Baked Samosa Recipe: A Vegan, Gluten-Free Appetizer for Your Next Indian Dish

If you’ve ever eaten an Indian dish (like chicken tikka masala) before, you might have started your meal with an order of samosas. These flaky, deep-fried appetizers are certainly tasty. But, as you might imagine, they aren’t always the healthiest, and you can typically only enjoy them if you dine out ­— unless you try the sad frozen variety from the supermarket.

But as it turns out, samosas aren’t too difficult to make, and this homemade samosa recipe means you can chow down on them at any time. As a bonus, this recipe is way healthier than any samosa recipe you’d find at a restaurant.

What Are Samosas?

Versions of samosas exist throughout Asia. In fact, though samosas are linked most closely with India and Pakistan, they actually originated in Central Asia.

The ones usually found in the U.S. are the Indian kind, which are crisp, deep fried and full of fresh herbs. Because so much of India is vegetarian, samosas tend to be too, though meat versions do exist. Samosas are often served as an appetizer or snack with a hot cup of tea.

If you’re avoiding gluten, samosas are generally off limits, as white flour is used. Until now, of course. These veggie samosas are gluten-free, vegetarian and baked instead of deep fried, upping the nutritional content and slashing the calorie count.

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Nutrition Facts

So what’s in each of these samosas? (1)

• 560 calories
• 9.9 grams protein
• 20.5 grams fat
• 85.8 grams carbohydrates
• 7.62 milligrams manganese (423 percent DV)
• 55.2 milligrams vitamin C (74 percent DV)
• 0.813 milligrams vitamin B6 (63 percent DV)
• 0.335 milligrams vitamin B1 (30 percent DV)
• 420 milligrams sodium (28 percent DV)
• 3.41 milligrams vitamin E (23 percent DV)
• 463 IUs vitamin A (20 percent DV)
• 61 milligrams choline (14 percent DV)
• 10 micrograms vitamin K (11 percent DV)

You’ll notice that this samosa recipe is loaded with manganese. This nutrient is critical for supporting bone health, keeping your cognitive skills sharp and helping prevent arthritis.

These samosas are also rich in vitamin C, thanks to the bell peppers. Vitamin C is necessary for keeping skin healthy, absorbing nutrients and boosting your immune system.

And to keep these gluten-free, we’ll use a mix of tapioca flour and cassava flour. Tapioca flour has almost no nutrients, but it’s really useful when you’re recreating recipes like this one. It helps the samosas get crisp and flaky.

Cassava flour, on the other hand, is an excellent alternative to wheat flours. It has a neutral taste that works in most recipes. Together, these flours work to create a delicious samosa pastry.

How to Make Samosas

So are you ready to make samosas right at home? It’s pretty simple!

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While that happens, combine the filling ingredients in a large pan over medium heat. Stir occasionally, cooking until the potatoes and peppers have softened, about 20 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix all of the wrapper ingredients until they’re well-combined. Then lay parchment paper on a flat surface and sprinkle it with some flour.

Using your hands, roll the dough into 2-inch balls to keep the dough from drying out.

Then, flatten the dough into a 5-inch circle with a rolling pin onto the parchment paper.

Cut each circle in half, creating two samosa wrappers.

Fold the straight edges inward to create a cone shape.

Then dampen your finger with water, and seal the edges together.

Take a spoonful of filling and place some in each of the wrappers.

Gently close the samosas to create a triangle shape.

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Bake for 10–15 minutes.

Make them a part of your next Indian meal as an appetizer before a curry or just enjoy them along with a side salad as a main! Serve the samosas alone or with your favorite dipping sauce.