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. 
Paula
Kate, can you use a Silpat mat instead of the olive oil? We are trying to eliminate as much oil from our diet as possible.
BTW, I’ve tried several of your recipes and they were wonderful!
Kate
Hi Paula, you could try it. I’m doubtful they would be as crispy, but they should still be nice. I would not omit the oil that goes in with the chickpeas, or they might not be crispy at all.
Sam
Will this recipe work with canned beans?
Kate
You need dried beans for this recipe.
Karen T
Hi Kate!
This recipe #2 I’ve completed from your blog. It was another victory for me! I absolutely love falafel but like you the whole frying thing does not appeal to me. So when I ran across your recipe I couldn’t wait to try it, especially since my last takeout falafel was terrible.
So I grabbed all the ingredients and gave it a shot. I prepared the recipe exactly as written. I used store brand, year old chickpeas. I couldn’t find any fresh chickpeas in the store. I gave them a 24 hour soak and went for it!! It came together beautifully!!! They are crispy on the outside tender on the inside!!! Falafel perfection!!! Ive just put more beans to soak and preparing another batch to freeze!!! Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Christine Pound
I’ve made this recipe a few times and we really like it. I find the falafels have a difficult time sticking together in a patty shape when I take it out of the food processor before cooking. Any tips? What am I doing wrong?
Thanks@
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Christine! Glad to hear it. Sounds like your falafels aren’t quite moist enough. Are you processing the mixture long enough to sufficiently break apart the chickpeas? The herbs are to be packed, too—not enough could mean that you’re missing a little moisture there.
Foster.Magical
Carefully observe the winners, don’t always pay attention to the losers
★★★★★
Julia
These are awesome! A new family favourite
★★★★★
rachael
thanks for this great recipe! I made these, the tahini sauce, and your tabbouleh recipe as well, all 3 are really good! had to make a few substitutions, just based on what’s in stock at my grocery store right now, but they still turned out great :) I’m so stoked to have really good mediterranean lunches for the whole week!
★★★★★
Kamilia
I followed this recipe exactly, and the falafels turned out perfect. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Full of aroma and freshness from the herbs, and so healthy as it’s not fried!
★★★★★
Nina
Delicious! It’s become a regular, but we always leave the cinnamon out. Pair with some homemade naan, and C+K hummus
Mary
Do you preheat your sheet pan with the olive oil before baking the patties? I’m afriad they would absorb the oil if it was not hot when they go into the oven. Thanks!!
Kate
Hi Mary! I haven’t found preheating the pan to be necessary. Hope you love the end result!
Annie
Hi there! My chickpeas have been soaking for about 15 hours and they are still too crunchy. Do I need to boil them to soften up before adding into the recipe or are they suppose to be somewhat hard still? Thanks!
Kate
Hi there! Sorry to hear it. You could try boiling them briefly. I’m afraid that if the chickpeas were very old/dried out (sometimes hard to know since you don’t know how long they were sitting at the store), they may never sufficiently soften. One of the few downsides of cooking with beans, unfortunately.
JessM
WAY too salty. Such a bummer.
★
Jenessa
I love the taste of this recipe so I keep making it. I have made it 4-5 times, but it never turns out quite right. They don’t stay in patties so we eat falafel “rice” Any suggestions? This is my first time working with soaked beans. I soak them for 24 hours, but they still seem a bit tough. Would this explain them not sticking into patties? Any help would be great. I want so badly for it to work!
★★★★
Kate
Hi Jenessa! I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had a perfect result. Do you processes them until basically smooth in your food processor? I do know chickpeas can vary even after soaking. But, soaking 24 hours should do the trick.
Jill
Just made these they were so easy and tasted brilliant will never buy pre made again. Love Cookie and Kate site my go to for new recipes they are always consistently good thank you so much
oran aviv
I have tried to make falafel so many times, only to find the balls totally fallen apart in globs of oil. This was the first time I succeeded. They tasted great (even non-vegan complaining son finished them off.) and I’m so happy to eat less fat and have less grease to clean up!
I was not able to form the balls with my hands – but I used a trick from another recipe. I covered a 1/4 cup measuring spoon with Saran (Plastic) wrap and for each falafel patted down the mixture and then flipped it onto the cookie tray – which I lined with wax paper. I gently pressed each falafel down with a fork. It worked perfectly.
Thanks so much for this one. I made them together with your humus recipe for Israel’s Independence day celebration – of course inside picnic celebration this year.
★★★★★
Mary
Amazing recipe. One of the best falafels we never had. I will make it again for sure.
★★★★★
Meredith
Exactly as promised! I will never make falafel from a mix again. They came together easily and baking them was a breeze. The family loved them, too. This is in the rotation!
★★★★★
Krishna
Do the chickpeas have to be boiled after soaking or directly food processed ?
Kate
Directly processed, Krishna.
Sara Posada
I love falafel, and I grew up eating it at Falafel’s Drive In located in San Jose, California. This place is absolutely delicious and was even on Food Network’s Dinners Drive-Ins and Dives, so I was a little bit worried that homemade baked falafel would not live up to what I was used to. Well, this recipe blew me and my family away. The falafel are crispy, flavorful, and go perfectly with cookie and kate’s tahini sauce. We all loved this recipe and will definitely be making it over and over again.
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful to hear, Sara! Thanks so much for sharing.
Danielle Weisz
A little too salty and cinnamony! Thanks for sharing though.
★★★
Tessa
Absolutely love this recipe, it turns out perfect every time! I don’t have a food processor so I used my Nutribullet and it worked great. Served them with salad and tahini sauce and it was delish! I love the flavor the cumin and cinnamon add, you definitely need to make these!!
★★★★★
Lisa
First time ever using dry beans and they turned out wonderfully!! Even picky-ish husband ate them up!
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful, Lisa!
Laura
I made this today and OMG it was delicious! I’ve never really cooked this type of cuisine before, only ever eaten out but I recently stopped eating meat and thought I’d try something new. I was a little apprehensive once I’d blended everything together as it was still ‘sticky’ – not wet, but fairly moist. I was convinced they would end up
Like sad pancakes but how wrong was I! I followed the recipe to a T, using slightly less garlic and it was so good. I also made homemade tahini yogurt and served in a whole west tortilla with fresh mixed leaves, fried peppers, halloumi, fresh red chilli (I like heat!) and topped with fresh parsley and coriander. I wish I could upload pix to show you! I’ve tagged you on insta!
★★★★★
Nonna Donna
I am anxious to try these. Because of the stay at home orders from my 2 children I have to shop via order-on-line and curbside pick up. So, I don’t know if I can get the dried (uncooked/raw) chickpeas. Will canned chickpeas work if I rinse them?
Kate
Hi Donna, you really want to use dried for this. Sorry!
Nonna Donna
I was pretty sure I had to use dried garbanzos. Good news is I did find them when I was placing my online grocery order. YAH ! Plan on making a double batch to have them in the freezer. Always good to cook once and eat 2-3-4+ times.
Thank you for your quick response.
Nonna Donna
Well Kate, I made my first time Crispy Falafel. I think they came out great. Followed the recipe exactly except for one item. My hubby doesn’t like cilantro. So, I doubled the parsley. Your recipe says it yields 12 falafels. I ended up with 26. I thought I might be making them too small so I took out my ruler. No they were 2″ X 1/2″ thick.
I did over cook the first batch ~ 12 min of either side was to long. The second batch I did 10 min + 6 on the second side. They were much better. I did cover my baking sheet with foil. Do you think that might have made a difference in the baking time? Thank you again for this wonderful recipe. I try to make a meatless dinner at least once a week, and because I’m of Lebanese descent this caught my eye.
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! Thank you for sharing. The foil for sure mattered, but it could also be how hot your oven cooks as they do vary. But I’m happy you found a solution that works for you!
debi okner
About to try this recipe. Just got my dry beans delivered this a.m. Will soaking for 8 hours be enough? Most of the comments I’ve read say they soaked for 24hours.thanks for the help . I have great success with your recipes.
Debi
Kate
Hi Debi! Since you’re using fresh dry beans, I think 8 hours will be enough! You can always go longer to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, sometimes beans that have been sitting on the shelf for a long time are so dried out that no amount of soaking will sufficiently soften them.
Debi
Thanks for yr speedy reply
Going to make this tonight!
Mandy
I was so nervous to make this, because I am a novice in the kitchen, but these were so easy and AMAZING! Better than any falafel I would order from a restaurant. Even my boyfriend loved them, and he is not the healthiest eater. I used a blender instead of a food processor (I don’t own one) and while I was nervous about that, I think it came out just fine. I used slightly more olive oil to help things blend more. This will be a mainstay in my house!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved them, Mandy! Thank you for sharing.
Karen
Just curious, why don’t the canned chickpeas work in this recipe? I do not have dried chickpeas on hand, so I haven’t made these yet.
Kate
Hi Karen! Fully cooked chickpeas contain too much moisture. To make them work, we’d have to add something unconventional (like flour) to absorb the excess moisture—but flour dilutes the flavor and makes the texture sort of gummy. This recipe produces an authentic falafel texture and flavor, so it’s really worth the effort.
Karen B
Thanks for responding. I did find raw chickpeas, and the recipe turned out fantastic! I have liked everything I’ve made from your blog, especially Easy Red Sangria, so it shouldn’t surprise me :-).
★★★★★
GWilliams
I don’t have dried chickpeas but I have garbanzo bean flour. Can I substitute? if so, how much? Thank you!
Kate
Hi! Unfortunately, you need the actual chickpeas for this recipe.
Lauren Ritchie
I used “living” chickpeas this time instead of soaking dried ones and the falafels came out really watery. Do you have any advise next time. Should I use more chickpeas , should I use more parsley and cilantro? I like the living ones as they are easier. Curious if you have any thoughts
Kate
Hi Lauren! Were your chickpeas canned? I’m not familiar with “living” chickpeas but I assume they’ve been sprouted. This recipe really hinges upon soaking dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas absolutely do not work.
Vicky
I’ve made this recipe twice. With a bit of advance planning, it’s very easy. The first time I was skeptical about the patties holding together but once they start baking, they keep their shape and are easy to flip. I love falafel and I like that there is no deep frying involved. Oh, and did I mention, they’re delicious?
★★★★★
Kate
I’m so excited to hear that, Vicky! Thank you for making my falafels.
Barbara Gross
This is the best recipe for falafels out there. I have a overflow of cilantro so I didn’t use parsley this time. They came out as good as any other time I have made them. Your sauce is so simple and delicious, it will be making it from now on every time I make them from now on. I also added your Zhoug cilantro sauce and love it with the falafels. Thanks so much for sharing.
★★★★★
nil
A tip if you also had trouble with making the falafels stick; you can add a bit of chickpea flour so they will hold their shapes and you won’t loose the flavor since the main base is chickpeas as well. Love this recipe BTW.
★★★★★
Mary Kearney
Good morning, I’m really looking forward to making this recipe. I put my dried chickpeas to soak last night to make them tonight but as it turns out, I have to wait until tomorrow night. Will the chickpeas still be ok to use if they’re soaking for nearly 48 hours? Or should I drain and refrigerate them until tomorrow’s dinner time? Thanks!
Kate
Hi Mary! That’s a good question. Certainly not soaking long enough can be problematic. I think soaking for 48 hours is ok (as long as they’ve been in the refrigerator!), but I haven’t tried to be sure. I think it’s been about 36 hours at this point, so if they’re still soaking, perhaps rinse and drain and refrigerate just to keep them more in line with the recipe. Hope your falafels turn out great!
Cindy
These were delicious! Best falafel recipe I’ve tried and simple to make. You do need to purée them for a while in order to get them to form into patties that don’t fall apart, but the food processor does most of the work. Will definitely be making these again!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Cindy!
Jenn
Hi Kate! Love your recipes and so excited to try these! I forgot to measure my chickpeas before I soaked them (Oops, I just soaked the whole bag!) … Do you know how many cups of soaked chickpeas would be equivalent to the 1 cup of dried?
Thanks!!
Kate
Hi Jen! You could sure make a lot of falafel. :) Did the bag weigh one pound (16 ounces)? I’m not sure how much the chickpeas expand on average. I have in my notes that one 16 ounces dried chickpeas measures 2 1/3 cups, so I’d use just a bit less than half of the chickpeas to equal the original 1 cup. Hope that helps!
Jenn
And, I will!! They were so delicious I am making a second batch today with the other half of the chickpeas. My one pound bag yielded exactly 5 cups, so I used 2 1/2 of the soaked chickpeas – they were perfect!
★★★★★
Kaelyn
Second time I’ve made these and WOW! Soooo delicious. The flavours are amazing and I love the texture. Thanks so much for the great recipe. I will definitely be making these again :)
★★★★★
Linda Schwartz
I made this tonight! The next time I make it, I’m going to put the oiled baking sheet in the oven to heat before I put the falafel on it. That way they don’t absorb the oil when you first set them on the baking sheet.
★★★★
Carly
Hands down my favorite homemade falafel recipe that I’ve ever tried! I’ve made it three times now – each time added extra salt, garlic, cinnamon, and cumin and then served them with a greek salad! They reheat really well in the toaster to keep that outside nice and crispy!
★★★★★
Carley
This recipe is great! I love the cinnamon. Baking 15 mins each side turned out perfect. My patties stayed together very nicely. Thank you!
★★★★★
Tabatha Frank
Made this recipe tonight! Amazing and tasty!
★★★★★
Lauren
I’m so excited to make these tomorrow night! I started soaking the chickpeas around 2 pm today and will start assembling around 4:30 pm tomorrow, so just over 24 hours of soaking. How soft should the chickpeas be? I just checked on them and they are still quite firm (it’s only been 5 hours so still a long way to go but just want to confirm I know what to look for!)
Kate
Hey Lauren! About 24 hours of soaking should be good as long as your chickpeas aren’t very old (in which case, there’s no saving them). Hope yours turned out great. It’s ok if they’re still pretty firm before blending. I’m going to remake this recipe soon to offer cues for when they’re ready.
derin
Hello first of all thanks for the recipe!
I was wondering if i could use soaked and cooked chickpeas instead of just soaked chickpeas?
Kate
Hi! You want soaked here as they will cook in the oven and that helps the patties form. Sorry!
Liz
I just made these tonight and we like them much better than another recipe I’ve tried. I’d like to make another batch for the freezer. When we’re ready to bake those, should I put the frozen patties on the oiled pan? Or defrost them first?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! I would suggest making these all the way through, then freezing them. I’m not sure how the unbaked would hold up in the freezer then bake.
Liz
Too late! I froze the unbaked falafel before I saw your reply! I froze them in a single layer, then transferred them to a container when they were solid. When I took them out for another dinner a week or so later, they turned out really great! I couldn’t tell the difference. I put them on the oiled pan frozen and they went straight into the oven. Delicious!
Christine Tyrell
I’m worried about not cooking the chickpeas ahead of time? I’ve made falafel before but have always cooked my chickpeas. Is this correct?
Kate
Hi! Yes, they cook when the patties are in the oven. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Pre
Just tried falafel recipe today…they did not bind and broke while flipping half way in the oven. Doesn’t taste good either. I did not like the recipe.
Greg Preston
Took two attempts. First one failed because the chick peas were still hard in the center and didn’t whiz-up properly. They were tooth breaking hard in the falafel patties. And, of course, the patties didn’t hold together at all.
Letting the remainder of the bag of chick peas soak overnight, and firing up the 3D printer to produce a mold ring 2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch high produced the perfect patty! These are delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Dianna
So…I don’t know what went wrong but my falafel would NOT stick together to make patties even though the mixture seemed thick enough. Not to fear though! I spread the mixture thinly on an cookie sheet and baked until lightly golden brown (mixing a few times as it cooked). I ended up with a crumbly mixture that tasted perfect! I might do this each time because it was quicker! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Meera
Kate,
I made these for dinner last night and they were a huge hit! The taste and texture of the falafel were spot on. I served them in a wrap, with Israeli salad, a green sauce and lettuce. The only problem I had was when I took them out of the oven to flip half way through, they had stuck to the pan. I had put tin foil on the pan before putting the oil on in attempts to make clean up easier. Would that have made a difference? After I unstuck them, I ended up cooking them by panfrying them on the stove. Will definitely make these again… do you think I need to skip the foil?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Meera! Yes, I do believe the foil caused the problem. I’d skip that next time.
Albert Cali
I’m just checking to be sure that I understand this aspect of the chickpeas used in this recipe.
They are soaked but never have to be cooked? Sounds counterintuitive, but if that is what you say, I am willing to give it a shot.
Kate
Hi! They cook while in the oven after you make the patties. I hope that helps!
Mary
Hi, I just made the falafels according to the recipe and they don’t keep together all fell apart. Have to say waste of ingredients and time.
Nolan
Great recipe!! Just a little too salty for my taste. Next time I will try 1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
★★★★★
angie
Great recipe. Thanks! I find freezing the patties can take a lot of room and they fall apart more easily. So, I freeze the “falafel dough” in yogurt containers, which I will defrost, shape, and bake at a later date. Yum!
★★★★★
Beth
Hi Kate,
I have tried many recipes and love them all! What should the consistency be on the soaked beans? I’ve soaked mine for 24 hours. They are not tooth breaking hard, but a little firm on the inside. I read your comments about bad beans, but I’m wondering how “soft” they are supposed to be (same soft as canned beans)?
Kate
Hi Beth! They won’t be like the canned beans, but firmness is ok. If you soaked them for 24 hours, you should be ok. Just make sure to process per the instructions. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Beth
Thanks so much. They are the consistency of a peanut. Is that how it should be?
Kate
They should be a little tender(at least on the outside), not quite as hard as a peanut. Sorry for my delay. How did it end up for you?
Beth
I ended up boiling them for a minute, and it worked well! I also made your Tahini recipe, and it was fantastic!
★★★★
Jamie
I have been searching for months for the best baked falafel recipe, wasting ingredients too many times, and I am so happy to say THIS IS IT!!!! Even my picky 6 year old likes them!! I do agree with them being a little on the salty side (I will just put less salt next time) but my husband loves them just the way they are!
★★★★★
Michelle
I have made this before, exactly as the recipe directed and it is so good!! I do have a question though. I used up all of my dried chickpeas, but my hubby brought home chickpea flour. Can I use that in place and if so, about how much? I can’t wait to have these again!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Michelle! This recipe is designed for chickpeas and not flour. I’m not sure it would work without testing the ratios, sorry!
Jeff McGeorge
No flour in your recipe – they fall apart
★★
Kristal
The cumin was a little too strong for my liking and the falafels were rather wet to work with. I ended up adding some flour to help make the falafel more moldable. Not my favorite falafel recipe.
★★
Rhonda
So good! We enjoyed them and I will be making more to share.
Thank you!
★★★★★
Yasi
Made these this morning… in a blender no less! So they were a little chunky haha :D But absolutely smashingly delicious. Thanks for a great recipe !
K G Ramsey
Great recipe
Many a thanks
Jenna
The best!!!!
★★★★★
Mae
I love this recipe! I have made these falafels many times and they always turn out great. My meat-loving husband even adores them. I usually serve them in a whole-grain pita, with homemade Taziki, tomatoes, and spinach.
★★★★★
Melissa
I did not have high hopes for this recipe tbh. I don’t have a food processor and I didn’t have cilantro! Here’s what I did in case anyone finds themselves as unprepared as myself:
– I used twice as much fresh parsley to sub out the cilantro
– I put the parsley plus the onion, garlic, and spices in a blender with a bit of water until it was smooth.
– I mashed the chickpeas (soaked from dry) with my mortal and pestle to get a dry paste with some larger pieces of chickpeas in it.
– Mixed everything together and found that the mix was too wet (most likely because of the water from the blender).
– I added about a tablespoon of flour and cornstarch to dry it a tad
The mixture was still (what I thought to be) too wet, but I put it in the oven anyway. Baked one side for 20 and then the other for 10 and they came out so good!! I was so worried that because I had used the blender that they would be soggy or have a strange texture but this was one of the best baked falafel recipes I’ve ever came across.
And I’m adding a food processor to my wishlist haha
★★★★★
Jennifer Edwards
I have made these multiple times with canned chickpeas and they always turn out great.
★★★★
RosieRocks
Thank you for this fantastic recipe – these are the best falafel I’ve ever made!
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! Thank you for letting me know you loved them, Rosie.
Bill McHale
Hi, Okay, been struggling with my weight and diet for almost 30 years… Previously have had success with low carb diets.. but in the end have never been able to stick with them… so I decided to try the Mediterranean diet.. part of which means trying to do a few meatless/fishless meals a week. So I decided to try falafel tonight. I have had falafel before, but either deep fried at a restaurant or a mix. Part of my resolve for the diet though is no preprocessed foods… so last night I soaked some chickpeas… and tonight followed your recipe. I am not a fan of cilantro (I am in that percentage for whom it tastes like soap) so I doubled up the Parsley… Anyway… Success. It really is barely harder to make than the mix, and yields a much nicer end product. I liked it, my wife really liked it and so did one of my kids and the others tolerated it… Needless to say, this will probably be going into our regular rotation.. and I will probably be searching your blog for other recipies. Thanks for posting this.
★★★★★
Andrew
These sound amazing and I cannot wait to try them! My one concern is the cinnamon- is that a common ingredient for falafel? Just curious.
Kate
Hi Andrew, Yes! I find it adds just the right amount to the overall flavor. I hope you try it!
Patty
Hi!
I soaked my driedchickpeas over night and today at 12 they are still hard. How do I know if they are ready to put in the food processor. I bought them at a local health food store.thank you
Patty
Bill McHale
I think the question is how hard they really are? Do you have any dried chickpeas left to compare them to? If they have grown to at least twice their original size, they are probably soft enough. You are not going for mushy here (and I don’t think you would get them mushy with just soaking anyway).
Samantha
Hi Kate! This was a great recipe overall – the flavor was absolutely amazing! Reminds me of my favorite falafel place in the city. A few questions though – my blender had a bit of trouble mixing it all, so I had to add extra olive oil and water to the mixture. This worked well and the patties were perfect, but they also came out a bit dry. Do you think the extra stuff contributed to that? The dryness I definitely notice more after refrigeration. Also, any tips on making the falafel still crispy after being refrigerated? I love the crispyness and wish it would stay! Do you think freezing the patties will take away any crispyness? I’ll be making this recipe again very soon – so thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Samantha! I’m glad you liked the flavor. Adding extra moisture wouldn’t have contributed to dryness, but you may have cooked them longer. Did you add more time with adding more liquid to your mix? To keep the crispy consistency, you could always warm in a skillet. Thanks for sharing! Freezing can take away some texture, but reheating in the oven or on the stove could help.
Seth
Definitely do not….DO NOT use canned beans like the recipe says You will be sad. This was so great and so yummy when you follow all of the steps.
★★★★★
Elisa
We just ran out of olive oil :’(. Any chance we could use avocado or grapeseed oil instead? I made this once before with olive oil and it was amazing!!! Thanks for sharing your recipes.
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Elisa! You could try avocado oil. Let me know how it goes!
Nicole
Absolutely delicious! I soaked my chickpeas for 24hrs, and followed the doubled recipe as listed. Paired with your Tzatziki sauce, and used the leftover chickpeas for the green goddess hummus. I highly recommend these falafels, and the other recipes mentioned. Thank you C+K!
★★★★★
Julia
Hi Kate, have you done this on a stove top before? I am looking to do this on a river trip and wondering if it would work without baking. Also, is there any part of this that could be premade/packaged? I know I’m asking a lot here, but love falafel and LOVE every recipe of yours and hoping to share it with friends on the river:-)
Kate
Hi Julia! Sorry, this is specific to bake to get it just right. I stovetop would require a different recipe. They do freeze well, so maybe you could try that. Let me know how turns out for you!
Matthew
I’ve now made this recipe twice. My fiancé can’t stand cilantro, so I substituted it with more parsley. The first time I used a little less parsley just in case it could become overpowering, but it came out lacking! So the second time I nearly doubled the amount from the first time and it came out perfectly. I also used your Creamy Tahini Dressing Recipe and ate it over a simple greens and veggie salad. The end result is one that I’ll be serving when we host our family and friends. Thanks for a lifelong recipe!
★★★★★
Colleen
The falafel did not turn out. Half of the patties flattened out. They are all tending to fall apart.
★
Kate
Hi Colleen, I’m sorry to hear that! I can understand your frustration. How long did you soak your chickpeas? Did you blend fine?
Mohan Rao Palaparthy
Good recipe thank you
Sahar
So good! I used a 1.5 T cookie scoop and just pressed it down onto the pan when I released it, then just squished it down with oiled fingers. It seemed to work more easily.
★★★★★
Mark
Greetings and thank you so very much for sharing..
one thing that might help is is you run the numbers ( calories/carbs/fats/sodium/fiber etc)
Just so the information about how healthy these can be will be plain..
Thank you !
★★★★★
Lyn
YUM! Made a batch last week. Loved it so much made another batch yesterday. I was craving them but didn’t have any cilantro or parsley and threw spinach in the processor instead. Maybe not so authentic but still very delicious. Made a hot and spicy chili sauce to go with it. Love your site. My go to when I need to expand my vegetarian dishes.
★★★★★