Falafel! It’s one of my all-time favorite snacks. This homemade falafel recipe has hundreds and hundreds of positive reviews. Why? Because it’s just that delicious! Making authentic, traditional falafel is an interesting process, and it may be brand new to you. Never fear! I am here to walk you through each step, so you can achieve crispy, tender, tasty falafel every single time.
What is Falafel?
Falafel are crisp and delicious deep-fried legume fritters made with beans, spices, onions, and herbs. Legumes are well-soaked, then ground up and mixed with other ingredients. Next, the mixture is formed into small balls or patties, then fried in hot oil. The pre-soaked legumes are cooked during the frying process.
Most falafel today is made with chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). However, in Egypt and other areas of the Middle East, fava beans are the legume of choice. It is often served alongside other popular regional Mediterranean recipes like hummus, as well as shawarma made from lamb or chicken.
The History of Falafel
This Middle Eastern food has a very long history. The word falafel may descend from the Arabic word falāfil, a plural of the word filfil, meaning “pepper.” Legume fritters, including versions made with fava beans and lentils, have existed in the Middle East for thousands of years.
According to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, written by my friend Gil Marks: “The first known appearance of legume fritters (aka falafel) in the Middle East appears to be in Egypt, where they were made from dried white fava beans (ful nabed) and called tamiya/ta-amia (from the Arabic for ‘nourishment’); these fritters were a light green color inside. Many attribute tamiya to the Copts of Egypt, who practiced one of the earliest forms of Christianity. They believed that the original state of humankind was vegetarian and, therefore, mandated numerous days of eating only vegan food, including tamiya.”
Likewise, the Torah, the Song of Songs, the Mishnah, and the Talmud all mention deep-fried lentil fritters, known as “ashishim.” This means early forms of falafel were enjoyed in this region since biblical times, at least. That’s some pretty ancient falafel!

Ingredients and Notes
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the complete details!
- Chickpeas – I use chickpeas because they’re easy to find, and they’re tasty! Follow my tips to cook and soak dried chickpeas. Do not use canned chickpeas; they will not give you the proper result – you need to start with uncooked chickpeas. If all you have on hand are canned chickpeas, try this very delicious and falafel-like spicy panko chickpea patties recipe instead!
- Onion and Garlic – These ingredients add a pungent, sweet, savory taste. I like white onion, but yellow onion will also work. Then, I use roasted garlic cloves for extra depth.
- Herbs and Spices – Fresh parsley, salt, ground cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and ground cardamom create the warm, savory flavor found in falafel recipes all over the world.
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour or chickpea flour to keep this recipe gluten-free. This absorbs any excess moisture and helps the falafel balls hold their shape.
- Leaveners – I use baking soda in the soaking water for the chickpeas to help soften them. You can also add baking powder in the falafel balls. This helps to create super tender, fluffy falafel.
- Oil – Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point for frying. I prefer avocado oil, but grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, and peanut oil all work.

How to Make Authentic Fried Falafel Balls
Homemade falafel can be a little time-consuming. So, make sure to read through the entire recipe and plan ahead accordingly!
- Soak the chickpeas. Submerge the chickpeas in cold water, and add baking soda. Cover the bowl, and chill in the fridge for at least 12 hours or ideally up to 24 hours. This helps soften them, making them easy to blend.
- Combine and blend. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Then, add them to a food processor along with the other ingredients. Pulse until a rough, coarse meal forms. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure all the ingredients are well incorporated. Be careful not to overprocess! The mixture should have a paste-like consistency, but shouldn’t be so smooth that it turns into hummus.
- Chill. Transfer the chickpea mixture to a bowl, and stir with a fork to remove any remaining chunks. Then, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
- Fry. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. In the meantime, portion the falafel mixture into equal-sized balls or slider-shaped patties. Then, fry on each side until golden brown, working in batches as needed. Drain them on a paper towel-lined plate, and enjoy!

Tori’s Tips for the Best Crispy Falafel Recipe
- Divide the mixture. If you have a small food processor, divide the falafel ingredients in half before pulsing.
- Use a deep fry or candy thermometer. The ideal temperature to fry falafel is between 360 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit. The best way to monitor the temperature is to use a deep fry or candy thermometer to check the oil before frying.
- Portion evenly. I like to use a tablespoon or a falafel scoop to portion the falafel balls into equal-sized pieces and roll them between wet hands.
- Test a single falafel before frying the rest. I like to fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot, and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly and try again.
- Add flavor. I like to dip my falafel balls in sesame seeds before frying for a little extra crisp and nutty taste. However, I’ve also tested different flavor variations, adding chopped parsley or fresh cilantro or turmeric, and they all taste great. (See the recipe card below for details!)

Serving Ideas
My favorite way to serve homemade falafel is as a falafel sandwich. To do so, I use flatbread or slice warm pita bread in half to form two “pockets.” Then, I stuff them with the falafel balls and add-ons such as tahini sauce, Israeli salad, hummus, baba ganoush, or tabouli, and vegetables like shredded lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and dill pickles.
Sometimes I also like to add sprouts, cucumber slices, roasted peppers, roasted eggplant slices, sunflower seeds, French fries, feta cheese, and yogurt or tzatziki for extra taste and texture.
Or, start with a large bowl and a base of lemony saffron couscous, cauliflower couscous, quinoa, or saffron rice, then add fresh veggies and all your favorite toppings.
Falafel balls are also great to serve as an appetizer or side dish with dips and main courses. Or, add them to a mezze platter for a party spread.


Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) – you must start with dry, do NOT substitute canned, they will not work!
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 3-5 cloves garlic (I prefer roasted garlic cloves)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon flour or chickpea flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Pinch of ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (optional – makes the falafel more fluffy)
- Vegetable oil for frying – avocado oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, and peanut oil all work well (I prefer avocado oil)
NOTES
Instructions
- One day ahead: Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches of cold water. Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda to the water and stir; this will help soften the chickpeas. Cover the bowl and let them soak overnight in a cool, dark place or chill in the refrigerator. The chickpeas should soak at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours, until tender (change soaking water for fresh water after 12 hours).
- They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of beans after soaking.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour or chickpea flour (use chickpea flour to make gluten free), salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cardamom. Note: if you have a smaller food processor, you will want to divide the ingredients in half and process the mixture one batch at a time.
- Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process until the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that… but don't over-process, you don't want it turning into hummus!
- Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, pour it out into a bowl and use a fork to stir; this will make the texture more even throughout. Remove any large chickpea chunks that the processor missed.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.Fill a skillet with oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches. Use cooking oil with a high smoke point (oil suggestions can be found in the ingredient list). Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. The ideal temperature to fry falafel is between 360 and 375 degrees F; the best way to monitor the temperature is to use a deep fry or candy thermometer. After making these a few times, you will start to get a feel for when the oil temperature is "right."Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls or slider-shaped patties using wet hands or a falafel scoop. I usually use about 2 tbsp of mixture per falafel. You can make them smaller or larger depending on your personal preference. The balls will stick together loosely at first, but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.
- If the balls won't hold together, place the mixture back in the processor again and continue processing to make it more paste-like. Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if you can get them into the hot oil, they should bind together and stick. If they still won't hold together, you can try adding 2-3 tbsp of flour or chickpea flour to the mixture. If they still won't hold, add 1-2 eggs to the mix. This should fix any issues you are having.Before frying my first batch of falafel, I like to fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly and try again.
- When the oil is at the right temperature, fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time until golden brown on both sides. Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon. Let them drain on paper towels.
- Serve the falafels fresh and hot; they go best with a plate of hummus and topped with creamy tahini sauce. You can also stuff them into a pita.
- SESAME FALAFEL VARIATION: After forming the balls or patties, dip them in sesame seeds prior to frying. This will make the falafel coating crunchier and give it a slightly nutty flavor.
- HERB FALAFEL VARIATION (GREEN FALAFEL): Add ½ cup additional chopped green parsley, or cilantro, or a mixture of the two prior to blending.
- TURMERIC FALAFEL (YELLOW FALAFEL): Add ¾ tsp turmeric to the food processor prior to blending.
- HOW TO MAKE A FALAFEL PITA: Making a falafel pita is actually really simple. The two main ingredients are pita bread and falafel. Cut the pita bread in half to form two “pockets.” Each pocket is a serving size. Stuff the pocket with falafel, as well as any add-ons you fancy.Here are some traditional add-ons that can be added to your pita: tahini sauce, shredded lettuce, diced or sliced tomatoes, Israeli salad, onions, dill pickles, hummus, tabouli.Here are some less traditional add-ons that are also tasty: sprouts, cucumber slices, roasted peppers, roasted eggplant slices, sunflower seeds, french fries, feta cheese, yogurt, tzatziki.
Nutrition
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FAQs
This recipe is best served right away. However, you can store cooked leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
I’ve never tried freezing this recipe, but some readers have had good luck with freezing both the uncooked chickpea mixture and the cooked falafels.
Personally, I don’t like baking this recipe, finding that it tends to dry out. However, if you want to give it a try, prepare and shape the falafel dough into patties as usual.
Then, arrange them on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and brush the top of each falafel patty with extra virgin olive oil. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden. If you read through the comments, you’ll see tips from some readers who have tried this method with some success.
after losing my son and daughter in law I inherited my vegetarian grandson. thank you for your recipe, it will help me feed him properly.
So sorry for your loss, Martha!
Im from the Middle East- and let me tell you – this falafels are legit. I make the herbed ones because thats what we get back home. Its full of parsley and coriander so I go full force with it- but the ingredients and the method and everything else is perfection. Ive been following the same recipe for 7 years now and not going to change
This was fantastic! Tons of flavor and loved by my whole family. Highly recommend and will definitely be making regularly.
I have been looking for. Falafel recipe for quite some time and yours is a delicious revelation! The spices are spot on. I used a little more roasted garlic cloves but otherwise used your quantities. I am plantbased fat free so I did bake them and they turned out just great. I think the trick is to keep them at 1/2 inch thick and bake them on a lightly oiled pan or silpat. I top them with oil-free Tzaziki or whatever oil-free dressing my refrigerator currently holds. They freeze beautifully and can be briefly microwaved to reheat. The perfectly delicious on-hand snack or meal!
Thank you for sharing this versatile, easy, delicious recipe. This not only serves as my go-to recipe for falafel but also as a base for making larger patties as vegan burgers, omitting the falafel spices (cumin, coriander and cardamom) and substituting with onion powder (in addition to the chopped onion), garlic powder, coconut aminos, non-fortified nutritional yeast and a generous dash of sriracha, forming and freezing burgers singly on baking sheet, then packaging them stacked in a freezer-safe bag in freezer for later use. Store bought vegan burgers are full of toxic garbage and most not organic, so I make my own. Up until now. any vegan burger recipes have turned out to soft in center. This recipe as resolved that. Thanks, again!
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AMAZING! My only mods: due to the fact that I’m a garlic fanatic, was to add extra garlic and of course because of that I had to add a bit of extra chickpea flour…. I only had time for it to rest about an hour before I had to start making them…. held together, fried up nice and fluffy… went to go have the leftovers for lunch and my son had taken them already for his lunch…. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, this is now in my recipe box!
Amazing! I made falafel for the first time in my life. Although it was a bit too wording, this recipe was easy to follow.
I recommend it.
Perfect. First time actually frying them. They held together amazingly with the original recipe. So tasty! Thanks.
I have a love hate relationship with falafel. I love everything about them except how dry they always are. I find myself drowning them in sauce and practically choking them down. However, I still enjoy the flavor and they are healthy (plus my teenager recently decided to become a vegetarian so there’s that). I typically only make these 1-2 times a year but I have LOVED this recipe from the start and it resulted in the purchase of a very large food processor that I use only for making falafel. I cannot tolerate fried foods so I bake these. The first time I made the recipe as is. The second time I made them with fresh parsley and/or cilantro (I don’t remember which) and they are heaven! The fresh herbs adds soooo much moisture and I found makes them that much closer to perfect. Tonight I made them with turmeric (and parsley) so will see how that goes. Still the best falafel recipe ever. And I do still have them with fresh tahini sauce (also Tori’s recipe but I also make my own Tahini paste which is super easy) , as well as homemade tzatiki and sprinkle some feta cheese and it is just delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this delicious, healthy recipe 🙂 My only question…how long do they keep in the fridge once made?
I bought a food processor to make pesto and now I make everything in it.
I have been making this recipe for over 4 years now and love it every single time! My husband loves them too! We make them with the parsley and cilantro and air fry them! Pan fried or air fried you cannot go wrong!!
Every time I make these falafels I push myself to make more than the last time. I found myself soaking 4lbs of dry chickpeas on Saturday night, blending 10 lbs 10 oz of mix on Sunday, and making 59 ice cream scoop sized falafel balls on Monday. It was a full assembly line in here between forming the balls and deep frying. I am so happy my freezer is restocked and I have a solid veg meal for the week. I usually eat with feta, tzatziki, black olives, tomatoes, spring mix and red onion (plus some el yucateca xxxhot sauce).
Thanks for sharing this excellent recipe!
Notes: with the massive falafel balls I heat a few inches of oil in a Large deep pot to about 330 degrees. I usually do 5 minutes on each side, then I warm them at 300 in the toaster oven for about ten mins (maybe a bit more if they’re frozen).
We made this falafel recipe and went on the hunt for ingrediency’s of course we had to google some things because it new to us. This will be our 4th time making this and it has become one of our fav,s.
Fantastic flavors and really good for you . thank you T’ for sharing.
I have become addicted to your website trying new dishes. Mediterranean diet is THE way to go.
Next up will be stuffed chicken breast, mmmm..
I am a gluten free vegan who Loves this recipe. I usually make a half recipe but make it more often. These are wonderful for me as they’re so versatile. Can be eaten hot with other foods or room temperature or cold or on the run when traveling
I’ve recently shared your recipe with a friend and I’m sure she too will love them
I made this this morning. I followed the recipe closely except for a larger quantity of fresh parsley.
The dough was stiff and easy to shape by hand. I froze most it after making about 65-70 walnut sized portions and I fried about a dozen right away in grape seed oil. My first thought was “These are good but there’s something missing.” More salt? More cayenne? But now that I’m dipping them in a nice tahini sauce I think they’re just perfect.
This is the first time I’ve ever made falafel from scratch. Thanks for the recipe and the guidance!
Delish! I followed the recipe exactly. Added both the baking powder and soda. Used a tablespoon to make fat little football shapes. In the air fryer, baked at 350 for 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes on air fry (400). Came out perfect. Used a home made buffalo white bean hummus thinned down a bit as a dip. Everyone was very happy with them.
Thanks for sharing the air fryer tips!
Oh my gosh I made these today and they are the best falafel I’ve ever had. My husband usually won’t eat them and he ended up snacking on them all day. I added more spices like other reviews said and think they tasted better with the baking powder. Thanks again for best recipe!!
If freezing the mixture, don’t add the baking soda. Instead, wait to add the baking soda until it after the mixture has thawed and you are ready to fry them.
I forgot the flour/chickpea flour by accident but formed the balls and lightly sprayed and cooked in the air fryer, these were awesome! Had three batches made and some to freeze. I season all batches after the first more aggressively also as mentioned by another. Mix your favorite hummus and with a. Little more tahini and lemon juice and blend with some seasoning and cucumber for a great sauce to pair!
Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe turned out great, so so yummy and more-ish! I had tried a falafel recipe prior to this and the mix literally disintegrated into the oil, so I’m really happy I have found a recipe that is foolproof! Will definitely be making again, love the look of the variations too! Thank you Tori 🙂
I made these again but baked them this time and they turned out great. Preheat oven to 375 F, oil the parchment paper plus oil the tops of the falafels, bake for about 30 minutes, flip them halfway through.
I spiced them more aggressively this time (personal taste) and I left them moister than I would for frying and it worked out well. For frying I have to add more flour or the centers remain raw, but for baking I don’t need to add much more flour.