Lactose Free Vegan Falafel Bites
Crispy on the outside, tender and herb-packed on the inside, these little bites deliver serious street-food energy from your own kitchen. The base is built entirely from soaked dried chickpeas — not canned — which gives the falafel that signature coarse, almost grainy texture that holds together beautifully in the pan without falling apart. Fresh flat-leaf parsley and cilantro bring a bright, grassy punch, while cumin, coriander, and a hit of cayenne layer in warmth that builds with every bite. Because the entire recipe relies on plants, legumes, and pantry staples, there is nothing here that would trigger a dairy sensitivity — no butter, no cream, no hidden milk solids to second-guess. The silky tahini dipping sauce — just sesame paste, lemon juice, garlic, and water — comes together in minutes and is genuinely the kind of thing you'll want to drizzle on everything. A quick shallow fry in neutral oil gets them deeply golden and irresistible, and a dusting of paprika makes the finished platter look like it came straight from a Mediterranean café. Whether you're serving them as an appetizer, tucking them into a wrap, or just snacking straight off the rack, these are the kind of bites that disappear fast.
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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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