You won’t believe how fluffy, crispy and easy these vegan falafels are to make! We break down all the tips to make the perfect every single time!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve made falafels in a variety of ways but knew “ something “ was always missing/off. They could be better … but what was the missing magic? Your recipe hit the mark. Not only are all the ingredients exactly what is needed but more importantly, your procedure got it right! Finally, I have my falafel recipe. The whole family thanks you. Bravo! – Jane
Want to make the perfect falafel that a crispy exterior and soft, tender interior every single time? The key is dried, not canned, chickpeas.
Since being vegan, we have made falafels dozens of times as it’s a great source of protein that can be used in so many ways, plus it freezes beautifully for prep ahead meals.
Dried chickpeas are the key to cracking the code for the perfect texture, plus our combination of fresh herbs and spices for the perfect flavor that we’ve perfected over the years.
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love This Vegan Falafel Recipe
- What is Falafel?
- Ingredients for Falafel Vegan
- How to Make Falafel
- Substitutions and Variations for Vegan Falafel:
- Serving Suggestions for Best Vegan Falafel
- Vegan Falafel FAQS
- Other Vegan Dinner Recipes to Consider:
- 🥳 Get the Full Recipe
- 💬 See What People Are Saying
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Falafel Recipe
- Flavorful – By using the ingredients in their natural form like fresh herbs and spices, we’re able to give a huge boost of flavor.
- Easy– The hardest part of this recipe is letting the chickpeas soak overnight! Otherwise, it’s a straightforward and easy process
- Versatile – You can easily switch up the herbs or spices being used to create versatility in your own falafel recipe
What is Falafel?
Falafels are a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine. They are deep fried balls or patty-shaped and made with chickpeas, herbs, and spices. Traditionally, it was made with fava beans and in some cultures they still use one, the other, or a combination of both.
While the exact origin is unknown, it is mostly assumed that it was Egypt.
Today, it’s a common street food across the Middle East. It became more popular in Europe and North America around the 1970s.
Ingredients for Falafel Vegan
Gather your ingredients!
- Dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas) – you want to use dried, uncooked chickpeas. This provides the best texture possibile.
- Chickpea flour – helps bind the mixture together. The flour continue to absorb the moisture as well.
- Fresh Herbs – we are using a variety of herbs in this particular recipe including dill, parsley and cilantro
- Baking Powder – while not traditionally used, this helps to create an even fluffier texture
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
How to Make Falafel
- Add dried chickpeas to a bowl. Sprinkle over 1 teaspoon baking soda. Add 4 cups of water. Stir together. Soak dried chickpeas overnight. Drain chickpeas from water and lay them out on a towel. Thoroughly pat them dry. Get as much moisture out as possible.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, heat oil. Add all the garlic. Cook, stirring often until fragrant and golden brown. Remove the garlic and reserve the oil.
- Add chickpeas to a food processor with the garlic and remaining ingredients. Pulse, scrapping down the sides often, until all the ingredients are chopped up and a thick batter is left. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes to hydrate and intensive the flavor.
- Roll into 1″ balls (you can use a cookie scoop to ensure even size).
- Pick a cooking method below.
For Deep Fried Falafels (Traditional)
- Once all the balls are made, heat oil in a deep fryer or heavy bottomed pot and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees F. Add the baking soda to the oil.
- Drop falafels into the oil and cook for 2 ½-5 minutes, moving around to ensure golden brown on all sides. Remove from the oil and lay on a towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Repeat with remaining balls.
Skillet Method
- Once falafels are shaped – Add a little oil to a skillet and move them around for 5-7 minutes ensuring that all sides are cooked golden brown.
Alternatively, if you want to deep fry but only have a skillet, you can add enough oil to a heavy bottom skillet or dutch oven and fry for a few minutes like above. It’s best to have a thermometer to make sure you are frying at 350 degrees F.
Air Fryer Method (Oil Free)
- Once falafels are shaped -Place the falafels inside your air fryer at 350 degrees F and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway. Should be a golden brown color on the outside.
Baked Method (Oil Free)
- Place the falafels on a baking sheet and into a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway. Should be a golden brown color on the outside.
- Serve inside pitas, or with vegan turmeric garlic rice.
How to Make Falafel Ahead of Time
Not cooked
You have the option to roll your falafel balls out and store them in the refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 3 days before cooking.
Alternatively, you can place in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months.
Cooked
If you’ve already cooked them, but wanted to use them later, you can let cool completely, then place in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months.
Tip: If you’re freezing, before placing in bag or container, we first recommend placing falafels (cooked or not) on a parchment lined baking sheet and freezing for 30 minutes. This ensures that they don’t freeze together and making pulling out a few much easier.
Substitutions and Variations for Vegan Falafel:
- Chickpea flour – other single use flour like almond or all-purpose can also be used. We would not recommend coconut flour
- Fresh Herbs – feel free to only use one herb or switch up to other ones as well to change the taste. You could also add in greens like kale or spiach instead as well.
Serving Suggestions for Best Vegan Falafel
Falafels can be served alone as a snack, as a part of a meze (appetizer) tray, in pitas, shaped into a patty to make a falafel burger, or in a falafel bowl with rice and other toppings.
Our personal favorite with with spiced turmeric rice, pickled onions, a simple tomato cucumber salad, and topped with tahini.
Vegan Falafel FAQS
The short answer is yes; however, we don’t recommend it.
Canned chickpeas have been soaking for months at a time, sometimes maybe even longer, and because of that they retain a lot more moisture which gives a bit of an issue when making falafels.
If you are adamant about making vegan falafels with canned chickpeas, then we highly recommend that you not only thoroughly drain them from any juice in the can, but that you also dry them completely on a kitchen towel.
Even letting them sit for an hour or more to make sure you’ve gotten all the juice.
Vegan falafels, once cooked and cooled, can be stored in an air-tight container for up to a week making them perfect for any weekly meal prep that you do.
Yes. Either uncooked or cooked vegan falafels can be frozen.
If cooked, make sure that they are completely cooled.
We prefer to place on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes, then place them into a freezer safe container or bag. Doing so helps make sure that they don’t stick.
If cooked before freezing, you can let them thaw out for a few hours and heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes or pop into a microwave for a few minutes.
If uncooked, you can cook from frozen according to the directions above, just adding a few minutes of cooking time.
This recipe already is written to be Top 9 Allergen free.
Yes. You will want to ensure that you have enough space in your food processor to properly blend or make in separate batches.
Yes. Instead of deep frying, cook in the air fryer or bake in the oven.
Other Vegan Dinner Recipes to Consider:
Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Falafel Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas) (350g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda, optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bulb garlic (use less if desired)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped into 4 pieces
- ¾ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (12g)
- ½ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped (8g)
- ⅓ cup fresh dill roughly chopped (6g)
- 1 zest of a lemon
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric optional
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 ½ tablespoons chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder optional
If Deep Frying
- 1 qt vegetable oil
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Add dried chickpeas to a bowl. Sprinkle over 1 teaspoon baking soda. Add 4 cups of water. Stir together. Soak dried chickpeas overnight. Drain chickpeas from water and lay them out on a towel. Thoroughly pat them dry. Get as much moisture out as possible.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add all the garlic. Cook, stirring often until fragrant and golden brown. Remove the garlic and reserve the oil*.
- Add chickpeas to a food processor with the garlic and remaining ingredients. Pulse, scrapping down the sides often, until all the ingredients are chopped up and a thick batter is left. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes to hydrate and intensive the flavor.
- Roll into 1" balls (you can use a cookie scoop to ensure even size).
For Deep Fried Falafels (Traditional)
- Once all the balls are made, heat oil in a deep fryer or heavy bottomed pot and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees F. Add the baking soda to the oil.
- Drop falafels into the oil and cook for 2 ½-5 minutes, moving around to ensure golden brown on all sides. Remove from the oil and lay on a towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Repeat with remaining balls.
Skillet Method
- Once falafels are shaped – Add a little oil to a skillet and move them around for 5-7 minutes ensuring that all sides are cooked golden brown.Alternatively, if you want to deep fry but only have a skillet, you can add enough oil to a heavy bottom skillet or dutch oven and fry for a few minutes like above. It's best to have a thermometer to make sure you are frying at 350 degrees F.
Air Fryer Method (Oil Free)
- Once falafels are shaped -Place the falafels inside your air fryer at 350 degrees F and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway. Should be a golden brown color on the outside.
Baked Method (Oil Free)
- Place the falafels on a baking sheet and into a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway. Should be a golden brown color on the outside.
- Serve inside pitas, or with vegan turmeric garlic rice.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
This post was originally published on 1/22/20 and updated on 2/24/20 and 9/13/2023.
Best tasting – I’ve been trying several different falafel recipes-but where I am having the biggest challenges baking it as I don’t want to fry with oil. No matter what I do it sticks to the pan this recipe included and I can’t flip them without pulling them apart… I really want to use this recipe because it’s been the best so far do you have any tips for baking it so it doesn’t stick to the baking sheet?
Hi! I would definitely recommend some parchment paper or get yourself a silicone baking mat!
I made this recipe about a year ago and just kept on making it ever since, at least once a month. Love it! So easy to make (if you remember on time to soak chickpeas) and fluffy and crispy and delicious.
We love hearing this! It’s so awesome that this recipe comes up in your meal rotation every month. It’s on of our favorites too!
Great tutorial! Anxious to make a falafel or two or many more!
Thank you
You got this!
I wasn’t sure if the oil used to brown garlic goes in the mix or not. Can someone please clarify-? Thank you
Sorry that was clear, it was supposed to be a note that appears was never added or disappeared. It’s not to be used in the falafels. Cooking the garlic, helps take the bite away from using so much garlic. But the oil is now garlic infused oil which allows a lot of flavor into other dishes. You can either discard or use to layer in garlicky oil flavor to other dishes. Hope this helps.
We LOVED these! 1st time making. We never fry anything but wanted to be traditional. Next time we’ll try baking but I’m sure traditional will be hard to beat. Served with Tahinii sauce. Incredibly delicious
So glad you enjoyed!
Danke
You’re welcome. I’d love to hear what you’d do differently to give it 5 stars? 🙂