Falafel Recipe: Crispy Outside With A Soft Inside

5.0 from 1 vote

Falafel is a chickpea deep-fried ball typical of the Arab cuisine. In Middle Eastern countries it is a very well-known street food and you can find it on any corner. It´s usually served in a pita bread with tomato, lettuce, onion and yogurt sauce. Today this recipe is known throughout the world for how easy it is to prepare and how delicious it is.

What is Falafel?

Falafel is a deep-fried ball made of chickpeas, fresh herbs and spices, among other things. They are usually shaped like balls, although you can also find them in the shape of patties. These deep-fried balls are crispy and golden on the outside and soft on the inside.

They are ideal for vegans since they only contain ingredients of vegetable sources, although they are so delicious that even meat lovers will love them. You can find more vegan recipes or vegetarian recipes on this website.

Why make this Falafel recipe

First of all, at home we have an obsession with crunchy food, anything that crunches is welcome. So this recipe is a hit at my place. Deep-fried Falafel balls are golden and crispy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside.

In addition, this Falafel recipe is easy to make and the best of all, apart from the fact that it is delicious, is that it keeps very well. You can prepare a large quantity and save it to make in the following days. You can even freeze them raw and make them whenever you feel like making them.

Falafel is a food high in proteins and vitamins. It´s a very balanced dish if you prepare it with some homemade pita bread, homemade yogurt sauce and plenty of vegetables. It will leave you full and satisfied for a long time without feeling that heaviness that you can feel with some foods.

With this recipe to make homemade Falafel, you can make approximately 28 fairly large Falafel balls.

Ingredients you need to make this Crispy Falafel recipe

Below I share with you all the ingredients I used to make the best Falafel:

• Raw chickpeas: The most important ingredient is raw chickpeas, if you are looking for that crispy texture on the outside in the Falafel and soft on the inside, you need to use raw chickpeas, that is, chickpeas that do not come pre-cooked in a jar. You'll need to plan to make Falafel with a little time since you will have to soak the chickpeas for about 24 hours. To make this Falafel recipe, you need a small bag of chickpeas (500 grams of dry chickpeas)
• Fresh coriander: cilantro gives it an incredible freshness and flavor, if you are not one of those people who think that cilantro tastes like soap. If that is the case, skip it and simply increase the amount of parsley. You need 3/4 cup of fresh cilantro, try to use mostly the leaves
• Fresh parsley: like cilantro, parsley gives it a very rich flavor and color, you need 3/4 cup of fresh parsley leaves
• Garlic: one of the essential ingredients is garlic, you need 4 cloves of garlic
• Red onion: use a red onion to make this Falafel recipe, if you don't have red onion, use white onion
• Cumin: you need two teaspoons of ground cumin
• Salt: add salt to taste, I used two teaspoons and they came out with the perfect amount of salt
• Water: I used 100 ml of water to help me blend the chickpeas better
• Flour: I have used 100 grams of chickpea flour, if you do not have this flour at home, you can use all-purpose flour
• Bread crumbs: you need 50 grams of bread crumbs
• Cayenne: optionally you can add ground cayenne, I add a few pinches of cayenne but you can perfectly omit it
• Frying oil: you need plenty of oil to fry (I use sunflower oil), the good thing about frying falafel croquettes is that if you fry them at high temperature they hardly absorb any oil, so they will not be oily

Kitchen utensils you need to make this recipe

In order to make this recipe for homemade Falafel you need the following kitchen utensils:

• Frying pan: you need to have a frying pan to fry the Falafel balls
• Blender or food processor: If you have a powerful blender, you can use it to blend the chickpeas and other ingredients. Otherwise, you can use a food processor
• Bowl: you need a large bowl to put the chickpea mixture in to
• Silicone spatula: it´s good to have a silicone spatula on hand to remove the mixture from the blender
• Kitchen paper: When you have fried the Falafel balls, it's recommended to put them on kitchen paper so that the paper absorbs the excess oil

How to make homemade Falafel

Making Homemade Falafel is very simple and I'll explain step by step how to make this delight of Arabic cuisine.

First of all, it's important to prepare the chickpeas well. Put the dried chickpeas in a bowl with plenty of water for about 12 hours. When this time has passed, remove the water and add a teaspoon of baking soda if you have at home and fill it with water again and leave it for approximately another 12 hours. If you don't have baking soda, no problem, just change the water of the chickpeas.

Once you have soaked the chickpeas you can make this delicious Falafel recipe.

It's as easy as blending all the ingredients except the flour and breadcrumbs. When everything is blended, put the mixture in a large bowl and add the flour and breadcrumbs. Knead it with your hands and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

When it has rested, you can make the shape you like best, for example balls. Put them on a dish and let them rest for another 10 minutes before frying them. Heat the oil and fry them until golden brown (about 5-8 minutes). Place them on a piece of kitchen paper so that the excess oil is absorbed and enjoy them hot with for example, some pita bread with yogurt sauce and salad.

Frequently asked questions

Below I answer some frequently asked questions, if you do not find the answer, you can leave a comment below. I will be happy to resolve any doubt.

Can I make oven-baked Falafel to make them healthier?

You can, but I have no experience baking Falafel. I recommend that you fry them in very hot oil, you will see that they hardly absorb any oil. If you see that they absorb a lot of oil it may be because the oil is too cold.

Can I use canned chickpeas to make Falafel?

I'm sure there is a recipe to make them with canned chickpeas, but the original recipe requires raw/dried chickpeas. I do not recommend that you make Falafel with canned chickpeas because it can end up in a big disaster since they will probably fall apart very easily.

Save this Crispy Falafel recipe on Pinterest!

Save this recipe on Pinterest so that you won't lose it. Like this, when you go are going to make it, you don't go crazy looking for this recipe on the website. You just have to click on the Pinterest button below where it says “Spread the love”, and this recipe will automatically be saved on a board on your Pinterest account.

Did you make this recipe?

Make a photo and add the hashtag #cookingwithoumbilal

I would love to see your creations on Instagram, you can also tag me in your stories: @recetasbyoumbilal

This is possible thanks to you!

Every click, every recipe you make, every comment and/or rating you leave me, helps me grow this recipe blog and makes me able to continue sharing my passion for cooking with you completely for free. If you have prepared a recipe that you have enjoyed, I greatly appreciate it if you leave me a comment and a star rating on the recipe. :)

Thank you so very much!