Homemade Falafel

Falafel may be king of Middle Eastern street food, but that doesn’t mean you have to travel to enjoy it at its best. Boasting a crisp, golden-brown exterior and a center that’s soft, tender, and packed with chickpeas and fresh herbs, our favorite homemade falafel recipe hits all those classic Middle Eastern flavors and familiar street food vibes. Never made it homemade before? Read on below for all of our top tips on making the perfect falafel at home:

What is falafel?
Falafel, at its essence, is a round, deep-fried fritter, typically made with ground chickpeas and seasoned with fresh herbs and spices. While many countries lay claim to it—including Egypt, Israel, and Palestine—most seem to agree that wherever you’re eating it, it should be accompanied by all the fixings, including fresh pita, salad, and tahini sauce.

How to make the best homemade falafel:
You can create excellent baked or pan-fried falafel using canned chickpeas, but if you want to make the universally loved deep-fried variety, you’ll need to use dried chickpeas, which you soak overnight in water before blitzing with the other ingredients. Dried chickpeas, even when partially hydrated through soaking, are drier and starchier than the canned variety, yielding a batter that will stick together and not disintegrate when deep-fried.

While it might seem strange to add baking powder to a savory chickpea fritter, the leavener helps create a lighter, more tender texture in the falafel, just as it would in a sweet fritter.

Frying at home might seem intimidating at first, but I promise it’s not difficult. Use a large heavy pot (I recommend a Dutch oven) and keep a candy thermometer clipped to the side so you can monitor your oil temperature at all times. You’ll need to keep adjusting the heat as you fry, since adding the falafel will cause the temperature of the oil to drop. I recommend using a heatproof slotted spoon to gently lower the falafel balls into the oil—the balls will be too delicate for tongs, and air-dropping or even trying to gently lower them by hand into a pot of hot oil is never a good idea.

Storage and freezing.
Falafel are best served fresh, but they will keep for up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I enjoy eating any leftovers cold, but if you want to reheat them, I recommend warming them in the microwave. These balls are pretty small, so trying to “re-crisp” them via the oven or the air fryer will only dry them out.

Alternatively, you can freeze the uncooked balls separately on a parchment lined baking sheet, then transfer them to an airtight container once they’re frozen solid and store for up to 1 month. At that point, they can be fried straight from frozen.

Made this recipe? Let us know what you think in the comments below!