Crispy Falafel
This crispy baked falafel recipe is so easy to make and tastes incredible! Serve your falafel in pita sandwiches or salads. Gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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
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).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This recipe looks lovely! Even if summertime weather is starting to arrive and no one wants to use their oven in the heat, I really appreciate that the falafel is baked rather than fried!
Oh, you’re one-upping me on counteracting the computer bum syndrome. I hadn’t even considered doing lunges around the perimeter of my little one bedroom apartment!
This salad looks mad delicious. Love those falafel balls!
I know what you mean in regards to spending too much time in front of the computer. I hate it sometimes. the falafel looks amazing!
We’ve been on a falafel kick ourselves, and have found that just pan frying in some olive oil works wonders. Our recipe is pretty similar to yours, so delicious!
This looks incredible! Your hard work will pay off, but I know how hard it is to be in the middle of it all. You can do it :)
Keep working hard and it will pay off! The progress you’ve made on this bloggidy-blog in the past year and a half has been incredible. I’ve never made falafel before…you eat so healthy!!
Thanks, Heather! You’ve been following along for a long time and your support means a lot to me. You should try making falafel, it’s easy!
Ah I wish I was having this for lunch today! Oo can’t wait to see the magazine :) I also spend a lot of time in front of the computer. Lately I’ve been forcing myself to get outside for a walk during the early afternoon. It’s a nice way to clear the mind and get a little bit of exercise in (in addition to my exercise routine). I always seem to get inspired or solve a problem during those walks too.
You know, I think my walks with Cookie are what are keeping me sane. We go out on a brisk walk around the block at least a couple of times a day and that’s when I get my best ideas!
Oh, man! My heart goes out to you. Sucks when you feel like that. Were I a doctor, my prescription for over worked-ness would be to take a long walk in the sunshine with a good friend! Or maybe just cookie. Anywho, wish this salad would pop out of the screen and get into my belly right now. I’m haangryy.
I WANT THIS. And omg, “computer bum.” That’s it! I’ve been wondering how this gigantic sack of goo ended up my backside and ohhhhhh blooogggiinnnngggggg.
So interesting – why do you use only soaked chickpeas and not cooked ones?
Good question! I think that cooked chickpeas have absorbed too much moisture. When I used them in place of dried chickpeas, the mixture was way too wet and flattened out while cooking (hence falafel pancakes).
I’m confused, you usually have to soak a dried bean before cooking. Are you suggesting not to cook them after soaking them???
They get baked, that’s the cooking :)
Yes, computer bum. I feel I’m forever in a race against it.
Thanks for being here, tiring as it is. You add an important voice. Can’t wait to see what else you’ve been up to (magazine etc.) + Falafel looks fantastic!
Thank you, Marissa, that is quite a compliment!
Thanks for posting this! I’m not a huge falafel fan myself (I knew when I didn’t like it in Israel, I wouldn’t like it ever haha) but my friends LOVE it. This recipe looks simple enough so I might have to use it for a party soon!
Ok, so this may sound super weird, but one thing you can do is booty lifts. When I’m cooking or doing dishes, I balance on one leg and lift my other leg back, hold for 2 seconds, let go, and hold again. Repeat 10 times, 2-3 sets each side (I also make sure to tighten my abs when doing this). Sorry to hear about being swamped with work, it happens! I’m a slacker and so when I’m swamped, I can’t breathe! Good luck and can’t wait to see the new things coming up in your blog!
Booty lifts! I’m on it.
Clearly I need a cast iron skillet. Love your deconstructed pita sandwich creation!
I’m experiencing computer bum right now while I type this. It’s been 2 hours since my last break from this chair. Luckily, my home gym is about 20 steps away and I’ll be heading there shortly!
Falafel is something I’ve only experimented with once at home. It was good, but not great. I love the stuff though so I’m definitely up for trying this! I just need a cast iron skillet. Somehow I’ve gotten this far in life without one but it’s that one “gadget” I often wish I had.
You definitely need a cast iron skillet! Thank goodness for my pilates mat, I know I’d never make it to the gym regularly!
This is one of my favorite meals! I am with you though – I have a hard time with baked falafel because they are sooooo dry. I usually cook them in a non-stick fry pan with just a touch of oil. I can’t wait to see what exciting things you have going on!
Maybe try adding a bit more oil to the pan next time? A little bit more fat, a lot of more flavor, I would assume! Can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on, it will all be out next month!
I can so relate. I put an insane amount of work into teaching myself photography & learning new, mad kitchen skillz. For $0. I’m a big fan of being an autodidact (free education when you do it yourself!) especially with the current state of educational institutions, culinary included. My philosophy/creative writing degree isn’t gonna do me much more good than blogging. Probably less! Working hard for free + a day job in the mean time in the hope that it will lead to opportunities to do what I love for a living is scary. I try to remind myself that what I love is very far from a computer screen: food, art, relationships. The computer screen is merely a modern means to an end. Ok. Enough!
I have a big bag of dried chick peas in my pantry destined for falafel along w/ tackling homemade pita for the first time. Soon my pretties.
Yes yes yes to everything you just said! Your hard work and persistence will pay off, I know it. It’s really about time I learned how to make my own pita bread. Smitten Kitchen has a rather tempting recipe so I’ll try hers first!
I hear what you’re saying about being done with certain cookbooks! I’ve been dealing with one such volume myself. Kept thinking it was me! Live and learn, eh?
As for life being off-balance, seems to be something in the air lately, because boy, can I relate! I find that good food like this is a solid step toward turning such times around. Love the deconstructed approach! Thanks for a great post, Kathryne.
Computer bottom…I hear ya sista. Nothing a shot of tequilla and a cup of coffee can’t fix.
-A former Okie via Seattle
I have to try this! I love falafels, but they always feel a little heavy being fried in all that oil. And I can’t agree with you enough, but it good to hear other people feel like they spend way too much time with their computer!
Looks delicious – can’t wait to try these out! Also love that you say pup-a-lup….I call our dog that all the time, and have never heard another person say it :)
Oh that’s funny! I think I heard my friend call Cookie a pup-a-lup and it stuck. I have so many names for her… it’s pretty silly.
Oh that feeling is the WORST. Even though I just got back from a fabulous trip, I’m definitely feeling like this summer is going to be a lot of work. I’m trying to avoid that dreaded burnout (like you, I’m excited on everything I’m working on, but slightly overwhelmed!). This is my kind of recipe – love falafel but really like the idea of making it a little healthier!
I had to comment because I am totally in the same place right now. Every time I find myself still at the office at 9pm my first though is “I miss my liiiiife” quickly followed by “this job is going to make me fat.” Maybe hourly lunges are the trick… hopefully my coworkers don’t think I’m too weird if I adopt your habit!
“Computer bum” …i always have to look out for it!!! **groan** I love the idea when one makes a baked version of a fried foodstuff.. makes you feel less guilty especially when I have to worry about a computer bum!!! :)
Grandmothers sure know their kitchen gadgets, don’t they?
Some sort of baked falafal has been on my Want To Make list foreeeevvverrrr. This looks like the perfect recipe to finally try!
Try it, try it! I’ve experienced a falafel fail before but this one is just right.
holy cow this salad looks good. I love the baked falafel idea. I’m SO hungry now.
I love making my own falafel – it’s the perfect packed lunch to take into the office. Sometimes I use broad beans instead of chickpeas, or mix in some baked pumpkin or squash – it’s also delicious with green peas or even made with split peas. Such a delicious and versatile recipe and yours looks gorgeous :-)
haha, this was awesome. beep bee boop boop is how i communicate too sometimes after hours of looking at the screen, dry-mouthed and forgetting all of my italian. congratulations on all of your side projects, can’t wait to see, and hang in there!
Wow! I love this blog, it’s so clean and the photos look lovely. Also, I’m so pleased to find a vegetarian blog as I am also veggie :) I’d love it if you would take the time to check out my blog also!
I’ve been looking for a homemade Falafel recipe. Love them on a Greek-style salad. Thanks so much for sharing!
Oh, these look delicious! We’ve had several falafel fails, but this one might convince us otherwise :)
My kind of meal! Love it!
Dark chocolate and cheap champagne always seem to develop household chores into a little more of a glamourous Saturday night – work it, girl.
As busy as life gets, i’m always delighted to stop by and read what you’ve been up to, and it makes me giddy to see your well deserved success beginning to blossom.
Thank you, Ashley. :)
I kind of majorly love that we were both craving falafel this week (I have a stuffed eggplant version on the blog right now!). It must be in the air. Or a too-much-computer-induced craving. Cause I’m feeling a lot of that right now.
I made baked falafel once, but they came out terribly. These look gorgeous, and I think using the cast iron may just be the thing I was missing. Thanks for the inspiration!
What a great Greek recipe! I’ve been craving nothing but Meditteranean lately, and this looks right up my alley!
Yum! Clean and healthy
I actually used the term computer butt to my friend just this morning. I know what you are feeling, and lunges & this salad are exactly what I need.
Is it weird that your Saturday actually sounded sort of wonderful? Can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on…super-star! :)
Champagne makes cleaning so much more fun. :)
I love falafel! I also need to invest in miso. Question…why white miso? There are so many types. I get overwhelmed.
Miso is magic! So far I have only tried white miso. I think I read somewhere that white miso is the most mild flavored. It’s also the type specified by the original dressing recipe and I think that a colored miso would turn the dressing a funky color. I just googled miso to make sure that yellow miso is indeed yellow and found this article on the kitchn: http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-white-yel-79637, that explains it all better than I can!
I love this healthy idea! Yum!!
Stay sane and get outside for a walk and some fresh air! That’s my two cents and what I try to do when I find myself spending too much time in front of the computer screen. And as far as those lunges go I’d say about 9. ;-)
I absolutely agree with you. A food processor and a cast iron skillet. Total essentials for any kitchen! (And cheap champagne! Obviously.)
Obviously! :)
I can’t wait to try this! I just had my first falafel a few days ago, and I loved it! I’ve been thinking about how I would make it at home ever since. This recipe looks great, and probably a lot healthier than the deep fried version!
Looks so fresh and perfect for summer dining!
these look wonderful and i so want to try making them. however, i do not have a food processor. Any suggestions on how to make them w/o one? or is it essential to have one?
thanks.
Hey Jacquie, that’s a great question and I wish I knew what to tell you. I’m not sure how you could chop up the chickpeas by hand like a food processor would. You might be able to use a blender’s pulse setting to chop up the ingredients, in which case you’d probably want to work in small batches. I googled it and it other suggestions included using a meat grinder, a mixer with a paddle attachment or a potato masher. Sorry, I wish I could give you a better answer! I wasn’t sure what to do with my food processor when I got it, but I just keep finding more and more uses for it! It’s really an indispensable tool in my kitchen, hope you can get one someday soon!
What a fantastic summer salad. I love falafel and your lighter version looks heavenly!
Great recipe, Kate. I love how simple it is!
Kate, this is one of my fave quick meals, but I would love to try your baked method and the tahini + miso dressing – yum! My hubby and I did a riff on a falafel salad like this every week for about a year, and I can’t wait until my diet allows me to have a little more of the good stuff like this!
I’m a first time visitor and am loving – and so, so appreciate – your recipes with beautiful, whole, natural foods. Got to go, to read more! Lucie x
Thanks for the sweet comment, Lucie. Hope you’ll come back soon!
Ooooh! This looks super yummy! *bookmarks*. I love falafel and my favourite bar/restaurant does an amazing falafel burger but it’s not something I’ve ever tried to make myself. I may give this a shot this weekend :)
Hope you get a chance to try the falafel, Jessica! I tried making larger (almost burger-sized) versions of these and definitely preferred the smaller size, because it meant more crispy edges! Yum.