Air Fryer Falafel

10 easy recipes using a can of chickpeas

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One of my biggest vegetarian cravings is falafel! Stuffed in a flatbread or tossed on a salad and served with veggies and gravy, these crunchy little spiced nuggets have only one downside: the deep fryer. To get them perfectly crispy, you need to deep fry these guys, which can take a lot of cleaning.

Well, I don’t expect there to be too many falafel street carts with air fryers any time soon. It’s true that falafel cooked this way won’t be 100 percent as crispy as a conventional deep fryer, but it comes close. Plus, the ease of cleaning and the use of less oil make it totally worth it.

New to the air fryer? Check out our beginner’s guide to using an air fryer.

What is falafel?

Falafel are traditionally made by soaking dried chickpeas and mashing them with spices, garlic, and a few other simple additions. Formed into balls or discs and deep fried, they’re a great vegetarian option stuffed in a soft pita.

I like to make my falafel with canned chickpeas and pair them with crunchy veggies, lettuce and a simple tahini sauce.

After you’ve processed your chickpeas along with your herbs, garlic, and spices, you’ll need to shape them into a small unit. Typically, this takes the form of tablespoon-sized balls tossed into a fryer. However, slices work better for air frying, in my opinion. They lie flat in the Airfryer basket and won’t roll around as they air fry and cook evenly.

Plus, it’s a bit easier to stuff them into a pita when they’re flat!

Ways to serve falafel

sandwich them! For my money (and it’s my money because I’m buying the groceries and my kids don’t have jobs yet), this crispy air-fried falafel stuffed with warm flatbread is hard to beat.
Vegetarian Salad! I’ve also tossed them as a salad on a bed of veggies and used the tahini sauce as a salad dressing.
Bento box for lunch? You can also use leftover falafel as an ingredient in a bento box, paired with other Mediterranean ingredients like olives and sun-dried tomatoes.

Making the Tahini Sauce

Tahini is basically a nut butter, but made with sesame seeds rather than peanuts. It’s incredibly smooth and hearty.

This is an easy sauce that you can whip together right in a bowl, although you could use the food processor if you’d like. I mix the tahini with some yogurt to brighten it up and add some lemon juice to balance out the richness.

The only note about this sauce is that it gets really thick with just the yogurt and tahini. You must thin it considerably before it is paintable. I only use hot water for this and you will need between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of hot water to get the right consistency. The sauce should be easily spreadable and barely pourable. You can make this ahead of time – a day or so – and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

Freeze and reheat falafel

If you have leftover falafel slices, which you probably have because each pita sandwich needs about 4 to 5 falafel and this recipe makes about 30 falafel, they will keep in the fridge for 5 to 6 days or you can airtight them for longer storage freeze pockets with zipper.

I recommend reheating them in a 350F oven until reheated and crispy, about 10 to 12 minutes. You can also reheat them in the air fryer a second time for a few minutes at a lower 300F – if you want to break them out again.

If you like falafel, try these other Middle Eastern recipes!

Easy Homemade Hummus Recipe
Cucumber salad with tahini dressing
tabbouleh
Baba Ganoush
Orange Blossom Carrot Salad

preparation time
10 mins

cooking time
14 minutes

total time
24 minutes

portions
6 servings

yield
25
up to 30 falafels

Alternative cooking options: If you don’t have an air fryer, you can do one of two things:

Frying: When I fry them, I roll them into balls rather than slices. Fry them at 350°F for about 4 minutes until golden brown on the outside.

Roast meat: This works best in a cast iron skillet with about 1 inch of oil in the pan. If using the frying method, shape the falafel into disks, as you would air fry. Fry the falafel over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

For the tahini sauce:

1/2 Cup tahini (I like Joyva)
1/4 Cup greek yogurt
1/2 lemonJuice just
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 Cup hot water

For the falafel:

2 (15 ounces) cans Chickpeas, washed and drained
1/4 Cup fresh parsley
1/4 Cup coriander
2 cloves garlic
1 big shallot, chopped
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoon Sesame seeds
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 lemonJuice just
1 teaspoon Salt
spray olive oilfor cooking

To serve:

6 pita bread breads
Fresh salad
1 big Tomato, thinly sliced
1/2 red Onionthinly sliced
1 cucumberthinly sliced

food processor

Make the tahini sauce:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, and olive oil. The mixture will be very thick at first. Dilute with hot water until easy to spread. You’ll need to slowly add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of hot water to get the right consistency.
Make the falafel mix:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, garlic, shallot, flour, sesame seeds, cumin, paprika, lemon and salt. Pulse until the mixture comes together into a coarse paste. It shouldn’t be completely smooth.

Form tablespoon-sized discs, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter, from the falafel mixture. Repeat until you have used up all of the falafel mixture. You should get 25 to 30 falafel slices.
Air roast falafel:

Spray the basket of your hot air fryer with some non-stick olive oil. Place as many falafel slices in the basket as you can without touching each other and lightly spray them with olive oil. Air fry the falafel at 350°F ̊ for 8 minutes. Flip and cook for another 6 minutes on the second side.

Repeat until all falafel are cooked.
Serve falafel:

Serve the falafel in warm pita (I like to microwave my pita for 15 seconds first). Serve with tahini yogurt sauce and any toppings!

Leftover falafel can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 days, or you can freeze the falafel for longer storage. Heat falafel in a 350°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until heated through.