Oven Baked Falafel

Falafel is something I’d never really thought of making at home, but after coming across some oven baked versions online and figuring out my own way of making these nice and crispy without any crazy frying, I’ve become a falafanatic!

You don’t need to deep fry these for crispiness

Just some lovely, quality oil on these and getting the texture right when you make them, you’ll have tasty, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside falafels (with lots leftover!).

Oven baked falafels

Makes about 30

Time: Prep 10 mins (also some prep the day before!) | Cooking 30 mins

• 1 diced onion

• 2 tbsp olive oil (plus more to brush on falafels)

• 400g dry chickpeas (not in water!)

• A generous handful of fresh, chopped parsley

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp paprika

• 40g flour (chickpea (gram) flour if you have it!)

• A large pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

Note: this is a big batch, which I recommend as these are so great to have in the freezer. You can heat them up again really quickly in a pan/in the oven (I don’t recommend the microwave as it will make it soggy). But if this will be too many falafels for you, you can of course just halve the recipe!

There is some preparation involved here, but it’s actually really easy. So let me just state again: you really want to use dried chickpeas for falafels, not those soaked in brine/water - they just hold too much moisture and will make the falafels soggy or fall apart.

The day before: Get your dried chickpeas in a big bowl and fill it up with water (cover the chickpeas and then some, they will soak up the water and expand). Let it soak overnight, and then rinse the chickpeas well.

Heat some oil in a pan and cook the diced onion gently for a few minutes until it is soft.

Put the chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, spices, salt & pepper, lemon juice and flour all in a food processor/blender and mix it well. It’s up to you how smooth you want this mix! You can do this by hand too, but you probably want to mash up the garlic first in that case so it all mixes well.

Preheat the oven to 200ºc (400ºF).

Form the gooey falafel mix into patties that fit in the palm of your hand, and lay them on a large baking tray covered in baking paper.

Brush/spray each falafel with olive oil, turn them over and do the same on the other side.

Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes, until they are nice and crispy on the outside. Turn halfway through.

You’ve made falafels!!! I love them in a tortilla or pitta with some couscous on the side and mixed with lots of cucumber and tomato, plus some yoghurt with it!

Freeze any leftovers and grab them when you need them!

Did you have fun making the falafels? What did you have them with? Share on Instagram and tag @TheFromScratchBody and hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!