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Vegan falafel stacked up on a black plate.
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5 from 19 votes

Vegan Falafel

Crispy and delicious vegan falafel. Simple, flavorful, filling, and restaurant quality. Served with a delicious tahini sauce!
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 8
Calories: 129kcal
Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

For the Falafel:

  • 15 ounce Can Chickpeas drained, or 1 and ½ cups cooked chickpeas
  • ½ Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
  • 3 Cloves Garlic Crushed
  • ⅓ cup Cilantro Finely Chopped
  • ⅓ cup Parsley Finely Chopped
  • 2 Tbsp White Sesame Seeds
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
  • ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • ¼ tsp Ground Coriander
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
  • 4 Tbsp Olive Oil Divided, For Frying

For Serving (Optional):

Instructions

  • Drain canned chickpeas and dry them on paper towels. Add the chickpeas to the food processor along with the chopped onion and crushed garlic and process until roughly chopped.
  • Add the finely chopped cilantro and parsley, white sesame seeds, salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, ground coriander and cumin and process again until roughly mixed. 
  • Add the all purpose flour and process briefly. 
  • Roll the mixture into balls and place them onto a parchment lined baking tray. 
  • Use a small square of parchment paper and the bottom of a glass to gently flatten the balls. 
  • Place into the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. 
  • Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to a frying pan and when the oil is hot, add in 4 falafels (providing your pan is big enough to fit all 4). Fry until crispy and browned on each side, about 3 minutes each side. 
  • Place the falafels onto paper towels to absorb excess oil. 
  • Add the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil to the pan and when hot, add in the remaining 4 falafels and cook until browned and crispy. 
  • Serve with pita breads, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, pickles, hummus and tahini sauce.

Notes

  1. Dry the chickpeas on a paper towel. It's important that you drain the canned chickpeas really well, and ideally also dry them off more using paper towels. We're not using a lot of flour in this recipe so making sure the canned chickpeas are well drained and dried off keeps your falafel from being wet inside. 
  2. Make them gluten-free. You can easily make these falafels gluten-free by using a gluten-free all purpose flour blend that is meant to replace regular wheat flour. 
  3. Bake them instead. You can also bake these falafel. Place them on a parchment lined baking tray and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes then flip them and bake on the other side for 10-15 mins.
  4. Storing: Leftover falafel keeps very well in the fridge for 4-5 days.
  5. Prep time includes the time spent chilling in the freezer. 
  6. Nutritional information is for falafel only and excludes anything they're served with. 
  7. This recipe was first published in May 2017 but has now been updated with better photos and an improved method. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Falafel | Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.4g | Protein: 3.3g | Fat: 8.6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 225mg | Fiber: 2.3g | Sugar: 1.5g