What is Falafel?

If you’re thinking, “Wait. What is falafel?”, you’re in for a treat. A traditional Middle Eastern dish, falafel are fried balls of ground chickpeas, which often include parsley, cilantro, and spices such as cumin and coriander. It’s 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 it stuffed into pitas brimming with fresh veggies, herbs, sauces, and pickles.

Packed with herbs & spices, this crispy baked falafel recipe is bursting with delicious flavor. Stuff it into pitas, top it with your favorite fixings & enjoy!

Falafel was the food that first convinced me that a vegetarian diet could be filled with bold, exciting flavors. It’s crispy, rich, and satisfying, packed with fresh herbs and aromatic spices. Stuffed into pita bread with veggies, tahini sauce, and a pop of pickled onions, it’s insanely flavorful, making it one of my all-time favorite foods.

I included a recipe for red lentil falafel in vegandietfood.com Every Day (one of my favorites in the book!), but never before have I shared a classic chickpea-based falafel recipe. Without a doubt, it was worth the wait. I’m picky about my falafel, but these little guys check all the boxes: they’re crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle, and loaded with herbs and spices.

This falafel recipe is my favorite vegetarian main dish. I like them stuffed into pita sandwiches, but they’re also delicious over salads, grain bowls, or on their own for a quick snack! Gluten-free and vegan.

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large food processor, place the chickpeas (they will be plump but still raw at this point), 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.

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
• Hummus
• Diced veggies, tomato, cucumber
• Fresh herbs, chopped parsley, fresh mint
• Pickled Red Onions
• Tahini Sauce