Emulsifier Free Baked Falafel with Tahini Sauce
Crispy on the outside, tender and herb-packed on the inside, these baked patties deliver everything you love about classic street-food falafel without a drop of oil for frying. The base is built entirely from whole, recognizable ingredients — chickpeas, fresh parsley, cilantro, warm spices, and a little chickpea flour to bind — so there's nothing hidden and nothing processed that could sneak in unwanted additives. Patting the chickpeas completely dry and chilling the mixture before shaping are the two small steps that make a genuinely big difference, giving you patties that hold together and develop a deep golden crust in the oven. The tahini sauce comes together just as cleanly: sesame paste, fresh lemon juice, garlic, and water, whisked until silky and bright. Store-bought versions of both falafel and tahini dressings are notorious for containing stabilizers and emulsifying agents, so making them from scratch like this puts you fully in control of what's on your plate. The result is bold, satisfying, and genuinely weeknight-friendly — the kind of meal that feels special without requiring any complicated technique or hard-to-find ingredients.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the falafel
- 2 cans (15 oz each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, loosely packed
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 3 tbsp chickpea flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
For the tahini sauce
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 3–4 tbsp cold water, as needed
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
For serving
- 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (optional)
- lemon wedges (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Spread the drained chickpeas on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels and pat thoroughly dry — excess moisture is the main reason falafel falls apart or steams instead of crisping. Let them air-dry for 10 minutes.
- 2
Combine the dried chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, black pepper, and cayenne (if using) in a food processor. Pulse 15–20 times, scraping down the sides as needed, until the mixture is finely chopped and holds together when pressed — it should look like coarse, slightly damp crumbs, not a smooth paste.
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