Easy vegan falafel recipe | Jamie Oliver vegan recipes (2024)

FAQs

Easy vegan falafel recipe | Jamie Oliver vegan recipes? ›

A binding ingredient can help keep it together, especially if you are using canned beans instead of dried. And the perfect binding ingredient for falafel is flour. Nothing fancy, just plain all-purpose flour. Add a few tablespoons at a time to your mixture, until you can press it easily into balls or patties.

A binding ingredient can help keep it together, especially if you are using canned beans instead of dried. And the perfect binding ingredient for falafel is flour. Nothing fancy, just plain all-purpose flour. Add a few tablespoons at a time to your mixture, until you can press it easily into balls or patties.

If the mixture is too wet, the falafel has a tendency to fall apart when being fried so please pat dry the ingredients before using them. If you find the mixture is too wet, simply add little more breadcrumbs. The falafel mixture after prepared can be shaped by hand or with a tool called an alb falafel (falafel mold).

Traditionally, falafel is made from dried chickpeas and/or includes fava beans. I opted for a more simple version, using canned chickpeas so you don't have to wait for the chickpeas to soak overnight or worry about not being able to find ingredients.

Baking soda and powder: Baking soda breaks down and softens the chickpeas as they soak. Baking powder, mixed in just before baking, makes the falafel light and airy. Fresh herbs: The tender leaves of parsley, dill, and cilantro bring fresh, herbal flavor and color.

Canned chickpeas do not work for falafel. They're far too wet. If you try to use canned chickpeas instead of dried and soaked chickpeas, you'll end up with sad falafel pancakes. Some recipes try to counteract the wetness by adding flour, which significantly dulls the flavor and makes the texture more doughy.

How do you get a falafel to stick together? Falafel will stick together when you follow the recipe and make sure they chill long enough. You should also scoop the balls of dough tightly and that will keep them in one piece.

Alternatively, if you're short on time, you can use the quick-soak method: place the beans in a pot and cover with water by about three inches; bring to a rolling boil and boil for five minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and let stand for one hour. Drain the chickpeas.

The chickpeas should be tender enough to break apart with your fingers, but still have a bite to them. While the chickpeas soak, you can make tzatziki, chop tomatoes and lettuce, and assemble the other falafel ingredients.

If you cook those dried chickpeas before making falafel, you run into the same issues you find with canned—they just don't bind. The key to great falafel is to soak the dried chickpeas, but grind them while they're still completely raw.

What is a substitute for eggs in falafel? ›

I recommend olive oil, canola oil or avocado oil. Ground flaxseed. This is the binding agent in this vegan falafel recipe. You can substitute 1 egg for the 2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed.

Great news for plant-based dieters – almost all tahini is vegan tahini! Generally, tahini only contains sesame seeds and occasionally some vegetable-based oil and salt, all of which are perfectly safe for vegans to consume.

Falafel is simply chickpeas that have been soaked, mashed and combined with other ingredients such as bread crumbs, onions, spices, and egg, shaped into small balls and fried in cooking oil. They are often served as part of a grand salad or in pita bread as a sandwich or shaped into patties as a hamburger substitute.

They have to have enough fresh herbs and onion. Too much onion and your falafel will have a bad after taste. Too little and they won't be as moist and fluffy as they should be. It's all about balance.

A cooked falafel is supposed to be crispy and crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. Due to variations in preparation methods and recipes - some falafels are mushier and with more moisture, while others are a bit more on the dry side.

Greek Garden Organic olive oil is smooth and well-balanced with a light finish to enhance the flavors of dishes such as hummus, Tzatziki and falafel. Using olive oil is a healthier option for frying, as it creates a thick crust that stops the oil from being absorbed into the food.

Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if you can get them into the hot oil, they should bind together and stick. If they still won't hold together, you can try adding 2-3 tbsp of flour or chickpea flour to the mixture. If they still won't hold, add 1-2 eggs to the mix.

Chilling the Mixture

Chilled falafel mixture is less likely to break apart during frying. Aim for at least 30 minutes to let the mixture firm up and enhance its structural integrity, this will also give the baking soda time to soak into the mixture.

What's great about using oat flour as a binder is that carb-conscious people will benefit. Made of ground-up rolled oats, all you need to do is grind the oats in a food processor until they render a fine powder. There's more protein and fiber in this type of flour than what's found in all-purpose.

The only way to get perfectly textured falafel is by wet-milling the mix through a meat grinder. We tried to replicate the fine, pebbly texture with a food processor, but whirred with a blade, the mixture runs from too coarse to too smooth too easily.