Classic Vegan Falafel (GF)

I usually love minimalist baker recipes, but we almost couldn’t eat this one. This recipe calls for SO MUCH garlic. If I were to use it again I’d use maybe 3 cloves. As is, it was not good, and not representative of other minimalist baker recipes.

I’ve made this recipe a few times now and LOVE it. I always use canned chickpeas because the dry ones are almost impossible to find near me. My trick to get the same texture: for every can of chickpeas I use (2 are needed for the whole recipe) I boil them with half a teaspoon of baking soda for about 20 minutes and then drain in a fine mesh strainer. I do the same thing to chickpeas when I make hummus as I find it just really softens them and gives them a bit of a creamier texture when cooked!

I’ve also made this with oven roasted garlic (I just use the whole clove), and have added spinach and different herbs (my favorites being dill, mint and basil based on what I have). It’s such a simple and versatile recipe that you can really change up based on your mood/ingredients!

I’ve made this following the instructions exactly, and with canned chickpeas and no food processor when I was in a bind. Both were fine. Soaked chickpeas do have a better texture in the falafel but using canned tasted delicious as well! Don’t be discouraged from this recipe if you can’t find dry. I used 2 cans drained/rinsed chickpeas and did less salt. Flavors were the same, difference was just texture.

So delicious! The entire family enjoyed these falafels. I serve them with baba ganoush, tahini sauce and sliced radishes.

DO NOT USE AS MUCH SALT as the recipe says. Use .5 tsp salt not 1.5. It was so salty I had to add lemon and more chickpeas. I used normal table salt not sea salt so idk if there’s a difference.

I thought I read the recipe wrong when it said 1.5 tsp of salt, and I second guessed it. However, instead of making a change I just went with it. OH my goodness. That is WAY too much salt! I tried doubling the batch and leaving the salt out of the second and combining it with the first so it would help, and it didn’t. I tried cooking them and hoped it would be better once they fried, and it didn’t. I will probably try them again but will need to use 1/2 tsp salt.

Made as per recipe but soaked my chickpeas for 24hrs. Also used spring onions and a generous helping of onion powder as didn’t have any onions. I pan fried mine in olive oil. Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

I’ve been making felafel using dry chickpeas for years. So authentic. I like to add just a bit (maybe 1-2) tbs. of tahini and lemon juice to the mix before frying. Love your website and all your recipes.

These were delicious. I soaked my chickpeas for 24 hours instead of using the boiling method and used regular flour since we aren’t GF. They turned out perfect.

Best falafel recipe ever! It’s more flavorful than some restaurants I’ve been to! And the texture is divine. I bought a food processor for this because I loved it so much! Now I make it for ever New Years Eve. Thanks for sharing!

This recipe is amazing! I didn’t have coriander but it still tasted just as good as my favorite store-bought falafel. I ended up baking the falafel at 375F for ~30 minutes, flipping halfway through so that both sides would brown.

You are an absolute genius in the kitchen! My main rotation of recipes are almost exclusively yours and this one is a top favorite! I love that you have 5 falafel recipes but this one is my fav! Thank you for sharing!

The last and first time I made falafel, they were baked. I just made these and they are delicious. I probably used a bigger scoop than I should have, because I’ll only get 12, lol, but that’s okay. Thank you for this recipe. I’m definitely making these again. :)

I have never made “real” falafels before. I took the plunge since this is definitely a weekend recipe and I had all the ingredients. Wowsers!!! It was delicious! I feel so accomplished today!

Delicious recipe and surprisingly easy to make. Like someone else said below, the chickpeas felt a little hard after boiling for a minute, so just to be safe, I boiled for another minute. After combining the ingredients in the food processor, I thought it looked/felt dry but they actually formed into perfectly solid disks and stayed together throughout the frying process. I made these to go along with the tomato-onion-parsley base and I could not be happier. Excellent with hummus and/or tzatziki. Thanks for the great recipe!

So delicious, even my carnivore husband loves these falafels! Will be making again!

Fantastic recipe. I reduced the garlic down to 3 cloves and I increased the cayenne a bit. This is a keeper!

I have made falafel so many times and its always been good, but nothing fantastic. Until this recipe. Absolutely amazing!!! I will never make falafel any other way than this method..followed your recipe and how to prepare the chickpeas to a T. Thank you so much! Falafel is one of my very favorite foods and it’s so wonderful to know how to make it right. Thank you thank you!!

I like to add a cup of grated beets and a little oil. I then form them into small rounds and bake them, to keep the oil content down. They’re lovely, thank you.

These were perfect! I added in more water as I was processing. I wasn’t getting a paste like consistency, probably about an extra 1/4 cup added slowly. Next time I would soak the chickpeas overnight rather than the quick soak method. The spices were perfect! Thanks you for sharing this delightful treat.

These are so good, my partner and I have made this at least 3 or 4 times since it was posted. The only things I did differently were, add a little oil into the mixture to help it stick, and after whirling everything in the food processor I hit it with the immersion blender in a bowl to get it into more of a paste. I think my food processor might be kind of lame, it just doesn’t ground this stuff up fine enough on its own to stick together.

These were so good and relatively easy! They definitely require some planning ahead though with the soaking of the chickpeas and refrigerating the dough (lots of hands off time, just need to be sure to start early enough!). I made the recipe as is, but had to add a little bit of water to get the dough to come together. I also skipped the cayenne since I was feeding them to my 11 month old as well. Still super flavorful!

1 tablespoon of cumin is way too much. It overpowers the other flavours

I made these yesterday. They were easy and super delicious. I made them so I could have falafel wrap sandwiches at work all week for lunch. I put hummus, garlic aioli, falafel, lettuce, banana peppers, cucumbers and feta on my whole wheat wrap and it’s SO GOOD. Will make these falafels once a week from now on :)

yum yum yum. Came out so good that I made them two days in a row for guests. Served them with the hummus dip and they were gone in seconds. So easy to make. I made with tinned chickpeas and had no problem with them coming together.
Thanks for another great recipe.

I’ve made several falafel recipes over the
Past 2.5 vegan years and this is THE bomb! The consistency is perfect and taste is also. I think this is as good as my favorite Mediterranean restaurant.

Amazing. My food processor is terrible so mine were vert lumpy, but I didn’t even care. Doubled the recipe but only put in salt for one batch and it was great!

Made these falafel last night (no substitutions/modifications) and they were amazing! We ate ours in pita with some spinach, tahini sauce, and some grilled onions. Yum, will be making these on the regular!

I love it! it’s a bit spicy for me but the taste was so good! love your recipes, and photos! ?

I have tried many falafel recipes and they didn’t quite make the cut…but this one sure does! It was easy, especially the dried bean cooking method, delicious and tasted amazing. This is my new go-to recipe. Thanks for sharing it!

Delicious! I made it and it was wonderful. I’m not gluten free so I just used some whole wheat flour I had on hand. It only took 1 minute to mix everything throughly. Would definitely make again.

This recipe was sooooo easy and even more delicious. I am picky with Falafels but my hubby and I both agreed they are pretty damn good. I will surely make them over and over again.

I made this AGAIN-so yummy-kids proclaimed as favourite meal! (With Moosewood’s pita bread)
I used trick from vegan meatballs to dry two cans of chick peas and worked like a charm! (I forgot to buy dry ones) thanks so much for the awesome recipe!

Made exactly as directed except did not use flour. Was not necessary. I fried some and baked some because I can’t eat a lot of oily things, I have heart problems and certain foods make my heart go crazy. Anyway, both varieties held together great and were very tasty! The fried ones are definitely better and I served those to my family. I ate the baked ones on a salad topped with your tzatziki sauce. It was delicious! I might cut down on the salt next time. I also might use canned garbanzos next time if I BAKE them, as suggested by another reviewer because they were quite dry. I know you don’t recommend baking for this recipe, but that’s just what I have to do, so I will try cooked chickpeas for that reason.

Made this and it was really good. But I couldn’t get the patties flat enough to brown up nicely like in the photos. I feared that if I added more flour it would be too dry. Any suggestions? I used regular flour since that’s what I have and I’m not gluten free.

I enjoyed them and they were easy to make.

I made this last night for dinner and my family loved it. I tried to substitute canned garbanzo beans and it was an epic fail when I tried to fry them. However, I was able to save them by baking them and the flavor was excellent. I learned my lesson, and I will be trying this recipe again with dried garbanzo beans.

Thank you for this recipe. I made them tonight for dinner and they were delicious!!!!

Delicious! I made 19 little patties, and felt full from eating 7 in 3 lettuce wraps with kale. Unfortunately I didn’t make it into a paste, so I had little bits of hard chickpea, but next time I’ll blend it longer in my Vitamix.
Differences: no coriander (forgot to buy some); used dried parsley

These turned out incredible. I fried in groundnut oil and they were crunchy on the outside and super soft in the middle. Paired with roasted tahini humus, my guests couldn’t believe I made these myself. I stuck to the recipe almost 100%, added smoked paprika instead of cayenne and some more onion than required. Can’t wait to try more. Many many thanks from Berlin

I made this last night and they were delicious! I used canned chicpeas, added one tsp of flour and would use way less salt next time. Used them in a wrap – love the recipe!

I tried this for the first time last week! It’s sooo good!! I had never made or tasted falafel before. Now a new favorite! Though we aren’t vegetarians, I do like to have a few meatless meals. My meat-lover husband couldn’t get done telling me how much he loved this meal! I served the falafel on a bed of greens with a choice of tahini sauce or dill yogurt sauce and fresh pita bread. Absolutely amazing! Thank you for the recipe!

These were by far the BEST!!! Easy to make (I have a food processor), and the key is to “follow the recipe”. Thank you for sharing your talent, as I have been blessed through your site several times already. You are an amazing cook. ? I wish I could share my pic ? Anita

I am new to falafel! I recently purchased some and my family had mixed feelings about them. Tonight I made these and have to admit that I used 2 cans of Chickpeas (time was short!) I did dry them first and followed the recipe I also added a tablespoon of Moroccan spices (don’t think this added any extra flavor). They where lovely and moist not wet they shaped well and cooked very well my family loved them and I will be making them again! Thank you for a beautiful recipe that I can add to my families favourite meals.

Hello there, thank you for the very easy and atractive recipe! I couldn’t help trying it out :p Yet my falafels didn’t look like yours, they turned out quite chunky… So I wonder how to improve them, cook/ soak chikpeas longer? Blend longer? Fry? Also it’s hard to form them so they would cook evenly… But despite all, I would use exactly This recipe for next falafel round ;)

Made these tonight! First time trying the soak method with the chickpeas and it worked well. Next time, I’ll try omitting the flour since mine were in a pretty good, moldable state prior. Also, for those wondering about baking, I baked mine on parchment paper at 400 degrees for ten minutes total (no oil), flipping once halfway and was happy with them in naan with the tahini dill sauce listed here! Thanks for another great recipe!

Absolutely delicious! I opted to omit the oat flour and cooked them in an air fryer. I sprayed them with canola oil, and they were in the air fryer at 390 degrees for 12 minutes. They were probably a bit more crumbly than you’d like, but I expected that going in since I was using an air fryer. Served in a warmed pita with taziki, feta and tomatoes.

I’ve tried making homemade flutes for ages and this recipe is the 1st I’ve tried that worked!!! And tasted awesome! This will be a weekly go-to for me as they’re super affordable to make with dried chickpeas.

I’ve made these twice – once pan fried & once deep fried and both times they were sensational. I eat a LOT of falafel and they’re probably the best I’ve ever had. I daydream about these (probably) a bit too much, and people ask me to make them again all the time. Highly recommended – this is the kind of recipe that makes you look reeeeeeeally good in front of friends & family.

Delicious! Although, I did use canned chickpeas for convenience and I plan on trying with the dried. I used a combination of parsley, cilantro and mint. I placed them on a bed of spinach and topped with my spicy black bean hummus, garlic sauce, tzieke sauce, tomatoes and scallions. SO GOOD!

I love this recipe so much. I had never made falafel before, but have now tried this recipe a few times, and I love it. I like to serve it as a falafel burger on toasted whole wheat sesame buns with garlic chili sauce, spinach, cucumber tomato — “all the fixin’s.” Thanks so much for this recipe and your site.

I’ve attempted a few different falafel recipes over the years, but they’ve never turned out very well. I decided to give it one more try with this recipe, and it came out PERFECTLY. I’m so excited to have a go-to falafel recipe now! Thank you!

Love love love this recipe! I actually used canned garbanzo beans because I didn’t have any dry ones on hand and it came out great! Thank you for sharing this recipe

Absolutely loved this recipe. Turned out perfect. Thank you for sharing these recipes. You’re a God-send :)

These turned out great! Great flavour, great texture, fantastic recipe :) Served with homemade pita’s and salad. I’ll be making these again!

Great Falafel thanks, yum from New Zealand…..

I just made these and they turned out awesome, but I should’ve paid attention to the prep time first. Hour to soak the beans and an hour sitting in the fridge- we weren’t eating dinner til after 9:30pm. My mistake tho! Keeping this one for sure!!

Dana, I love all the food you publish and cook.
Today I am going to try this falapel recipe, thanks a lot .
Greetings from México

I just made these, thanks for the recipe! My first time making falafel!! Couldn’t find any cardamom (ground) in the shop so had to skip that, was slightly worried with the raw falafel as the garlic was extremely overbearing, thought I had messed something up. Cooked one to test the theory thinking I’d have to balance out the flavours with more chick pea but it tastes great! I did use more than 300g of chick peas however :) thank you for the recipe!

Hi Dana!
Thank you for creating this recipe and sharing it with us. Ii was my first time making falafels and they were so good! My family also loved them. Sister told me they tasted exactly like the ones she had in a café previously.

This was the first time I’d made successful falafels! Thank you for the recipe and the tips…… they looked just like yours and didn’t fall apart in the pan. And delicious, did I mention they were delicious? Thank you so much! ?

Amazing! Honestly, you’ve just made my day. I’ve been a big falafel fan for years, but never managed to make one myself (it either fell appart, was tasteless or just wasn’t anything like falafel). But this…this I am pinning forever. It is tender and crunchy and perfect. Thank you :). Now I have no reason to go out for one anymore. I love simple recipes, this one is just what I was looking for!

Made these and they were lovely!! Thank you for the great recipe. I’ve made a few others from your site – you’re very talented!

Dana, I love this recipe! This is the best ever falafel recipe I’ve ever made! Great job! Keep up with your great recipes.

I made these last night. Easily the best falafel I’ve ever made, and close to the best falafel I’ve ever had (which was in Paris—and I’ve lived in New York).

For reference, I would also check out the Serious Eats article on making falafel this way. I kind of used both that recipe and this one and combined them. I often do that to customize recipes to my preferences.

For instance, I used a lot more parsley (you could also use cilantro or mint or a combination thereof, but I only had parsley). About two cups loosely packed. Falafel should be green on the inside.

Also, I did not use any flour as a binder. The Serious Eats article talks about this. You have to be more delicate with forming the balls, but as long as your oil is hot enough, they will not fall apart when they go in.

How do you know if your oil is hot enough without a thermometer? I used the method of placing two popcorn kernels in the oil as it heated, and once they pop it’s ready. Thanks, Cook’s Illustrated.

I normally hate frying things—just too much oil/mess—but I shallow fried these and they turned out great. Next time I might try baking half the batch just to see the difference, though. I would bake them on a preheated cast iron pan at a high heat.

Thanks so much for this recipe! It makes exponentially better falafel than using canned chickpeas, and the “work” of leaving them to soak (I just soaked them overnight) is minimal.

This is delicious! I’ve had a lot of restaurant falafel and this is so good. Plus I don’t feel too guilty eating it. Thank you!!

My two teenage girls and I made these last night and they were delicious. We served them in whole wheat pita pockets with shredded lettuce and tsaziki sauce. My only regret is that I didn’t make my own yogurt and cucumber based sauce. The next day they were great after one minute in the microwave. I feel inspired now to make some healthy veggie burgers now that I see how easy it is to make the dough is a food processor.

Wow! I made this yesterday for company and it was a huge hit! The batter was the perfect consistency and didn’t need any adjustments. Super fast to prep once the beans were soaked, and I baked the falafel balls at 350° for 25 minutes. BEST falafel recipe I have ever tried and I will definitely be making this again!

I topped these on a kale salad for lunch and it was restaurant worthy. I will definitely be making these again and again! :-)

Another night’s dinner for the win. I read the “I made this” comments and made some adjustments as necessary being that I don’t have a food processor. One thing I would add is that my chickpeas were a little crunchy (I used the method above). I chose to bring them to a boil for a minute again, then let them soak for 10 more minutes. It seemed to do the trick. Chopping the parsley, onion, and garlic very fine instead of using a food processor seemed to do the trick just fine. I split the mixture into 2 batches when putting it in the blender. I unfortunately only had EVOO to fry them with, and they soaked up all the oil. I would suggest lightly spraying or only a little EVOO to cook them with.

The flavor was great, although if you’ve had Middle Eastern falafels before, it wasn’t quite the same. I was still super happy with the result! I served mine over a bed of butter lettuce, squeezed it with lemon, and sprinkled za’tar over the top.

This is now my new go-to falafel recipe. Couldn’t have been easier and they were oh-so-good! I left the mixture in the fridge for 4+ hours so I was a little worried they’d fall apart when cooked but they held together wonderfully and didn’t even dry out or crumble during reheating as leftovers the next 3 days. I do think using dry beans vs. canned made a big difference. I’ve never had any falafel or even chickpea burgers have this great texture and hold together this well. Thanks, Dana!

Just made this recipe subbing in cooked lentils for the chickpeas. Very tasty!

So tasty! First time making falafel and it turned out great! Thanks Dana :-)

Perfect to make a big batch and eat for lunches! My only comment is that I followed the instructions exactly and ended up with much less than 24 falafel – about 15 I believe. Either way, they still tasted delicious and deserve a 5 star! I got several compliments on how flavorful they were.

I don’t know how I would survive without this amazing blog and your cookbook – You make vegan so easy. This is hands down the best falafel I have ever made – or eaten!

These are awesome! Found that when frying the first batch too much oil was used and it broke the falafels, using a little less oil ensured the rest turned out just fine! This is definitely going to become my go-to falafel recipe. LOVE!!

Just felt compelled to share… I BAKED these and put them in a warm pita with tomatoes, cucmbers, arugula and tahini sauce and they were sooo good!!

Wow, these were so good and well worth the effort! I baked mine instead of pan fry. Debating if I should share…

Yesss and yihaa. My first not-falling-apart-falafel.
For the lack of gf-flour I used gram flour instead, which worked fine. I really liked the taste and the structure, but I ‘m gonna cook/soak the chickies a little longer next time – they seemed a bit too raw and crunchy, also had a hard time processing them.
But all in all: falafellove *.*

This was the first time I’ve ever made falafel at home and haven’t been bitterly disappointed. The texture was wonderful! And your mention of Wolf and Bear’s inspired me to make zhug for the first time, too. Also awesome! Thank so much posting this recipe! Yum!

Really good. My boyfriend says it derserves more than five stars. I added a little cilantro and toasted sesame seeds to the mixture. Thanks for another great recipe.

These are amazing! My 22 year-old ate the entire batch in one sitting. Yum!

Making this right now! looks delicious :)