Easy Homemade Baked Falafel (without Canned Beans)

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Easy Homemade Baked Falafel is a delicious vegan and gluten-free appetizer for your parties. It is golden brown and crisp on the outside and soft from inside. Bursting with fresh flavours from parsley and different spices, it is a healthy alternative to the regular fried falafel. 

What is Falafel?

Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty shaped fritter made using chickpeas or fava beans or at times both. It is a traditional Middle Easter Street food typically served in a Pita Bread.

This can also be wrapped in a flatbread and referred to as a wrapped sandwich. This Easy homemade Baked Falafels can also be served as a snack all alone or served as a part of the Mezze.

Salads, pickles, vegetables, tahini sauces are added to the pita pocket to make a filling Falafel Sandwich. 

The main Ingredient Chickpeas

Chickpeas are a good source of fibre and protein and hence it is a good filling snack for your evening hunger pangs. As these falafel are baked they are a healthy finger food for kids. 

Recipes with Chickpeas

Chickpeas are economical and taste great when added to a variety of recipes. I prefer to buy dry chickpeas, soak and use them. I love to make these addictive Herb Roasted Chickpeas for my tea time snack. 

For my lunch, I prefer Chickpea Salad and for the main course or parties, I love to make the Indian Chole (Indian Chickpeas Curry) or this Brown Rice Chickpea Pulav.

Easy Golden Turmeric Hummus or this Beetroot Hummus goes well as a dip with tomato, celery or even flatbreads.

Recipe process of Baked Falafel

The recipe is really easy and straight forward. All the ingredients are added to the blender and minced. It just needs some 10-15 minutes of your time to assemble and the rest is baking time. You would have some delicious and crunchy falafel to be enjoyed with some wraps or Pita Bread. We recently enjoyed this with my Homemade Manakish Za’atar (Levantine Flatbread)

To make the perfect falafel, you will need 

• To Soak the chickpeas well. 
• You need a good food processor or a powerful blender, as we are trying to mince the uncooked Chickpeas. 
• Chickpeas are hard and to get the perfect texture it needs to be processed well.
• Fresh parsley is another main ingredient. But if you cannot source it, you can use dry as well

Soaking Chickpeas

I am using soaked and uncooked chickpeas to make my falafel. The chickpeas need to be soaked properly in enough water. It is best to soak them for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. Once they are soaked they fluff up to almost three times. 

Can we use canned chickpeas?

I never use canned chickpeas so I would not be able to comment on this. But I have heard that using canned chickpeas for falafel or hummus does not yield good results. It is difficult to bind and even the taste differs. 

Can we Bake Falafel

Yes, you definitely can and this is what today’s recipe is all about. I prefer baking falafel then frying. First due to health reasons. It cuts down all the extra fats. Secondly, baking falafel takes around 25-30  minutes excluding the time to make them. It does not need babysitting as in frying and comes out nice and crisp. Of course, there would be a difference between fried and baked versions, but I bet you will not miss the fried version after trying my easy Baked Falafel recipe.

Can we freeze cooked Falafel?

Yes, you can definitely freeze this falafel. Cool them completely once baked and then store them in a ziplock. 

How to defrost falafel in the microwave

If using a microwave one can microwave for 1-2 mins. Do keep a small cup of water along while microwaving. This helps the falafel not get dried up while reheating in the microwave. 

How to defrost falafel in Oven

If using the oven, pop them in a preheated oven for 5-10 mins at 180 Deg C until soft.

How to defrost falafel on a skillet/pan 

If using a skillet, defrost the frozen ones completely. Then on a skillet/pan, warm them on low for 5-10 minutes. 

How to reheat leftover falafel

Follow the same above methods as for defrosting.

Side dish with Falafel or Accompaniments with Falafel

• Falafel can be enjoyed as is as a snack with Easy Golden Turmeric Hummus Beetroot, Hummus, Baba Ghanoush (Creamy Eggplant dip)
• They can be enjoyed as a sandwich in Pita Pockets, along with salads, hummus and tahini sauce
• Can be wrapped in a flatbread again to make a sandwich along with salads, hummus and tahini sauce
• A great addition to your Mezze Platter.
• Along with some Manakish Za’atar (Levantine Flatbread) and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

So here goes the recipe of Baked Falafel:

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Updates

The recipe first appeared on Cook with Renu on 5th December 2018. Today, 3rd April 2021, I have updated a few pics and content.

and “MLLA #123, Hosted by The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen, conceptualized by Susan and hosted by Lisa.”

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