Baked Falafel
This homemade falafel recipe is packed with flavor, similar to the falafel you’d get out. These are made with canned chickpeas to make it easy, but don’t worry, they don’t have a mushy texture. I’m sharing my special trick to ensure a drier texture and crunchy exterior.
Falafel is one of my favorite foods. When we lived in Princeton, we were lucky to have a Mamoun’s right in town, which I’ve missed ever since moving. I haven’t found anything nearly as good, so I figured I’d try to make something similar. What I love about Mamoun’s falafel is the vibrant green color, the texture and the flavor, ok so everything.
I wanted to make my recipe for falafel healthy and simple, so I opted for baked rather than fried and canned chickpeas over dried. I’ve a found a way to use canned chickpeas and avoid a soft or mushy falafel, which I’ve shared below! Mamoun’s is difficult to recreate at home, but I knew I wanted a healthy homemade falafel to be really flavorful. These are also packed with nourishing and high fiber ingredients, and make for a great weeknight addition to the meal rotation. These falafel are great as a snack, side carbohydrate or a meatless protein option.
Canned Chickpeas Falafel
Most recipes for falafel start with dried chickpeas, that need to be soaked. This is the traditional way to make falafel, but I prefer using canned chickpeas. Canned chickpeas are cooked and then soaked while in the can. This makes the nutrients and fiber easier to digest. Another benefit of using canned chickpeas is they’re much more convenient. Typically you’d need to soak the chickpeas for 10-12 hours, so this recipe can be a last minute decision.
How to Make Falafel With Canned Chickpeas
Texture is important in falafel and typically if you use canned chickpeas, the falafel will have a soft and mushy texture. For this easy falafel recipe, I bake canned chickpeas prior to making falafel, which dries them out to better match the texture of more traditional falafel. It’s not exactly the same, but very close.
Ways to Serve Falafel
Falafel Pita
I love a good falafel pita. Mamoun’s builds theirs with some hummus and falafel, then adds lettuce, sliced onion and diced tomato, with tahini sauce (tahini thinned with a bit of water) drizzled on top. That part is easy to recreate. You could fill it with almost anything, sliced radish, cucumber, feta, tzatziki, harissa and roasted peppers would all be great add ins.
Mediterranean Wrap or Tacos
On a whole grain wrap or tortilla, layer on some falafel, toppings and a sauce. Add ins like cucumber, feta, sliced onion, tomatoes, olives and peppers would pair well. For the sauce you could add tahini sauce, a garlic sauce or tzatziki.
Mediterranean Salad
You could build a big salad with any combination of greens, cucumber, tomato, roasted red peppers, red onion, kalamata olives and feta and add these baked falafel to the top. A simple dressing of olive oil and lemon juice would be delicious.
Dinner Plate
You can use these homemade falafel as the side carbohydrate or a meatless protein for a dinner plate. Pair with some baked or grilled chicken or shrimp as desired, and serve with your vegetables and sauce of choice.
Falafel Burger
This recipe can easily be made into burgers rather than typical falafel size. Just scoop more filling and press with your hands to make your desired burger size. Add to a good bun, and top with the same options as a falafel pita.
Falafel Appetizer
I’d be so excited to see falafel for an appetizer at a party. Serve it with a sauce I’ve mentioned above and it will be a hit.
Can you make falafel ahead?
This falafel with canned chickpeas is best made to serve but can definitely be made ahead. They get more crumbly after being refrigerated, but they’re still delicious, and if you plan on eating them in a wrap or pita, they’d work well. You could also make the mixture and form them into the falafel shape ahead, and bake them to serve. I haven’t tried freezing them, but I would think you could freeze them after forming into the falafel or burger, and then bake to serve.
Recipe for ‘Baked Falafel’
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Yields: 10-12 falafel
Falafel Ingredients
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (dried in oven)
2 cups of fresh flat Italian parsley leaves
1 cup of fresh cilantro leaves
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup yellow onion, roughly chopped
2.5 tsp ground cumin
1 small pinch of turmeric and coriander
1 tsp fine sea salt
1-2 tbsp chickpea flour
extra virgin olive oil for brushing
Directions
Drain and rinse canned chickpeas. Place on a kitchen towel and gently pat dry.
Bake them on a baking sheet in a single later, in an oven heated to 350F for 25-30 minutes. When you squeeze one, you want it to still have some softness and not be completely dried out.
Meanwhile, in a food processor add the parsley, cilantro, onion, garlic, cumin, turmeric, coriander, salt. Pulse to mince, scrape sides as needed.
Once the chickpeas are done baking, allow to cool a bit. Then, add them to the food processor and pulse until they’re a rough grainy texture. Add 1 tbsp of chickpea flour and pulse a few more times. Check the texture, if it seems moist or wet, add the other tbsp of chickpea flour, but it’s usually good with 1 tbsp.
I use a small cookie scoop to measure out the falafel, scooping it tightly. Place them onto parchment and gently press into thick disks.
Allow them to sit and firm up for a few minutes, or put them in the refrigerator for a few hours before baking.
Heat oven to 425F. With a pastry brush, brush olive oil onto the tops of the falafel. Then place on a baking sheet oiled side down and brush the other side (now facing up).
Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 15 minutes.
Enjoy!
