Easy Homemade Baked Falafel
Oh, how I love a recipe that begins with ‘preheat the oven’ – you just know there’s going to be minimal prep work! The mixture for these easy homemade falafel is blitzed up in just a few minutes, then you roll it into balls (which is a little messy, but in a fun way), and let the oven do the rest of the work while you put your feet up.
You might also like: Falafel curry; Easy Chickpea Burgers; Cheesy Lentil Burgers.
To be entirely honest, I find that falafel can sometimes be a little dry – that’s why I often use them with some kind of sauce, like in this falafel curry. But as long as you don’t overbake them, these homemade falafel are just delicious – beautifully spiced, crispy on the outside, and ever so slightly moist in the centre.
🧆 Baked Falafel
I imagine most people reading this have already heard of falafel – they’re a staple vegetarian option on restaurant menus, at least here in the UK. But if you’re unaware, falafel is a chickpea-based fritter that’s popular in various Middle Eastern countries.
Traditionally, falafel are made with uncooked (just soaked) chickpeas, but to make this recipe even more straightforward, I used a can of chickpeas instead – much more convenient, in my opinion. I also baked the falafel in the oven rather than deep frying them, so they are a lot simpler to make – not to mention less oily to eat. I did try pan frying these falafel, but baking them in the oven worked significantly better.
🥙 How to Serve Falafel
The classic way to serve falafel is stuffed into a pitta bread, with some salad and tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber dip). This is how I served mine, and it was honestly one of the nicest lunches I’ve had in a long time. The freshness of the tzatziki in particular is a wonderful contrast to the warm, crispy falafel.
If you don’t fancy that, you can also serve falafel on top of a simple salad (they’re like an elevated version of a crouton!), or in a wrap instead of a pitta bread. Tahini (sesame seed paste) is also a common sauce to serve with falafel.
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🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these easy homemade falafel. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- chickpeas. As mentioned, this recipe uses a can of chickpeas for convenience.
- onion. You don’t need a huge amount – either one small onion, or half a larger onion, is fine.
- spices – I kept things really simple with chilli powder and ground cumin. The cumin in particular gives the iconic Middle Eastern flavour.
- dried cilantro (coriander leaf). A few sprigs of fresh cilantro will also work just fine, but I wanted this recipe to use just store-cupboard ingredients, so I used dried.
- garlic – I used minced garlic from a jar because it’s super convenient, and I always have some in the fridge. If you’d rather use fresh garlic, you’ll just need 1-2 cloves.
Becca’s Top Tip
If you’re using half an onion, leave the other half unpeeled, and store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will last very well for a few days until you can use it up in another meal.
🔪 Equipment
You will need a food processor to make these homemade falafel. It doesn’t need to be anything state-of-the-art – mine is a couple of decades old and used to belong to my grandmother! I don’t think they still make the one I have, but there are plenty of options on Amazon that are a similar style, and have great reviews:
🖨️ Printable Instructions
Easy Homemade Baked Falafel
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Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion (or 1 small onion)
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled)
- 400 g tin chickpeas, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp dried coriander leaf (cilantro), or a few sprigs fresh cilantro
- 1/2 tsp salt
- To serve (optional): pitta bread, lettuce, tzatziki (use vegan tzatziki if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F), and thoroughly oil a baking sheet. These homemade falafel do tend to stick a little if the tray isn’t greased.
- Peel the onion, and chop it into a few chunks. Add it to a food processor with the garlic. Blitz until well chopped. You may need to stop the machine and scrape down the sides once or twice if you’re finding it’s clinging to the sides – it’s helpful to start the food processor at a lower speed, and gradually speed up as the mixture becomes more finely chopped.
- Add the remaining ingredients – chickpeas, spices, and salt – and blitz again until the mixture is fairly smooth, and forming a soft dough. Again, you can scrape down the sides as needed.
- Remove the blades from the food processor. With clean hands, roll a small handful of the mixture into a ball, and place it on the oiled baking tray. I like to flatten them slightly so they’re easier to serve inside pitta bread. Repeat with the remaining mixture – I ended up with 8 falafel overall. Spritz them lightly with a little more oil.
- Bake the falafel for 35-40 minutes, until crisped up to your liking.
- Serve the falafel warm. I like them served with pitta bread, salad and tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt dip)
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Yes. Ideally, you’d freeze the uncooked mixture after shaping, but before baking. Freeze the falafel for a couple of hours on a baking tray (so they don’t all stick together), then transfer them to a ziplock bag. You can also freeze fully cooked falafel, but it can sometimes dry out a little when reheated (though nothing a bit of tzatziki can’t fix!).
If you need to, you can prepare and shape the mixture, and then store the uncooked falafel in the fridge for a day or two before baking and serving.
This recipe only makes two portions, but if you do end up with leftovers, make sure you store them in an airtight container in the fridge. The falafel can be reheated in the microwave, or in the oven. I prefer to use the microwave, to prevent them from drying out too much.
Yes, these homemade falafel are both vegan and gluten-free! However, I did serve mine with tzatziki (which contains dairy) and pitta bread (which contains gluten), so make sure you choose your accompaniments accordingly.
This was my first attempt at making falafel and it worked really well. Nice texture, and simple yet delicious! Will definitely be making again soon as I have a few bags of chickpeas in the freezer.
These Falafels are calling my name Becca:)
I love their simplicity and also the fact that you need just 2 tablespoons of olive oil and still they turn out moist.
Can’t wait to try them soon.
I tried this and they were so runny. Blending onions and garlic did not make a paste at all. I’m sure it was something I’m missing or doing wrong, but I had to throw it away. Can you not use a low speed on a Vitamix when blending maybe?
Hi Beth, I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work for you! :( I think it might be that you used a blender instead of a food processor – you don’t want the onions to become overly processed, just roughly blitzed into a paste. If you don’t have a food processor, maybe just try chopping them finely by hand :)
I think you’re right- I over processed!! Thank you for the guidance-I’ll give it another go :)
I hope it works out better for you next time :) If not, I have plenty of other veggie burger type recipes that you might like – try these ones, you can process them as much as you like ;) http://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/nutty-pumpkin-seed-baked-veggie-burgers