Baked Falafel with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce
(This is an old recipe that has been archived on the website. I am leaving the printer-friendly recipe here so people who have enjoyed the recipe can still find it on the site.)
INGREDIENTS
FALAFEL INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup dried chickpeas (see notes)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 4 T chopped parsley (see notes)
- 4 T chopped cilantro (see notes)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 cloves minced garlic (about 2 tsp.)
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 4 T whole wheat flour (see notes)
- olive oil, for spraying baking sheet
YOGURT-TAHINI SAUCE INGREDIENTS: (SEE NOTES)
- 2/3 cup plain yogurt
- 1/3 cup Tahini Sauce (see notes)
- 2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- salt to taste
- 3 T water to thin sauce if desired
INSTRUCTIONS
FALAFEL INSTRUCTIONS:
- Soak dried chickpeas in cold water for at least 8 hours, or over night.
- After chickpeas are well-softened, drain well.
- Put chickpeas, onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, garlic, and cumin into bowl of a food processor with the steel blade attached.
- Pulse until mixture is well-chopped and combined, but not pureed together.
- Sprinkle over baking powder and flour and pulse a few more times to combine.
- Test one ball to see if mixture holds together, and if not add more flour until it does. (I didn’t need to add more flour.)
- Put mixture into a plastic bowl with a tight-fitting lid and chill several hours or overnight.
- When ready to bake Falafel, preheat oven or toaster oven to 400F. (I sprayed the baking sheet with olive oil and preheated the pan too, to get the outside of the Falafel extra crisp.)
- Shape the mixture into 12 balls, pressing each one flat with your hands and forming into a patty not quite 1/2 inch thick.
- Put patties on pan and bake until lightly browned and cooked through.
- Jamie baked them about 22 minutes; I was using a toaster oven and baked mine about 26 minutes, turning after 13 minutes.
- Serve warm, with Yogurt-Tahini sauce if desired.
SAUCE INSTRUCTIONS:
- Using a whisk or mini-processor, combine ingredients.
- Add water as desired until it’s as thin as you prefer. (I added about 2 T of water.)
- I sprinkled the sauce with some Ground Sumac(affiliate link), which is totally optional but good.
- Serve with Falafel patties.
NOTES
Chickpeas are also called garbanzo beans. I increased the amount of fresh herbs; use more or less to taste. Use a bit more flour if the falafel patties don’t stick together well enough.
I adapted the sauce recipe slightly so it had more yogurt and less tahini, but make it to your own taste. Tahini Sauce (affiliate link) is sold in Middle Eastern stores or health food stores, usually near the peanut butter.
Falafel recipe sent to me by a reader named Jamie, and slightly adapted by Kalyn. Yogurt-Tahini Sauce found in Falafel Bliss at One Hot Stove.
68 Comments on “Baked Falafel with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce”
I made this! Delicious! The trades I made based on what I had in my pantry. 1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed. I didn’t have the fresh herbs, so I used dried instead. The taste was probably not quite as good, but it was still good. Thanks for the great recipe!
I haven’t made them with canned garbanzos, but I am glad you enjoyed that version!
This is my first successful attempt to make falafel. It's also the first time I used dried chickpeas instead of canned. I'm hooked!! This goes into my list of lunch favorites now. Obviously you did your homework and created success. Thank you.!
Thank you so much! So glad to hear you liked it as much as I did!
Well I am pretty happy to hear it works with canned chickpeas, as I'm guessing that will be easier for most people. Thanks for reporting that!
Like a previous poster, I used canned chickpeas. Other than this pretty big deviation, I followed your recipe for the patties word for word. Boy, did we enjoy them!Thanks a lot.
Ishay, thanks for those tips!
Hello everyone! I know it is a rather old post but here is a tip you're going to thank me for:
There is no need for flour at all: if you want the mixture to hold itself without breaking apart, simply add one to three tablespoons of sesame paste (preferably made of whole sesame seeds). It will add a bit of fat (good fat!) but will also enhance both taste and texture.
Another tip: try to add one small, peeled raw sweet potato to the food processor's bowl. It gives it an incredible twist. I like to also add one to two green chili peppers, without the seeds. And never be stingy with coriander! Hope this helps to make this wonderful recipe even more rich and scrumptious 🙂
Glad you found the recipe again. And I LOVE the idea of using a silicone muffin pan to shape and cook them!
I've been using this recipe for years and I lost track of your website. Today after making them, I was searching for a Falafel sauce and here you are again! I can't believe it, my family and I love these baked falafels!!!! Since we are gluten free now, we just omit the flour or use tapioca flour. Comes out the same just a little better you and we also put them in a silicon muffin mold, this way they all come out the same size.
Karimhanin, sure, you are always welcome to link to the recipe.
Hi Kalyn, I came across your blog today while searching for baked falafel recipe. I would like to link your recipe to my blog if you don't mind.
Thanking you in advance
Hanim
Fun to hear that it worked to cook this in a crockpot.
I cook mine in my crockpot 2-5 hours and they are usually done in 3. It's crazy how science works but they brown on all sides and it if it is hot outside your kitchen doesn't heat up.
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
Whimsy, you MUST get a food processor. So many uses for it.
(And thanks, but trust me, I have NO ambitions of being on TV at all!)
Okay, you're gonna make me do it. You;re gonna make me have to buy a food processor just so I can try these. It's all your fault.
You are far better than anyone I've seen on Food Network TV. Seriously.
You should be on their radar, for sure.
Mub, it's just a guess but I think the uncooked chickpeas might be more likely to need flour to stick together than your cooked ones. Love to hear how it works if you do try it without flour. I love this recipe!
I make a baked falafel but I soak and cook my chickpeas first and don't use any flour in them. I think I'm going to try this version (and see if it'll stick together without the flour). Thanks for the ideas =D
Traci, thanks. I do work hard on it.
This is by far the best website I have seen for recipes to go along with the South Beach Diet. What great ideas!!!
Amy, so glad to hear you liked it, and good to know it works with canned garbanzos too.
I made these with canned garbanzo beans because the commissary here on base doesn't have dry garbanzos. They turned out wonderful! I mean, this was absolutely delicious. Better than most falafels I've had in restaurants. Double thumbs up!!!
Annie, you will have to tell us how they turn out.
The Smiths by my house doesn't carry dried garbanzos (grrr), so I used canned…hope it turns out ok! I found a conversion on the California Dry Bean Board website (http://www.calbeans.com/beanbasics.html). One cup of dried beans equals about 2 1/2 cups soaked. I also decreased the salt since canned already have salt. They're chillin' right now, so we'll see how they turn out 🙂
This was my first phase two dinner and it was fantastic!
Becky, love the idea of Falafel made with pinto beans. Going to check your version now, thanks for sharing.
I just tried this recipe and it turned out great! I used pinto beans because I had heard that you could use either and it still tasted great! I posted about it here: http://vintagemixer.blogspot.com/2009/04/falafel-and-homemade-tzatziki.html
Susan, so glad you liked it. Hmmm, I need to make this again myself!
These were delicious! The sauce really complements the falafel.
wow, this looks delish!!!
Even though I soaked the chickpeas for about 15 hrs., they were still hard. Here’s a tip found over at nupur’s site I wish I had seen beforehand: To check is the chickpeas are soaked all the way through, cut one open. If the color is even, without a chalky center, then it is fully soaked.
these look absolutely delicious! i’m starting to understand that a food processor is a must in any cook’s kitchen…as a recent grad, my kitchen isn’t even big enough for one of these, but one day!
this recipe might just be enough to get me to overtake my mother’s kitchen…
thanks!
these look absolutely delicious! i’m starting to understand that a food processor is a must in any cook’s kitchen…as a recent grad, my kitchen isn’t even big enough for one of these, but one day!
this recipe might just be enough to get me to overtake my mother’s kitchen…
thanks!
These look scrumptious..thanks for de-fattening one of my favourite snacks:)
Thanks Kalyn..they turned out perfectly! I actually served them with leftover Asian Slaw from your blog last week, and although it’s a strange combination it was delicious. I’ll definitely make these again!!
Georgia, I would add more flour until it sticks together pretty well. Did you chill it? That might make a difference.
I’m making this right now, and am a little apprehensive, as mine didn’t form nice round patties like yours did. I wonder if I should have added more flour. I hope they turn out!!
I love falafels. I have made them several times but find they fall apart a bit when fried. I love that you baked them, I will have to give that a try. Thanks!
I am so making these, Kalyn – I love falafel and have been trying to avoid deep fried food.
Tks!
Yes! Falafel!! And I’m thrilled to find a baked recipe as I hardly ever make anything that needs frying. And yes, using chickpea flour woudl make this gluten-free. I’ve just had a gluten-free vegetarian friend staying over here in London and she had some fantastic chickpea flour, gluten gree falafel at a health shop in Greenwich Market – too yummy!
I love falafel! I’m now on a quest for dry chick peas and tahini.
For me, a whole wheat pita, lettuce, falafel, tahini and a little hot sauce — YUM.
Glad I found this blog — new recipes and food ideas keep every day just a bit more exciting!
What a great idea to bake instead of fry… I’ll definitely be adding this to my list of must-try recipes!
I just read all the reviews of the recipe on Epicurious, and one reviewer said she does freeze the uncooked mixture, then thaws and cooks it later.
There were also some people who said they use chickpea flour instead of flour, which would make this gluten free (I think?) and also make it phase one for South Beach. If anyone tries that, love to know how it works.
Kalyn, I love that this is a way to get my falafel fix by baking them. Yum! I’m definitely going to have to give this a try — just need to get my hands on some dry chickpeas.
Cheryl, I have no idea if they can be frozen. I can’t think of why not. I would freeze them before you bake them, then thaw and bake if it was me.
If you try it, let us know how it works.
What a great recipe! I love falafel. I look forward to looking through your other recipes. I just noticed you were in Woman’s World before; so was I…small little world with so many good recipes 🙂
one more question! do they freeze, and if so, do I freeze before or after baking? I am so excited to make these.
i adore falafel, but i have a great fear of deep frying. thanks for helping me meet my weekly quota for falafel consumption–i’ll bet homemade is better than what i’m used to, and now i’ll get to see for sure. 🙂
I just found your blog via another and can tell I’m going to love it! This recipe for falafel looks really interesting as I too like the idea of baking it.
Nice to meet you 🙂
Great! I’ve been looking for a baked falafel recipe because of our aversion to frying. Not health issues, just laziness. 😉
I first tasted falafel when I was 13 and spending a summer on a kibbutz in Israel. I fell in love with it on first bite. Now I love to serve it with tahini sauce, chopped lettuce and tomato, in an oat-bran pita.
Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I was completely smitten with this recipe when I made it and so was Nupur. I was quite intrigued by the fact that the chickpeas are baked raw, and personally I don’t think making this with canned chickpeas would give even close to the same result.
Valerieanne, the recipe doesn’t need to take two days, that’s just how I did it. You need 8 hours to soak the beans and a few hours for chilling, so that could easily be done in one day. Or you could soak overnight and chill and bake the next day, which is what I’d do next time.
I chilled the bean mixture because it was recommended by the person who created the recipe. I have no idea how it would work if you didn’t do that, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t stay together as well.
Nate-n-Annie, I honestly am not sure how it would work to bake the mixture in a ball shape, but just guessing I’d say it would be hard to get the inside completely cooked. You could try it and see, and if you do, please let us know how it works.
I love that this is baked and not fried. If you kept them in balls instead of forming patties, would you have to bake them longer?
My husband spent a semester in Israel before we met and introduced me to falafel. We’ve only ever bought the boxed mix and made them, but I can’t wait to try this recipe. Looks so good and I love that they are baked! Thanks.
I love the idea of making this from scratch instead of buying it in a box (which also tastes good). I’m amazed you don’t have to boil the beans. I have had mixed results with pinto beans. Even after soaking and boiling, they come out hard. I have had much better luck with the quick soak method http://www.specialflavors.com/
collection/dried%20beans/beanmethod.htm
I’ve never cooked garbanzos from dried. Do they need less cooking time than pintos? Why do you chill it before shaping and baking them? Is this step required?
Cooking beans from dried is far more economical and uses less packaging. It’s hard for me to plan ahead. This recipe looks like it takes 2 days to prepare.
Those look good and they would go well with the yogurt tahini sauce!
i am SO excited! I couldn’t bring myself to fry them, and so this looks just about perfect. how marvelous!
This is my kind of food! I absolutely love the yogurt tahini sauce… I am going to try that soon!!!
I am a huge fan of falafels.used to eat them every time in paris for the weekend. I loved the fact that yous are baked as opposed to fried. Getting a fan.
I LOVE falafels!
Paz
So you just soak the chickpeas, they aren’t cooked beforehand? How easy is that! Your reader has you pegged, Kalyn!
Your falafel discs look absolutely scrumptious, Kalyn! It looks like the perfect summer meal.
I read your comment about this on my blog; how funny that we found our own ways to this same recipe. It goes to show that this is a real “keeper”, I suppose 🙂
What a fantastic idea to bake them. I’ve been eating a lot of falafel in restaurants lately and am feeling v inspired to cook them at home.
Falafel is such a great recipe. This would be good as lunch, dinner, or a snack! We can’t do wheat flour, but I think I could find a substitute like chick pea flour. Love the greek yogurt in the tahini sauce, too.
Hi Kalyn, LOVE this … and really glad to see that you soak your chickpeas – I once got a horrid comment from someone when I suggested that soaking/cooking chickpeas was an easy, do-able option, at least sometimes … so sad that people are hostile to the idea of cooking, when – as you regularly demonstrate – it’s such a fundamental part of a healthy life
Joanna
I love that these are baked instead of fried. A little healthier and a lot easier on my stomach! They look delicious too!
After living for so long in the Middle Eastern countries falafel has become almost home food for me. But never have I had a baked falafel before! Thank you Kalyn for the idea – my hips are hugging you 😉