Falafel Wrap Recipe
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This delicious falafel wrap recipe is healthy comfort food at its best! These crispy falafel patties are baked instead of fried, then wrapped in a whole wheat pita and topped with spinach, tomato, and a creamy hummus sauce. Vegan, easy to make gluten free, and totally family friendly!
Falafels are truly a comfort food of mine. I honestly love all types of Mediterranean food: whole wheat pita, hummus, feta, olives, veggies, and other delicious dips – you really can’t go wrong putting those ingredients together!
Of course, since falafels are deep fried chickpea patties with a pretty heavy sauce and served in a white pita, they’re not exactly the healthiest meal. But they are great for a treat once in a while.
Since I’d rather have a Greek falafel wrap more regularly than just “once in a while”, I realized that this was my opportunity to makeover the traditional falafel, by baking them instead of frying them, and they turned out GREAT.
Even though falafel is often deep-fried, baking still gives you that amazing texture without the added fat. This homemade easy falafel wrap recipe is a lightened up version that makes a delicious meal!
👩🏽🍳 Why This Recipe Works
- Simple recipe for homemade falafel
- Great recipe for lunch or dinner
- Kid friendly
- Packed with fresh vegetables
- Baked instead of fried
- Tastes just like an authentic falafel wrap recipe, and tastes way better than store-bought falafels!
- Healthy vegan recipe, easily made gluten free
- Will quickly become your favorite falafel recipe!
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🥘 Ingredients
This falafel and hummus wrap requires simple ingredients that you can find at any grocery store! Here’s what you need:
- Whole Wheat Pita: We use whole wheat pita pockets instead of regular pita bread for added fiber and whole grains. Make sure to get the larger sized pita so that it holds all of the toppings in this pita wrap. Use a gluten free pita to make this veggie falafel wrap gluten free.
- Canned Chickpeas: The base of this homemade falafel wrap recipe! While you can use dried chickpeas, you’ll have to soak and cook them first, which takes way longer, so I like using canned garbanzo beans to cut down on prep time. I also have found that canned chickpeas hold up just as well as dried/cooked chickpeas in this falafel sandwich recipe.
- Red Onion: For texture and flavor in this falafel roll.
- Whole Wheat Flour: Acts as a binder and helps the falafel balls stay together. You could also try using panko breadcrumbs or whole wheat breadcrumbs. For a gluten free option, use oat flour.
- Spices: We added parsley, garlic cloves, cilantro, cumin, salt, lemon juice, paprika, and black pepper to give these falafel patties great flavor. Feel free to add cayenne pepper, chili powder, or crushed red pepper flakes for more heat in these homemade falafels.
- Baking Powder: Helps the falafel balls bake in the oven and keeps them from getting too dense.
- Olive Oil Spray: Used to spray the falafel so that they get a nice crispy texture on the outside while baking, to mimic traditional fried falafel.
- Toppings: Baby spinach, diced tomatoes, hummus sauce (made with hummus + water!)
📖 Falafel Wrap Toppings
You can customize this recipe with all sorts of toppings based on your personal tastes! Here are some of our favorite fillings to add to this vegan falafel wrap recipe:
- Traditional hummus, or variations like garlic hummus, beetroot hummus, etc.
- Baba ganoush
- Creamy tzatziki sauce or vegan tzatziki
- Fresh greens – spinach, romaine lettuce, arugula
- Fresh veggies like diced tomatoes, diced onions, cucumber slices
- Sauteed vegetables like cabbage or even leafy greens
- Fresh herbs like fresh mint or fresh parsley
- Tabbouleh salad
- Sesame seeds
- Creamy tahini sauce
- Pickles
- Crumbled feta cheese or vegan feta
🔪 Instructions
This falafel roll recipe is super easy! Here’s how to make a falafel vegetable wrap:
Prep Ingredients: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine chickpeas and all ingredients for falafel (except for the pitas, spinach, tomatoes, baking powder, and nonstick spray) in a food processor, and give them a good chop.
Finish Falafel Mixture: Transfer into a bowl, add the baking powder and stir together. Using a potato masher, mash any big chunks that remain – Mixture should remain slightly chunky, not smooth.
Make Falafel Patties: Spray a baking sheet thoroughly with olive oil nonstick spray. One at a time, take spoonfuls of mixture in your hands and form 15 balls, each about the size of a ping pong ball, and gently place them on the baking sheet. Spray the top of each ball with olive oil nonstick spray, for a total of about a 2-second spray.
Bake: Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (note – depending on your oven, this might take longer – up to 20-25 minutes – but be sure to check on them to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn!).
Make Hummus Sauce: Meanwhile, combine 2 parts hummus to 1 part water, and stir until blended (add more water to taste depending on how watery you like your sauce). Season to taste with salt / black pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve. While your falafel patties are baking, chop your veggies and warm up your pita bread.
Finish Baking: Remove baking sheet from the oven, and carefully turn each ball over, gently reshaping if the bottoms have flattened. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes (or longer, depending on your oven), until golden brown and slightly crispy. Allow to cool and set for at least 5 minutes.
Assemble Falafel Hummus Wrap: Fill the whole wheat pitas with spinach, 3 falafel balls, diced tomato, and top with spinach and sauce. Wrap and enjoy!
Tip: How To Make Falafel In The Air Fryer
To make this Lebanese falafel wrap recipe in the air fryer:
- Follow steps 1-3 in the instructions.
- After you spray the falafel with cooking spray, roll them in whole wheat or panko breadcrumbs for a light coating.
- Air fry the falafel at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes.
- Flip and air fry for another 6 minutes on the second side.
- Then assemble your falafel burrito the same way you would in the instructions above.
❓Recipe FAQs
It depends on how you make the falafel patties! When falafel wraps are made the traditional way using white pita, and fried chickpea patties, it’s not really a healthy meal as it’s high in fat and calories, while also low in nutritional value.
But this Mediterranean falafel wrap recipe is super healthy for you! You get all the flavor of a traditional wrap, but by making a few healthy swaps you increase the nutritional value and decrease the fat and calories without losing any flavor!
Here are the healthy substitutions I made to increase the nutritional value while decreasing the fat and calories.
#1 | Whole Grains: I used a whole wheat pita instead of a white one made with refined grains.
#2 | More Veggies: I added baby spinach and tomatoes as toppings. Spinach is high in iron, magnesium and potassium.
#3 | Less Oil & Added Fat: I made my own “sauce” using hummus and a bit of water – it tasted so close to tahini sauce but was much lower in calories! I also baked the falafel patties instead of frying them which greatly reduces the amount of oil needed. This also reduces the overall calories!
Falafel wraps are a Mediterranean sandwich made with pita, fried chickpea patties, and is usually stuffed with lettuce or a fresh salad, tomato, and pickles, and topped with a tahini sauce.
Traditionally falafel is served with other mediterranean sides. Try some of these suggestions:
Tabouli: A salad made with parsley, tomatoes, and bulgar wheat.
Hummus: A chickpea and tahini dip.
Baba Ganoush: An eggplant and tahini dip.
Fattoush Salad: A salad of chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a light vinaigrette.
If you’re making this falafel sandwich wrap in advance or for meal prep, I recommend storing everything separately, and assembling only right before you’re ready to serve the wraps.
Store all of the toppings individually in airtight containers, let the leftover falafels cool and store them in a separate airtight container, and place the pitas in a ziptop bag and keep everything in the fridge.
When stored separately, all of the components will keep for 3 days in the fridge. I don’t recommend freezing this falafel wrap with hummus.
💭 Expert Tips
- Drain and rinse chickpeas before adding them to the food processor.
- For best results, don’t over-process the falafel mixture — you want it to remain slightly chunky, not a smooth puree.
- Check the patties in the oven at 15 minutes, however it could take up to 25 minutes to bake.
- Feel free to also make these in the air fryer!
- If you’re serving this falafel tortilla wrap to young kids, they might find it hard to hold the pita without everything falling out. Usually for younger kids and toddlers, I’ll serve this “deconstructed” — with the falafel and toppings cut up on one side of the plate, the sauce for dipping, and the pita cut into triangles or cubes to eat on the side!
🌯 More Delicious Wraps And Veggie Sandwiches!
- Sourdough Grilled Cheese
- Gourmet Banana Peanut Butter Sandwich
- Chickpea Stuffed Pita Sandwiches
- Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese
Love this plant based mediterranean recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating 🌟 in the recipe below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page!
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📋 Recipe Card
Falafel Wrap Recipe
Ingredients
Falafel
- 5 whole wheat pitas
- 15 oz chickpeas, rinsed & drained (1 15oz can)
- 1 red onion very finely chopped
- ¼ cup whole-wheat flour you could also try using panko breadcrumbs or whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1½ tbsp chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ tbsp ground cumin
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp lemon juice
- ⅛ tsp paprika or more to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- olive oil nonstick spray
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¾ cup diced tomatoes
Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp store bought hummus
- 2-3 tbsp water start with 1 tbsp and work your way up from there
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place all ingredients for falafel (except for the pitas, baking powder, and nonstick spray) in a food processor, and give them a good chop.
- Transfer into a bowl, add the baking powder and stir together. Using a potato masher, mash any big chunks that remain – Mixture should remain slightly chunky, not smooth.
- Spray a baking sheet thoroughly with olive oil nonstick spray. One at a time, take spoonfuls of mixture in your hands and form 15 balls, each about the size of a ping pong ball, and gently place them on the baking sheet. Spray the top of each ball with olive oil nonstick spray, for a total of about a 2-second spray.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 2 parts hummus to 1 part water, and stir until blended (add more water to taste depending on how watery you like your sauce). Season to taste with salt / black pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- While your falafel patties are baking, chop your veggies and warm up your pita bread.
- Remove baking sheet from the oven, and carefully turn each ball over, gently reshaping if the bottoms have flattened.
- Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Allow to cool and set for at least 5 minutes. Note: You can also make these in the air fryer! To make in the air fryer, follow steps 1-3 above. After you spray the falafel with cooking spray, roll them in whole wheat or panko breadcrumbs for a light coating. Then air fry the falafel at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes. Flip and air fry for another 6 minutes on the second side.
- Fill the whole wheat pitas with spinach, 3 falafel balls, diced tomato, and top with spinach and sauce. Wrap and enjoy!
Notes
- Drain and rinse chickpeas before adding them to the food processor.
- Use fresh organic ingredients whenever possible.
- Don’t over-process the falafel mixture — you want it to remain slightly chunky, not a smooth puree.
- Be sure to find whole wheat pita bread to increase the fiber.
- Check the patties in the oven at 15 minutes, however it could take up to 25 minutes to bake.
- Feel free to also make these in the air fryer!
- If you’re serving this to young kids, they might find it hard to hold the pita without everything falling out. Usually for younger kids and toddlers, I’ll serve this “deconstructed” — with the falafel and toppings cut up on one side of the plate, the sauce for dipping, and the pita cut into triangles or cubes to eat on the side!
- This recipe makes 15 patties. 1 serving = 1 pita + 3 patties + 2 tbsp diced tomato, a handful of baby spinach and a drizzle of sauce.
I love falafel I am so excited to try your version its baked and not fried. My mouth is already watering…. Thank you so much for this recipe and wonderful idea. Bravo!!!!
Oh great!! I’m sure you’ll love this recipe Estelle – let me know how it turns out!
These were awesome. My husband’s response when I told him I was making a healthier version of falafel-“and what will I be having for dinner?” After the first bite, “I’m pleasantly surprised,” at the end of the meal, “you should definitely make that again.” And he usually doesn’t consider a meal without meat a meal!
Yay! That is so awesome Charlene! I’m so happy your husband enjoyed this healthy meatless recipe 🙂 Woohoo!!
Wow! I randomly googled “healthy falafel recipes” and your site was the first one and you’re from the Bay Area! How random! Loved the Falafel Drive-in! Anyway, great post. Thanks for sharing!
Oh wow! That’s awesome – thanks for letting me know! 🙂 Hope you like this recipe if you try it!
Just discovered your recipe via Pinterest and I will be trying it tonight. I had my first falafel at the falafel drive in! I have moved away from that area but try to go there when I go home for a visit! Yum.
Oh great!! Let me know how it turns out Michelle! 🙂
I’ve been making this recipe for about 4 weeks now, and I absolutely love it. The only thing I do differently is I add everything, including baking powder, to the processor, and since I don’t use cooking sprays, I just brush each falafel with a bit of olive oil. Delish!! Thanks!
Oh that’s awesome!! Thanks for the tip btw — the way you do it probably saves a bunch of time! Oh and yes, brushing with olive oil totally works too. I’ll have to try that next time!
I am looking forward to trying out this recipe! We’ve lived in Cupertino for about 2 years and loved trying Falafel Drive-In. 🙂
Oh awesome! I can’t wait to hear how you like this recipe!
I made this recipe last night and hubby and I loved it! I made a few adjustments though… for the two of us, I used one can of garbanzo beans and 1 medium russet potato, boiled together and mashed. I substituted whole wheat flour with 1/4 cup of chickpea flour (besan) instead. Then followed the rest of your recipe. I found that I had to cook them at 375 for about 25 minutes, and then at 425 for 8 minutes to get them crispy. Someone suggested broiling, which would have been a better solution (duh!). I didn’t have hummus so I made a thin Greek yogurt mix with dried mint and oregano to dip the pitas into. We liked it quite a bit. Will have to try the hummus trick next time.
Oh, and I live just a few blocks from Falafel Drive-in, and it is awesome!! Thank you for this healthier version though!
That’s so cool that you live so close to Falafel Drive-in! And I love the modifications you made to this recipe for just two people 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing and for letting me know! So glad you liked it!
Going to try this tomorrow! Thanks for the recipe/inspiration 🙂
Great!! Let me know how it turns out!
Omg! I love falafels but hate to eat them too often since they are fried 🙁 I will most definitely be running to the grocery store to get the ingredients to try this out. It sounds so easy and tasty! Thanks for sharing! Great blog you have 🙂 Hope to find some more great recipes on your site.
I’m the same way!! I love love love falafel but it’s totally an indulgence when I’m eating the fried version. I love this recipe because it’s super guilt-free! Can’t wait to hear how you like it after you make it at home 🙂
This falafel is great! To mix it up the second time I made this, I used half the amount of chickpeas and replaced that with sweet potato cooked with some indian spices. It tasted awesome!
Ooooh that’s a great idea! I’m definitely going to have to try that next time. So glad you liked this recipe Aalok 🙂 Hope you’re doing well!
Hi
Just wondering,if I could make this with dried chickpeas?If yes,do I have to cook them before I grind them up or just soaking would do?
Thanks
Geetha
Hi Geetha! If you make this with dried chickpeas, you will have to cook them before you grind them up – otherwise the consistency will be all off (and so will the proportions!) Hope that helps, let me know how it turns out!
I made these last night and they were fantastic! My husband just raved about them, too. Thank you so much for all of these great recipes!
Oh that’s so awesome! So happy to hear that Lisa! 🙂
Do you happen to know how many grams of carbs are in these?
Hi Niki! Yes – these have 37g carbs per serving. I’ll add that info to the post as well. Hope it helps!
Do you think it would work to freeze them before of after baking them? I love them but I am the only one in my house who eats them so I would like to freeze them instead of eating them for a few days in a row. What would you recommend?
I think you could definitely freeze the patties and reheat them in the oven! It’s worth a try especially if you are the only one eating them 🙂 Let me know if it works!
Hi there. Love your recipe gonna try this today! Are u vegetarian?
Hi Devashni! Yay! I’m sure you will love this recipe! And yes, I am vegetarian – so all of my recipes are veggie friendly!
Great recipe and it is delicous. I have made this recipe several times. I did make one little adjustment though. I used two cans of Garbanzo beans but left all other measurements the same. I felt the flavors were too overwhelming with just one can of beans. Turns out perfect every time! Thank you for this great healthy version of Falafel.
Hi Diana! Thank you so much – I’m so glad you liked this recipe! The flavors in this recipe are definitely strong and it totally depends on your palate – so I’m glad you modified it to suit your taste! 🙂
Wow, the pictures look incredible. Thanks for this great recipe… I was looking for inspiration on how to present different falafel recipes on my site and I really like the idea of a “healthy” falafel. But seeing the pictures, there’s still a lot to learn for me. Thanks again!
Hi Kathy! Thank you so much! I’m so glad you like my photos and this recipe 🙂 Let me know if you end up trying it and how it turns out!
I am SO happy I found this blog. I made Falafel tonight for my very first time, and it turned out perfect!
Thank you! I can’t wait to try a ton more of your recipes!
Yaaay!! Thanks for letting me know Betsy! I’m so glad you liked this recipe – and it’s so great to “meet” you through my blog!
I’ve been looking forward to making this and I finally got to it last night! My problem: I had to use a Magic Bullet so I ended up pureeing the mixture instead of just chopping it up – whoops! I added some extra flour to try to compensate but it didn’t help much, lol! I cooked the patties anyway and, while a little mushy in the middle, they were still delicious 🙂 I’m going to try making this again once I have a better food processor. Thanks for the great recipe as always, Anjali!
Hi Casey! Haha oh no! I actually have made that mistake before as well 🙂 One other option – if you don’t want to get a new food processor – you can always mash these ingredients together using a potato masher. It takes a few minutes longer, but you get a really great consistency for the patties by doing that. Hope that helps!
It does – a potato masher is much cheaper to buy 🙂 Thanks!
Hehe exactly – no problem at all!
Do you know the count for carbohydrates? I need it to calculate the total points for weight watchers. thanks!
Hi Anabelle! I believe it’s about 37g carbs. Hope that helps!
Thanks! This is great! It has 5 points each. Loved the flavor of it.
Oh great! So glad you liked it!!