Homemade falafel with overnight soaked chickpeas, tons of fresh herbs, warm spices, and aromatics. This homemade falafel recipe has instructions for frying, baking, and air frying. Whichever preparation you choose, these fluffy moist falafel’s are the perfect meatless meal.

Chickpeas

To make a successful falafel, you need to use dry chickpeas. I am very stubborn and tried to make canned chickpeas work… but it isn’t happening. The night before you plan to make the falafel, add the dry chickpeas in and fill the bowl with water. You want about 1 ½-2 inches of water above the chickpeas. Allow to soak for 24 hours, or minimum 12 hours.

Falafel produce

When enjoying falafel at a restaurant, do you ever notice sometimes it’s color is very green versus a chickpea tan color? That is due to the amount of fresh herbs used in the falafel mix. I prefer to use a lot of herbs, so my falafel will naturally come out more green. The herbs I use are parsley and cilantro.

Falafel mixture

1. After the chickpeas are finished soaking, I dump them onto a towel to absorb excess moisture. Then add them to the food processor.
2. Add in the herbs, red onion, garlic cloves, lemon zest, and spices. The spices I use are: ground cumin, ground corriander, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper.
3. Pulse until all the ingredients are chopped and resemble a coarse meal. Do not blend on high, or it will become too runny.

Once the falafel mix is created, dump into a bowl. I add chickpea flour to help the falafel stay together when frying and it also allows it to stay gluten free. I also add baking powder, which helps keep the falafel from drying out, they stay fluffy and moist. Using a spatula, mix until absorbed. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes, this will help the falafel stay together when forming.

Forming falafel

1. Falafel’s are very delicate, you can’t just roll it into a ball like cookie dough. I use a cookie scoop to keep them uniform in size and scoop a heaping spoon.
2. Using both hands, gently begin pressing and forming into a ball. You will figure out the right amount of pressure, because if you press too hard they will crumble.

If you are being extremely gentle and they are still falling apart, add another tbsp of chickpea flour. If the chickpeas weren’t dry enough prior to blending, they can contribute too much moisture. Repeat until all falafel’s are formed.

Cooking falafel

Traditionally falafel is fried, to get that golden brown crunchy exterior. I used peanut oil to fry mine and make sure your oil is to temperature at 360 F degrees, or they will fall apart and be overly greasy. Fry in batches, if you overcrowd they will not brown evenly on all sides. Fry for about 2 minutes, until the outside is golden brown and drain on a paper towel.

Baking and air frying

If you don’t want to fry the falafel you can bake or air fry them.

• To bake falafel: preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
• To air fry falafel: Preheat air fryer to 390 degrees F and air fry for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
• Both baking and frying the falafel will result in a lighter colored falafel on the outside.

How to eat falafel

The best part about falafel is all the ways you can enjoy them. You can stuff them into pitas, serve over rice, over a bed of lettuce, there are so many ways to enjoy them. Toppings/ accompaniments are so important as well.

Falafel accompaniments

Some of my favorite accompaniments to falafel are: pickled red onions, kalamata olives, hummus, feta cheese, cucumbers, and tahini sauce.

Tahini sauce

For the tahini sauce you need: ½ cup tahini paste, 1 garlic clove, ¼ cup lemon juice, and ¼ cup parsley leaves. Blend all the ingredients and you can thin with a few tbsp of water if needed. You can also use store bought.

Storing and reheating falafel

Store cooked falafel in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. When reheating falafel, you want to cook them fast or they will dry out. Microwave isn’t recommended or they will just be soggy. You can pan fry them with a little oil on each side over medium/high heat, and even slice them in half to ensure it gets fully warmed through. You can bake them in an oven at 400F for 5-7 minutes on foil, use a toaster oven, or an air fryer.

Looking for other vegetarian recipes?

• Air fried avocado fries
• Mushroom risotto
• Crispy eggplant caprese stack
• Greek orzo pasta salad
• Grilled corn and halloumi salad

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