Since Jaye and I have been living in the Middle East (Dubai) for 9 years now, let me tell you, we’ve eaten a LOT of falafel.
One of my favorite things about living here is how awesome (and available) things like ready-made hummus, baba ganoush/moutabel and gorgeous falafel wraps actually are!
So even though I am an old hand at making my own hummus and most definitely can make a fantastic baba ganoush, I hadn’t tried making my own vegan falafel before now! Because I can so easily go down the road and pick up a fabulous falafel wrap for 5 bucks (about $1.36) and it will be filling and delicious!
But hey, we won’t be here forever, South Africa is calling my name (loudly), so I wanted to perfect an easy vegan falafel recipe that I can whip up anytime, anywhere, so when I go somewhere where it’s not available in every food court, I can still satisfy my falafel cravings! Which is very important you know.
And this vegan falafel recipe is it! Super easy, super quick and super delicious!
Served with a garlic tahini sauce your falafel cravings will be perfectly satisfied with this recipe!
I was initially going to go with falafel balls, which is usually what is served here, but the thing with falafel balls is that you need quite a bit of oil to fry them in. The oil needs to be as high as the balls are so that they get nicely browned and crisped along the sides. And I’m not usually too keen on using a lot of oil.
So I rolled them into balls at first, but then when frying I flattened them down with a spatula so that they were nicely flattened and easy to fry like you would a veggie burger. You can flatten them while frying like I did, or you can dip the bottom of a glass in some flour and flatten them before they even go into the frying pan.
I think you will just love these vegan falafels, they’re:
- Crispy
- Perfectly browned
- Flavorful
- Filling
- Served with a garlic tahini sauce
They are absolutely delicious served as is, or with pita breads, salad and pickled cucumber.
So let us know what you think of this easy vegan falafel recipe! If you make it, rate the recipe and let us know how it turns out! Tag any pics #lovingitvegan on instagram so we don’t miss them!
And if you like this recipe, then I’m certain you’ll also like our vegan chickpea burger! So check it out.
And definitely sign up to our mailing list! You’ll get a free ebook containing 10 awesome recipes and you’ll be the first to know when new recipes are posted to the blog.
Vegan Falafel Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 16
Description
Crispy and perfectly browned vegan falafel served with a garlic tahini sauce. This vegan falafel recipe is simple, flavorful and filling!
Ingredients
- For the Falafel:
- 1 15oz (425g) Can Chickpeas
- 1/2 Onion
- 3 Cloves Garlic (crushed)
- 1/3 cup Cilantro (finely chopped)
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Dried Chili Flakes
- 1/4 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 6–8 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 4 Tbsp Olive Oil (for frying)
- For the Garlic Tahini Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Tahini
- 1/2 Lemon (Juiced)
- 2 Cloves Garlic (crushed)
- 1 tsp Maple Syrup
- 2 Tbsp Water
- For Serving:
- Pita Breads
- Salad
- Pickles
- Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
- Drain the chickpeas, peel and chop the onion and crush the garlic and add to a food processor.
- Finely chop the cilantro and add to the food processor with the sesame seeds, salt, pepper, dried chili flakes, coriander powder and cumin.
- Add in 6 Tbsp Flour and process. If the mixture is still very wet, add in 2 more Tbsp Flour.
- Generously sprinkle flour onto a baking sheet and scoop out a generous spoonful of falafel mix onto the floured baking sheet. Roll the ball in the flour, adding more as necessary to stop it sticking so that you can roll it in your hands. The mix will still be quite wet and the balls won’t be very firm. Don’t worry they will firm up in the freezer.
- Roll all the mix into balls adding flour to the baking sheet generously as needed. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for 20 minutes so that the balls can firm up.
- After 20 minutes, either dip the bottom of a glass in some flour and press down on the balls to flatten or flatten them with a spatula once frying.
- Add 2 Tbsp Olive Oil to a frying pan and once sizzling add in half the falafels, provided they will easily fit in your pan.
- Fry the falafels turning regularly until crispy and nicely browned on each side. Turn out onto a plate covered with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Repeat for the second batch.
- When your falafels are cooked, throw your sauce ingredients into a bowl and whisk with a hand whisk until smooth.
- Serve with pita breads, salad, pickles and chopped cilantro.
Notes
*Adapted from Epicurious.
*Prep time does not include time spent setting in the freezer.
*Nutritional information is for 1 falafel without sauce.
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Mediterranean, Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Falafel (of 16)
- Calories: 76
- Sugar: 0.8g
- Sodium: 114mg
- Fat: 4.6g
- Saturated Fat: 0.6g
- Carbohydrates: 7.3g
- Fiber: 1.4g
- Protein: 1.9g
Hello! I’m about to do the Falafels tomorrow, but I alrready have the chickpeas soaking, dotes it make any difference if the chickpeas are not canned? Looks delicious by the way 😉
Hi Claudia, as long as you use cooked chickpeas it should be fine, you would use 1 and 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas to replace a can.
Yummy, I used cornmeal instead of flour everybody love them.🤩
★★★★★
Made these and they were phenomenal. Incredible recipe. I will be making them again and again……….Brilliantly easy too…..
★★★★★
Fantastic! So glad to hear that Heidi. Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
WOW! These were amazing! My whole family (including my picky 2 year old) LOVED them! So easy, and delicious!
I made them with a “honey” chipotle sauce and a vegan tzatziki sauce, in homemade tortilla wraps, with a toasted buckwheat, roasted capsicum, roasted beetroot, spinach salad.
THE BEST!!! (Now a weekly dinner!)
★★★★★
Sounds totally delicious! Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂
Could you replace the flour in this recipe with vital wheat gluten to make them lower in calories and higher in protein?
I haven’t tried that but it might be great! 🙂
Holy SMOKES this was
1) as easy as you say
2) absolutely deeeelish
3) worth repeating, doubling (for more)
You should rename them Disappearing Vegan Falafals
I made my own hummus (husband’s recipe) for topping, chopped up cucumber and tomato with slivers of lacinato kale fresh out of our garden.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Awesome Sarita, hahaha, yes they disappear fast! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for your great review! 🙂
We loved these! I baked them instead of frying and they turned out great, perfect amount of spice. I added a little more sesame seeds, cumin, and coriander, to taste. And the sauce is fabulous! Can’t wait to use the sauce in other leftovers this week. Thank you for such an easy, delicious recipe.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing Kelly! Great to hear about your adjustments and so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂 The sauce is definitely very versatile!
Hello! Is it okay to use rice flour instead of all purpose flour? So it’s GF?
Hi Dorothy, in my experience using a single type of flour like rice flour doesn’t work great for binding, I would rather use a gluten free all purpose flour blend. All the best! 🙂
At what temperature and for how long would you recommend baking these? Thank you!
Delicious falafels! One of my favourite foods!
★★★★★
me too Anna!
★★★★★