If you love ordering falafel at your favorite Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurant, you’ll be happy to know that they are simple to make at home! Our Air Fryer Falafel is tender and flavorful inside, and crispy on the outside.
Recipe Overview
The air fryer has truly changed the way I cook dinner, and I use it often to make vegetarian meals for my family.
This delicious Air Fryer Falafel recipe is in a regular meatless Monday rotation, along with vegetarian Air Fryer Stuffed Peppers and Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan.
You should also check out our whole catalog of Easy Vegetarian Air Fryer Recipes and Vegan Air Fryer Recipes too!
Ingredients List
- Dried Chickpeas – I don’t recommend using canned chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) for this recipe. In a pinch, they will work, but the flavor of dried beans is much better. You’ll need to plan ahead, as the chickpeas need to be soaked overnight to soften.
- Shallots – Shallots have a slightly more mild flavor than onions, but give falafel a similar savory flavor.
- Fresh Parsley and Cilantro – These fresh herbs are what make falafel taste so fresh! You need a fully packed cup of each. Pull off any thick stems, the food processor will do the rest.
- Garlic – I mince the garlic before adding it to the food processor to make sure that there are no big chunks of garlic in the falafel mixture.
- Cumin – a warm, rich spice.
- Coriander – Common in Middle Eastern cuisine.
- Paprika – Paprika adds color and a bit of warmth.
- Salt and Pepper – You don’t want your air fryer falafel to lack seasoning. Salt and pepper are a must.
- Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed, please!
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour, chickpea flour, or your favorite gluten-free flour blend. This helps to bind the ingredients together.
- Cooking Spray – This is needed to keep the falafel from sticking to the air fryer basket and to help them brown up.
Directions to Make
- Soak the Chickpeas. Place the dried chickpeas in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water, making sure that the water is about 3 inches higher than the chickpeas as it will absorb a lot of water. Let soak overnight. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
- Fill the food processor with chickpeas, shallot, parsley, cilantro, seasonings, lemon juice, and flour. You may need to do this in batches if your machine is smaller.
- Pulse the food processor until the mixture is combined and coarse, scraping down the sides as needed. You don’t want it to be completely smooth.
- Add the dough to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Shape the falafel mixture into 1-inch balls.
- Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray, and place the falafel balls in the basket in a single layer, leaving space in between each for air to circulate. Work in batches if needed. Spray the top of the falafel with cooking spray too.
- Air fry at 350°F/180°C for 15-18 minutes, turning halfway through, until the falafel is golden and crispy.
- Serve Air Fryer Falafel immediately with your favorite toppings or as part of a pita.
How to serve falafel
You might enjoy cold falafel in your lunch, or as a snack on a picnic, but I think they are much better warm. Falafel is tastiest right after it’s been cooked.
It can be served wrapped in a pita, on top of a greek salad, or as a platter with fresh hummus and salad on the side.
You can also serve falafel as an appetizer. Try it with Air Fryer Zucchini Chips, Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks, or homemade Air Fryer Onion Rings.
For something different, form the falafel mixture into small patties instead of balls, turn them into falafel sliders and serve alongside Spinach Stew.
storing leftovers
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It can be helpful to store them with a paper towel in the container to soak up any condensation.
Be sure to let the falafel cool completely before putting them in the fridge.
To reheat falafel in the air fryer, preheat the air fryer to 350°F/180°C, then air fry the leftover falafel for 2-3 minutes until heated through.
Falafel falling apart?
When falafel falls apart, it’s typically because the dough mixture was too wet. Be sure to drain your chickpeas very well, and add a bit of extra flour if the dough seems wet.
FAQs
While you can technically use canned chickpeas to make falafel, I don’t recommend it. The flavor and texture of canned chickpeas is not going to give you the tasty falafel that you’re looking for.
Air Frying Falafel is a bit healthier than the traditional method of frying it in oil. That’s one of the great things about the air fryer – Deep fried texture without excessive amounts of oil!
Air Fryer Falafel
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 12 oz dried chickpeas about 1 1/2 cups, soaked overnight
- 2 shallots diced
- 1 cup parsley tightly packed
- 1 cup cilantro tightly packed
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour chickpea flour, or gluten-free flour blend
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Place the dried chickpeas in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water, making sure that the water is about 3 inches higher than the chickpeas as it will absorb a lot of water. Let soak overnight. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
- Add the chickpeas, shallot, parsley, cilantro, garlic, cumin, ground coriander, paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and flour to a food processor. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to blend it in batches.
- Pulse the food processor until the mixture is combined and coarse, scraping down the sides as needed. It should not be completely smooth.
- Refrigerate the falafel dough for about 30 minutes.
- Shape the falafel mixture into 1-inch balls. You should get about 18-20 total.
- Spray the air fryer basket with the cooking spray. Place the falafel balls in the air fryer basket in a single layer with space in between. You may need to cook the falafel in batches depending on the size of your air fryer basket. Spray the top of the falafel balls with additional cooking spray.
- Air fry at 350°F/180°C for 15-18 minutes, turning halfway through, until the falafel is golden and crispy.
- Serve immediately with your favorite toppings or as part of a pita sandwich.
Video
Notes
- 1 1/2 cups of dried chickpeas ends up being about 3 cups of soaked chickpeas. I do not recommend using canned chickpeas, as they have a bit of a metallic taste and not as good of flavor as the dried chickpeas.
- I used a cookie scoop to portion out the falafel mixture into 1-inch balls and then rolls them in my head to smooth them out. You can either air fry them as balls or flatten them into disks.
- This recipe makes 18-20 falafels. You may get more or less depending on the size of your balls. Keep in mind, if you make them bigger, you will need to cook them for longer. I would recommend if you do make them bigger to flatten them slightly so the center will cook evenly.
- Pro Tip: This recipe can be made in the air fryer unit with a basket or the air fryer oven. If you are using the air fryer oven, use the middle rack and select the “Air Fry” function.
- Pro Tip: Check your food as it cooks. Each air fryer runs a bit differently. Sometimes airfrying is a trial and error process. Check your food as it cooks to learn your air fryer better! When cooking a new recipe or food items be sure to check your food often to help avoid over/under cooking.
Nutrition
I was a bit worried about air frying falafel, as I’d only ever had it deep-fried. Well, you’ve made a believer out of me – this is just as good (if not better) in my humble opinion! I will never deep fry it again.
Thank you for teaching an old dog new tricks!
SO good, right?!
Thanks for letting us know you loved it!