Here's the dilemma: we like fresh-made meals (ie, not just re-heating leftovers), but we also don't always have time for the prep work, simmering, and so on that can go into a meal from scratch. We've been looking for meals that can be prepped ahead and then made within minutes of walking in the door - like these falafel and pitas!
First of all, preparing the falafel mix and the dough for the pita is already pretty quick. We've fallen in love with this recipe for Baked Falafel, which calls for canned chickpeas and comes together in about ten minutes. We make a double batch, and this makes about 20 falafel rounds (or 6-7 servings).
The pita bread dough can take a little planning since it needs to rise, so we usually make it on Sunday evening. But once the dough is ready, we can stick it in the fridge and pull off pieces as we need them during the week. The flavor of the bread will even improve over the course of the week.
To bring our meal together, we heat up our big cast iron skillet with a little olive oil. We bake off the number of pitas we need using the stove-top method and then add a little more oil to fry the falafels croquette-style. The pitas take about three minutes each and we cook the falafel for 10 minutes (flipping them over after 5 minutes). Within about 20 minutes, we have a fresh meal on the table.
This is two or sometimes three weeknight dinners for me and my husband. If you work from home, it's also very handy to have falafel mix in the fridge for a warm mid-day meal.
Here are the recipes and techniques we use for this meal:
• Baked Falafel
• Pita Bread
• How to Make Flatbread on the Stove Top
Related: Weeknight Dinner: How to Make Pizza on the Stove Top
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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Are you baking the falafels ahead of time and then frying them up or are you making the mix and then frying?
I'm generally making the mix and then frying a few at a time as I want them. Occasionally, there will be one or two falafels that get fried but not eaten, and these do pretty well reheated in a hot pan for a minute or two.
Thank you for this post! I am a falafel addict who no long lives in the falafel capital of Canada (Ottawa). This post has inspired me to start making my own!
This is one of my favorite dinners. I make falafels out of everything: chickpea sprouts, edamame, brown rice, carrot pulp leftover from juicing, almond meal, you name it! It all goes in. I also shape and freeze my falafels all at once, so all I need to do is wrap in a paper towel and defrost in the microwave for a minute, then fry them up. I love them on salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, avocado and feta (with lemon and olive oil for dressing). As for the pita, I just heat the storebought brand and have it with hummus on the side. I'll have to try the homemade ones soon!
Thanks so much for the ingenious ideas. Make-ahead meals are a great way to cope with a busy week at work. And I love falafels! I included a link to this in my weekend links post today.
This sounds incredible. Thanks! So many great posts today.