Lupini Falafel
4
servings15
minutes30
minutes210
kcal15
grams4.6
grams15
grams13
gramsThere’s something about Middle Eastern food and the way it blends herbs and spices that just sends my palate to a very happy place. Unfortunately, traditional falafel is made from chickpeas and is too carby for keto. Fortunately, lupini makes for a wonderful substitute, and with it’s very low net carbs, it puts falafel back on the menu.
Ingredients
3/4 cup lupini flakes (65g) *see note
1 large egg
2 tsp ground coriander (ideally freshly ground from seed)
2 tsp ground cumin (ideally freshly ground from seed)
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
4 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
3/4 tsp chili powder *see note
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup fresh dill weed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced (100g)
2 TB lupini flour
1/2 TB sesame seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2-3 TB avocado oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425F (220C) if you have a convection oven, otherwise preheat to 450F (230C).
- In a 1.5 quart or larger sauce pan, bring 2 cups (475mL) of water to a boil. Add the lupini flakes, and cook, stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes. You may need to bring down the heat to avoid a foam over. Drain the cooked flakes in a strainer and set aside to cool while you prep your other ingredients.
- Add the lupini flakes and egg to a food processor, and process (scraping down the sides as necessary) until you have a puree/paste.
- Add the coriander, cumin, salt, garlic, parsley, dill and cilantro and process until the herbs are finely chopped and thoroughly combined with the lupini paste. This make take a couple of minutes and multiple side scrape downs.
- Pour/scrape the mixture into a medium bowl, then add the onion, lupini flour, sesame seeds, baking powder and xanthan gum. Mix with a spatula until all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and the dough/batter is clay like in consistency.
- Coat a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet with the avocado oil. Then form 16 walnut sized balls of dough, placing them on the baking sheet. A #50 disher works great for this. Pat each ball down into a small “puck” using oiled fingertips.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping the falafel over and rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point.
- Allow to cool briefly before serving.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Nutritional information is based on a serving size of 4 falafel.
- If purchasing the lupini flakes and/or powder on Amazon, use the code SRSKETO20 to get 20% off.
- You can substitute cayenne for chili powder, but I recommend dialing back to 1/2 tsp.
Awesome Recipes
Thank you Steve for this recipe. Making this to take as a birthday gift. 🙂
I would love to know why you decided to use both the Lupini flakes & flour. It appears by the video that you processed the flakes to a smooth consistency so my initial guess that it was for texture is incorrect. Thanks for all your recipes & great information!
Many of the non-keto recipes I looked at before creating this called for both chickpeas AND flour (or chickpea flour). Texturally, I believe that this makes for a fluffier falafel, since it cuts the overall moisture of the dough/batter.
I’ve got access to good old fashioned dried lupini beans but not the flour or flakes, here in Israel. Should this work out pretty well using soaked, then cooked, lupini beans and either almond or coconut flour instead? I’d dump it all in the food processor, anyway, right?
I have not worked with dried lupini beans, so I really can’t advise you on this one. Sorry.
I was asking at my local health foods store, and we finally figured that they had to be fermented or some special process before they could be easily used. That shouldn’t be hard if you do any kefir or yogurt fermenting?
Really tasty, thank you. I used a jar of drained lupini instead of the flakes, and added extra egg whites as ‘glue.’