The Best Homemade Falafel
Traditional restaurant-style falafels — made at home! Falafels are a combination of chickpeas, loaded with onions, parsley, sesame seeds, and a handful of spices. Pan fry them, deep fry them, or bake them in the oven until they're golden and delicious!
Servings: 16 -20 falafel patties
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried garbanzo beans soak in 6 cups of water for 12-24 hours
- 1 bunch parsley see note
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 5 cloves garlic roughly chopped (I used minced)
- 1 ½ teaspoon EACH: cumin powder AND salt
- 1 teaspoon EACH: coriander powder AND black pepper
- ¼ -1 teaspoon cayenne powder to taste
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoons sesame seeds optional
- 2-4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- DRAIN: the garbanzo beans from the water and dry them completely. You can do this on a kitchen towel by giving them a good wipe down.
- TRANSFER: garbanzo beans along with the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds and flour to a food processor. Pulse the mixture until it breaks down (see pictures for consistency). You don't want it to become a paste. You want it to still have tiny bits of chickpeas running through.
- MIX: the falafel mixture to a bowl, add the sesame seeds, and start by adding 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir to combine. Try to form patties (or balls) with the mixture. If the mixture doesn't hold it's shape, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes before forming patties or balls. I shaped mine into patties that were about 1 ¼ inch in diameter or make balls with a 2 tbsp measuring scoop
- FRY: Heat an inch of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat or in a deep fryer (if making balls). I suggest using a skillet because it reduces the chances of the falafel patties breaking vs making falafel balls. When the oil is warm (325ºF), place 4-6 patties into the oil at a time, depending on the size of the skillet. Do not overcrowd the pan as it will become very difficult to turn the patties. Let the falafel cook for 5-6 minutes total (in the pan or deep fryer) or until the patties or balls cook all the way through. Depending on the size, you may need more or less time. It's always good to do a test falafel. Taste to make sure it's cooked through and adjusting the time as needed.
Notes
- BLEND: I actually really like cilantro so I did 50% parsley and 50% cilantro for my falafels. You can use all parsley or cilantro or a good combination of the two. This is totally up to you.
- HEAT: The cayenne powder is optional. If you don't want any heat at all, feel free to leave it out completely! You can also add in 1-2 hollowed out jalapeños to give this a bit more kick!
- DEEP FRYING: You can deep fry the falafels if you wish, you'll need a slotted spoon to aid in lowering the falafel patties (or balls) into the hot oil so the oil doesn't splatter.
