How To Make Baked Falafel in the Oven

How do you take a pita pocket full of crunchy deep-fried falafel — handed to you by a street vendor and devoured on sight — and turn it into a reasonably healthy, everyday affair that you can make at home? The power of the oven.

These baked falafel have been in my lunch and dinner meal rotation for years now. You can make a huge batch, warm the leftovers for weekday lunches, and generally enjoy falafel whenever the fancy strikes. They’ll never totally replace falafel straight from the deep-fryer, of course, but for an easy homemade version that requires almost zero pre-planning, they do just fine.

I make these falafel using ingredients that I almost always have in my fridge and pantry — namely, cans of chickpeas, chopped onion, garlic, and a handful of fresh herbs. I generally prefer using cans of chickpeas over dry chickpeas mostly because canned chickpeas do not require that I remember to soak them the day before. This said, if you do happen to remember, give the dried chickpea version a try for a more authentic flavor and texture; there are instructions for what to do at the end of the recipe below.

To get the crisp outsides and soft insides that we all love so much with our falafel, make sure they get plenty of surface contact with the hot baking sheet. Form the falafel mix into balls, then flatten them into thick patties on the baking sheet — only the parts of the falafel that touch the pan will get golden and crispy.

One problem that I’ve had with baked falafel is that the patties can tend to dry out in the oven, becoming a bit crumbly. They still taste great, but sometimes a falafel-loving gal just likes a little more softness in the middle. To help out, I often stir a little flour into the mixture along with some baking powder — the flour binds the falafel together while the baking powder helps keep them from being too dense.

Resting the mixture overnight before baking the patties also helps them hold together a little better. In fact, you can make the falafel mix up to five days ahead and just bake off as many at a time as you need.

If you’d prefer to avoid using flour, you can mix the falafel mixture just a little more thoroughly than usual — edging closer to hummus than chopped chickpeas. Or add a spoonful of tahini to help bind it together.

The baked falafel keep very well for several days in the fridge. I like the falafel both at room temperature in a pita pocket or warmed for a few seconds in the microwave. They lose their crispness, of course, but retain their toothsome bite.

Last but not least, this is a very forgiving recipe. Sometimes I add more cilantro if that’s what I have or ease up on the cumin if I’m not in the mood. You can also cook the falafel on the stovetop rather than in the oven. It’s a bit quicker — only five minutes per side in a hot griddle — and nice if you just want to cook a few for yourself without making the whole batch.