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[
[
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"@type": [
"Recipe"
],
"headline": "Homemade Falafel",
"datePublished": "2016-03-28T05:45:00.000-04:00",
"dateModified": "2025-02-17T09:59:09.265-05:00",
"author": [
{
"@type": "Person",
"name": "J. Kenji López-Alt",
"url": "https://www.seriouseats.com/j-kenji-lopez-alt-5118720"
}
],
"description": "Here's a recipe for falafel that's crisp on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, while still very moist and packed with herb and spice flavor.",
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"height": 1125,
"width": 1500
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"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Serious Eats",
"url": "https://www.seriouseats.com",
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},
"name": "Homemade Falafel",
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.6",
"ratingCount": "29"
},
"cookTime": "PT15M",
"keywords": "chickpea, falafel, middle eastern",
"nutrition": {
"@type": "NutritionInformation",
"calories": "473 kcal",
"carbohydrateContent": "41 g",
"cholesterolContent": "0 mg",
"fiberContent": "8 g",
"proteinContent": "15 g",
"saturatedFatContent": "3 g",
"sodiumContent": "997 mg",
"sugarContent": "6 g",
"fatContent": "30 g",
"servingSize": "Serves 4",
"unsaturatedFatContent": "0 g"
},
"prepTime": "PT35M",
"recipeCategory": [
"Lunch",
"Dinner",
"Entree",
"Side Dish",
"Mains",
"Sandwiches",
"Snacks"
],
"recipeCuisine": [
"Middle Eastern"
],
"recipeIngredient": [
"1/2 pound dried chickpeas (1 generous cup; 225g)",
"2 ounces picked fresh cilantro, parsley, or mint leaves, or preferably a mixture of all three (about 2 cups; 55g)",
"6 scallions, white and pale green parts only, sliced (about 2 ounces; 55g)",
"2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons; 10ml)",
"1 teaspoon (about 4g) ground cumin",
"1/2 teaspoon (about 2g) ground coriander seed",
"2 teaspoons (about 10g) kosher salt, plus more for seasoning",
"2 to 3 cups (480 to 720ml) vegetable oil, for frying",
"Tahini sauce, hummus, and/or zhug (Yemenite hot sauce) for serving"
],
"recipeInstructions": [
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"text": "Rinse chickpeas and place in a large bowl. Cover with cold water, adding enough to allow the chickpeas to at least triple in volume. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. The next day, drain, rinse, and carefully dry chickpeas in a salad spinner."
},
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"@type": "HowToStep",
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"text": "Combine chickpeas, herbs, scallions, garlic, cumin, coriander, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chickpeas are very finely minced, stopping the food processor to scrape down the sides as necessary. A handful of the mixture squeezed into a ball should be able to barely hold together. If not, process a little more."
},
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"text": "Transfer mixture to a bowl, cover, and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow time for more starch to seep out of chickpeas. This will help the balls retain their shape better once formed. Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out heaping spoonfuls of the mixture into your hand. Gently shape each into a ball (you will not be able to roll the mixture like cookie dough; this is okay) and place them on a clean plate."
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"text": "When all the balls have been formed, fill a deep cast iron, carbon steel, or nonstick skillet or Dutch oven with 3/4 inch of oil. Heat over high heat until oil registers 375°F (190°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Carefully lower chickpea balls into oil one at a time, allowing a little space between each ball and cooking in batches if necessary. Adjust heat as necessary to maintain a temperature of between 350 and 375°F (175 and 190°C). Allow to cook undisturbed until well browned on bottom sides, then carefully flip balls with a fork until browned on second side, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cooked chickpea balls to a paper towel–lined plate and season with salt. Repeat with remaining chickpea balls."
},
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"text": "Serve immediately with tahini and/or hummus on the side, or stuffed into pita bread with tahini, tomatoes, cucumber, pickles, and shredded cabbage."
}
],
"recipeYield": "4",
"totalTime": "PT530M",
"review": [
{
"@type": "Review",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "rhaeyns"
},
"reviewBody": "The first time I tried this recipe I messed it up horribly. The balls fell apart in the oil and I couldn't strain it out and had no more oil and ended up throwing it all out. So I identified my mistakes and how to fix them. Problem 1: I don't have a salad spinner, so I let the chickpeas air dry but not enough. Solution: put the soaked chickpeas to dry on a clean dish towel lined baking sheet and made sure they were completely dry before blending. Problem 2: oil wasn't hot enough and i don't have a thermometer Solution: I made a tiny test ball to throw in to check if the oil was hot enough rather than having a whole ball fall apart in the oil. Problem 3: I had never used dried chickpeas so I soaked them in the fridge and from what I read online that's no good. Solution: soaked them at room temp \n\nThe second try I made a quadruple batch (bold lol) and it turned out great when I took care to not repeat my mistakes from the previous try. I saw a lot of comments about the mix being hard to hold together but when I went out of my way to make sure everything was super dry it held together much better, and sort of sticks to itself even more when it hits the hot oil. Thanks to kenji for another great recipe :)"
},
{
"@type": "Review",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "mehaase"
},
"reviewBody": "I've made this recipe a few times now, and it's one of my favorites on SE.\n\nTonight for the first time I tried frying straight from the freezer and it worked great. I formed the balls, froze them on a cookie tray, then transferred to a freezer bag. The balls did frost a little bit in the freezer and stuck together just a smidge, but it was painless to separate them. I brought the oil up to 375 and added a few balls at a time (to limit splattering due to the frost). I only fried slightly longer than I would for fresh, maybe 5 min total.\n\nNot as amazing as fresh but pretty great for a quick midweek dinner."
},
{
"@type": "Review",
"reviewRating": {
"@type": "Rating",
"ratingValue": "5"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "breighz"
},
"reviewBody": "Mine turned out perfectly. Salad spinner, check. I laid them on a half sheet to thoroughly dry as I picked the leaves off the cilantro.I thought the amount of salt was perfect. I did not have mint, and I had to cut all of my parsley I have growing, and it was worth it. I found the mixture was moist, but crumbly, is there a word for that? I used my All Clad braiser to fry them in, which took a very short time. I have a very long thermometer for when we boil maple sap, which I was able to clip horizontally on the side of the pan, staying below the surface of the oil, not touching the bottom of the pan.The oil stayed at 375 degrees with 5 balls in it at a time. I had made tzaziki sauce the night before, as we thought we were making the falafel last night. My son asked why I didn't used canned chickpeas ( he's hasn't made falafel before either, but he introduced me to SE), and after I explained, he said \" That's what Big Falafel wants you to think.\" He's a good cook and funny!"
},
{
"@type": "Review",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "sveur"
},
"reviewBody": "Great recipes, but the chickpeas need to be dry. Haven't got time? Blowdryer! It worked for me!"
},
{
"@type": "Review",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "gbsk"
},
"reviewBody": "I worked at a restaurant in LA in the '70s. Two of the cooks there toured with Michael Jackson (not at the same time). The falafels we made there were not soggy on the inside. We put a fair amount of chopped parsley in them and that made small openings for the oil to seep inside so they were more done inside than most any other falafel . They did tend to fall apart easier than most though. I have seen other recipes and advise including roasted sesame seeds in the recipe."
}
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