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I am what you might call *slightly* obsessed with falafel. I’ve had a thing for it ever since I went vegetarian and discovered it was nothing short of way-super-delicious. Even though I’ve got a foot back in the land of meat-eater-ness, I prefer to eat meat-free a lot (if not most) of the time. Especially when falafel is on the menu. Because YUM.
The problem, though? Falafel is deep fried. In a bunch of oil. Delicious, yes. Super greasy? Also yes. So in the interest of swimsuit season health, I decided a grease-less alternative was in order.
A mini-muffin pan proved to be just the thing – just scoop some falafel mix and bake it on super high heat to crisp up all the sides, and EUREKA! Welcome to baked falafeltown. I felt like a super detective who just solved the world’s greatest, most intriguing mystery, which is probably attributable to the Veronica Mars binge I’ve been on ever since they announced a Kickstarter campaign to fund the long awaited VMars movie. WHICH, by the way, I am SO.TOTALLY.STOKED.FOR. My roommates and I developed a full-on Veronica Mars obsession in college, and we still make a point to watch the whole series once every year or two. I’m PROBABLY going to turn on another episode as soon as I’m done writing this. And it, like these falafel, is going to be excellent.
- 1 16-oz bag of dry chickpeas
- ½ large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro
- 4 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoons paprika
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- Put chick peas in a large bowl and fill with water; enough to cover the chick peas. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- After the chick peas have soaked overnight, drain them and place in a large food processor with all remaining ingredients. Process until all ingredients have combined to form a thick paste. The mixture should stick together when you pinch some together with your fingers. If it’s too coarse, add a bit of water or olive oil until the mixture holds together. Too runny? Add a bit more flour!
- Using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, scoop some falafel mixture into a greased mini-muffin tin. I like the mini-muffin size because they fit more easily into a pita pocket, but a regular muffin tin would work just fine.
- Brush the top of each falafel scoop with olive oil (or spray with some cooking spray) and place on the top shelf of a 475 degree oven (the super hot temperature will help them get super crispy!) and bake 15-25 minutes or until falafel have browned and crisped up nicely.
- Dip falafel in a sauce of choice or stuff 3 or 4 falafel in a pita pocket with greek yogurt, lettuce and tomato (I LOVE this falafel in a pita!)
- Refrigerate any leftover falafel mixture for up to a week. Pop it in the oven anytime for a quick lunch or dinner!
Hi Jessie,
Your pictures look incredible. I wanna make these so bad. I kinda just wanna use canned chickpeas though. I think an “average” size can of chickpeas is about 15 or 15.5 ounces. Can I just use that? More? Less?
I love your idea of using a mini muffin pan! Got to try this soon..
That sounds lovely! I am busy following another recipe at present that requires one to first cook the chickpeas. I soaked them overnight beforehand. I am utterly intrigued by the fact that you don’t mention cooking them first- you didn’t just leave that out by accident, did you? If not, I can’t wait to try your version!
Hi Michelle – I did use uncooked chickpeas! I didn’t even think about cooking them beforehand until I read your comment (hah!) but I LOVED the way these turned out nonetheless. Because they’re baked instead of fried, they’re exposed to heat for a longer period of time, and they didn’t taste at all like raw chickpeas. I really liked the texture that the mixture had before I put it in the oven, so I just went with it. I did some digging to make sure I didn’t accidentally break some rule of falafel-dom, and I DID find a few other recipes that omit the pre-cooked chickpeas (like this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/dining/041mrex.html). I do start with dry beans and soak them for at least 24 hours before I use them, though. I think the biggest danger that comes from not cooking the chickpeas first is a risk of dryness in the finished product, but you can correct for that by adding enough oil or water to the mixture to make it the right consistency before you bake the falafel. It should be a thick paste that holds together easily and is moist to the touch (almost like cookie dough, but grainier, if that helps). I like to smother these mini falafels in greek yogurt and stuff them inside a pita – SO GOOD!
Thank you so much for replying! I can’t wait to try your recipe out and to omit the “chickpea cooking” phase. I’ll be sure to follow your directions and soak them for at least 24 hours. Thanks again!
I confess that I used a slightly different recipe for my falafel but I ran across your site while searching for baked falafel. I was intrigued with the idea of using muffin tins and so followed steps 3 through 5 and baked at 475 for about 20 minutes. They came out perfectly crisp and browned without the grease of frying. I am thrilled! I’ll be doing my falafel this way all the time now. Thank you so much for posting! I can’t wait to peruse your other recipes. Cheers! 🙂
I’m glad you liked the baking method! I’m totally hooked on it.
Falafel and Veronica Mars sounds like a perfect combination! Can’t wait to try this myself.
Thanks so much for the vegetarian/vegan recipe. Yummy falafel!!
Brilliant! I’m going to be sharing house with a friend who wants me to teach her how to cook vegan food so we can (ahem) slim down. (!!!! she thinks, looking at the avocado and olive oil and tahini). So, I’m on the warpath searching for modifications to my staple recipes. Jessie, this is a great idea. I was even going to get rid of my mini-muffin tray which rarely gets a guernsey. Test run tonight. Thanks for sharing your inspiration!