The traditional fried falafel patties are getting a makeover today in the Air Fryer! Air Fryer Falafel is made with good-for-you, nourishing ingredients and is loaded with flavor. Serve with some air fryer pita, a quick tzatziki sauce, and fresh veggies for a delicious, healthful vegetarian meal that is high in protein.
Don’t have an air fryer? Try this similar recipe for Baked Falafels (no frying in that recipe either!)
Not sure about Air Fryers? Check out our Air Fryer Guide!
Air Fryer Falafel
Falafel is one of my all-time favorites — I make up a batch every few weeks and eat them throughout the week for a quick lunch. Yes, I’m totally obsessed.
In fact, while I was visiting Dubai, our hotel served them in a breakfast buffet and that’s what I had every morning. Pita bread stuffed with a ridiculous amount of falafels, a tahini sauce, and lots of tzatziki. Yes, for breakfast. My husband made fun of me, but hey, honestly I’d take falafel over pancakes when in Dubai! Besides, it was served in the breakfast buffet so it can’t be that weird right?
Quick Tip
Falafel, a fried patty made from chickpeas, herbs, and seasonings, originated in Egypt as a meat alternative for fasting seasons or Lent. Popular in Egypt and the Middle East, falafel has gained worldwide popularity. We’re updating it by cooking in an air fryer, offering a healthier, simpler alternative to deep-frying.
I use, love, and recommend this Air Fryer (affiliate link). Air fryers do vary a bit from brand to brand, so timing may need to be slightly tweaked for your specific model.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can bake these instead. Either use this recipe or my baked falafels recipe. There are two major difference between the two recipes:
- The falafels are baked with pepperoncini juice, olive oil, and dried herbs, ensuring they stay moist and flavorful. This recipe produces falafels that are naturally moist, even without extra pepperoncini liquid.
- This recipe uses canned chickpeas, unlike my baked falafels which use dried chickpeas. I’ve adjusted by adding more flour and less liquid, optimizing for canned chickpeas. Though not traditional, this method suits this less authentic recipe well.
The aim for this Air Fryer Falafel recipe is to be as fast as possible — the air fryer cooks up the patties in record time and canned chickpeas also save lots of prep time.
Falafel Ingredients
- Canned chickpeas: I mentioned a few reasons above for why we use canned chickpeas for this recipe. Make sure you dry them well before using — wet chickpeas are going to make the mixture difficult to work with.
- If you’ve got a salad spinner, it can dry the rinsed chickpeas in a flash! Or, thoroughly dry the chickpeas with paper towels or clean kitchen towels.
- Herbs: I like a blend of flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, and green onions. Mix and match herbs to personal preference; you can also add in dill if you’d like.
- Garlic: We like lots of garlic, so feel free to reduce (or even increase) the amount in this recipe.
- Seasonings: Again, adjust the seasonings to personal preference. I like cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, and pepper best. If you’d like a little bit of heat, add in some cayenne pepper (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) or even red pepper flakes (1/8 teaspoon)
- Baking powder: It seems like a strange ingredient, but this baking agent gives falafel a more fluffy, airy texture.
- Flour, oil, and lemon juice: These all contribute to consistency and flavor. Whole wheat flour, gluten-free flour, or chickpea flour can be used in place of white flour.
How To Serve Air Fryer Falafel
Our favorite way to serve Air Fryer Falafel is with a quick tzatziki sauce, air-fried pita, and loads of fresh veggies. I’ll discuss all the components below:
Tzatziki sauce:
This Tzatziki sauce (or variations of it) has shown up quite a few times on this site — it’s almost always in my fridge! It’s so tasty and it whips up very quickly.
Air-fried Pita:
I generally char pita bread on my gas stovetop, but I thought since we’re using the air fryer, why not throw it in there as well? Total game changer — you will love it!
Fresh veggies:
- English or Persian cucumbers. Persian cucumbers are sometimes labeled as mini/salad cucumbers. English cucumbers are often sold wrapped in plastic and are much longer and thinner than regular cucumbers.
- Thinly sliced red onions. If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw red onion, soak the diced onions in salted ice water for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly before enjoying.
- Halved cherry tomatoes.
- Feta cheese. Feta adds such a nice flavor and texture but also acts as a great seasoning since it’s fairly salty. If you don’t add feta cheese, you may want to top the falafels with a pinch more of salt.
Alternative Serving Ideas
If you want to try something different with these Air Fryer Falafels, here are a few other ways to enjoy them:
- In a bowl: Start with a base of cooked couscous, rice, veggies, or a salad. Then, add the falafel and bowl toppings like chopped cherry tomatoes, chopped Persian cucumbers, halved Kalamata olives, thinly sliced red onions, feta cheese, and toasted pita bread. Add a sauce like hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush, or tahini.
- In a wrap: Fill a large pita or tortilla with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, veggies, feta cheese, and a sauce. (I’d suggest hummus and/or tzatziki.)
- In a salad: We love this Greek salad with falafel added in.
- As an appetizer: Serve Air Fryer Falafel with a bunch of different sauces for dipping! Use sauces such as hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush, or tahini.
Quick Tip
Are you familiar with the sauces we mention? Tzatziki is made with yogurt, cucumber, and lemon; tahini is like peanut butter, only made with toasted sesame seeds instead of peanuts; and baba ganoush is made with eggplant, tahini, and sesame seeds.
Air Fryer Falafel Tips
- Add lots of fresh lemon juice. Lemon pulls all the flavors together and adds a zip of freshness and tang. I like serving Air Fryer Falafels with lots of lemon wedges — the more lemon, the better in my book!
- Use a cookie scoop for ease. Not only does the cookie scoop make the process easier, but it also helps pack in the chickpea mixture so the falafels don’t fall apart. I use a scoop that is 1-1/2 tablespoons (about the size of a golf ball). Slightly flatten falafels out of the cookie scoop.
- Freeze the falafels before air frying. I wanted to make these falafels as quick, fast, and easy as possible, but they do need some time in the freezer so they don’t fall apart in the air fryer. While they’re chilling it’s the perfect time to fry pita chips and assemble the veggies or make the sauce.
More recipes using chickpeas
- Chickpea Curry over basmati rice
- Chickpea Salad Sandwich with fresh herbs
- General Tso Chickpeas with loads of veggies
- Chickpea Salad Mediterranean inspired
- Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup with chickpeas!
Air Fryer Falafel
Equipment
- Large food processor
- Cookie scoop 1-1/2 tablespoon
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas also called Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 4 cloves chopped garlic see note 1
- 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley not curly parsley, see note 2
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions 2 green onions
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons olive oil plus more as needed
- Cooking Spray
- Optional veggies see note 3
Air Fried Pita (Optional)
- 6 pita breads
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1/2 cup grated Persian/English cucumber unpeeled
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt I love Greek Gods, use non-dairy yogurt for vegan
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice plus 1/2 teaspoon zest
- 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Drain and rinse chickpeas, then dry thoroughly with a paper towel or salad spinner. Coarsely chop red onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, and green onions, then add them to a large food processor. Pulse for about 45 seconds until blended but not pureed. Scrape down the sides, add chickpeas, and pulse until chopped but not pureed. Scrape down the sides again, add remaining falafel ingredients, and pulse a few more times.
- Use a 1-1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to compress mixture, form patties, and place on a parchment-lined plate. Flour your hands/surface with a little more flour if needed; if the falafel mixture is too wet to work with, refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Continue forming patties until all the mixture is used, making about 15 falafels. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and freeze for 20 minutes or until ready to cook.
- Grate an unpeeled cucumber with the large holes of a cheese grater and squeeze out as much extra moisture as you can from the cucumber (to keep the sauce from being watery). Combine grated cucumber with sauce ingredients in a medium bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste (1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper). Stir, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Cut pita into 4 to 6 wedges per pita bread and place in a resealable plastic bag. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and add salt and pepper (1/2 teaspoon each). Shake to coat. Cook in the air fryer at 320°F for 5–7 minutes, tossing every 2 minutes until crispy and warmed through. Cook to your crispness preference.
- Preheat air fryer to 350°F. Remove falafels from freezer, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and spray with olive oil spray. Flip, drizzle with another tablespoon oil, and spray again. Arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Cook for 7 minutes, flip, and cook for another 7–8 minutes or until golden brown. While falafel is cooking, prep the veggies and toppings.
- Arrange warmed pita, air-fried falafel, and tzatziki sauce (give it another quick stir before serving). Add toppings like halved cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, lemon wedges, and Kalamata olives. Serve immediately with a fresh lemon drizzle.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
As your sister, this recipe has become a staple in our house!! And so much better than our local greek restaurants!
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks Kayla! 🙂
If I want to make the falafel ahead and then air fry it the next day for dinner, could I leave it in the freezer or the fridge overnight?
Yes! They’re great made a day ahead. I’d wrap tightly and store in the fridge overnight
Will be making this soon can i use oven instead as i dont have a air fryer at home i never had falafel before perfect for my office snacks and home snacks while i work on my phone will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Hope you love it!