Turmeric Free Vegan Falafel Bites
These crispy little bites pack serious flavor — fresh herbs, warm cumin, coriander, and a gentle kick of cayenne all folded into a coarse chickpea mixture that fries up golden and satisfying. The key is starting with dried chickpeas soaked overnight rather than canned, which gives the falafel that signature texture: crunchy on the outside, tender and herb-flecked within. Many spice blends and store-bought falafel mixes sneak in turmeric as a color booster, so making these from scratch with a short, clean ingredient list means you stay in full control of what goes into every bite. The tahini sauce — bright with lemon juice and a hint of raw garlic — comes together in minutes and is genuinely the kind of thing you'll want to drizzle on everything. Pan-frying in a shallow pool of neutral oil keeps the process approachable without needing a deep fryer, and working in small batches ensures each piece gets that deep, even browning. A dusting of paprika and a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end pull the whole platter together beautifully. Whether you're serving these as an appetizer, stuffing them into a wrap, or just snacking straight off the rack, they 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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