Falafel Gyros with Tzatziki

3 pitas folded and stuffed with 2 brown falafel balls, white grated cucumber salad, tomato and purple onion slices. A black bowl of white grated cucumber sauce is placed next to them.

Falafel Gyros with Tzatziki

Make a delicious Greek-style falafel gyro with crispy homemade falafel balls, paired with chilled, tangy tzatziki salad, as well as some sweet tomatoes and piquant purple onion. Served it with pita bread for a perfect and easy lunch or dinner.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Nut-free, Soy-free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword falafel and gyro, falafel gyros, vegan gyros

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Chilling time 1

Total Time 35

Servings pitas

Calories 304kcal

Author Nandor Barta

Equipment

Food processor

Ingredients

Homemade Falafel

1+½ cup Chickpeas (dry not canned) dried
1 Onion (medium)
4 cloves Garlic
0.8 oz Fresh parsley
0.6 oz Fresh cilantro
1+½ tsp Ground cumin seeds
2 Tbsp Sesame seeds
1 tsp Salt
¼ tsp Black pepper
1 tsp Baking soda
½ cup Cold water

Tzatziki

8 oz Cucumber
2 cloves Garlic
1 tsp Fresh dill or dried
½ cup Dairy-free yogurt (plain)
½ cup Vegan sour cream
½ Tbsp White wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Olive oil
½ tsp Salt
⅛ tsp Black pepper

Other items

8 Pita bread use gluten-free
16 Cherry tomatoes
½ Purple onion

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

How to make homemade falafel?

Soak dry chickpeas in cold water overnight, but don’t cook them.
Use a food processor and add chopped onion, garlic, fresh herbs, salt, black pepper, cumin, baking soda, and water.
Pulse them until you get a creamy, grainy texture. Just pulse, not puree. If you overwork them, you’ll get a mush.
Empty the food processor into a large mixing bowl. Add sesame seeds and mix them well.
Chill the falafel mixture in the fridge for at least 1 hour before using a spoon or your palms to form balls out of the chilled mixture
Preheat a large pan over medium heat. Add sunflower oil or coconut oil (not olive oil, but something that is high-heat resistant and suitable for deep frying).
Gently place a couple of balls in the hot oil. Don’t drop it as hot oil can splash up and can cause blisters. Don’t overcrowd the pan as well.
Fry them for approx. 5 minutes. Fried balls should be brown but not burnt and vibrant green in the middle. We usually place them on a paper towel to capture any excess oil.

How to make tzatziki?

Wash the cucumber and use a large hole cheese grater and grate it. I never peel them and you don’t need to either.
Take a large bowl and place the grated cucumber in it. Sprinkle it with salt and wait for 5-10 minutes for the cucumber to release water.
When you see water, squeeze the grated cucumber in between your palms or use a cheese cloth, or kitchen towel. Squeeze it as hard as you can. The more moisture you live, your chances will be higher to end up with a runny sauce.
Take a small bowl and add all sauce ingredients (yogurt, sour cream, white wine vinegar, olive oil, finely chopped garlic, dill, salt, and black pepper). Mix them well.
Finally, add the sauce to the grated cucumber and mix again.

Assemble

Warm the pita bread in a grill pan, in a skillet, or in the oven. We don't recommend using a microwave because it just makes it dry.
Especially if you have large wraps, you can fill them like you would a tortilla wrap. Or you can cut the upper ⅓ and open it up to shape pita pockets.
Depending on the size pita you can add 2-4 falafel balls, 2-3 Tablespoons of tzatziki, a couple of tomato pieces, and some purple onion slices. If you make pita pockets, we recommend scooping some tzatziki first, then the balls, and drizzling some more on top.

Video

Nutrition