30-minute Sweet potato falafel (vegan, with air fryer version)

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These golden, crispy little vegan falafel made of sweet potatoes, chickpeas and spices are addictive. Stuff them into fresh bread with hummus, dressing and snow pea shoots, or just layer them on top of a fresh salad.

A sweet potato falafel sandwich from the side on baking paper with kitchen equipment in the background.

Fancy falafel!

Falafel is one of those foods that I could eat every day. And no I’m not a vegetarian or vegan.

It’s something about the crispy outside and the nutty, satisfying centre. Falafel tastes like something naughty, but of course it’s packed full of healthy chickpeas and other goodies.

But do you know you can make falafel with sweet potato? Well, you sure can, and it’s absolutely delicious!

Ingredients in sweet potato falafel

This is all you need to make these delightful little sweet potato fritters:

  • a sweet potato, roasted or microwaved (!) until soft (I sometimes use regular, and other times purple sweet potato (your choice!)
  • a can of cooked chickpeas
  • a finely chopped onion
  • garlic and various yummy spices such (cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander, paprika)
  • flour, baking powder and salt
  • lemon juice
  • sesame seeds (optional!)

Just a few ingredients. And vegan!

Collage of 2 images showing unpeeled sweet potatoes and snow peas and tomatoes in a colander on a wooden board.

How to make vegan sweet potato falafel

Sweet potato falafel ready to be cooked on a baking tray from above.

In 4 super easy steps!

  1. Cook your sweet potato in the microwave! (so easy!) If you’d rather though, roast in the oven.
  2. Roughly mash with all the other yummy ingredients.
  3. Let the mixture chill out in the fridge for a while before molding it into little nugget-shaped falafel.
  4. Shallow pan fry for about 5 minutes on each side.

Prefer to air fry?

Lately I air fry everything! Well, almost!

But seriously, these sweet potato falafel are perfect candidates for cooking in your air fryer. Air fry for 15 minutes. Spray the air fryer basket and falafel lightly with olive oil and cook for 15 minutes, turning half way.

Mmmm…. delicious, and even healthier!

That’s it – really! Now how do you eat them?

How to serve sweet potato falafel

Apart from the fact that it’s addictively delicious, the amazing thing about this recipe is that it makes around 30 falafel.

Which means there doesn’t have to be JUST falafel wraps on the menu.

When I make this recipe, this is what I make.

Falafel wraps!

Yes, these easy sweet potato falafel are incredibly delicious stuffed into fresh crusty Mediterranean style bread with some kind of greens or other salad and hummus and/or sauce.

My favourite way to do this is to stuff Turkish bread or Italian ciabatta with:

  • a big handful of snow peas (Have you tried them? Delicious!)
  • chopped tomatoes and spring onions
  • hummus (my go-to recipe is this one – you have to try the 2-ingredient flatbread too!)
  • tahini dressing (oh my goodness, this 5-minute dressing is so awesome!). If you don’t have any tahini, Greek yogurt works great as a makeshift dressing, too!
Collage of ingredients for making sweet potato falafel from above.
A roll with sweet potato falafel open on baking paper from above with more falafel scattered around.

Falafel salad!

Another option is to serve the falafel on top of the pea shoots and with all the little accompaniments and condiments on the side, like so:

A plate of fsweet potato falafel in a white bowl with salad.

Pro tip: Try drizzling over this 5-minute tahini sauce. Incredible!

More amazing Mediterranean recipes that you must try!

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A sweet potato falafel sandwich from the side on baking paper with kitchen equipment in the background.
5 from 1 vote

Sweet potato falafel (vegan, with air fryer version)

Golden, crispy little falafel made of sweet potatoes, chickpeas and spices. Beautiful stuffed into fresh bread with hummus, Greek yoghurt and snow pea shoots, or just layered across a little fresh salad.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 30 falafels

Ingredients 
 

For the falafel

  • 1 medium to large, ish sweet potato (or 2 small ones!)
  • 1 can of cooked chickpeas, 9 ounces/250 grams net weight
  • 1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
  • 1/2 of a lemon worth of juice
  • sesame seeds for scattering over

optional ‘accompaniments’

  • chopped tomatoes & spring onions/scallions, pitta bread or another type of fresh bread, hummus, Greek yoghurt or tahini dressing, snow pea sprouts

Instructions 

  • Peel the sweet potatoes and cook in a microwave for about 10 minutes or until soft. (you can roast them if you prefer for about 45 minutes or so or until soft)
  • In the meantime, pulse the chickpeas a few times in a food processor until still a little bit chunky.
  • Mash the pulsed chickpeas and sweet potato together with all of the other ingredients apart from the sesame seeds. Cover the mixture and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.
  • Take spoonfuls of mixture about the size of a walnut and form into balls. Flatten the balls into a patty and press a few sesame seeds into them on both sides.
  • Heat up a layer of oil in a skillet/frying pan until quite hot, then fill the pan with patties. Let them cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy.
  • Remove from the pan and serve immediately with fresh bread and accompaniments of your choice.

Notes

Air fryer instructions

Air fry for 15 minutes. Spray the air fryer basket and falafel lightly with olive oil and cook for 15 minutes, turning half way.

How to serve your sweet potato falafel

I would highly recommend making a batch of your own hummus for this recipe. My go-to recipe is this quick hummus and 2-ingredient flatbread
This incredible 5-minute tahini dressing goes really well, too. 

How long do they keep?

This recipe makes quite a large amount of falafel, so you can keep the dough in the fridge for a few days quite comfortably.
I prefer to keep the uncooked dough in the fridge and then quickly fry them up fresh before eating rather than frying them all first then keeping in the fridge. If you want to though you can pre-cook them all, then quickly reheat them in a hot pan when you want to eat them. 

Can you freeze them?

Yes! Either freeze them uncooked, then let defrost and pan-fry as normal, or freeze cooked, then defrost and re-fry quickly in a hot oiled pan. 

Nutrition

Calories: 6kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Sodium: 41mg, Potassium: 26mg, Vitamin A: 655IU, Vitamin C: 0.5mg, Calcium: 5mg, Iron: 0.1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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82 Comments

  1. First of all, I’m obsessed with Friends and have watched each episode like 100 times and own all the seasons! Second of all I’m also obsessed with falafel and I love all things sweet potato! These are like my match made in heaven! I hope you are having a better week! I’ve been having a bad few weeks so I know how you feel. I think these sweet potato falefels will bright everything up though!

    1. Thanks for the good wishes, Isadora … to be honest I was just being a whinge-bag that weekend. I really have nothing to complain about … haha!
      So glad I presented you with a match made in heaven today … and hope this week is looking up for you 🙂

  2. Aaaauch terrible feeling Helen 🙁 But I guess it happens to most of us hehe 😉 Also, I was like 4 in the 90’s and I had to sing to that lol yes.
    AAAAAAAAAND how I love falafels! And sweet potatoes! These look yummy!

  3. Ugh, my weekend felt pretty similar 🙂 I can totally relate to wanting a nap, but knowing my list of things to do is long and this is my last chance before the week starts … it is a little discouraging! I had some “tiny squabbles” too. It does make feeling forgiven so much better!
    Can you bring me some of these? They are everything I enjoy food wise! Chickpeas, sweet potatoes … oh my goodness, yes please! Pinning these!

    1. I think I have the answer, Mary Frances … I think we should campaign for 3-day weekends. Then we can ‘mooch’ all we like for one of those days, hey?!
      Yup, I can bring you some of these. You just need to wait a handy 24 hours or so while I get there! 🙂

  4. i do love a good falafel, i usually crumble mine through a salad! never tried a sweet potato version before, definitely something i need to recreate in my kitchen!

    1. Ooh, great idea to crumble falafel through a salad! I’ll have to try that one! 🙂

  5. Yum!! I love falafel. The sweet potato version looks and sounds delicious.. so so amazing. .. love it!!

    1. I know, me too … it’s one of my favourite snacks. So glad you like it, too! 🙂

  6. LOVE Friends – I always watch it when it’s on TV even though I’ve seen all the episodes hundreds of times. Sorry to hear you had such a glum weekend, but it sounds like the farmer’s market really made it pick up! These falafel sound delicious 🙂

    1. Thanks for the good weekend wishes, Louisa! At least this weekend is turning out much better so far, so all’s good! 🙂

  7. hehe okay firstly I did have the Friends theme stuck in my head but I’ve just put on another song to cancel it out 🙂 Secondly what a great idea using sweet potato for felafel! 😀

    1. Oops … sorry about that one! I’m just a big tease …
      So glad you like the falafel! 🙂

  8. I’ve totally got the theme song stuck in my head now! Ahh- memories! And I’m so with you on hummus…everybody should be making their own. I forget how easy and absolutely worth the extra couple of minutes it is. I want to try this sweet potato falafel- looks delightful!

    1. Hi, Sarah! You know, I just made some more hummus as an afternoon snack and it literally took me five minutes. I didn’t even use the recipe and it turned out perfectly. So happy you like the falafel!

  9. I’ve had a week like that… nothing terrible but nothing great either. The falafel look amazing and so flavorful. A nice way to end a ho hum weekend.