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If you aren’t adding falafel croutons to your salad, you are doing it wrong! This delicious Falafel Salad is topped with a lemon tahini dressing and it is flavorful through and through!
Crispy crunchy and oh so good!
Falafel salad is my newest obsession.
And why wouldn’t it be?
Delicious falafel croutons made with chickpeas and parsley, and fried until they’re golden. Dice them and load them into a bowl with brown rice, chopped herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and topped with a lemon tahini sauce? YES, PLEASE.
I always love having a batch of store bought falafel patties or homemade falafel in the fridge. It’s perfect to use in a wrap, on a falafel veggie bowl and now, in this salad.
The base of this salad is short grain brown rice. I like brown rice because nutritionally it gives you a a bit more in the nutrient-department. It also has a nutty flavor and chewy texture, which works so well in this salad. You could use quinoa or even bulgur, but I prefer this with brown rice.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for falafel salad
- Prepared Falafel: Just bring them home, fry them in a couple inches of oil, drain on a paper towel and dice. Make sure to check the ingredients and make sure it includes ingredients like cumin, cilantro (or coriander) amongst other spices. Homemade falafel makes this even better!
- Short Grain Brown Rice: I buy mine online here.
- Cucumbers: I prefer Persian cucumbers, I slice them down the middle then make half moons.
- Cherry Tomatoes: cut them in half so that you get some in each bite.
- Parsley: adds freshness, feel free to pulse this
- Cilantro: use more parsley if you aren’t a fan, or swap with arugula or other herbs.
- Tahini Paste: is the base of the lemon dressing.
- Olive Oil: for the dressing. We’ll also use a little hot water.
- Lemon Juice: freshly squeezed works best.
- Garlic: use 1-2 cloves depending on how much you like. I use two cloves because hot water helps mellow out the garlic.
- Kosher Salt: add enough so that it carries throughout the salad.
What to Know
- Is this recipe gluten-free? As written, it can be. But it does depend on if you use falafel patties that is certified gluten free. My recipe isn’t unless you switch the flour with a 1:1 baking mix.
- Making it your own: feel free to add avocado, feta cheese, or kalamata olives. You could also add other veggies, like, green bell pepper, red onion, or even some radish and pita chips like I do for my fattoush salad.You can use arugula, lettuce, or even baby spinach if you want to give this more volume. The peppery arugula would work really well with the creamy lemon tahini dressing.
- More on falafel: I like to make homemade falafel for this recipe most of the time. But it does require soaking the chickpeas, add spice, pulse in the bowl of a food processor, then frying the patties in a pan until golden brown. So all this to say, you’ll need to prepare ahead. So there are times when I take a shortcut and use store-bought falafel instead. You can find them in the freezer section of many Middle Eastern grocery stores.
Other salad recipes to try:
- Shirazi Salad
- Lebanese Fattoush Salad
- Moroccan Carrot Chickpea Salad
- Red Cabbage Salad
- Chopped Halloumi Cheese Salad with Lemon Mint Dressing
Falafel Salad
Ingredients
- ½ homemade falafel or store-bought (prepared)
- 2 cups short grain brown rice cooked and cooled
- 3-4 Persian cucumbers sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes diced
- ½ cup packed parsley leaves chopped
- ½ cup packed cilantro chopped
Lemon Tahini Dressing
- ¼ cup tahini paste
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1-2 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup warm water 105-110ºF
Instructions
- COMBINE: In a large bowl combine the cooled brown rice, the chopped vegetables and herbs: cucumbers and tomatoes, parsley, and cilantro.2 cups short grain brown rice, 3-4 Persian cucumbers, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cup packed parsley leaves, ½ cup packed cilantro
- MIX: In a small bowl, add the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, kosher salt. And warm water while you whisk to loosen the tahini paste and mellow out the garlic. Taste and adjust with more kosher salt as desired.¼ cup tahini paste, 2 tablespoon olive oil, 3 tablespoon lemon juice, 1-2 clove garlic, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ cup warm water
- DICED: Cut the falafel into bite-sized pieces.
- TOSS: When ready to serve, pour the creamy tahini dressing over the salad. Once tossed, taste and adjust with seasonings as desired.
- TOP: Add the falafel and toss again until combined. Serve immediately to keep the falafel from getting soggy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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