Is there anything better than a platter full of fresh, crispy falafel? Whether you like to stuff them into warm, fresh pita bread, or you prefer to eat your falafel straight up, with generous sides of Tahini Sauce and hummus for dipping, get ready to add our easy falafel recipe to your list of go-to favorites.
What Is Falafel?
Falafel is a classic Middle Eastern street food, and for us, it’s a must-order when we visit our favorite Lebanese restaurants. Made of ground chickpeas seasoned generously with fresh herbs and spices— think cumin, parsley, cilantro, and sometimes mint — falafel are hearty, protein-packed, vegan and pretty healthy! Falafel are traditionally cooked by deep-frying and our falafel recipe relies on that cooking technique to make sure they’re crispy and golden on the outside, fluffy and delicious on the inside. Often, the finished falafel are stuffed inside of pita bread with all the fixings (veggies, hummus and tahini sauce) and enjoyed as one of the world’s greatest street foods! If you don’t have a falafel vendor nearby, at least you’ve got our falafel recipe to bring those incredible flavors to your table.
Easy Falafel Ingredients
Chickpeas: Canned chickpeas are the key to making our falafel recipe truly quick and easy enough to make on a weeknight. Dried might be more authentic, but canned is way, way easier. However, be sure to follow our suggestion (in the recipe below) to fully rinse the chickpeas and then pat them dry. You really want the chickpeas to be as dry as you can get them.
Onion: You’re going to grate the onion to get the sharp flavor of the onion to really, fully integrate into the falafel dough mixture. YUM.
Garlic: Fresh garlic is a must!
Herbs: Parsley & cilantro. If you hate cilantro, it’s OK to skip it. Just double up on the parsley.
Spices: Cayenne, cumin and salt are all we’re using here. Cumin is a classic Middle Eastern spice and it really shines here.
Baking powder.
Flour.
How To Make Falafel, Step By Step
Grate the onion. You could use a box grater for this, but we like to use our food processor — you’re going to use it for the falafel dough anyway, so you have to lug it out anyway. Might as well make it earn its keep! Once the onion is grated, put it in a kitchen towel and squeeze out all the liquid that you can. You can put the onion pulp back in the food processor now.
Rinse the canned chickpeas. Lay them out on a towel and dry them off as much as you can.
Combine the chickpeas, garlic and herbs in a food processor and pulse it a few times to mix it all together and chop it a bit. You don’t quite want a paste, just a fine chop. Then dump that falafel mixture into a bowl
Stir in the baking powder, flour and spices to finish the falafel dough.
Use your hands to shape falafel patties. You can eyeball them or measure them out — usually it's about two tablespoons of falafel mixture per patty.
Fry the falafel! Put that deep-frying thermometer to work! Carefully fry the patties in batches in 3” of oil, heated to 350°F on a thermometer. You’re just trying to get them nice and crispy, you don’t have to worry too much about reaching a particular internal temperature.
How To Serve Falafel
Falafel is often served as a sandwich, stuffed inside of pita bread, slathered with Hummus and topped with veggies. We also love to serve these falafel all on their own on a platter alongside a whole feast of other Middle Eastern dishes we love. Think a big bowlful of Lemon Rice, a creamy, cool Cucumber Salad, plenty of Perfect Couscous, and Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower. And, whichever way you serve your falafel, be sure to serve plenty of tahini dip on the side.
How to Freeze Falafel + Why We Love This Recipe
Falafel leftovers should be refrigerated and eaten within four days.
We love to use canned chickpeas for our easy falafel recipe because they are just so fast and easy, but if you want to step up your falafel game, try making them with dried chickpeas. You’ll need to soak them overnight, so just plan ahead.
How to freeze falafel: Falafel can be frozen before you fry them, or after. If you freeze them before frying, partially thaw them before cooking.
Falafel can be cooked immediately, but if the falafel dough falls apart in the fryer, try popping it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
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