Nitrate & Nitrite Free Vegan Falafel Bites
Crispy on the outside, tender and herb-packed on the inside, these little bites deliver serious flavor from a short list of whole, plant-based ingredients. Dried chickpeas are soaked overnight and pulsed with fresh parsley, cilantro, garlic, and warm spices until the mixture hits that perfect coarse, sandy texture — the secret to falafel that holds together without tasting dense or doughy. Everything here is naturally free of cured meats, processed additives, and preservatives, so you get bold, clean flavor with zero ingredient-label anxiety. The bright tahini sauce — just tahini, fresh lemon juice, garlic, and a splash of cold water — comes together in minutes and takes the whole platter to another level. Pan-frying in a neutral oil gives each bite a deeply golden crust that a baked version simply can't match. Serve them straight off the rack with lemon wedges and a dusting of paprika, and watch them 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 oil 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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