Baseball Falafel Patties {Vegan}

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This is a vegan falafel recipe that is made with canned or cooked chickpeas/garbanzo beans rather than dried beans and baked rather than fried.

Yield: 5 falafel patties

Prep time:
Cook time:
Idle time:
Total time:

Ingredients
Roast Chickpeas
  • 1½ cups canned or cooked chickpeas – water reserved and chickpeas pat dry
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 tsp high smoke point oil (e.g., avocado oil, sunflower oil, canola oil)
Falafel
  • Roasted chickpeas
  • ¼ cup reserved chickpea water
  • ¾ cup flat leaf parsley
  • ¾ cup cilantro
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp pepper
Sauce Options
  • Tahini sauce
  • Harissa sauce
  • Tzatziki sauce
Vegetable Options
  • Lettuce
  • Tomato
  • Red onion
  • Cucumber
Instructions
Roast Chickpeas
  1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
  2. Mix chickpeas and salt in a bowl. Let it rest for 5 minutes. This draws out the excess liquid. Add the excess liquid to the reserved chickpea water.
  3. Toss the chickpeas in the oil, and spread the chickpeas onto a baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until slightly golden.
Falafel
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
  2. Blend together all the ingredients, except for the chickpeas, in a high speed blender or food processor until very fine.
  3. Add the roasted chickpeas to the other ingredients. Pulse a few times until mixed, but not smooth.
  4. Scoop out ¼ cup of the falafel mix. Squeeze it into a ball, and then flatten it into a disc.
  5. Place the falafel patty onto a greased dark baking sheet. Push the center in to allow for even baking. Brush additional oil on top of the patty. Repeat with remaining falafel mix.
  6. Let the falafel patties rest for 25 minutes.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes on one side. Use a metal spatula to flip each patty. Bake on the other side for another 15 minutes.
  8. Let the falafel patties cool before removing from the baking sheet.
  9. Enjoy the falafel patties in a pita with sauces and toppings of your choice.
Baseball Falafels
  1. Spread tahini or tzatziki sauce onto the falafel patty.
  2. Put some harissa (filtered through fine mesh sieve) or red pepper puree into a small bowl.
  3. Dip a toothpick into the harissa/red pepper puree to draw two semicircles onto the left and right sides of the baseball falafel.
  4. Use the toothpick to draw V’s along the semicircles, going in opposite directions.
  5. Display the baseball falafels on a platter surrounded by pita, sauce, and topping options.

Notes
  1. You can skip the roasting step by using dried chickpeas that have been soaked in water and baking soda for at least 6 hours. Add 1 tsp salt to the falafel mix.
  2. The dark baking sheet helps the falafels become crispy. If using a light color baking sheet, increase the temperature to 400°F (205°C).
  3. The baked falafels won’t be as crispy as fried falafels, but they are somewhat healthier.