How many calories in falafel
Four falafel balls have 230 kcal, with 9 g of protein from the chickpeas.
Portion
To burn it off
Falafel is ground chickpeas, herbs and spices, shaped into balls and deep fried. The chickpeas bring protein and fibre, the fryer brings most of the fat.
Four balls on their own come to 230 kcal. Put them in a wrap with salad, hummus and sauce and it's 550, so the extras more than double it.
It's one of the more filling things on the street food menu. The wrap is a proper meal, not a snack.
Tips
- 1Ask for extra salad and go easy on the tahini and garlic sauce.
- 2Have the falafel in a box with salad instead of the full wrap.
- 3Baked falafel from the supermarket is lighter than the fried kind.
Where it comes from
Falafel most likely comes from Egypt, where it is called ta'ameya and made with fava beans, though nobody knows exactly when. A popular story credits Coptic Christians eating it during Lent, but the first written mentions only date from the 19th century. From the port of Alexandria it spread across the Middle East. The name is the Arabic plural of filfil, pepper.
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falafel wrap
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Questions
How many calories in one falafel ball?
About 58 kcal each, going by 230 for four.
Is falafel high in protein?
Four balls have 9 g, which is decent but not a lot. The wrap gets you to 18 g.
How many calories in a falafel wrap?
About 550 kcal with salad and sauce, depending on how generous the sauces are.
How many calories in falafel with hummus?
Two tablespoons of hummus are about 50 kcal. With four falafel balls that comes to around 280.
Is falafel gluten free?
Traditional falafel is just chickpeas, herbs and spices, so it has no gluten. Some recipes add flour and the fryer may be shared, so ask if you need to be sure.
