Why magical? Because that's how they taste, seriously. Very fluffy, soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Why Green? Because they are just super green on the inside thanks to the mint, dill and parsley.
This is not your traditional falafel recipe, this one contains three different types of aromatic herbs as well as over seven spices. Mint and dill are not classic ingredients in traditional falafels but they really take the flavor to another level.
The secret ingredient to make the inside extra soft and fluffy is baking soda. It helps create a more airy texture inside, the only downside is that the exterior of your falafels will be a bit darker but it doesn't impact the taste at all!
I'm using a combination of dry chickpeas and broad beans, aka fava beans. I have discovered that fava beans add moisture and make the falafels softer compared to chickpeas. If you don't have fava beans on hand, just use more chickpeas, the falafels will still be delicious.
Falafels are fried here, not baked. Frying results in a superior texture, crispy outside and moist/soft inside, something you can't get with baking. I recommend you only fry them before serving, they tend to lose some moisture as they cool down.
I'm sure you will love these falafels, they ARE BETTER than the ones you get at restaurants. Why not serve these with caramelized shallot hummus?
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe and tag #fullofplants on Instagram if you take a photo!
Magical Green Falafels
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry garbanzo beans
- 1 cup split broad beans/fava beans or replace with more chickpeas
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ stalk celery chopped
- 1 large onion chopped
- ⅓ cup red bell pepper chopped
- ⅔ cup fresh parsley
- ⅔ cup fresh mint
- ½ cup fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon of each: cinnamon anise, cardamom, ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup rice flour or chickpea flour
- oil for frying
For serving
Instructions
- Place the chickpeas and broad beans in a large bowl with the baking soda. Cover with water and let soak overnight.
- Drain and rinse the beans. Place them in a food processor and all the other ingredients: celery, onion, red bell pepper, fresh herbs, salt, spices, garlic powder, oregano, baking soda and rice flour.
- Pulse until all the ingredients are finely chopped and a coarse meal forms. Scrape down the sides and pulse again until the texture looks like a fine meal, like couscous. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Using your hands, form small balls, or thick discs and place them on a place lined with parchment paper. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1H. It's even better to let them rest overnight to let the flavors develop.
- Fill a large skillet with vegetable oil, you want a depth of about 1 inch. Heat over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. When the oil is hot, fry the falafels for 2-3 minutes per side. I fried mine 3 minutes on one side and 2 minutes on the other side.
- Once the falafels are ready, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate covered with paper towels.
- Serve immediately and enjoy with hummus, tabbouleh, or tahini sauce. You can also place them in pita bread with hummus, salad and red onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for this recipe!
I'm looking forward to try it.
Which food processor are you using? Do you have any recommandations when choosing one?
Thanks again and keep the good work.
Greg
Hi Greg,
I'm using a Magimix 3200XL, it's really great. I probably processed over 70kg of all kind of nuts since I bought it and it's still working perfectly.
These are so pretty and look delicious. I'm not quite sure how, but I've lived without a food processor for quite some time. I think I'm going to have to break down and get one so I can make this recipe.
These falafels look amazing! I cannot believe how thick and fluffy they are! They really are magical!
The crispy outside and that soft doughy-like inside has go me swooning! LOVE falafels!
I'm so excited to make these! A restaurant near my office has the best green falafels I've ever tasted - light and moist inside, crispy outside - and I've been searching for a decent recipe to replicate the experience. I think your recipe is the one! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Let me know how it goes!
I'm confused. I thought dried beans were poisoness unless you boiled them vigorously for 10 mins, changed the water and simmered them again for some time?
You don't have to do that, when fried (or baked) beans are not poisonous, traditional falafels are always made from dried beans. I'm still here to talk about it so...:)
I think what you are referring to is not "poison" but the enzyme inhibitors that is naturally in all nuts and seeds. In most beans, phytic acid (a phosphorous-bound organic acid that protects the plant seed from premature germination) is gotten rid of by soaking the beans (usually overnight, but times vary according to the bean or seed -- you can find it online). When you eat foods with phytic acids still intact, they bind with important minerals such as calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper and prevent absorption and can block protein absorption. So if you soak then and then dehydrate them, you will have a safe bean to use in this recipe. Ancient agrarian cultures soaked beans before eating or cooking and did not use the soaking water, so they did not ingest the phytic acid. I am not sure if how the phytic acid dissipates in cooking without soaking.
Charles, that's kidney beans. They can be deadly if undercooked. You can just read about it via an Internet search.
Can't wait to try these! I have a question though. Can they be frozen? If they can, is it best to freeze before frying? Thank you!
Me, too!!! And the carmelized shallot hummus sounds super either with them or on its own.
Yes they can be frozen, before frying. Then defrost overnight in your fridge and fry!
Is it correct that this serves 22?
22 falafels, not people, I will correct it. You should count about 3 falafels per person so it serves 7 people but you can keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days and fry at the last time.
Do you think they could be baked or cooked in a AirFryer?
I guess it would work in a AirFryer but I'm not sure how long you should cook them. You can bake them but the texture won't be as good, they might be a bit dryer and not as crunchy on the outside, frying is the best for falafels in my opinion.
Yes u can bake falafel 375○F 25~ min flipping halfway. They come out super crisyy and soft inside, its lighter too.
Wow this looks amazing! Will be making them this weekend!
Thanks Andrea! Hope you will like it!
Hello! If you have fresh (still in their pods, even!) fave beans do they need to be soaked? Should you just boil with the chickpeas the next day? I love this recipe and my family asks me to make it every year for Easter. Thanks for sharing!
Hello D,
I would also soak them. However, chickpeas and fava beans are not boiled, just processed and then deep-fried.
If no nutmeg wat is the best replacement
Just omit!
Hi there, I’m from the U.K. and was wondering if I have tins of ready cooked chickpeas how many would I need (each tin has 240g)
Hi Simone,
Unfortunately, cooked chickpeas won't work here, you need to use dry chickpeas.
Are the fava beans from dry as well?
Yes, dry fava beans.
Well mine didn't look quite like yours and I used fresh broad beans because that's what was in the garden but still absolutely delicious. Thanks for recipe.
Glad you liked the falafels 😉
About the fava beans, if my only option is frozen fava beans would I need to prepare this differently?
Recently I went on a grocery adventure (with the purpose of trying this recipe) and stopped at every grocery seller within about 75 miles of me and exactly zero of them sell fava beans in any capacity, dried or canned, but there is a restaurant supply company that does sell them bagged and frozen, and they're usually OK with selling "unique" ingredients to non restaurants in small orders.
I've only had falafel in two restaurants, one of them uses fava, one uses only chickpeas. I strongly prefer falafel with fava so I want to find a way to use them if I can.
Thanks,
Beanless
I assume frozen fava beans are cooked, right? Honestly, I have never tried with cooked fava beans as falafels are usually made from soaked dry beans.
Regarding the flavor difference, I too prefer with half fava half chickpeas, not only for flavor but also because I found the texture to be better with a mix of both.
Maybe you could try to find some dry fava beans online? Also, if you have some Turkish stores around, they may have some.
Best falafel recipe ever! After trying several other recipes using tinned chickpeas, with horrible results, I was about to give up on the whole thing. Then I found this recipe, and the results are amazing, even better than the felafels in our local Lebanese restaurant. Thank you so much! One word of caution, this recipe makes LOTS - I still have about 20 small felafels in the freezer, and that is less than half the recipe amount. I don't know how much longer they will last, as we can't stop eating them
Thanks for your great feedback Belinda! I'm glad to hear you like these falafels so much!
Making hummus from scratch is really worth it, when I say from scratch I mean by cooking the garbanzo beans yourself. I used to make hummus from canned chickpeas and I still do when I don’t have much time, but by starting with dried chickpeas, the hummus has a nuttier and more pleasant taste.
Cooking garbanzo beans or chickpeas?
Great recipe by the way! Could you replace the maple syrup with balsamico?
Jo
I agree, homemade hummus is the best 🙂
I'm not sure where you see maple syrup in the recipe though.
I'm curious why baking soda is mentioned twice?
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking soda
? Do you add it two separate times? Can't wait to make it!
The 2 tsp are added when soaking the beans. It helps reduce gas.
The 1/2 tsp is added to the mixture and gives the falafels a better texture (slightly more airy and softer).
Hi Thomas,
Is there any reason not to use fresh garlic in this recipe?
Hi Lynne,
I found it adds a slightly deeper flavor, but feel free to use fresh garlic!
I just made this recipe and found that despite overnight soaking the skins of the broad beans were still so extremely tough that it literally nearly broke my food processor making them. Also, quite a few of the beans remained hard as rocks, almost as though the water did not penetrate the skins during the soaking period. I also had to mix in some flour before forming them as they wouldn't hold together. Perhaps there should have been a caution about the beans in the recipe notes - if you've found the same thing, that is. Apart from that criticism I thought the recipe was good. I served them with a freekeh tabbouli with lots of mint and a home made hummus - great.
Maybe try with a different brand of broad beans? You should not have big and hard parts of beans.
I just made this recipe and found that despite overnight soaking the skins of the broad beans were still so extremely tough that it literally nearly broke my food processor making them. Also, quite a few of the beans remained hard as rocks, almost as though the water did not penetrate the skins during the soaking period. I also had to mix in some flour before forming them as they wouldn't hold together. Perhaps there should have been a caution about the beans in the recipe notes - if you've found the same thing, that is. Apart from that criticism I thought the recipe was good. I served them with a freekeh tabbouli with lots of mint and a home made hummus - great.
I made the mistake of not reading the recipe and used tin chickpeas. The falafels tasted amazing but fell apart when frying. Cant wait to try with dried chickpeas....
Can I use frozen broadbean, pop them out of their pods, and add to thdd mixture? Do they have to be cooked, off can I just defrost them, and add?
That should work! The beans should be raw, not cooked.
Absolutely love it. Good work and interesting site. ❤
Made this recipe last night! Excellent! Thank you for posting it and making it available!
You're welcome! Thanks for your feedback Sheryl 🙂
I disagree with the "frying is the only way to get a superior crust and soft inside. Ive baked falafel many times and it comes out literally just as good as fried. Its less oily and soft inside too. Just wanted to say because most ppl think u can only fry falafel and baked isnt as good.
Thanks for your input Liz 🙂
I have tried baked falafels a few times as well, and while it's good I personally prefer the fried versions. There is still a difference in my opinion.
Is it possible to bake these in the oven instead of frying?
I guess you could, but I haven't personally tried so I can't give you any directions I'm afraid. I believe falafels are always better fried though.
Best falafel recipe ever, honestly they taste magical
Oh thank you so much Lisa! 🙂
Hello! If you have fresh (still in their pods, even!) fave beans do they need to be soaked? Should you just boil with the chickpeas the next day? I love this recipe and my family asks me to make it every year for Easter. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Thomas, I did these falafels twice and they are DELICIOUS! I bought an air fryer Ninja (can you imagine I bought it to be able to cook FALAFELS with less oil! so only thanks to this recipe), and I was wondering how to adjust the cooking instructions for it. Do you have any ideas? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Dina,
Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
I would try air-frying for 12-15 minutes, flipping halfway through frying.
Thank you for the answer, Thomas! That’s what I tried (I found a recipe on ninja website, but it is not a good one since they are using canned chickpeas), and I didn’t like the result, they were too dry. So I made them fried again (tant pis pour ma ligne lol).
No problem, et désolé pour ta ligne 😉
Can you air fry these?
I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say for sure, sorry.
Lovely recipe! Apologies if I missed it but can you share how many falafel this makes?
Thanks Laura! I would say it makes about 25-30 large falafels.