Easy Vegan Falafel- made with just 7 ingredients! A simple, hearty classic Mediterranean inspired plant based meal. Serve in flatbread with Vegan Tzatziki and hummus. Pan fry or Bake options!
Are you a falafel fan? If you haven’t tried this delicious Middle Eastern food, you are missing out! Falafel are Middle Eastern fast food, basically made of chickpeas, garlic, fresh herbs and spices. They are usually deep fried so they get super crispy on the outside, and remain tender on the inside.
My falafel recipe is not totally traditional, but it is delicious and easy to make at home!
This Vegan Falafel recipe only requires 7 ingredients, and they are all easy to find foods. You will need:
- Canned chickpeas
- Garlic
- Cashews (a few tablespoons)
- Parsely
- Cumin
- Salt
- & Flour
You will also need a food processor (or you could probably mash the chickpeas by hand but it won’t quite be the same).
Traditional falafel are made with dried chickpeas that have been soaked but not cooked. To make things easier, I went with canned chickpeas that are drained, rinsed and patted dry. I also added in a few tablespoons of cashews, which help give some crumbly texture without having to use soaked but uncooked chickpeas.
Just make sure you don’t over process the falafel mixture. You want it to be rather crumbly, but able to stick together.
How should I cook Easy Vegan Falafel?
You have two choices:
- Bake, or
- Pan Fry
I have done both, but went for pan frying here. I like the extra crispiness they get on the outside when pan frying, but they are pretty darn good baked as well. If you don’t have a quality non-stick frying pan, you will probably need a few tablespoons of oil to prevent the falafel from sticking. The oil also helps them get a delicious crisp.
To avoid oil completely, just bake ’em. Both options are delicious.
How should I serve the vegan falafel?
Serve with pita or flatbread with fresh tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, lettuce, hummus and Dairy Free Tzatziki Sauce.
You can also make a Falafel nourish bowl by serving over a bed of brown rice or farro, with all the same ingredients.
Or make a Falafel salad!
If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment and tag a photo @noracooksvegan on Instagram. Enjoy!
Adapted from Minimalist Baker.
Easy Vegan Falafel
Ingredients
- 2 15-oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed OR 3 cups cooked
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 tablespoons raw cashews
- 3/4 cup fresh parsely
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3-6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3-4 tablespoons oil for cooking, optional
For serving
- 4-6 pita bread, naan or flatbread
- cucumber slices, tomato slices, lettuce
- 1 recipe Dairy Free Tzatziki Sauce, optional
- Hummus, optional
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas, and pat them dry with paper towels or a clean tea towel.
- Add the garlic and cashews to a food processor and pulse a few times to chop them. Do not blend them up, you just want them chopped. Now, add the chickpeas, parsley, cumin and salt and pulse a few more times, scraping the sides as needed until combined. You want a crumbly dough, not a smooth paste.
- Now, add in 3 tablespoons of flour and pulse again until combined. You should have a dough at this point that you can shape into balls without it sticking to your hands. If it's still too sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons at a time and shape into a ball, then slightly flatten into a disc. Repeat until all the dough is used; you will have about 12 discs.
- To pan fry: Heat a large, non-stick skillet to medium heat and add the oil (or omit for oil free). Add the falafel discs and cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip, and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Remove and serve.
- To bake: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the falafel discs and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake 10 minutes more.
- Serve in pita or flatbread with fresh tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, lettuce, hummus and vegan tzatziki sauce.
Notes
- May use gluten-free flour in place of the all purpose flour with varied results.
- FREEZER MEAL: The uncooked falafel patties freeze well. Simply shape them into discs, and lay them on a parchment paper lined pan or plate and stick it in the freezer. Once frozen (a few hours later or overnight), transfer the falafel to a freezer bag or container. To cook, remove from the freezer and bake or pan fry until cooked through, no need to let thaw.
Nutrition
The standard recipe says there’s 12 servings. How big is a serving? I’m trying to make food for three meals. 12 sounds like a lot but I really don’t know if maybe I should half the recipe or… ? I wanted the falafel to the main part of the meal.
The recipe makes about 12 little falafel discs. So probably only enough to feed about 4 people, depending on how you serve them. Hope that helps!
I followed the recipe but my falafel dissolved during pan frying. What did I do wrong?
Did you really dry the chickpeas after rinsing? You do want the falafel mixture to be somewhat dry and not too wet, or they do fall apart easier. You also just need to handle them carefully when pan frying, gently turning them around or flipping them.
Can you air fry these?
I’m sure you could! I haven’t personally tried it though.
This was my first attempt at making vegan falafels. I added a small red and some ground coriander. I used sesame seeds instead of cashews. I also added baking soda as recommended by a reviewer before baking in the oven. I am not a vegan but cook vegan meals for my daughter. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you
Correction: small red onion
Thanks for sharing you review, Lucy! I’m glad the falafels worked out and were delicious for you!
i tried these but they ended up being a bit crumbly to pan fry. I was able to deep fry them. The family found them a bit dry. Will try to make it again based on some changes I noted.
I have not made these yet, but would like to do so. We have a child with nut allergies. Do you think the cashews could be left out? Or could they be replaced, and with what? Thank you so much! Love trying your recipes.
You can leave them out, or use sunflower seeds instead. They just add a little crunch. I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes, hope you like this one!
My husband and I made this for our Valentines dinner and it turned out wonderful.
Hi Ruthie. I’m glad you and your husband loved the falafel! Thank you!
They tasted great but no matter how I cooked them, they just fell into pieces.
You may have added too much flour, some brands of chickpea are more dry than others, so add less if your mixture seems dry. Sorry that it didn’t work out for you.
Not a fan of chickpeas but love this recipe! So tasty and filling…
That’s great to hear!
Can we use coconut flour and use air fryer no oil
I haven’t tried it with coconut flour, but it might work. And yes the air fryer will work with no oil.
They came very good indeed.
I baked them to avoid the oil. Tks for the resipe.
You’re welcome!!
can also use air fryer
I had never tried to make falafel before because I thought it would be difficult. These were so quick and easy and absolutely delicious. The cashews in there are a great texture addition. Awesome recipe!
Thanks so much!!
Super quick & easy to make, delicious with all that garlic!
I’m so glad to hear that!
AMAZING!!! Best Falafel I have tried yet! A must try and so easy!!
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for the comment!
These were delicious! I couldn’t believe how quick and easy they were to make. I made the dough and formed them a day ahead of time and just kept in the fridge until the next night. Thank you Nora for another great meal!
You’re so welcome!
These were good!
I used TJ’s GF Flour because it’s all I had in the house. The mixture was crumbly but eventually stuck together ok. I will say, spooning out 2 tbsp for each falafel gave me way more than 12 so I eventually added more to each to make 12. They did not look nearly as nice as yours (I also pan fried them) and the dough was much more crumbly, like I mentioned but that’s my fault for only having GF flour. It would change the texture considerably to not be able to build up any gluten to hold it all together!
Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve only had falafel once or twice in my life, so I don’t really have anything to compare this to, but these were delicious. I made them with the vegan tzatziki and served them in pita bread with cucumbers and tomatoes. The only difference I made was that I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I used dried.
I am confused about the calories though. 232 per ball seemed like a lot, so I ran it through a calorie calculator. It came out to 95 calories per ball for me. Either way, these were good and I’ll definitely make them again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these falafel! I rechecked the nutritional information, and the reason was my automatic online calculator was also including pita bread. I removed that, rechecked everything and have reposted with more accurate results for 1 falafel, if you make 12 balls. Thanks for the catch!
Hi, you can also add green onion & sesame seed to the ingredients, and to give the falafel that good smell you can a special spice for the falafels which you can find in Arab shops. Finally, before you fry the falafels, put 1 tbs of baking soda to the mix.
I assume you could also air fry these?
I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it would work.
What other types of flour would work if I can’t find the garb flour? Thank you
The recipe calls for all purpose flour, not garbanzo flour. You could use regular white flour, whole wheat if needed, spelt flour, or probably even brown rice flour or a gluten free blend depending on what you have. Hope that helps!
These were delicious. We have made them quite a few times. This is a great make ahead meal. I mix it up on the weekend and my teenagers pan fry them for dinners as needed. The last time we accidentally made them with cilantro and they were different, but still delicious! Thanks for another tasty family favorite.
My small food processor could only manage half of the recipe but I loved the outcome. I think I’ll try mix it up with flavors and spices in my mix but this base was perfect. I made baby falafel and fried them as a naughty first try but I am going to A) buy a bigger food processor and B) try cook them in my fancy oven on the crisping tray & setting. Glad I found this recipe on Pinterest 🙂
I’m so glad you like it!
is the nutritional information including the “for serving” ingredients? also, is it just one falafel per serving?
The calorie estimate is only for the falafel, and yes one per serving assuming you end up with 12 as I did.
With my restricted diet, I’ve been looking for creative and tasty ways to add some variety to my diet. My primary source of protein is beans, so I’ve been making a lot of falafel recently and hadn’t found a recipe I loved until now. These are my favorite! The texture is perfect and the flavor is amazing, even though I had to omit the cumin. Only thing lacking is an adjustment in salt. I’ll probably use more. (believe it or not, salt is good for me – go figure, right?) They were also a tad too crumbly for me, so I may add only 2 tablespoons of flour next time, to see if that makes them a little easier to form, but other than that, these are the best homemade falafel I’ve ever made! I used garbanzo bean flour instead of regular flour to keep them gluten/grain free, probably part of why the flour may have been too much. I also baked them and kept them more as balls than flattened. I love falafel and am so excited to have a recipe I love now! Thank you! <3
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Angela! Thank you for your comment. I’ve found the amount of flour needed varies each time I make them, depending on the water content in the beans I use, and how well I drain them. I’m glad to hear your substitution of garbanzo bean flour worked to keep them gluten free. 🙂
I love that these are baked and not fried. Still super delicious!
I substituted the flour with coconut flour and baked them. So yummy!
can you make this a day or two ahead and then cook?
Yes I think that would work.