Easy Baked Vegan Gluten-Free Samosas
These super easy, healthy and delicious baked vegetable samosas are filled with peas, potatoes, the perfect blend of spices and wrapped in a crunchy, chewy tapioca flour pastry dough. This Indian dish is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and nut-free!
Indian food, hands down, is my favorite cuisine. I can never get enough of rich and complex flavors!
And, I’m always looking to re-create some of my favorite take-out Indian food in gluten-free form! Enter these healthy baked samosas . . .
These Gluten-Free Samosas are:
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Super rich, flavorful, slightly spicy.
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Both crispy & chewy – texturally delightful!
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Hearty, filling, comforting.
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Great on their own or served with a favorite condiment.
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Really easy to make!
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Perfect as an appetizer, snack, lunch, dinner or side dish!
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Delicious served fresh or re-heated.
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Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, soy-free, nut-free.
Tips for making Gluten-Free Vegan Samosas:
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Alternatively, red or yukon gold potatoes can be used in place of russet. Just make sure to cook until fork-tender.
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Are you out of lemon juice? Apple cider vinegar can be used in its place in a pinch!
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Are you on a sugar-free diet? The coconut sugar can be omitted altogether, or replaced with a sugar-free sweetener such as this one.
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Alternatively, the coconut sugar can be replaced with any granulated or liquid sweetener of choice.
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I have not tested this particular recipe with another flour, but I believe cassava flour would produce very similar results to the tapioca starch if you’re looking for an alternative.
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You can roll/stretch the dough out as thinly or thickly as you prefer. Both produce a wonderfully textured crust.
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These samosas can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. They can be reheated in a 350 degree oven until warmer throughout.
What To Serve Baked Vegetable Samosas with:
Coconut Chickpea Curry (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Spicy Coconut Red Lentil Dal (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Gluten-Free Buckwheat Naan Bread
Instant Pot Lemony Red Lentil & Chickpea Curry (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Spicy Cilantro Avocado Hummus (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Spicy Turmeric Tahini Sauce (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Turmeric & Cilantro Sunflower Seed Sauce (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
I greatly hope you enjoy this delicious recipe for Baked Gluten-Free Samosas! xo.
If you like this, you might like these Indian bakery-style egg puffs!
Easy Baked Vegan Gluten-Free Samosas
Ingredients
- Samosa Filling:
- 3 russet potatoes peeled + cubed
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons oil of choice I use coconut
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced or grated
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or mint or a mix of both
- 1/2 lemon juiced (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- sea salt to taste
- Samosa Pastry Dough:
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan or pot, cover potatoes and carrots with water until just covered. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all is fork tender.
- Add peas to potato/carrot mixture. Turn off heat, cover and let sit while you prepare the rest of the filling.
- In a skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic & saute for 5 minutes, or until onions are turning translucent.
- Drain your potato, carrot, pea mixture and return to the pan. Add garlic, onion, cilantro, lemon juice and all spices. Mix and mash until the filling is as coarse or smooth as you prefer. I like it mostly smooth with a few potato chunks left in. Salt to your tastes. Let sit while you prepare the samosa dough.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a sauce pan heat water, oil and salt on high heat until boiling.
- Pour in flour and baking powder and immediately vigorously stir until all liquid is absorbed (it will look a tad crumbly at this stage, but will come together). Let it cool for a few minutes before handling.
- Place your samosa dough onto a parchment or wax paper lined cutting board. Knead until you can form one round ball.
- Divide the dough ball into 8 smaller balls.
- Using your hands or a rolling pin, roll and stretch each ball into one small round circle (about 4 inches across). This is a rubbery dough, but you’ll find it is relatively easy to work with. Don’t be afraid to stretch and pull.
- Slice each circle in half to form 16 semi-circles.
- Place a dollop of samosa filling into the center of each semi-circle.
- Take one corner of the dough and stretch it across the filling.
- Take the other corner and stretch it over the first layer of dough, forming little triangles. Press the edges down to seal the filling, if desired.
- Brush each triangle with olive oil and place onto your prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until crispy and turning slightly golden, turning each samosa over halfway through cooking time.
- Let cool before enjoying as is, with a favorite condiment or alongside other Indian dishes!
- Enjoy.
Full of flavor, gluten-free and baked, sounds perfect for my family! Can’t wait to dig in.
Hi Kristen, I’m really anxious to make these samosa because, like so many other samosa lovers, it’s a fabulous treat that I’ve had to give up since I realized that gluten doesn’t agree with me. That’s several years of deprivation!! 😵💫 I’m curious about how you arrived at the technique of boiling the dough. I used to make choux pastry for eclairs and that uses a boiled technique, as well as a pastry I used for meat pies. That was with regular flour. I have all the ingredients and I’m ready to go! I live alone, so I may or may not have to freeze some of them. Lol
Hi, Ann! I discovered that boiling starches (and some GF flours) creates a dough reminiscent of the gluten variety, it creates a dough that is stretchy and pliable over one that is likely to fall apart. I also use that technique for these tortillas: https://moonandspoonandyum.com/the-best-gluten-free-tortilla-wraps-vegan/. It just works better and is something I discovered through experimentation. I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Not sure if I missed something in the instructions but not sure what to do with the lemon juice?
Hi Deb – sorry about that and thank you for bringing that to my attention! I will update the recipe card. Add the lemon juice in step 4 when you add the spices. Thank you!
The filling for these is delicious! I doubled the recipe and the only change I made to the filling is just using one onion instead of doubling that. I considered leaving out the lemon or maybe the mint, but I’m glad I didn’t.
I had a lot of trouble with the dough. I’m an experienced baker, and that worked in my favor because I ended up needing to add more water to get it to a good consistency. I doubled the dough recipe also, and I don’t see how I could’ve gotten 32 samosas out of that amount, so I just made 16. The shaping was also confusing to me as it was described in the recipe, so I just rolled out circles, filled them, and folded them in half to make a half-circle samosa that was pinched closed. Mine didn’t brown much at all but they crisped up. I also found that the dough dried out pretty quickly so I covered it with a wet towel in between working with it, and wetting my hands before kneading each new ball of dough also helped. Next time I make this I will probably just make the filling and eat it with rice.
I’m wondering whether a different brand of tapioca flour would’ve performed better. I used Bob’s Red Mill. I think these would probably taste really good dipped in Greek yogurt but I didn’t have on hand to try.
Made these last night and I am laughing reading Melanie’s comments as this was exactly my experience! I ended up doubling the ingredients for the dough, firstly because I couldn’t find the smaller cup measurer for the water…but was glad I did make double as it was just enough dough!
I had to add more water and a tad more oil to make the dough, which was then lovely and pliable. When Ireached the last few squares (8ths) they had begun to dry out in the air, so Ioiled my hands and plied them each some more, butwill try wetting my hands next time as Melanie suggests and also popthe dough in an air tight container I work.
I also had trouble with the shaping and most of them ended up like wonky cubes and the crossing of the pastry made it even tougher (I’m going to rollit thinner this time and stick to the 30 minutes cooking time instead of trying to brown them with more minutes and ending upmaking them too crispy).
Funny enough, I had decided to make the next batch as folder over circles as Melanie says, as it will be easier and will also fit neatly into the round eco tiffin boxes I’ve bought for the picnic I’m hosting.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it’s delicious and ticks a lot of boxes for the purposes I needed.
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe–can these be frozen after being baked? Thanks!
Yes, they most certainly can! You can freeze and then reheat them in a 400F oven until warmed throughout.
Thanks for the response! They were sooo good! I just have extra filling and wanted to make more dough and freeze them. So I should bake them first, then freeze, right?
Oops sorry I see that I asked about baking first initially. Thanks again–love your recipes!
Thank you. 🙂
I’m so happy to heat that! 🙂 Thank you for sharing! And yes, you bake prior to freezing.
Hello Kristen! May I ask, will I be able to fry the samosas instead of baking them? I do not have an oven at home, will they still taste as nice if fried?
Hi Lala – frying should work just fine!
Can we replace tapioca flour with potato or rice or corn starch…kindly reply asap…Thanks
Hi! I can’t say for absolute certain because I haven’t tested this recipe with any other starch, but I usually have good results replacing tapioca starch with rice starch in recipes, so if you were to try it, I would advise rice! Please let me know if you try it. 🙂 Thanks!
Omg, yum! This looks AMAZING, Kristen! I follow a paleo-based diet, and I was wondering if sweet potato could be subbed for the russet potatoes. I can’t wait to give these a try!!
Hi, Lucille – thank you! Yes, sweet potatoes would work beautifully in this recipe. 🙂
Hi Kristen! Thanks for the amazing recipe. I’ve been looking for a healthier samosa recipe, and it looks like I’ve found it! I was wondering if I could substitute some chickpeas in for the potatoes. Maybe half potato and have chickpea? How do you think that would turn out, and how would you recommend cooking it? Thank you!
Hi, Paula! I think chickpeas would work beautifully either as a full replacement or half & half. Assuming they are pre-cooked chickpeas, the only change I would make would be to simmer for 10 minutes instead of 15. I hope you like it! 🙂
I’ve never eaten much Indian food. The spices were always a bit much for me, but these sound delicious. I can’t wait to give these a try. Do you serve these with any kind of a sauce?
Thank you! We love to serve them with this sauce: https://moonandspoonandyum.com/blog/turmeric-amp-cilantro-sunflower-seed-sauce-vegan-gluten-free or a drizzle of sriracha! But, a good chutney or raita is great, too!