Falafel Recipe: How to Make Falafel With Dried Chickpeas

To make falafel, soak dried chickpeas overnight but don’t cook them, then blitz them raw with onion, garlic, parsley, coriander and spices, shape into balls and fry until deep golden and crisp. This falafel recipe serves 4 and takes about 10 hours, almost all of it soaking and chilling. We also cover baked and air fryer falafel, Egyptian ta’ameya, a quick tahini sauce and what to serve with it.

Why falafel uses dried chickpeas, not tinned

Britannica describes falafel as fried, spiced balls or patties of ground chickpeas, fava (broad) beans or both, stuffed into pitta or flatbread with tahini sauce, hot sauce and salad. The pulses are soaked, then ground raw with the herbs and spices; some recipes add a little bicarbonate of soda. Cooked chickpeas make falafel fall apart unless you add flour as a binder, and tinned ones are already cooked: the Food Standards Agency (FSA) notes that supermarket canned beans “have been pre-soaked and boiled”. Soaked raw chickpeas grind into a thick paste that holds together in hot oil.

Our Sara Chickpeas (Kabuli Chana), in our pulses, rice and grains range, are dried 7–8mm chickpeas in packs from 500g to 25kg. Save tins for salads or hummus; our lentils and pulses guide explains how to cook dried chickpeas.

Falafel recipe (serves 4)

Makes about 20. Allow 8–12 hours’ soaking (overnight), about 30 minutes’ hands-on time, 1–2 hours’ chilling and about 30 minutes’ frying: roughly 10 hours in all. You’ll need a food processor.

Ingredients

• Chickpeas: 250g dried chickpeas.
• Onion and garlic: 1 small onion (about 100g), quartered, and 3 garlic cloves.
• Herbs: a small bunch each of flat-leaf parsley and coriander (about 20g each), leaves and thin stalks.
• Spice: 1–2 tablespoons of Greenfields Falafel Spice, as its product page suggests; or 1½ teaspoons of ground cumin and 1 teaspoon of ground coriander from our spices and herbs.
• Salt: 1 teaspoon with cumin and coriander; none at first with Falafel Spice, which contains salt.
• Optional: ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 1 tablespoon of plain flour if needed, and 1 tablespoon of White Sesame Seeds for the tops.
• For frying: sunflower or vegetable oil.

Method

1. Soak. Cover the chickpeas with plenty of cold water, as they at least double in size, and soak for 8–12 hours (overnight), or up to 24. Don’t cook them.
2. Dry. Drain, rinse and pat the chickpeas dry in a clean tea towel. Dry the washed herbs well too: a wet mixture is hard to shape.
3. Blitz. In a food processor, chop the onion and garlic finely, then add the herbs, chickpeas, spice, salt and bicarbonate. Pulse, scraping down the sides, to a thick, slightly coarse paste that holds together when squeezed. Don’t blend it smooth.
4. Chill. Cover and refrigerate for 1–2 hours.
5. Heat the oil. Pour oil into a deep, heavy saucepan to about 4cm deep, no more than one-third full, and heat it slowly over a medium heat. Test it with a small piece of bread: it should crisp quickly.
6. Test. With damp hands, shape 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a ball or small patty, pat off any water and fry it. If it crumbles, pulse the mixture again or work in the flour. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
7. Fry. Shape the rest, pressing on sesame seeds if you like. Lower them into the oil 5–6 at a time with a slotted spoon and fry for 2–3 minutes a side (5–6 minutes in all) until deep golden. If they brown faster, the oil is too hot: turn it down.
8. Drain and check. Drain on kitchen paper and break one open: the middle should be hot and cooked through, not pasty. Serve straight away.

Frying takes about 30 minutes: the test falafel, then four batches.

Hot oil safety

• Never leave hot oil unattended: switch off the heat if you leave the kitchen, as Cleveland Fire Brigade advises.
• Don’t overfill: keep the pan no more than one-third full, and don’t crowd it; the US Department of Agriculture warns that overcrowding can cause uneven cooking and overflowing oil.
• Dry the surface: food should be dry before it goes into hot oil, so it doesn’t splash.
• Never add food to smoking oil: turn off the heat and let it cool. A thermostat-controlled fryer stops the oil getting too hot.
• If the oil catches fire, turn off the heat if it’s safe to, never throw water on it and don’t move the pan. Get out, stay out and call 999.

Allergens: sesame seeds and tahini contain sesame, and our sesame seeds are packed where nuts and other seeds may be handled; plain flour contains gluten. Our chickpeas and broad beans may contain traces of other pulses and cereals containing gluten, and Greenfields says some of its blends are made in a facility that also handles sesame, mustard and celery. Check pack labels.

Baked or air fryer falafel

Falafel is usually deep-fried, but our Falafel Spice page suggests frying or baking. Appliances vary, so follow your oven or air fryer’s instructions and leave space around the food, as the FSA advises.

The oven times are from Greek chef Argiro Barbarigou’s baked falafel on Pulses.org, the Global Pulse Confederation’s site, and the frying times from another falafel recipe there. Whichever method you use, check the middle is cooked.

Fava bean falafel: Egyptian ta’ameya

In Egypt, falafel is usually called ta’ameya (or ta’miyya) and is typically made with dried fava (broad) beans. In History Today, historian Alexander Lee says falafel was almost certainly developed in Egypt, that ta’miyya means “a bite of food”, and that fava beans came first, with chickpeas used instead in the Levant. The Lebanese falafel on Pulses.org uses half of each.

For ta’ameya, swap the chickpeas for 250g of Sara Split Broad Beans (Fava Beans): they are dried and already skinless, and our product page says to soak them overnight for falafel and blend them raw, not cooked. The beans are often ground with leek, parsley, green coriander, cumin and dried coriander, so add the green part of a small leek with the herbs. People with G6PD deficiency are advised to avoid broad beans: MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine) names fava beans as a trigger they “must strictly avoid”, and our falafel mix contains them too.

The shortcut: Greenfields Falafel Mix

No time to soak? Greenfields Falafel Mix is a ready-blended 180g mix of fava beans, chickpeas, coriander, parsley, mint, garlic, onion and spices; one box serves 3–4. Follow the pack; our product page gives this method:

1. Empty the mix into a bowl, add 250ml of warm water and mix together.
2. Leave for 15 minutes, or until set.
3. With moistened hands, roll the mixture into balls about an inch (2.5cm) across.
4. Deep-fry in hot oil until crispy and golden brown. Serve hot.

The same hot oil care applies. The mix contains sesame; check the pack for any “may contain” warning. It isn’t the same as Greenfields Falafel Spice, which is only the seasoning.

Quick tahini sauce for falafel

Stir the jar of Tahini Sesame Paste, then whisk 3 tablespoons with the juice of half a lemon, half a small crushed garlic clove and a pinch of salt. It seizes into a thick, grainy paste: whisk in cold water a tablespoon at a time, usually 3–4, until smooth and pourable. That’s enough for 4 wraps. Tahini is ground sesame; our tahini guide has more.

What to serve with falafel

• In pitta or a wrap: tuck 4–5 into warm pitta or flatbread with tahini sauce, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, onion, parsley and chilli sauce.
• Pickles: our product page suggests Greenfields Mixed Pickles (carrots, turnip, cucumbers, peppers, lemon, olives, cauliflower and onion) for falafel wraps; refrigerate the jar once opened.
• Mezze: serve falafel with hummus, salad, pickles and warm bread.
• Salads: fattoush or sumac onions, both in our sumac guide.
• A feast: add our chicken shawarma and share the sauces.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use tinned chickpeas for falafel?

Not for classic falafel. Tinned chickpeas are already cooked, and cooked chickpeas make soft falafel that tends to fall apart unless you add flour as a binder. If you can’t wait, Greenfields Falafel Mix needs only warm water and 15 minutes’ resting.

Why does my falafel fall apart?

Usually the mixture is too wet or too coarse, or the chickpeas were cooked. Use soaked, uncooked chickpeas, dry them and the herbs well, and blitz until it holds when squeezed. If it still crumbles, pulse it again or add a tablespoon of flour. Chill it, fry a test falafel first and don’t crowd the pan.

How long should you soak chickpeas for falafel?

Overnight: our product page suggests 8–12 hours, and the Lebanese recipe on Pulses.org allows up to 24. Use plenty of cold water, as the chickpeas at least double in size, then drain, rinse, dry and grind them raw. Split broad beans for ta’ameya also need an overnight soak, says our product page.

Is falafel vegan and gluten-free?

Our recipe is vegan, with no egg or dairy, and our product pages tag Greenfields Falafel Mix and Falafel Spice as vegan. It has no gluten ingredients unless you add plain flour, but our chickpeas and broad beans may contain traces of cereals containing gluten, so check the packs. Some recipes add flour or egg, so ask when buying falafel ready-made.

Can you freeze falafel?

Yes, once cooked. The FSA’s general advice on leftovers is to cool them and put them in the fridge within two hours, then eat them within 48 hours or freeze them. Reheat falafel only once, until it is steaming hot throughout rather than just warmed.