This Easy Falafel Recipe makes fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside fried chickpea balls. Made from a homemade dried chickpea mixture with fresh herbs, spices, and garlic. It’s a wonderful family friendly recipe for a healthy meatless meal!
Easy falafel recipe for vegetarian comfort food
Easy falafel recipe for vegetarian comfort foodWhenever I want to eat vegetarian, but don’t want to feel like I’m eating vegetarian, I make this falafel recipe. Even though it’s fried (in olive or avocado oil), it’s still overall a pretty healthy meal. Chickpeas are loaded with protein and fiber, plus lots of extras like B vitamins, iron, magnesium, folate, and phosphorus. Skip the pita and top a great big veggie salad with the falafel and a little tahini.
What is falafel?
Falafel is a chickpea fritter mixture made from dried chickpeas soaked overnight in water. The soaked chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) are ground together with fresh herbs and spices in a food processor until it’s a smooth mixture. Then it’s shaped into balls and fried in oil until ultra crispy on the outside, while staying moist and fluffy on the inside. Full of bold flavors of fresh garlic, cilantro, parsley, and cumin, these little chickpea patties are commonly known as a Middle Eastern street food or fast food. They are also perfect when you want to serve healthy vegetarian meals to your family or guests.
How to make authentic falafel
This recipe reminds me of my time as a college student, at the University of Tennessee. When my greatest worries were making sure I went to all the mandatory attendance classes and having enough money for some good food. While at school, I ate at least three times a week at a place that served authentic and inexpensive homemade falafel. Guess what their name was? It was Falafel Hut.
Well, if there’s one thing I know, you better have some darn good falafel if it’s in your name. The Hut had nothing to worry about because they had some fantastic tasting falafel! One day, I wanted to make them at home, so I asked for the recipe. The Hut wouldn’t give up their original recipe BUT they gave me one very important tip: always use dried chickpeas that have been soaked overnight.
For years I made them only this way, until that day, when I forgot to soak the chickpeas. I grabbed a can of chickpeas, went through the arduous task of removing all the skins, and then made my recipe like I always do. They were nothing like my normal falafel! The texture was so strange, it was mushy and just didn’t work for me at all. Moral of the story: use dried chickpeas for the best tasting and best textured authentic falafel.
P.S. Other than making sure the dried chickpeas start soaking the day before, it’s quite an effortless task to make homemade falafel. Plus, the mixture can be made ahead of time and stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
What to serve with falafel:
- a Greek salad
- in a pita with tzatziki
- with tahini sauce
- or just by themselves!
If you are looking for a healthy vegetarian meal, grab your bag of garbanzo beans and make this Easy Falafel Recipe this weekend! Please leave me a comment below and let me know how you liked it.
Homemade Easy Falafel Recipe makes fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside fried balls from a ground dried chickpea mixture with fresh herbs and garlic. It's a wonderfully family friendly recipe for a healthy meatless meal!
- 1/2 pound dried chickpeas , thoroughly washed and picked over for small stones. Let soak for 24 hours and drain well before using.
- 1/4 cup onion , diced
- 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs (I use panko)
- 3 whole fresh cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/3 cup fresh flat leafed Italian parsley
- 1 whole egg
- oil for frying , olive or avocado oil
- serve with: tzatziki sauce
- and Greek salad
Using a food processor, add all ingredients, except for the whole egg, and grind for about a minute or until mixture is just evenly chopped up. Add the 1 whole egg and blend again until mixture is finely chopped together and smooth.
Put 2 inches of oil in a 8 or 10 inch cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed fry pan and heat over medium heat until it reaches 360F/182C degrees. Using your hands and a spoon, shape 1-2 tablespoons of the dough into a slightly flattened round circle. Fry in the hot oil until brown on both sides (about 3-4 minutes each side). Drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with tzatziki sauce, tahini sauce, pickled vegetables, pita bread, and/or your favorite salad fixings.
Recipe Video
- Store leftover uncooked falafel mixture and any cooked falafel, in a covered container, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
I think it is normal to be in a blog funk every now and then. Sometimes it’s good to take a little break.
I love falafel – we made some oven baked spinach falafel the other day
Thanks Dannii. Is the baked spinach falafel on your blog? It sounds so good! I’m visiting your site right now
Oh Karrie. Karrie. Karrie. You KNOW I love and adore you AND your blog!! I know you’ve been in a funk and I can tell you till I’m blue in the face that your blog is great… but maybe you should just listen to the Rock (p.s. he is on my list… you know that list every married couple has. The “it’s okay..” list. Lol I think he’s damn sexy. And Obvi very smart!) Anyways, I freggin’ LOVE me some falafels and your looks SUPER scrumptious!!!! That money shot of the inside??? GIMMMMMEEEEE ALL da tasty ever after falafels!!!!!!! these rock, girlfriend! And so do YOU!!! Xoxo #BestieLovin #FunkBeGone
p.s. knoxvegas??? Lmao!!!!
As always, thank you Chey. That’s why I like bitching to you, so you can keep telling me how great I am Yeah, you know the Rock is on my list too, married or not! haha! Maybe I’ll do a The Rock blog about all his favorite eats. I kinda like that idea.
Girl, turn that frown upside down! Your blog is awesome and I love reading it! Stop that stressing and just have some fun! Who cares if your photos aren’t as good as you want them to be? I think they’re great! We all get into a funk now and then, so take a break if you need to, but do so knowing that we will be here waiting for your return! Oh yeah, the falafels look good too!
Thanks so much Rachelle. Hubby tells me the same thing, to just have fun with it, so I think it’s time for me to listen
Karrie, Karrie…I could have written this post!! (actually I think I wrote a self-pity post, or maybe 2) . I LOVE falafels, And I LOVE deep fried everything.You know that I am mostly vegetarian, so these are perfect: vegetarian AND deep fried. You’re so funny, I like so much reading your posts . Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll try to apply the Rock’s “focus and effort” theory on myself too.
Nicoletta, thank you so much. It’s comforting to know you’ve felt the same way before because I feel like both you and Loreto are very focused and your posts are always so beautifully written. I love falafels so much, I could eat them every day! After this post, I had leftovers for two days. By the third day, I was having falafel withdrawal
My 10 year old daughter is vegetarian and asked me to make your recipe. So easy and delicious! Was my first time making falafel but will be making it every week now!
So happy to hear you all loved the recipe and thank you for taking the time to review!
Karrrie – your blog is amazing and beautiful! I love reading it and it’s one of my favorites! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I’m also a perfectionist. I had to take some time away from my blog while we moved. It was good for me because I really missed it and when I came back I was feeling re energized and creative. It should be fun. Don’t pressure yourself and lose that part of it. Xoxo
Aww Jennifer, you are too sweet! I definitely need to stop putting pressure on myself, chill out, and make it more fun. After all, it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want! Hahaha! Many thanks friend
Aww Karrie, we all go through the blues with blogging…I think it’s mandatory for any kind of creative person, especially when you’re a perfectionist, which I think most bloggers are. lol But your blog is always so fun to read, and I love the recipes you share. They’re always so unique and flavorful, which is so refreshing to see here in the blogging realm. I mean no offense to anyone, but if I see another GF ice cream recipe I might just leave the blogging world lol. Also, I think the Rock is sort of right in saying that focus and effort help you achieve the results you want, so as long as it’s good focus. And what I mean by good focus is calm, positive, I-WANT-to-be-focusing-on-this kind of focus. If you want to in the outdoors or working on your camper, then that’s perfectly fine. You’re still doing things you enjoy. I think sometimes we do our best work when we just relax, let go, are in the present moment, and we just create and write things when we feel like it.
These falafel look positively delicious…I love that you paired it with the yogurt sauce and pita.That sounds like a divine vegetarian meal!
Beeta, you don’t know how much I appreciate your advice. The best thing in writing this post and admitting how I sometimes feel about my blog is knowing that I’m not alone. You are so right about the right kind of focus too because lately I feel bad about myself when I know I have to write but I’m not in the mood and can’t get in the mood. It’s nice to know it’s okay to take a break and not push out a post if I don’t feel like it. BTW, you just ruined my next recipe post because I was going to make a 1 ingredient GF banana ice cream made of…bananas. lol! Thanks again my friend for your kind words of encouragement
Oh, boy! I haven’t made falafel for ages. I guess since 2010 or so. Shame on me, right? I would love it with tzatziki, please. Well,I’m not sure it’s been an inventetion, but I always have hope! And don’t be too hard on yourself (I can’t believe I’m saying that – I’m who’s hard on himself, who thinks about what’s going to happen, and then dwells on what’s happened).
2010?? It’s time to get going on some falafel making Ben! Haha. Okay, apparently we are exactly alike because I will total (over)think (and worry) about something before, during, and after it happens
You wrote exactly how I feel…practically every other time I work on a post. I sway from “Okay, I enjoy this” to “Maybe I should just stop”. Well, I for one, love your blog! And this falafel is fantastic! Keep them coming!
Thank you Thao. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who feels this way about their blog
It’s been ages since I’ve had falafel! You have me craving them now. I need to try this easy recipe!
Thanks Jen!
These falafel look amazing! I totally hear you on the blog stress — it’s so easy to start comparing yourself to others because there are soooo many others! I think summer is a great time to take a break and not be too hard on yourself!
Thanks so much Ashley. I’m def cutting back on blog time during this summer and will ramp it up when I’m snowed in this winter
I have to be truthful here, but I haven’t always been a big falafel fan, until I realized I just wasn’t having any GOOD falafel. The minute I had some good quality falafel, I was a convert, and now I’m always looking out for the stuff when I’m at a Mediterranean restaurant. Your recipe sounds delicious and wonderfully easy!
I hear you Vineetha! Bad falafel is really terrible. I love falafel so much but had to stop ordering them out because I just didn’t like the taste of them. These have such a wonderful crunch to them and they’re light and fluffy. I could eat them every day. Leftovers are also good the next day, cold, right out of the refrig
Dear Karrie! You blog looks just wonderful to me! and everyone else agrees I think!, It’s completely normal! it’s summer. and let me tell you this, you are not alone sweetie! Hugs! You falafel will make anyone happy including me!
Aww, thank you Gaila. I really appreciate your kind words. xoxo