This Easy Vegan Baked Falafel is oil-free, healthy and incredibly delicious and full of flavor. No oil, not fried and baked for a delicious healthy dinner. Made with only 8 ingredients and whole foods and fresh ingredients for a satisfying plant-based meal.
EASY VEGAN BAKED FALAFEL
A couple of weeks back, my family and I took a little mini vacation to Austin. We had some out-of-this-world falafel pita sandwiches while there. The flavor was incredible, bold and spicy. The only issue was the ridiculous oil content. They were soooooo greasy, I mean greasy.
WHAT IS FALAFEL?
Falafel is a Middle Eastern popular dish traditionally made with chickpeas, spices like cumin and coriander and fresh herbs that can vary, like parsley or cilantro. Cilantro can be overpowering, so I use parsley. They are typically fried in oil.
I did a bit of research on how traditional falafel is made and using canned chickpeas is a big fat no-no apparently, because it doesn’t give the right texture and makes them too wet. Traditionally, you are to use dried beans and soak them overnight, not cook them. Well, of course, you all know me by now, I have to change up classic falafel a little bit and give it my own twist. I didn’t have any dried chickpeas and didn’t want to fool with soaking anyways, so I had an idea of roasting canned chickpeas to dry them out and give them a flavor boost at the same time, while preventing them from being mushy! I’m thinking this gives a similar effect as the soaking/uncooked tradition.
Another thing I did differently for extra flavor? I roasted the onion and garlic before adding it to the batter! So much flavor in these little gems, I tell ya. Oh, and I also added some hot sauce for a spicy kick.
HOW DO YOU MAKE OIL-FREE VEGAN FALAFEL?
Traditional falafel is also fried in a lot of oil and isn’t exactly my cup of tea these days. So, to replace the oil, I used potatoes! That is the magic ingredient I use in so many of my recipes. It helped to make them more moist and hold together better too. I promise, you do not need oil to make the most delicious healthy plant-based food. I teach you just how to do this with my oil-free tips here How to Cook and Bake Without Oil!
Now, these aren’t as moist as the typical fried, grease bombs….obviously. But, who wants that anyways? The texture is a bit different because they are not fried and are totally oil-free falafel, but they so delicious, you won’t mind.
I served these with my Creamy Lemon Pepper Sauce!
As usual, this recipe for these baked falafel requires just 8 ingredients (plus s/p & water) and if you want, throw in the optional hot sauce if you like extra heat, but it’s totally optional!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these flavor-loaded Easy Vegan Oil-free Baked Falafel! It makes the perfect healthy dinner or meal to impress anybody, vegan or not! If you are looking for impressive meals to serve your guests, check out these 20 Healthy Vegan Recipes to Wow Non-Vegans!
OTHER VEGAN DINNERS TO TRY:
- Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo
- Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells with Spinach
- Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Easy Vegan Quick Curry
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Easy Vegan Baked Falafel (Oil-free)
Ingredients
PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
- two 15 oz cans low-sodium chickpeas, drained & rinsed
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 4 extra large garlic cloves (with skins on)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 3 tablespoons (48g) smooth runny tahini
- salt and pepper (1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper)
- 1/2 cup (120g) cooked, mashed and tightly packed gold or red potato
- 3/4 cup packed flat leaf parsley
- 3 tablespoons water (use a bit more if needed if not using the optional hot sauce)
- Optional for a kick of heat: 2 tablespoons hot sauce (If you don't want to use hot sauce, then increase the black pepper to 1/2 teaspoon and add 1 additional tablespoon water if needed)
FOR SERVING (optional)
- chopped tomatoes, pita bread
CREAMY LEMON PEPPER SAUCE
- 1/2 heaping cup (80g) raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons (30g) fresh lemon juice
- 6-8 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Carefully read the instructions as to prepare these falafel correctly. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You will first drain and rinse your chickpeas. Spread them out evenly on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Roast for 25 minutes. This helps them to give more texture to the falafel instead of just turning into mush like hummus when blended. It also gives a bit more flavor.
- In the last ten minutes of roasting the chickpeas, add the chopped onion and garlic cloves (with cloves still in their skins!) to another sheet pan lined with parchment paper and cook them for the remaining 10 minutes. Place the pan on the bottom rack. At this time, you cook your potato. I just cooked a small potato in the microwave (with skin on) and then remove the skin and mash it. Measure a tightly packed 1/2 cup. You can bake the potato if you want, but do not steam or boil as that will make them too moist.
- Remove both pans from the oven. Add the chickpeas to a food processor. Process just until there are no more visible whole chickpeas, but do not overprocess it too finely. It should look ground up but kind of chunky with no remaining beans whole
- Now, remove the garlic cloves from their skins and tear the garlic up a bit and drop the pieces scattered around the bowl, so they blend up evenly. Add the onion as well. Do not blend up yet. Add the cumin, coriander, tahini, salt, pepper, mashed potato, parsley, water and hot sauce (if using). Sprinkle the spices around the bowl so they blend evenly.
- Process until everything comes together and the mixture starts to form large sticky chunks. This may take 10-15 seconds. As soon as it does, stop processing. It should hold together easily when pressed and not be dry/crumbly, but pureed, but still see little chopped bits of onion in it. It should easily form into balls, if not, process just slightly longer until it's sticky and holds together.
- Preheat the oven again to 375 degrees and line another pan with parchment paper.
- Press, form and shape the mixture into tight balls with your hands. They should be about golf ball size and you should get 10-12. Place them all onto the pan and press them down to about 1/2 inch thick. The edges may slightly crack a bit when pressing them down, just piece back the edges with your fingers.
- If you like a really crispy exterior, you can always spray them with a little nonstick spray before baking if you prefer. I did not, but it is up to you. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip them over and cook another 10 minutes. If they are not flipping over easily, cook another couple of minutes until they flip easily. This will make sure they hold their shape. They should have nice golden brown tops. If you want these extra crispy, bake them longer, but just keep in mind they may become more dry.
CREAMY LEMON PEPPER SAUCE
- Cook the cashews in boiling water for 10 minutes or soak overnight if you don't have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Drain, rinse and proceed. Otherwise the sauce will be gritty. I repeat, your sauce will be gritty if you do not have a Vitamix or soak them. Add the cashews, lemon juice, water, onion powder, pepper and salt to the blender and blend until completely smooth. You will need to scrape the sides a couple of times during blending. Taste and adjust spices if necessary. This sauce also makes a great salad dressing!
These are amazing and easy to make! I didn’t make the sauce just ate them like that as finger food.
So awesome to hear that Viv, thank you so much for the wonderful review!
What is a good substitute for Chickpeas??
Hi Amber, the chickpeas are the entire base and main ingredient of the recipe, as all falafel are. It won’t work with another bean unfortunately. If you are looking for a bean patty recipe, I have these Mexican Black Bean Burgers you could try instead.
https://thevegan8.com/2015/05/13/fat-free-baked-mexican-black-bean-burgers/
This falafel recipe is genius! Loved them, thank you!
Wonderful to hear Kim, so glad you loved these!
This recipe was great! The only issue was that the falafels came out extremely dry, is there any way to bake them and still have them retain more moisture? I was considering putting a pan filled with water into the oven with them so they could steam but I’m unsure if the method would work… Would you have any suggestions?
Hi Paige! So glad you enjoyed the them! Hmm, mine are never dry! Did you puree the chickpeas enough to release the moisture of them? As far as making them more moist, I am not sure that water oven method would work for these. Rather, instead, I would just increase the tahini by a couple of tablespoons. This will add more fat to them and make them more moist. Hope that helps!
I make these over and over in double batches! I do it a little different because I primarily use dried beans. I soak the chickpeas overnight (between a cup and a quarter and a cup and a half dried beans). I pan saute the onions and garlic. (Omit the oven roasting of the chickpeas, onions, garlic. Just because it seems like way too much work to cook the chickpeas then oven roast them. So I just soak, thats all, then in the food processor they go.)
The end result has such phenominal flavor!! I am getting a chest freezer so I can batch cook all my favorites to the high heavens. Thank you again Brandi!!
Yay! So happy you loved these Amanda! So glad they still worked out using soaked beans! And yes, the flavor is phenomena in these, one of my favorite recipes! Thank you so much for the review!
Brandi these falafel’s are delicious especially with the lemon pepper sauce. I love falafel but not how unhealthy they are to order out. Now I can make them and feel good about the ingredients. So yummy!
I’m so happy to hear you loved these so much Debbie, thank you for the awesome review!
Hands down the best Falafel ever! I have tried many recipes but yours is out of this world! Symphony of tastes!
Do you think these could be frozen? I’d like to bring them to our cabin where I don’t have a food processor.
I just made these and they are fantastic! I saw that someone use this recipe on YouTube and decided to give them a try. I think drying the chickpeas in the oven really helps. I like to make my own bean burgers and they are often too mushy so I have avoided other falafel recipes using canned chickpeas. I figured they would be mushy also. I’m going to apply this technique to my bean burgers to see if they improve. Well, these falafel have great texture and I will be making them often. Thank you so much for the recipe and this website. I can’t wait to try your other recipes!
I’m so very happy you loved these Liz! Yes, that is my trick for using canned beans, to roast them first. I came up with this idea when I wrote this recipe years ago in 2015 when I was too lazy to bother with soaking chickpeas since I was craving falafel, haha!
This recipe looks great – it’s different from the others (the potato!) I think I’m going to experiment n friends tonight. I was wondering if you think the falafel could be baked using an air fryer and how high and for how long?
Hi Penny! I honestly have no idea, as I’ve never used an air fryer.
Is there any substitute for the tahini? Thank you
It really provides flavor and moisture, but you could try a runny almond butter?
My husband and I made these this weekend for dinner. Such a hit!! We love falafels but really hate buying store made ones or the gross powder mix ones. This recipe is definitely a keeper 🙂
Thank you for all your recipes and ideas, you make eating healthy so easy and really help people who strive to be full plant based.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much Robyn for making them and the wonderful review! I’m so happy you enjoyed them! Thank you so much for your kind words!
Wow! I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit! We have six kids, the four youngest can be extremely picky and it drives me bonkers. Tonight, five out of the six loved this and went back for seconds! And even the little one that didn’t like the falafel, still loved the lemon pepper sauce and had it in a pita with some fresh veggies. I was ridiculously excited as I literally cannot even remember the last time that many of them liked something. Thank you!!! Oh, and my husband and I loved it too 😉
Yay! Thank you Candy! So happy to hear all this! Thank you for the review!
So I’m officially one of your biggest fans and I make one of your recipes at least once a week. I made these falafels last week and my husband is already begging me to make more. They’re amazing. However, I think my food processor is either too small or is about to die. I had a really hard time blending everything and a result over blended it. I had to cook the falafels for about twice the amount of time but they still turned out AMAZING. We used the falafels to make Mediterranean bowls and we loved them. I’m going to make them again – do you think my vitamix will work if I’m really careful?
Hi Suzanne! You are too sweet, thank you! So glad you enjoyed them! I would think it’d be rather hard to mix up in a vitamix since the space amount is so much less than a food processor, it doesn’t work in mine, but you can always try. I find just pulsing in a food processor in quick bursts works best.
Excellent falafel patties. I cooked chickpeas in my instant pot, then baked them . Great spices. Great texture. Great instructions.
Serving them tomorrow with tehini dressing , chopped israeli salad , wild rice with greens and roasted veggies!
Thanks
Yay! Really happy to hear you loved these falafel, thank you Edite!
I tried this recipe, because I wanted it to be oil-free. When I made it, it didn’t look like yours and I think, I was not initially a huge fan of the taste (of Falafels). But man, when I ate two, I was so full after. It’s like magic energy balls haha. I ate 4 a day with self-made yogurt sauce and I lost weight. Thank you for sharing this recipe!0
Haha that is so awesome to hear how much you loved these Camila!! Thanks for the review!
Both the falafel and the creamy lemon sauce were delicious. I’ll be making both often. The sauce as also great poured over steamed veggies, or as a dip with fresh veggies, or as topping on a cauliflower steak. Thank you!
Awesome!
Brandi, I haven’t made these for several years, until today! What??? I made two batches, taking one to a family tomorrow, and then the other to a backyard party. They are soooooooo delicious!!! My house smells like heaven!!! THANKYOU, and I hope this note finds you and your family well. The year is 2020…That says it all.
I made these today and they came out very dry. The beans may have been a bit too dry out of the oven. Maybe bake for a fee minutes less next time. Good flavor though. I will try these again. Just use lots if sauce on this batch.
Make sure you are using a really runny tahini as listed, as it makes a huge difference. It should be runny like oil. I like the Trader Joe’s Tahini and the Simple truth brand are both really runny. And make sure the water is added. The mixture should be moist and sticky and hold together. That is how they will turn out moist.
Instead of the potato, can I use chickpea flour?
no I’m sorry the potato is crucial for the moisture.