How to Make Perfectly Crispy, Fluffy Falafel (2024)

Listen, there were a lot of glorious, fulfilling days in culinary school, but perhaps one of the most rewarding classes was the falafel lesson. There are few academic experiences that you can say ended with pita pockets stuffed to the brim with crispy falafel balls, but this was one of them, and I reflect upon it very fondly. One of the biggest realizations from this day was that making crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside, packed-with-flavor falafel is not that hard, nor does it require any specialty ingredients. Since school, I've made these plenty of times for small get togethers (well, pre-Covid, at least). Who would ever turn down an invitation to a falafel party? If you're ready to start whipping up a batch of your own, here's how it's done.

Soak your chickpeas.

One thing that will set an average falafel apart from an extraordinary one is the type of chickpea used. If you can, it's best to soak dried chickpeas in cold water for 24 hours. When you soak them, make sure to cover them with several inches of water, as they will absorb water and grow in size. This step seems annoying, especially because it requires you to have the foresight to know that you're going to be making falafel one day ahead, but trust me when I say that it's totally worth it.

Dried and soaked chickpeas are better to use in falafel compared to canned chickpeas because the former provide a coarser texture and they're much starchier, which means they'll hold up without a problem when you drop them in hot oil. The latter are known for having some structure issues… All I'm saying is, don't come crying to me if your cutie falafel balls fall apart in the oil because you didn't listen to what I told you about chickpeas. If you forget to soak dried chickpeas, you could also cover the dried chickpeas with water, quickly bring them to a boil, and then let them sit for an hour or so. Whether you soak overnight or opt for the quick soak, both are preferable to using canned chickpeas.

Make the falafel mixture.

Once the chickpeas are soaked, it's time to make the falafel mixture. A food processor is essential for this process because it can quickly mince up the ingredients. For eight ounces of dried chickpeas, you should start by processing half a yellow onion and five or six garlic cloves.

Once those are minced, take them out and set them aside to make room in the food processor while you blitz up the rest of the ingredients. Next, you'll add the soaked chickpeas and pulse them until they form a coarse mixture.

From there, add a handful of fresh herbs, like parsley and cilantro, a couple teaspoons of ground cumin, maybe something spicy like cayenne, plus a sprinkling of salt and pepper. (You can always season with more salt after they're fried.)

Add your minced onion and garlic back in and pulse it all together. Lastly, you'll need a little flour to hold everything tight as well as one teaspoon of baking powder, which will aerate the falafel and keep 'em nice and fluffy. If you have chickpea flour, you can use that, but all-purpose works just the same.

You want to add enough flour so that the mixture comes together and can be rolled into small balls. Typically, this is about three to four tablespoons.

Once the mixture is pulsed together, throw it into your fridge and let it rest for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. This rest helps the mixture stay together when you cook the falafel.

Roll and fry!

Once the chickpea mixture has rested, you're ready to roll. Literally. Shape the mixture into golf-ball sized spheres and arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet. It's important not to make them any bigger because it will be tough for the interior to cook by the time that the exterior is golden-brown and crispy.

Now, it's time to deep-fry. The most common inquiry when it comes to falafel is whether you have to deep fry them. Here is my honest answer: Sure, you can bake them in the oven or even throw them in your air fryer and they will still be delicious. However, they will not hold a flame to the falafel that you'll make when you deep-fry them. I understand that deep-frying is messy and annoying to clean up, but it's totally worth it in this particular situation.

You can deep-fry your falafel in a cast iron skillet or a Dutch oven. You'll need about an inch of any oil with a high smoke point (like canola, grapeseed, or vegetable) and you'll want to bring it to 350°F. If you don't have a thermometer, you can always eyeball the temperature — use a small piece of your falafel mixture and toss it in the oil — if the oil bubbles vigorously, then it's hot and ready to go. Once the oil is at temperature, get a sheet pan lined with paper towels and put it next to your station.

Now, use a spider or slotted spoon to gently lower your falafel balls into the hot oil. Work in batches — you don't want to overcrowd the skillet with too many falafel balls because this can drastically lower the temperature of your oil. Let the falafel cook in the oil until the exterior is a deep golden-brown, rotating them with tongs to ensure that all sides have even color. Once cooked, remove them to your paper-towel lined sheet pan and give them a quick sprinkle of salt.

Serve 'em up!

How you serve your falafel is almost just as crucial as how you prepare 'em. Whip up a quick tzatziki or tahini sauce, and maybe a simple tomato cucumber salad. Cut some pita in half, and stuff those pockets with all of your fixins. Fresh herbs, feta, and lemon wedges are all welcome additions. You definitely want to eat these ASAP, because they are their absolute best when they're fresh out of the oil (I mean, let them cool a little, you savage). I hope your falafel-stuffed pita pockets bring you as much joy as they brought me, a tired, hungry student in culinary school having the absolute time of her life.