Fish Free Vegan Falafel Bites
These crispy little bites are packed with fresh herbs, warm spices, and the satisfying heartiness of soaked dried chickpeas — the kind of snack or appetizer that disappears from the platter before you've even sat down. Everything here is built from whole, plant-based ingredients, so there's zero concern about hidden seafood derivatives, fish-based sauces, or the kind of sneaky anchovy paste that turns up in unexpected places. The food processor does the heavy lifting, blending chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, onion, and garlic into a coarse, fragrant mixture that fries up with a genuinely crunchy exterior and a tender, herb-flecked center. Cooking them in batches in a hot skillet gives each bite that deeply golden crust — no oven required, no compromises on texture. The tahini sauce comes together in minutes with lemon juice, grated garlic, and cold water whisked to a silky, pourable consistency that's bright and nutty all at once. A dusting of paprika and a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end pull the whole thing together into something that feels restaurant-worthy but is completely doable on a weeknight.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the falafel
- 1 ½ cups dried chickpeas
- ½ medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, loosely packed
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ cup neutral oil (such as canola or avocado oil), for frying
For the tahini sauce
- ¼ cup tahini
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 3–4 tbsp cold water
- ¼ tsp salt
For serving
- pinch of paprika (optional)
- lemon wedges (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the dried chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with at least 3 inches of cold water. Soak at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight, until the chickpeas have roughly doubled in size and are tender enough to pierce with a fingernail but still raw at the center. Drain and pat dry.
- 2
Combine the drained chickpeas, onion, garlic (for the falafel), parsley, cilantro, cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts, 15–20 pulses total, scraping down the sides as needed, until the mixture resembles coarse, slightly damp sand — no whole chickpeas remain, but the texture is not a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl.
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