Baked Falafel with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

Homemade Tzatziki sauce is one of my favorite quick summer condiments. It’s easy to mix up, is relatively healthy, and is packed with flavor and crunchy cucumbers. I’ll stir up a quick batch of this homemade Tzatziki sauce for classic dishes (like these baked falafels) but I’ll also slather it on burgers, hot dogs, or use it as a chunky salad dressing.

I give a basic recipe for my standard Tzatziki sauce below. In my opinion though the only requirements for it are Greek yogurt and cucumber. Everything else is flexible and you can adjust it to your taste.

I’ve made the sauce with really finely minced cucumber and also chunkier versions. It’s always a hit. I went with a medium dice for this version.

A classic way to serve this great sauce is with falafel. Traditionally, these are fried, but I like to bake mine. It’s easier and healthier.

You can just toss everything in a bowl and mash it up really well. Some texture is nice but make sure the ingredients are well-combined.

Form heaping tablespoon-sized balls of falafel and press them down a bit on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle them with olive oil and they are ready to bake.

These will need to bake for about 20-25 minutes total at 350 degrees F. and you’ll want to carefully flip them halfway through. They should get crispy around the edges and browned on the top and bottom.

Once they are baked, stuff them inside some fresh pita bread with tomatoes, feta, mint, and big spoonfuls of the Tzatziki sauce.

Baked Falafel with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

baked falafel with homemade tzatziki sauce

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6 pita sandwiches
Ingredients
Cooking Directions

Tzatziki Sauce:
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 1 small cucumber, seeded and minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Baked Falafel:
• 2 (15 oz.) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 2 tablespoon olive oil + extra for drizzling
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper
• 6 large pita breads
• Diced tomato
• Crumbled Feta cheese
• Fresh mint

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. For Tzatziki sauce, mince cucumber and garlic fine and stir together with other ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper and store in the fridge until needed.
3. For baked falafel, drain and rinse chickpeas and add to a large bowl with other falafel ingredients. Mash well.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Making heaping tablespoon-sized balls out of chickpea mixture and press down lightly on baking sheet to form a falafel ball. Repeat until mashed mixture is gone. You should get 20-25 falafel balls.
5. Drizzle falafel with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Gently flip falafels and bake for another 8-10 minutes until they are lightly browned.
6. Serve baked falafel in pita bread with diced tomato, feta cheese, fresh mint, and homemade Tzatziki sauce.

contributor

This post was contributed by Macheesmo

Nick cooks a lot and posts his recipes and food related items. Besides Macheesmo, Nick also writes for Tablespoon.com and The Kitchn. Nick released his first cookbook, Love Your Leftovers, on April 2014.