Falafel | Simple, Healthy and Delicious Recipe | The Oven Light Dinner (2024)

FAQs

Are falafels healthy for weight loss? ›

Falafel is low in calories and fat. When eaten as part of a healthy diet, it can aid with weight loss or weight maintenance. One of the healthiest ways to eat falafel is in a buddha bowl with plenty of healthy greens and veggies.

Health benefits may include weight management, heart health support, and management of anemia. Baking falafel instead of frying can reduce fat content and make it healthier. Some downsides may include potential allergies and sodium content concerns.

Falafel is a great dish to encourage people to eat a more plant-based diet, which benefits the body as well as the environment, Amy Shapiro, RD says. It's high in protein and fiber from the chickpeas (one cup of which has 15 grams of protein and 14 grams of fiber).

Falafel contains high amounts of protein and carbohydrates from chickpeas; it also has significant amounts of soluble fiber that helps to reduce the bad cholesterol from your body.

In essence, the ingredient profile of falafel is in the least unhealthy. In fact, compared to other counterparts of the food, including chicken shawarma, falafel tops the list to contain the healthiest amount of all ingredients that are required by the body.

Falafel is also a good source of soluble fibre, the type that helps lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Falafel has a good amount of micronutrients plus it is a good source of protein and fiber. This helps in curbing one's appetite, lowers one's risk of chronic disease, and supports healthy blood sugar. All these qualities put Falafel in the diabetes-friendly category.

Go with the falafel. The gyro has more saturated fat, more calories, and (usually) more sodium than the falafel—or chicken or vegetable sandwich fillings—on most menus. Take Daphne's, a "California-fresh" West Coast chain with 56 restaurants that lists calories on its menus and Nutrition Facts on its Web site.

Is falafel good for your stomach? ›

Falafel is high in many micronutrients and a good source of fiber and protein. As such, it may help curb your appetite, support healthy blood sugar, and lower your risk of chronic disease. Yet, it's typically deep-fried in oil, which raises its fat and calorie content.

There are three types of falafel--Traditional falafel, baked falafel and lemon falafel. “Where the traditional falafel is the basic fried falafel comprising a mix of chickpeas, onions, garlic, herbs and spices, baked falafels are made using fresh herbs in the chickpea mixture,” says Chef Sati from Ophelia.

Eating uncooked falafel that has been left out for a few hours can pose a risk of foodborne illness due to bacteria growth. Bacteria can multiply rapidly in foods left at room temperature, potentially causing digestive issues or food poisoning.

Falafel features prominently in Israeli cuisine and has been called a national dish. Some Palestinians and other Arabs have objected to current identification of falafel with Israeli cuisine as cultural appropriation.

In the Mediterranean, many staples in both Muslim and Jewish tables of the period were pareve. This includes falafels and hummus, which are made of chickpeas, salads, and flatbreads. All pareve foods would count as halal regardless.

No, not unless you limit your carbs as low as possible Falafel is about 25 grams of carbs per 100 grams or 4.5 grams per individual ball so one ball is a quarter of you daily carb limit, in other words you could only eat four falafel balls and no other food that day.

Is Falafel Keto Friendly? Unfortunately, a tablespoon of chickpeas has about 43 grams of net carbs per cup according to verywellfit. Therefore, standard recipes aren't low carb so you shouldn't eat them on keto.

Carbs. A falafel patty contains a little more than 5 grams of carbohydrates, the majority of which come from the chickpeas or fava beans. The food is high in complex carbohydrates and soluble fiber—the type of fiber that helps lower LDL cholesterol (known as the "bad" cholesterol).

A 100-gram serving (about 3 to 4 falafel patties) of frozen premade chickpea falafel has: 321 calories.