafels, I like a lot of herbs, so I add lots of cilantro and parsley. This recipe, to keep things even healthier, is made for baking, so I also added a little baking powder to the mix.

Making the dough is easy, just add all the ingredients to your food processor and pulse several times until a dough is formed. Be sure not to overprocess the mixture or you’ll end up with more of a hummus, and a little chunky is OK, so long as the mixture can be formed into balls when you’re done.

Before forming the falafels, you will want to chill the dough for a bit. I transferred mine into a bowl and popped it in the fridge while I made the dressing and diced the vegetables. I think I even took a small cooking break out by the pool! You want the dough to chill for about an hour.

Next, I made my tzatziki, which is the dressing I chose for this recipe. Traditional tzatziki is not vegan because of the yogurt. I used non-dairy almond yogurt instead. I’ve made it before with coconut yogurt, and that also works, but know the coconut will give it a sweeter, coconut flavor. If nut-free, I suggest using one which is soy-based. And whichever you choose, make sure the yogurt is both plain and unsweetened!

Other than the yogurt, I made one other change to my tzatziki. Along with fresh dill, I also added fresh chives. I did this because back in the day, I often substituted ranch in my pitas, not knowing how to make the tzatziki, or even what it was called. I really like it with the flavor as well and adding the chives gives it a little bit of that ranchy taste.

Two tips for making the sauce. Make sure to remove the cucumber seeds (Yes, tzatziki contains cucumber, if I didn’t mention this)! You do this by slicing your cucumber in half, and using a spoon, run it along the middle of each half, scooping the seeds out.

After the cucumber is peeled and the seeds are removed, you will need to grate it, either by using your food processor with the appropriate attachment or by using a cheese grater. Once the cucumber is grated, you need to place the shredded cucumber in cheesecloth or a mesh produce bag and squeeze out the moisture. My second tip, or word of advice rather, make sure to squeeze it well! If left with too much moisture your sauce will be extra runny and watered down.

After all the ingredients for the sauce are blended together (I just used a small hand mixer, or you can use the food processor) you will want to put it in the fridge to remain cold.

I diced my veggies for the salad before rolling and baking my falafels, but that’s only because not all of them were cold and I wanted them to chill in the fridge. The veggies used in this salad are cucumber, tomato, kalamata olives, red onion, red or yellow bell pepper (I used a mix of both), and fresh parsley. To ensure the cucumber stayed crisp, I waited to mix my tzatziki in until right before serving.

Now the most important part — baking the mini balls of deliciousness! The oven gets preheated to 375 degrees. While it preheats, I rolled my falafels and laid them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I made about 16 equal sized balls, each about one and a quarter inches to one and a half inches wide. The falafels baked for 30 minutes, flipping after 10 and 20 minutes, and then flipping after 25 minutes, in order to get each side crisp.

After pulling the falafels out of the oven I needed them to cool for about 10 minutes, so I set them aside. I wanted them still warm (though this is good with cold falafels too) but not so hot it would warm up the other ingredients. Plus I think letting them sit for a bit helps them stay together.

Finally, I poured the dressing into my diced veggies, stirred everything very well, and then very carefully tossed in the falafels, stirring gently so they wouldn’t break. Yum! Now my salad was ready to eat!

Serving options, there are plenty! When being good and ditching the grain I like mine lettuce-wrapped, on its own, or over greens. I served it to the kids inside pita bread. My daughter’s friend, Alyssa, even got to try one, and she really liked it as well, making this recipe omni-approved!

If you’re gluten-free and wanting more than just a salad, I love BFree gluten-free pitas, if you can find them. Other choices would be making wraps with gluten-free tortillas or using this grain-free recipe I love by My Heart Beets for 3-Ingredient Paleo Naan (just ditch the ghee, of course).

I hope you enjoy this recipe as we do! Let me know by leaving a comment below or snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.