Make your own falafel at home using dried chickpeas - and better yet, make a huge batch and freeze the rest so you always have some ready to use! They are delicious in wraps, pita, on couscous or salad!
These balls of chickpea goodness are awesome! I always make a huge batch of Falafel, because they freeze well and it doesn't really take that much longer to make more of them. I love them in wraps, on couscous, in the pide bread, in pita sandwiches or in curries... so good!
These falafel are not only vegan but also gluten-free! Chickpeas are rich in protein and iron and because they aren't fried like you would get them at restaurants, these could be considered as healthy (or at least healthier)! For these Falafel, I used dried chickpeas, but if you prefer using canned chickpeas, I've got a version you'll love here.
How to make Falafel...
Making Falafel is super easy! As always, you can find the full recipe (ingredients + instructions) in the box at the end of the post.
Serve the Falafel...
- in a wrap e.g. salad, hummus, and tomatoes in thick fluffy tortillas
- with couscous: Simple Onion Couscous or Mediterranean Couscous
- in a burger: Falafel Burger with avocado sauce
- on a leafy green salad with soy yogurt sauce or tahini dressing!
Falafel FAQ
I wouldn't consider the falafel you can buy in restaurants healthy because they are usually fried. These Falafel, however, are baked in the oven and therefore a much healthier option!
Yes, especially these ones are super freezer friendly. Bake them, then let them cool off completely, transfer them into a ziplock bag and freeze up to 3 months. For reheating, you can pop them in the microwave, bake them in the oven, pan-fry or add them to a Falafel Curry (it's my favorite way to use frozen falafel because it makes them super soft again).
Absolutely! If you don't want to use dried chickpeas, you can use canned chickpeas. But it's best to use this recipe for Spinach Falafel and simply leave out the spinach.
More Falafel Recipes
- 25+ Vegan Falafel Recipes for Chickpea Lovers
- Spinach Falafel with canned chickpeas
- Falafel Burger
- Green Falafel with collard greens
- Oil-Free Oven-Baked Falafel with Cilantro
- Falafel Curry
- Falafel Wrap
I hope you enjoy these falafel as much as I do! Let me know if you give them a try!
If you don’t want to miss out on any new recipes, subscribe to my newsletter, follow me on Instagram and Facebook!
Cheers, Bianca
Huge Batch of Oven-Baked Falafel Balls (Freezer-Friendly!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups dried chickpeas
- 2 onions
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅔ cup besan/chickpea flour (+ more if the mixture doesn't stick together)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (+ more if the mixture doesn't stick together)
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
Instructions
- Put the dry chickpeas in a large bowl, cover with enough water (the chickpeas will double in size!) and let them sit covered overnight.
- Peel the onions and garlic cloves. Put them in a food processor and chop. In a pan with a teaspoon of canola oil, add the chopped onions, garlic, and cumin and let it cook on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until they start to brown.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and then work in batches by adding the first batch into the food processor and chop until the pieces are really small (you don't want to make hummus). In one batch add in the parsley to chop it as well. Repeat until you've used up all the chickpeas. Transfer everything to a huge bowl.
- Add the lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt, ground pepper, baking powder, and the onions and garlic. Mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Add in the chickpea flour and olive oil. Mix the chickpea mixture well and form little balls. If the dough does not stick together enough, add more chickpea flour and oil.
- Put the falafel on a baking tray and bake them in the oven for about 25 minutes or until they turn golden.
- You can eat the falafel like that or put them in a pan with a little oil for reheating when you need them. They freeze very well, so you will have a nice stash of homemade falafel in your freezer, which is super convenient!
Jane says
So you don't cook the chickpeas at all first? Just soak them?
bianca says
Exactly, Jane! I soak them overnight, drain them & process them in the food processor. :)
Jane says
I cannot wait to try these! Thank you!
bianca says
Awesome! Let me know how it went :)
jayne g. says
I made these tonight. Unfortunately the chick pea flour I had was old and stale. So I used Gf flour instead. After adding 1 whole extra cup of Gf flour, it still wasn't sticky enough to form into a ball. Fearful of losing the flavor, i went ahead and baked it. It still turned out tasty, although not authentic falafel since it was a bit doughy.
I plan on giving it a second try with chickpea flour and with less of the suggested sodium.
bianca says
Hi Jayne.
Thank you so much for your feedback. Definitely use chickpea flour the next time, because chickpea flour is one of the best binding flours. If the falafel do not hold together, use more chickpea flour together with more oil or water. But you shouldn't need that much extra flour. I've never had doughy falafel, so this shouldn't happen with chickpea flour. Good luck on your next try!
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
Wow! Baked Falafel looks enticing Bianca! Loved the fact that you used uncooked chickpeas! YUMMY!
bianca says
Thank you so much Anu! I always use the canned chickpeas for hummus and the dried chickpeas for falafel and it works great that way :D
Dom says
They are in the oven as we speak!
I'm curious how they are going to turn as I'm only making half a portion and had to replace chickpeas with a canned version and flour with just a basic one! I'm just recently making changes to my diet and would like to enter as many vegan elements into it as I can.
I also halved the parsley amount and replaced the other one with coriander (cilantro ).
I hope this works with so many changes lol still pretty excited about it! :-D
Dom says
They turned out absolutely delicious! :-D
Bianca says
Hahaa, I'm so glad to hear that, Dom! I was really worried about the flour because they could have turned out mushy - but I'm happy for you that they turned out great :) Good job! And also thank you so much for telling me - I love hearing back from my readers. Now bon appétit :)
Dom says
Biance my boyfriend loved them so much I'm making another batch this evening! This time I have the proper flour and dried chickpeas! So excited about it! :-D
Bianca says
Yeay - I hope you like this version too! :)
britt says
will canned chickpeas work as well?
Bianca says
I've actually never baked them when I used canned chickpeas for falafel, but I suppose it would work too.
Gina says
Hi Bianca
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. I think about serving these falafels my guest on friday night and wonder how you would prepare them in advance best. I won't have a lot time on that evening and would like to cook almost everything the evening before. I'm a little bit afraid, that they get to dry if I reheat them in the oven again. And how do you handle them when they are frozen?
Have a lovely day. xx
Bianca says
Dear Gina,
so sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner!
I think they would turn out really dry, if re-heated in the oven. I usually pan-fry them (if frozen, let them thaw before) with a little oil until warm. The oil also helps giving them back a bit of moisture.
Lorryn says
YUMMMMM!!! This was DELICIOUS ? I have only just started trying a different diet and was very nervous as I am the fussiest person alive, but there was no need to be nervous, I think I have landed in heaven ?
Bianca says
You don't know how happy your comment made me! <3 Thank you so much! I'm glad you like the recipe so much and I hope you'll find many more you'll love. Falafel are one of my favs too.
Misha says
I just made these tonight for a lunch prep and my husband cannot keep his hands off of them. Mind you, he's not really big on falafels, I made them for me! Awesome recipe! I followed the recipe exactly, except, I did not have dried beans, so I used two drained 15oz cans of beans and the consistency was perfect. I would recommend flipping them halfway through. At the end of the bake time, they weren't brown on top, but they were brown on the bottom, so the rotation may help with the overall browness. Thank you for this wonderful, super tasty recipe. It will definitely be in rotation.
Bianca says
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, Misha! I'm so glad you and your husband enjoyed them!
Good to hear the recipe worked with canned beans too :) Yeay!
joanne says
Hi, I'm looking forward to trying these tomorrow, but had a few question. I'm curious why baking powder is needed? Also how many hours minimum do the beans need to be soaked? I also don't like anything spicy (hot).. does the cayenne add heat or just flavor? Thanks!
Bianca says
Hi Joanne, the baking powder makes the falafel fluffier and lighter. As for the soaking, 12 hours would be a good amount of time. The falafel are definitely not spicy :) You can always leave out the cayenne pepper, they will be good either way :) Hope you like the recipe!
Lisa says
I was wondering if the "cumin" in this recipe is cumin powder or cumin seeds? I noticed you had sauteed it with the onion and garlic, so I wasn't sure. Thanks, looking forward to trying this!
Bianca says
Hey Lisa! In this recipe I've used whole cumin seeds :)
Lisa says
Made these last night with some modifications, and they turned out well! I love that it is all bean and no grain flour.
My spice blend:
1/2 tsp cumin powder (versus cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp added paprika
1/4 tsp added coriander powder
2 tsp dried oregano (didn't have fresh parsley)
3/4 tsp onion powder (no onions)
2 tso salt
Just sauteed 4 cloves of minced garlic in olive oil, nothing else with it.
I had 5 cups of processed chickpeas after I soaked, rinsed, and processed them.
Used garfava flour versus garbanzo.
Delicious in a wrap with avocado or Tahini sauce! My only complaint is that I thought it was too salty, and next time I'll reduce salt 1/8-1/4 tsp.
Bianca says
Thank you for your detailed feedback, Lisa!
Yeah salt is always a difficult topic because different types of salts vary & it's all up to preference, but I'll have a close look at the salt I'm adding next time I'm making these and adjust/change the recipe then :) Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Angie says
Followed recipe exactly as written and turned out great! I do think frying them in a little oil made them not so dry. Made homemade vegan pita, pickled veggies and tahini to go along with them! Fantastic!
Bianca says
Awesome! That's great to hear :) And if they ever end up being too dry: I can totally recommend making Falafel Curry :)
Mario says
Hi Bianca,
I tried to pick the first one up and the whole thing fell apart. Still taste great. Any idea why that happened?
Thanks!
Mario
Bianca says
Hi Mario, you probably need more "glue" aka chickpea flour + olive oil or water. When you form the balls, the mixture shouldn't fall apart too easily. Then, after baking the falafel should hold together just fine. Cheers, Bianca :)
Kelley says
Hi Bianca,
Thanks for your post. I'm wondering though, when making a batch what is the serving size? When putting in how many servings I would like I'm not sure if it's stating the number of falafel balls or a serving.
Kelley
Bianca says
You'll end up with approximately 45 falafel - give or take - depending on how large you make the falafel. So you will have lots of falafel. I always freeze them and take out just as many as I need. For wraps, I usually use 4 falafel, when used in a falafel curry 5-6 falafel per person. It just depends on what you use it for. Hope that helps! :)
Brianna says
So good! I just made these and I can't stop eating them. I plan to make the curry tonight but we'll see if they last that long, haha! I ended up using maybe twice as much chickpea flour because it wasn't sticking together at first. I also didn't know how much a "bunch" of parsley was so I think I put in too much, but they still taste great. Thanks for this recipe! I will definitely be making these many more times in the future!
Bianca says
Thank you for the awesome feedback, Brianna! I'm so glad you like them! The amount of the chickpea flour always varies a bit - depending on how much water the chickpeas soaked up - so it's always a good idea to just add until you can form the falafel :) As for the parsley, I usually add 1/2 cup of chopped parsley because I love lots of parsley :D