Healthy Vegan Falafel
This is a healthy vegan falafel recipe, without deep frying and with lots of fresh parsley! It’s so easy to make and I’m sure this healthy vegan falafel will become one of your favorite recipes too!
If you’d ask me how an ideal meal looks for me, I would tell you that it is made of veggie patties, fluffy mashed potatoes and a huge salad. For me, nothing is more delicious than this and as simple as it may sound, there’s no other meal that makes me happier! 😀
I think it reminds me of my childhood when my grandma used to make me mashed potatoes with butter, served with a large steak or meat patties aside. Of course, I wasn’t vegetarian back then.
This falafel/chickpea patties recipe is, in my opinion, the best vegan falafel recipe I’ve ever tried! It’s not the traditional falafel recipe! I adapted it to my preferences and made it healthier, without deep-frying! If you want to know more about falafel, its origins, and benefits, scroll down to the bottom of this article.
Hope you’ll like this vegan falafel recipe as much as I do! Check out my healthy version, below. Also, take a look at this recipe of mini falafel bites which resembles the traditional falafel recipe a bit more. 🙂
Healthy Vegan Falafel
Ingredients
- 800 g boiled chickpeas canned – You can use dry too, but if you want to have these chickpea patties ready in 25 minutes, then you should use canned chickpeas. If you’ll use dry chickpeas, you have to soak them overnight
- 2 Tbsps psyllium husks or ground flax seeds
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic mashed
- 4 Tbsps chickpea flour or any other type of flour
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsps tahini
- oil 3-4 Tbsps for frying
Instructions
- Add boiled chickpeas in the food processor and blend well until they have a paste-like consistency.
- Put them in a large bowl and blend in all the other ingredients, except oil.
- Heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan.
- Make the patties – 1 Tbsps per patty.
- Fry them 2 minutes on each side.
- Put the falafels on a plate covered with a paper towel, in order to absorb all excess oil.
- Serve!
Video
Notes
Want more veggie patties recipes. Try these:
- Red Lentil Veggie Burger Patties with Greens
- Vegetarian “Beef” Burger | Azuki Beans Veggie Burger
- Quinoa Patties with Feta Cheese and Olives
- Millet Cakes with Feta Cheese and Tomatoes
- Quinoa Patties with Sweet Corn and Herbs
If you make this, please leave a review and rating if you liked this recipe! ★★★★★
Thank you for the delicious recipe
Hi! If I want to bake these, how long and at which temperature should I bake them?
Thanks!
Hi Terri! I bake them at 200C for about half an hour. Make sure you coat them in some oil so they don’t dry too much.
I make this all the time! Sooo delicious and a family fave!
Made this recipe while quarantined and it really is delicious. Like others, I modified the recipe. My modifications including halving the ingredients and adding a tiny bit of Tony’s cajun seasoning for salt. Thank you for sharing! You are appreciated.
Thank you for the kind words!
They are so D-Licious! I could eat them 24/7. I’ve also tried adding other ingredients as well. The recipe is easy to work with so I decided to experiment and found other flavors to be satisfying as well.
I added bell pepper to a batch along with some cauliflower rice. Very tasty! Thank you for this awesome recipe.
Hi, Jeannie! So happy to hear this! 😀 You should try my other veggie patties as well. Although, these are my fav as well. 🙂
yummm! This sounds so tasty and healthy 🙂
I made this tonight for dinner, but baked mine in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes on a mesh screen. It was really delicious!
Great idea, Karen! Glad you liked it! 😀
Thanks so much for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
I love this recipe…very easy to make and delicious!! I made the mistake of using coconut flour twice…can’t wait to get chickpea or almond flour and cook it again next week. I was wondering what the nutritional values were. I’m trying to be diligent in tracking my food. Thank you!
So happy you liked it! You can use any kind of flour. I frequently use chickpea or rice flour, but any other kind (as long as it doesn’t have a strong taste) is ok. You can check the nutritional values with cronometer.com.
could you form these into balls and drop them in a muffin tin?? then dip in a sauce? how long do you think they’d have to cook and at what temp? I seem to have really bad luck with formed patties cooking all the way through the middle without burning the outsides… sigh
Never thought about this, Katie, but you could give it a try. Make sure you brush them with a little bit of oil, so they won’t turn too dry. Try 30 minutes, at 180C. If they’re not crispy enough, bake them for 10-15 minutes more.
Can’t wait to make these!!
Could I pre make the batter and leave it in the fridge just under 24 hours before frying it off?
Sure! This is even better! All the flavors will blend so well together.
Thank you for this recipe, these were delicious !!
You’re welcome! So glad you liked them! 😀
These were amazing! I am constantly on the hunt for recipes to satisfy both the meat eaters as well as the vegetarian in my house and this one was a hit!
Thank you, Jennifer! 😀
Hi
I am looking for a really good recipe for Falafels and this sounds it. One question. What are psyllium husks? Can it be substituted with something else?
Hi Sheila! Thanks! Psyllium husks can be substituted for ground flax seeds or ground chia seeds. I prefer psyllium husks because they are flavorless, but the substitutes work just as well. I add this as a precaution, so the falafels won’t separate in the pan or in the oven. Unlike traditional falafels, which are deep-fried, these healthy falafels need to stick together a lot better because they are flipped from one side to the other.
I made these without psyllium husks or ground flax seeds and they turned out just fine. I added a couple more spoons of chickpea flour to stiffen up the dough, and they held together really well during cooking. 🙂
Glad you liked them! You can also keep the composition in the fridge for 30 minutes before making the falafels. This way it will get even firmer.
Is that powdered or whole psyllium husks?
Sounds DELICIOUS!
Powdered. Hope you’ll give it a try! 🙂
So you boil the chickpeas even if you’re using canned ones? And you do that for two hours?
Oh, no! You can either use already boiled, canned chickpeas, or boil chickpeas yourself.
Okay great. So if my chickpeas are canned, I can assume they’ve been boiled?
Yes. Drain them and use them just as they are. They should be good to eat.
I’m a lazy homemade cook and prepped everything about this recipe in my food processor. Dropped it into muffin tins to bake it. This is gonna be SO yummy!
The muffin tins idea is GENIUS!! Will try it too. Thanks for the tip Colette! 😀
Hi wanting to serve these for dinner tonight for my children but not sure how to serve them. Do you just eat them like that or with sauce or in a sandwich etc
Thanks
I usually serve them with a veggie side dish or mashed potatoes, but they can also be served with a sauce and a salad or in burger buns. I like tahini a lot! It goes great with falafels. 🙂
Thanks so much for the recipe! I tried these tonight and can’t seem to get the chickpeas to form a “paste.” I used canned chickpeas and drained and rinsed them before putting in the food processor. Is that where I went wrong? Should I have left the liquid from the can in there?
Thanks!
You adjust the chickpea paste texture using chickpea flour (or regular flour) and water. If the composition is too try, add a little bit of water, and if it’s too mushy, add more flour. The result will be an easy to form paste.
Wow! I love this recipe, delicious and totally healthy!!! I’ll try it tomorrow! Thank you so much Ruxandra! 🙂
Thanks Kostas! 😀 Let me know how it turned out!
Can these be made up ahead of time, frozen, thawed and used at another time?
Hi Kathleen! Sure! 🙂
What temperature do you recommend for best oven setting? I would like to try baking them also. Thanks!
180C / about 375F should be ok 🙂 Let me know how they turned out! 🙂
A friend of mine (who is a big meat eater) and I (vegetarian) made these the other day and they were AMAZING!!! The two of us ate them all for lunch, and it was our first time eating falafels. I recommended this recipe to many people and want to thank you for it. It inspired me to eat more vegan and look into food as such. Love your blog btw!
I’m so happy to hear this Ann! It’s great when our non-veg friends love vegetarian foods! This way we can convince them that vegetarian recipes are truly delicious and they won’t miss meat at all. 😀
Thanks for the lovely comment! 🙂
I have never eaten a falafel before. So, I don’t know if how they turned out was right or wrong. But they were very good! I had to change the recipe a little, because I didn’t have caraway seed. I left that out, added some crushed red pepper flakes, and it was all good.
I made them for my son (who is a vegan) and liked the falafel sub at subway, but it was disco’d and he can’t get it anymore. I hope he likes these!
Thank you Julie! I’m so glad you liked the falafels 🙂 Caraway can be omitted, the taste will be pretty much the same. I like that you added some crushed red pepper flakes! Great idea! 🙂
Let me know if your son will like them too! 🙂
P.S. I’m so happy to hear that your son is vegan too! More children should be vegan 🙂
Cheri, you definitely did something wrong 🙂 Try again and this time, read the recipe carefully. Trust me, it is worth it!
P.S. You probably forgot to add flour 😉
Love this! is it okay if I put it on my own blog using my own photos and adjustments! Thanks and love all the way from australia 🙂
So glad you liked them Naomi! Just saw the photos on your blog. They turned out great! 😀
Dear Ruxandra, many thanks for the fine meal 🙂 I made a translation into German on my blog, I hope this is okay?
Sure! Glad you liked it! 😀
Tried these tonight and they were awesome, even my meat and 3 veg 17 yo son said they werent bad so its definately a keeper thanks so much for the recipe
I’m so glad to hear that! 😀
I have a can of fava beans, thinking of trying those instead of the chick peas.
I think they’re just as good. Let me know how it was! 😉
I love the uncooked mix – the taste is just wonderful, but in all honesty they just didn’t cook through! I made these for my birthday as a side snack so I made them smaller in size, put them in the oven as directed – nothing, they were so soft in the middle although outsides were well brown. So I cooked them over on the frying pan and finally they were something you can pick up and cut but then they were too dark outside to look nice…not sure what happened with my falafels :/ Anyway I found a new way to use the uncooked mix, I make wraps with it, and they’re delicious. Don’t have to use hummus since the mix is moist enough (I omit flour when eating it uncooked), I add bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach and voila a healthy lunch is served! Will try it with lettuce wraps to make even more healthier. Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Maybe the temperature was too high? That’s why they burned on the outside and were not cooked on the inside. It’s a great idea for the uncooked version. Will try! 🙂
These sound delicious! This is my first christmas as a vegetarian, and I want to make these as my main meal. Do you think they’re suitable for christmas?
Sure! They’re great for any occassion 😀
Buna!
Prima daca cand le-am facut au iesit SUPER….
A doua oara au iesit sfaramicioase….ai idee ce am gresit?
Thx
Sfaramicioase nu mi-au iesit niciodata. Daca ti-au iesit ok prima oara inseamna ca ai omis ceva ingrediente a doua oara 🙂 Urmeaza reteta intocmai, fara substituiri. Iti garantez ca iese. Am facut-o de atatea ori incat e fail-proof varianta asta 😀 Poate ar fi trebuit sa mai adaugi faina de naut? Compozitia trebuie sa fie usor de modelat. Nici prea umeda, nici prea uscata. Asta reglezi din faina de naut si umezeala ingredientelor. Oricum, ideea e ca inainte de a pune chiftelele la prajit trebuie sa te asiguri ca sunt usor de modelat in palma. Sper sa iti iasa 😀
When you freeze them would you do that after baking them or before? I have all these ingredients left over so i would love to make them now and freeze them. I never liked falafel but these look great..
Never mind.. Didnt read it carefully. After baking! Will let you know if i like them!
I freeze them after baking. Hope you’ll like them! It’s one of my favorite recipes 🙂
Loved it! Mentioned your recipe on my blog, here: limesarebetterthanlemons.tumblr.com/post/67345135389/falafel-naan-wich
Hope you don’t mind.
So glad you liked it Jeanne! Btw, great blog! 😀
Thank you. Back at ya!
Two hours to boil chickpeas after soaking? Is that really what it takes? I’ve read that you can even make falafel after ONLY soaking them and they don’t fall apart as easily. I’ve made several versions and am still on a quest to come up with the perfect version. This looks hopeful. And maybe I’ll just have to experiment with all the chickpea variations.
Hi Dana!
Yes, I boil chickpeas for two hours because I want them to be extra smooth. Otherwise, they will not only lack the smoothness, but also they will cause bloating. You can decrease the boiling time at 1 hour, but only if they were soaked overnight and if you change the boiling water at half an hour. If you soaked them only for a couple of hours, I would recommend that you boil them longer. If you want them to be extra smooth (for example, if you want to use them to make hummus also), 2 hours is a must.
Great recipe. Another option to boil soaked overnight chickpea is to put them in pressure cooker with some water and salt. Will be done in 10to15min.
Thanks Kavita! Didn’t know that! I don’t have a pressure cooker, but I eat chickpea a lot, so I’m thinking about buying one 🙂
I LOVE falafel! I’m definitely bookmarking this recipe to try sometime. It looks so good!
Thanks Joy! So glad you like it 😀
Hi! Great recipie, cant wait to try it, but I wanted to ask, when baking these, rather than frying, what temp do you suggest? 350, 375 ,400? Don’t want them to dry out !
thanks!
Hi Catherine! 350F is enough. They just need to get crispy on the sides, without getting too dry.
Buna Ruxandra,
La ce temperatura ar trebui coapte in cuptor?
Multumesc,
Carmen
Buna Carmen,
Scuze, am uitat sa specific asta. 180C cred ca ar fi suficient. Nu trebuie sa fie o temperatura prea mare pentru ca ele sunt practic deja gatite, trebuie doar sa prinda o crusta rumena pe deasupra.
Arata atat de bine! Multumim pt reteta, ador falafel si sunt sigura ca si aceste chiftele sunt absolut delicioase!
Multumesc mult Natalia! Ma bucur ca iti plac 😀
this recipe is very similar to one my husband got from an anti-inflammatory book (same basic idea, slightly different flavor…[cumin instead of caraway])
I absolutely LOVE them..and that is coming from someone who has always referred to falafel as ‘falAWFUL’
I made them for my husband fully expecting to not even want to try them..and now I double and sometimes triple the recipe because I love them so much…unlike other falafel I’ve had, these are deliciously moist and flavorful…and quite simple to make as well! …they hold up great, freeze well, I find them yummy cold as well as warm..I like to have a bunch of them on hand for a quick, protein packed grab & go breakfast, lunch or even a snack!
I’m so glad you like it! 😀 I’ve had the same problem with falafels. Most recipes are bland and too dry, because they put lots of flour and too much chickpeas, instead of fresh ingredients like parsley or carrot. I never thought about freezing them, but this is such a great idea! Thanks! 😀
Wow, arata super bine! De abia astept sa le incerc 🙂 merso frumos pentru reteta!
Multumesc Ella! 😀 Sper sa iti placa! Sunt printre chiftelutele vegetale preferate. Pe locul doi cred ca ar fi cele de quinoa 😀