Falafel is one of my favorite Middle Eastern inspired street food recipes. Chickpeas are combined with other savory ingredients and deep fried to perfection!
I'm a huge fan of chickpeas. I've made all kinds of chickpea recipes including Chickpea Salad, Roasted Chickpeas, Three Bean Salad, and Homemade Hummus.
I've been on a Mediterranean food kick lately, and wanted to try making my own homemade falafel. To me, this recipe satisfies all of my vegan comfort food cravings. I especially love it when it's served with my homemade Tzatziki sauce.
Ingredients:
Falafel ingredients always include chickpeas or fava beans or both. I decided to just use chickpeas because I love them so much.
Instead of using canned chickpeas like I do for all of my other favorite recipes, I decided to use dried chickpeas in my falafel.
The soaked chickpeas are then combined with red onion, parsley, galic, salt, cumin, pepper, and a little bit of flour to hold everything together.
How to make this recipe:
Once you've soaked and softened your chickpeas, you'll process them with the other ingredients in the food processor.
The goal is to not get the mixture so smooth that it turns into a paste, but you will need it ground up enough so that it holds it's shape when being fried.
To cook your falafel, you'll heat a generous amount of oil to 375 degrees F and cook a few at a time, flipping once.
You can definitely eat falafel plain, but in my opinion they absolutely need a good sauce.
Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- 1 small red onion (chopped)
- ¼ cup parsley (fresh, stems removed)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- oil for frying (Enough to have about an inch in your pan (I used avocado oil))
Instructions
- The night before, add dried chickpeas to a large bowl and cover with water. Cover bowl and let them soak overnight. They should double in size. When you're ready to make your falafel, drain chickpeas.
- Add all ingredients except for oil to a large bowl and toss to combine. Working in small batches, process in food processor. You don't want to run them until everything is completely smooth, but it should be about as course as fine sand. Give it a stir and pick out any large chunks that weren't processed and get them ground up and added back to the mixture.
- Add mixture back to original bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- To cook, add at least an inch of oil to skillet and heat to 375 degrees F. To form the falafel balls, add a couple tablespoons of the mixture to the palm of your hand, form a ball, and slightly flatten the ball. The mixture doesn't hold together all that well, so just be gentle and steady with the pressure. Carefully drop into the oil. I prefer to cook just a few at a time so that the oil temperature can remain steady. Cook until they turn golden brown, flipping once (about 5 minutes total). Be sure the oil is at the correct temperature before adding the next batch. Transfer cooked falafel to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
Alicia
Hi, can these be frozen after cooking? We are going to make them, but it’s just hubby and I.
Krissy
I didn't freeze mine, but yes - I think you could easily freeze them and then to reheat, just allow to fully thaw and then toast in a pan.
Alice
Can these be frozen?
Krissy
I would think they could prior to cooking, but I never have.
Theresa
Can these be baked instead of frying?
Krissy
I've never baked them. Don't think they would get a crispy outer layer if baked.
Angie
Will it work OK if I cook the beans first? I've never made falafel without cooking the beans first. Also, I have a hard time digesting beans so I was thinking cooking them first would help with digestion. But I don't want to ruin the recipe. Advice, please! Thanks! Angie
Krissy
I think it would work but I'm not sure the texture would be the same. If you try it, will you let me know?
Susan
I like falafel a lot . Instead of deep frying I do air frying it with a brush of oil and cones out very good.
Maddie
I made this tonight for dinner and I don’t have the words...it was absolutely one of the most delicious recipes I’ve ever tried. I ended up eating 5 of these delicious nuggets and I’m so full I feel like I’m going to explode LOL I also made your tzatziki recipe as well and it was such an amazing compliment to the falafel. Thank you for this recipe SOOOOOO MUCH!!
Hanan
As a Middle Eastern, we don’t use flour in any fresh falafel mixes. Also, important to add ground fennel to ensure easy digestion and no gas. No pepper.
P Ricci
Is it possible to use canned chick peas?
Krissy
I've only made it with dry and heard the canned doesn't work as well, but I'm curious to know how it works...
Rachel
I used canned chickpeas! Just made this and had to throw out the first few. They didn't stick together at all. Ended up adding about 3 extra tbsp of flour to the remaining and they stuck really well and were DELICIOUS! Loved all around.
Cheryl
This was Amazing! Easy, affordable and delicious. Thank you Krissy. Love all the dishes I have tried!
Krissy
Yay! Great comment!!! Thank you so much. -Krissy
haley
hmm! yummy! i made it at home. everyone like it. And want more and more.
thanks friend to telling this special and owsome falafel snacks with us.
Dawn
You didn’t boil your chickpeas? Weren’t they still really hard when you put them in the blender? I’d like to try this because it looks so easy, but I don’t know how blending them and frying them will soften it, if it will blend at all.
Krissy
I didn't boil them! They were still sort of gritty and next time I might even blend them more, but it totally worked! -Krissy
Suzy
One of my favorites to order in a restaurant! So excited that I can make them at home!
Tisha
Falafels make such a great appetizer for a Greek night meal!
Brian Jones
I loved the classic flavours in these, I've seen so many odd things chucked into falafel but these are just perfect.
Michele
These were very yummy! Thanks!
Natalie
I love homemade falafel! Looks so crispy and delicious - the perfect snack!
Maddie
I’ve made these fabulous falafel about 5 times now and they just keep getting better and better. Thank you for a delicious recipe!!
Veena Azmanov
This looks so crunchy and delicious and best for my vegetarian friends. They to love it.
Aida
Do you think these would work in an air fryer?
Krissy
I think with a light coating of oil on the outside - YES! I just got a new air fryer so perhaps I'll try it myself.
Irina
This chickpea-based Falafel sounds amazing! I cannot wait to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing.