Raise your hand if you love falafel! I’ve gone back into the archives to highlight my all-time favorite homemade falafel recipe. Making falafel at home can be tricky, but this recipe is easy.
Six reasons to love this healthy falafel recipe:
- These falafels are golden brown and crispy on the outside. The insides are tender, delicious, and full of fresh herbs.
- They’re baked instead of fried, so they contain significantly less fat than fried falafel. And your house won’t smell like fried food for days. Winning!
- Once your chickpeas are sufficiently soaked, the falafel mixture comes together in no time. If you have someone to help shape the patties, they’ll come together even faster.
- These falafels are gluten free and vegan, so they’re a great party appetizer.
- These falafels freeze well, so they’re a fantastic protein-rich option to keep on hand for future salads and pita sandwiches.
- On that note, this recipe is easily doubled! See recipe notes.
Are you convinced yet? Let’s make some falafel!
How to Make the Best Homemade Falafel
Bake it, don’t fry it. I say this because frying requires a lot of sizzling hot oil, and that scares me. I also don’t have a good vent over my oven to take the fried food smell far, far away. Plus, you can use a reasonably amount of heart-healthy olive oil in the baked version.
Coat your rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. That way, you get a fried effect in the oven, and you don’t have to brush the little falafels individually with olive oil. Winning!
Use dried chickpeas, not canned. Canned chickpeas do not work for falafel. They’re far too wet. If you try to use canned chickpeas instead of dried and soaked chickpeas, you’ll end up with sad falafel pancakes. Some recipes try to counteract the wetness by adding flour, which significantly dulls the flavor and makes the texture more doughy.
Soak the dried chickpeas for at least four hours. If your chickpeas aren’t sufficiently softened, you’ll have unpalatably tough pieces of chickpea in your falafel. There’s just no workaround here.
Choose your dried chickpeas wisely. Try to buy your dried chickpeas from a store with high turnover, because old chickpeas need longer to soften. If you have options, pick the chickpeas that are the smallest, since they’ll soften faster.
Watch How to Make Crispy Falafel
Falafel Serving Suggestions
Serve falafel as an appetizer, wrap it into a pita sandwich, or add it to salad for a protein-rich topping. Falafel goes great with any of the following ingredients:
- Pita bread, warmed or toasted (tear it up for pita “croutons”)
- Fresh greens (such as spring greens or chopped romaine)
- Tomatoes, sliced
- Bell peppers, cut into strips
- Cucumber, thinly sliced
- Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- Raw red onion, thinly sliced, or quick-pickled onions
- Feta cheese, crumbled
- Sauce: Something creamy like tzatziki, hummus, or tahini sauce, and maybe a spicy sauce like zhoug or shatta, too
Here’s a tahini dressing recipe that goes great with this falafel, too:
- 1/4 cup tahini
- Zest and juice of 1 small lemon
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- Pinch of cayenne
- 1/3 cup water
In a small food processor, combine all of the ingredients and blend well. You can also whisk the ingredients together by hand in a small bowl, just note that you’ll need to chop the fresh herbs and zest more finely than you would if you were using a food processor.
Please let me know how you like these falafel in the comments! I hope you love them as much as I do. ♥
Crispy Falafel
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes (plus 4-hour soaking time)
- Yield: 12 falafels 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
This homemade falafel recipe is absolutely delicious, and remarkably crispy! Be sure to allow 4 hours soaking time for the chickpeas, preferably overnight. Then, the falafel mixture is super easy to make in a food processor. Recipe yields 12 to 13 falafels (see notes on how to double).
Ingredients
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup dried (uncooked/raw) chickpeas, rinsed, picked over and soaked for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator
- ½ cup roughly chopped red onion (about ½ small red onion)
- ½ cup packed fresh parsley (mostly leaves but small stems are ok)
- ½ cup packed fresh cilantro (mostly leaves but small stems are ok)
- 4 cloves garlic, quartered
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon (about 25 twists) freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- With an oven rack in the middle position, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour ¼ cup of the olive oil into a large, rimmed baking sheet and turn until the pan is evenly coated.
- In a food processor, combine the soaked and drained chickpeas, onion, parsley, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Process until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Using your hands, scoop out about 2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time. Shape the falafel into small patties, about 2 inches wide and ½ inch thick. Place each falafel on your oiled pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, carefully flipping the falafels halfway through baking, until the falafels are deeply golden on both sides. These falafels keep well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for several months.
Notes
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.
Make-ahead option: I haven’t tried this, but the original recipe notes that the uncooked falafel patties can be refrigerated on a parchment-lined baking sheet, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 hours before baking.
How to double this recipe: Preheat the oven with two oven racks near the center of the oven. Double all of the ingredients. If you have a large food processor (guessing 11+ cup capacity), you can mix all of the ingredients at once. Use two baking sheets, and swap their positions (top to bottom, bottom to top) when you flip the falafel halfway through baking.
Recommended equipment: I love my 11-cup food processor (affiliate link).
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Genoa
This was so good! I made this recipe exactly as written to serve 4 young children (age 4 – 8). Each child liked it and ate their whole serving. I also loved my serving. Next time I will definitely double this (in two batches – my food processor is not large enough to do in one batch). Only thing I might do differently is to use a little bit less salt because it was a tiny bit salty for my taste. Perhaps the salt I’m using is saltier than what you used? Anyway I give this 5 stars. Very happy to have this recipe. Very easy and delicious.
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Genoa! Thank you for sharing. If you find it too salty, you can adjust to your taste. I appreciate your feedback!
Elizabeth
I made this today for the first time and it was delicious! I left out the cilantro just as a personal preference and it was still so flavorful. I will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Anna
This was quite possibly the best falafel I’ve ever had, so often at restaurants it is so crunchy on the outside that it hurts to even bite into and just tastes like the oil they fried it in. I loved the hint of cinnamon and even though I was worried they were too moist as I was forming the patties (when I would squeeze them I felt like I could squeeze out some liquid) they crisped up nicely and really held their shape the whole time. I soaked them form about 20 hours in the fridge, they still felt pretty hard when I’d squeeze them but the processor made quick work of the whole thing!
I put a few on a bed of lettuce with some other veggies from the garden, feta, and my favorite store-bought salad dressing (Garlic Expressions). Made for a delicious and healthy dinner!
Donna
I am excited to try this recipe! Any suggestions for cooking in an air fryer (which is new to me)?
Nicole
I live on a small island where dried chickpeas aren’t readily available, will canned work?
Kate
Hi Nicole! These are meant for dried chickpeas, they won’t work well with canned. Sorry!
JP
This overall recipe worked fine with precooked chickpeas (I presoaked and then cooked my chickpeas in an Instapot), I just mushed and mixed it up to taste (added some lemon juice and coriander as I didn’t have a ton of cilantro from my garden) and then added some besan (chickpea) flour to dry it up a bit. I cooked it much longer, too, around 20 minutes one side, then other (my patties were more like 3/4 inch thick.)
They came out fantastic.
BTW, I’ve done falfael with just chickpea-fava flour (per Bob’s Red Mill instructions), also falfael with besan flour alone, and this, with cooked chickpeas and raw flour mixed together, was way better.
Nicole, if you can’t find dried chickpeas to be delivered/ordered in bulk, there are some falfael recipes that suggest mixing flour (not chickpea flour necessarily) with drained canned chickpeas. Go ahead and try this recipe and be sure to bake until the patties are nice reddish-toasted top and bottom.
Karen
Can you cook these in an air fryer?
Kate
Hi Karen! I don’t have too much experience with an air fryer. This one was specifically designed for the oven so I’m not sure.
JJ
WOW this was easy and terrific. I have had successes with so many of your recipes I always look for Cookie + Kate first. Another winner for the permanent rotation.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, JJ! I’m happy you were able to enjoy this one and it will now be in your rotation.
Jennifer
These are my favourite baked falafels! So crispy and tasty. Super easy to make and a great protein option for my salads. Thank you!
★★★★★
Mark S
There is only one word for these. AWESOME. Will be making more, often. A few tweaks to ingredient amounts but that is only for my preferences, Make this recipe exactly as printed the first time. You’ll be back for more.
★★★★★
Marion Jacobson
I’ve been making falafel for decades and this is by far the best recipe I’ve come across, in terms of flavor and texture. I’m a very bad girl, so I pan fried, instead of baked, because to me falafel should always fry.
The mix was a bit bland for my taste so I doubled the garlic and salt. I left out the cinammon which I find just weird for this dish. So, the salty, garlicky result was excellent: my teenager who spurned falafel in the past gobbled up as many of these as she could stuff in a pita.
Leftover make great breakfast food with fried egg and tomato on the side.
★★★★
Harsimran Kaur
I completely followed your recipe but mine falafel mixture is watery..why this happened
Kris
This was delicious and easy to make. It was super crispy on the outside and is one of the best falafels I’ve ever eaten!
★★★★★
Katia
Delicious!!! I just made them and I know this recipe will become a staple in our house! Very easy to make! Thank you very much, Kate!
★★★★★
Jessica Shea
Hi! I’ve made this recipe a few times and its perfect for a quick meal. I froze some the other day because I didn’t want them to spoil. Suggestions on best way to defrost?
Kate
Hi Jessica! I would let them set in the refrigerator to thaw.
Rachel
This is my go to recipe for felafel! I love it. Now I want to make a large batch to freeze. Should I form the patties but freeze them without baking? Or should. bake them and then freeze them once cooked?
Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Rachel! I’m excited you love these. I would bake, then freeze. Thank you for your review!
Sarah
I don’t have a food processor, do you think a blender could work?!
Kate
Hi Sarah! That should work too. Let me know what you think!
Lisa
This was so perfect! Who knew all of these years I had been making falafel the wrong way!? I loved using the oven, that was so much easier, and made the house smell amazing. I will be making again.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved this recipe, Lisa! Thank you for sharing.
Lucy
I’m so happy that I found this recipe, thanks for sharing!
I found the processor a bit of a faff to use so I used the handheld stick blender instead and that saved me so much time.
My friends and I absolutely loved these falafels and this may have to become my go-to recipe when trying to impress people.
I’m going to have to see what other recipes you’ve got after how well this one worked out!
★★★★★
Bel
Hands down the best falafel I’ve ever had. Everyone loved it at my ladies lunch and it is definitely going into my weekly rotation!! Thanks for the amazing recipe :)
★★★★★
Apryl
Hi!
Do the chickpeas have to be “de-skinned” after soaking?
Thanks!
Kate
Hi! No, they don’t. I hope you love it!
Nancy
Thank you for this recipe! The taste is authentic and reminds me of what I had in the middle east. I made vegan tzatziki and pickled red onions to go along with cucumber slices and tomatoes wrapped in warm pita bread. This is going to be a regular in my new vegan way of eating. Yum!!!
★★★★★
Sarah K
Why are my chickpeas still hard after 24 hours soaking?
Kate
Hi Sarah, Are they plump at all? I wonder if they are really old as I know that can vary results.
Sarah K
Plump after soaking? Yes
I bought them bulk at Sprouts so assume they are fresh
So I ended up cooking them for an hour after soaking with Somewhat better results
They were a bit dry and fell apart when cooking but I just had crumbled falafel in my wrap with hummus, takitki and onion. Tasty still. But I may just order out falafel next time. The effort didn’t seem worth it. Thanks for the motivation to try making these. Love your recipes! And I’m always looking for adventure in cooking and baking
Susan Cuthbert
I enjoyed the flavour of these but they were so crumbly I couldn’t turn them without them falling apart. No one else has that complaint – what could I do to bind them together?
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that, Susan! How long did you soak your chickpeas?
Whitney
I loved the flavor! I soaked chickpeas overnight, but then cooked on the stove as they were still hard. My mixture wasn’t quite coming together in the food processor so I ended up adding a little extra oil. I used a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop and flattened a bit. I baked in 2 separate pans on different racks. The top pan pieces fell apart when I flipped; bottom pan from middle rack was great. These were so delicious, I will make them again and bake in separate batches and a touch longer based on my oven. Fantastic flavor!
★★★★★
Susan Cuthbert
Thanks for your reply, Kate. My chickpeas (actually they were ‘yellow peas’ from the Polish shop – but pretty similar) had a long soak. I boiled them up so they were part-cooked, which I would have thought would make them less crumbly but maybe it was the opposite? Delicious flavour though!
Michaela M.
Best homemade falafel I’ve tried! The tzatziki is great too. Both are the perfect mix of surprisingly light and refreshing but still yummy and filling. Thanks Kate!
★★★★★