Packed with fresh herbs and spices, this crispy baked falafel recipe is bursting with flavor. Stuff it into a pita wrap with all the fixings, and enjoy!
I’ll never forget the first time I tried falafel. Stuffed into pita bread with fresh herbs, crisp veggies, and a big slather of hummus, it was crispy, rich, and bursting with earthy, aromatic flavor. I devoured the entire wrap in minutes, amazed at the medley of tastes and textures dancing across my tongue. Falafel has been one of my favorite foods ever since. I still order it out to eat whenever I get the chance, but these days, I more often make this homemade falafel recipe.
What Is Falafel?
I’m getting ahead of myself. What is falafel, anyway? In case you’re not familiar with this traditional Middle Eastern dish, falafel are fried balls of ground chickpeas or fava beans seasoned with herbs like parsley and cilantro and spices like coriander and cumin. They’re a popular street food throughout the Middle East and Europe (if you’re ever in Paris, make a stop at L’As du Fallafel), where you can find them stuffed into pitas brimming with fresh veggies, herbs, sauces, and pickles.
I’m not a fan of frying at home (to be totally honest, the hot oil scares me!), so instead of deep frying falafel myself, I prefer baking it. It still comes out deliciously crisp, so I think it rivals any fried version. I hope you love it too!
Falafel Recipe Ingredients
To make this baked falafel recipe, you’ll need these key ingredients:
- Uncooked dry chickpeas – When I was first working out how to make falafel at home, I learned that traditional falafel is made with dried, NOT canned chickpeas. In fact, the chickpeas are never fully cooked before the falafel is formed. Instead, you’ll soak them overnight, then grind them up to form the falafel balls. Trust me, you don’t want to use canned chickpeas here! Your falafel will turn to mush.
- Shallot and garlic – They add a delicious savory bite! You can also use yellow onion in place of the shallot.
- Lemon zest – It’s not traditional, but I love the brightness it adds to these patties.
- Cumin, coriander, and cayenne – For warm, aromatic flavor and a kick of heat.
- Sea salt – It punches up the rich flavor of the herbs and spices.
- Baking powder – A pinch gives the balls the perfect light texture.
- Cilantro and parsley – I use a good amount to make my falafel bright green and flavorful. There’s no need to toss the herb stems for this recipe – blend them straight into the falafel mixture along with the leaves!
- Extra-virgin olive oil – It helps the falafel become nice and crisp in the oven.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Falafel
The first step to this method for how to make falafel is soaking the chickpeas. You’ll need to plan ahead here. The chickpeas need to soak for 24 hours, or at least overnight, before you form the balls. Drain and rinse them before proceeding with the recipe.
Once the chickpeas soak, pulse them together with the other ingredients. Add the chickpeas to the food processor with the shallot, garlic, herbs, spices, lemon zest, baking powder, olive oil, and salt.
Process until the ingredients are finely ground, but not pureed.
Next, form the falafel balls. Scoop up the chickpea and herb mixture with a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, then use your hands to form it into balls or patties. If they’re not holding together, give the mixture a few more pulses in the food processor.
Finally, bake! Arrange the patties on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and drizzle them generously with olive oil. Seriously, don’t hold back on the oil here! We’re not frying, remember, so a good drizzle of oil is essential for helping the balls bake up nice and crisp.
Transfer the pan to a 400°F oven. Bake for 14 minutes, then flip and bake until the falafel is golden brown and crisp. That’s it!
Best Falafel Recipe Tips
- Used dried, NOT canned chickpeas. Really, canned chickpeas will NOT work! They’ll throw off the ratios in this recipe, and they’ll make the patties too wet and mushy. In order to achieve the light texture of traditional falafel, you MUST use dried chickpeas here. Soak them overnight (but don’t cook them!) before making the recipe.
- Drizzle the patties generously with oil before baking. Because we’re baking falafel here and not frying it, we’re automatically using much less oil than we would in a traditional falafel recipe. But oil is an important ingredient in falafel. It helps it become crisp on the outside while staying moist inside. To achieve this delicious balance, you need to drizzle your patties generously with oil. Don’t hold back!
- Don’t pack your patties too tightly. It’s tempting to really pack the patties together tightly, but doing so will make them tough and dense. Form the falafel balls gently, and if your mixture isn’t holding together, pulse it a bit more in the food processor until it sticks together. If it’s still too crumbly, pop it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before shaping and baking the patties.
- Make a double batch, and freeze the extras. These guys keep well in the freezer, so go ahead and make a double batch to have on hand for salads, bowls, or wraps. To reheat frozen falafel, pop them in a 400°F oven for about 10 minutes, until they’re crisp and heated through. For more make-ahead meal ideas, check out these 31 Healthy Freezer Meals and these 60 Healthy Meal Prep Ideas.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve falafel is in a pita wrap. I stuff it into the pita bread with a slather of hummus or a drizzle of tahini sauce, veggies like chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and/or lettuce, pickled onions, and fresh herbs. Other sauces and spreads are great here too. Try using tzatziki instead of the hummus, or drizzle on cilantro lime dressing instead of tahini sauce.
Not in the mood for a falafel sandwich? Serve the patties on a salad or grain bowl instead, or add them to a mezze platter. They’re fantastic with few dips or spreads, like muhammara, baba ganoush, or homemade labneh, and a salad or two. Try pairing them with any of these:
Round out the platter with lots of fresh pita bread!
More Favorite Vegetarian and Vegan Dinners
If you love this crispy baked falafel recipe, try one of these tasty vegetarian or vegan meals next:
- Best Shakshuka
- Ratatouille
- Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Best Veggie Burger
- Easy Black Bean Burger
- Best Vegan Meatballs
- Or any of these 60 Easy Dinner Ideas or 85 Best Vegan Recipes!
Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked chickpeas, soaked 24 hours, drained, rinsed, and patted dry* (see note)
- ½ cup chopped shallot or yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems, patted dry
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves and stems, patted dry
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
For serving
- Pita bread, use gluten-free pita if needed
- Hummus
- Diced veggies, tomato, cucumber
- Fresh herbs, chopped parsley, fresh mint
- Pickled Red Onions
- Tahini Sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large food processor, place the chickpeas (note: the chickpeas will have expanded during the soak time, be sure to use ALL of them here), shallot, garlic, lemon zest, cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne, baking powder, cilantro, parsley, and olive oil. Pulse until well combined but not pureed. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Use a 2-tablespoon scoop and your hands to form the mixture into 12 to 15 thick patties (be careful not to pack them too tight or your falafel will be dense). If they're not holding together, give the mixture a few more pulses in the food processor.
- Place the patties on the baking sheet. Drizzle generously with olive oil (this is the key to making these moist and crisp since we're not frying) and bake for 14 minutes. Flip and bake for 10 to 12 minutes more or until golden brown and crisp on the outside. During the last few minutes of baking, wrap the pita in foil and warm in the oven.
- Assemble pitas with a slather of hummus, diced veggies, falafel, herbs, pickled red onions, and generous drizzles of tahini sauce.
Notes
How long would these last if stored in the fridge?
Fantastic and so easy. Would absolutely make these again!
So delicious and easy! Lots of fresh, herby goodness. Made your recipes for pickled red onion and tahini sauce and served with the falafal in pita with feta, tomato, and cucumber. Just as a reference a 1 lb bag of dried chickpeas is the right amount for a double batch of these. Thank you!
Hi there!
I just tried baking these and everything worked fine except they stuck quite badly to the baking paper when cooking, I drizzled about a tablespoon of oil over each one – does that seem enough? Not sure what I may have done wrong!
Thanks 🙂
Sharmaine
Hi Sharmaine, hmm… parchment paper is pretty nonstick, are you sure you didn’t use something else like wax paper? You could brush a little oil on the paper before placing them down – that should do the trick.
I have been wanting to try to make falafel for a while now, but never seemed to get around to it. I order falafel at a few local restaurants. This was my first try at making it and I’m so glad I chose this recipe. Super easy and super delicious!! The falafel baked well and had the classic taste to it!
Thank you for sharing!
Can you please provide me with the nutritional breakdown for this baked falafel recipe. Thanks!
Mine taste pretty good but totally fell apart. Any ideas how I can make them hold together next time?
Hi, did you use dried chickpeas (not canned), and use the full amount post-soak? And were your herbs dry (from washing them) before using them? We also have a few extra tips up there in the blog post under “best falafel tips,” tip #3 has some options if the mixture isn’t holding together. Hope that helps!
I made these tonight, and they were perfect. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m so glad you loved them!
Best falafel I’ve ever made or eaten. I “baked” mine in a waffle iron!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Truly the best, easiest, most delicious homemade falafel recipe I’ve ever tried. I doubled this and I’m about to double it again because I know we are going to devour the first batch.
Thank you!!!
Hi Nicole, I’m so glad you loved it!
While the flavor of these is spot on, after attempting to make these twice the process of actually forming and baking them is really messy and frustrating – no matter how much I tried to make sure the ingredients were dry and processed finely (but not too finely), the patties would simply not hold together for me. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to try to fry them in a pot of hot oil, so at least the baking technique made things a little easier. But I think I’m going to put falafel in the same category as sushi, ice cream and espresso as things I’ll go out for in the future rather than try to make at home 🙂
Hi PJ, did you change anything in the recipe? (ie, did you use canned chickpeas instead of dried).
If they’re difficult to form into your hands, you might try using a cookie scoop. They should be a little delicate and not sticky like veggie patties or meatballs. This recipe is definitely meant to be baked, not fried, since they’ll become cohesive in the oven.
I followed the recipe exactly, using dried chickpeas that were soaked overnight and a 1/8 cup (= two tablespoon) measuring cup to measure and form the patties. They still broke apart very easily and made a mess all over my baking pan! So I’m obviously doing something wrong 🙁 Maybe I just don’t have enough of a delicate touch! But like I said – ecen though they’re messy for me, the flavor is terrific and I really want to make them work! I looked at a couple of other recipes online that suggested refrigerating the mixture for an hour or two before forming, so I may try that next time. Will keep you posted! Thanks again!
oh yes, try that, we found 30 minutes to be helpful (check out the other tips in the #3 tips paragraph in the post text). If the mix is crumbly, you could pulse it a little more.
It’s possible you could try scooping a little tighter, maybe it’s too loose after all of my “not too tight” warnings. If the mix is too wet, also make sure your herbs are well dried after washing them. Hope that helps!
Yes, definitely going to stick with it and try all these suggestions! (I somehow missed your own tip about refrigeating the mixture, which is my own fault – that’ll teach me to read everything more closely before complaining!) Thank you for the helpful feedback – just another reason I keep coming back to your recipes (even if this is the first time I’ve commented on one of them 🙂
Hi Heidi, did you start with dry, uncooked chickpeas (vs. canned chickpeas?)
Yes I did, and I soaked them for 24 hours as instructed.
hmm… and you used all of the chickpeas after they soaked and increased in size (vs. measuring 1 cup post-soak?)
Correct. The one cup of dried chickpeas had expanded to about 2.5 cups. So befuddled.
It sounds like you did everything perfectly… it’s hard to tell without being there, but I’m guessing that your mixture might have been fine. It is a bit wet and because of the grainy chickpeas it’s not very sticky. It’s definitely less cohesive than a veggie burger or other type of patty or meatball. They’re a bit delicate, but they firm up as they bake. If they’re difficult to form with your hands, you could try using a cookie scoop to scoop the mixture onto the baking sheet into balls and then gently push down to form disks. I hope that helps.
Thanks Jeanine – appreciate your taking the time to respond.
In the photo of them in the wraps, you have a green dressing. Do you have a recipe for that posted somewhere? It looks good. I’m going to make these this week.
Hi Shelly, it’s the green tahini variation: from this post!: https://www.loveandlemons.com/tahini-sauce/
Thank you!
This was great! Didn’t miss the “fry” at all. Baking powder a must
I love falafel but I am very picky with it (there is one middle eastern restaurant that makes it sooo well) and did not want to deal with making/frying it. I had a bunch of dry chickpeas and was looking for a way to use them.
I tried your recipe but using 1/2 measure as I have a teeny tiny food processor and I wanted to just try it out. It was a bit of a mess to make (my lack of finesse) but I was really pleasantly surprised at how delicious it turned out. 🙂 I did not have cilantro so only used parsley and left out lemon. Thanks!
Hi Bina, I’m so glad you loved it!!
This recipe turned out great. I used to deep fry my falafel, but the outer shell of the falafel would get hard that way. Backed falafel still holds together, but the outside does not become so hard. By the way, left over falafel freezes very well and is easy to reheat.
Hi Jean, I’m so glad you loved these so much!
Is the 1 cup chickpea measurement for dry chickpeas or once they’ve been soaked?
How many cups should the chickpeas amount to once soaked?
Also, can I pan fry these instead of baking?
yep – 1 cup dry, then use all of them post-soak (drain them first and pat dry). It’ll be roughly 3x the amount. I haven’t tried pan frying them, it should work, but they are really great baked.
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! Everyone loves falafels, vegetarians and non-vegetarians! I like to add a couple of jalapenos to my falafels. It adds a nice flavor and punch to them. And if I feel they are a bit too hot, I remove the seeds.
These are delicious. I make these all the time for my family, and they are always a huge hit! The pickled red onions are a must have on hand at all times!
My new weekly favorite to make!
Hi Jessie, I’m so glad you loved the falafel!