Air-fried Cilantro Falafel Recipe

This is hands down my favorite way to make falafel. I love this falafel recipe because its easy and doesn’t make my house smell like a greasy mess from frying in a pan. Plus, we could all use a little less greasy foods in our life and if it tastes just as delicious what’s is there to miss? Last year I was gifted an Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer and it is seriously the bees knees. I was a little skeptical at first because we don’t eat a lot of fried food, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Oh boy it sure makes some good falafel. Additionally, there is way less mess and it doesn’t heat up the house in the summer time. Due to the ease of using the air-fryer, falafel has become a weekly event at our house.

More Beans Please!

Falafel is kind of a staple if you’re a non-meat eater. It should be its own food group. You can eat it in so many ways as a salad, a wrap, on top of spaghetti, a falafel burger—oh the possibilities! Plus homemade falafel is so affordable, here in Denver you can buy a 2lb bag (4 cups) of dried organic garbanzo beans aka chickpeas for $4.99 at Natural Grocers. From only 2 cups of dried garbanzo beans you can make about 30 falafel balls and it only costs about $2.50. That is 2-3 meals worth of delicious protein for a family of four.

This falafel recipe is for all the cilantro lovers out there, these are loaded with fresh cilantro and parsley. When you cut these little gems in half they are a beautiful shade of green. I love to make up a big batch of falafel, it is so good left over. Plus since it is so versatile you can eat it for days without feeling like you are eating the same thing. Salad one day, wrap day two, you get the idea.

Tricks for Falafel Making

It’s all about the consistency of the mixture. I use my trusty Ninja blender to make falafel mix. You could certainly use a food processor as well. What I’ve found that works best is to blend all of the flavorings—cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, olive oil, baking soda, and seasonings first. That way you can get all of these tasty things mixed up without over mixing the garbanzo beans. Once the flavorings are mixed up then you can add the soaked garbanzo beans. You do want to keep a little texture to the mixture, but if you don’t blend the garbanzo beans enough the dough will be too crumbly and it’s difficult to shape into falafel balls. If this happens just pop everything back into the blender and blend some more. It’s all very forgiving, keep blending until you can easily shape the mixture into balls and they hold together.

Time to get cooking!

Falafel Recipe

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This air-fried falafel recipe is loaded with flavor: cilantro, parsley, jalapeño, cumin, and coriander. Healthy and delicious!

• Author: Erica
• Prep Time: 8 hours
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 8 hours 45 minutes
• Yield: 30 1x
• Category: Beans
• Method: Air-fryer
• Cuisine: Healthy
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups of dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 2 bunches fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeño, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of cumin
• 1 tablespoon of coriander
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 5 cloves of garlic, smashed

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Instructions

1. Soak the garbanzo beans overnight. Or if pressed for time boil the garbanzo beans for about 5 minutes and then cover with a lid. Leave to soak for 1.5 hours.
2. Drain the garbanzo beans, these need to be really dry so you don’t have a mushy falafel mix. Strain and sit aside in the colander to continue draining while you mix the other ingredients.
3. Add the cilantro, parsley, red onion, jalapeño, olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt, and garlic to the pitcher of a blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed, it should be a nice green paste.
4. Add the drained garbanzo beans to the blender. Blend until the garbanzo beans are finely chopped. You still want some texture, but the mixture needs to be able to smash together to form falafel balls without crumbling. If it’s too crumbly, blend some more..
5. Preheat the air fryer. Make the falafel balls and add them to the air fryer once it is ready.
6. Cook for approximately 14 minutes, flipping when indicated by your air fryer machine.
7. Once finished they should have a nice brown/golden hue with a slightly crunchy exterior. Remove from the air fryer immediately.
8. Repeat the process until you run out of falafel mixture. Takes approximately 3-4 batches.

Notes

Great for leftovers! Lasts in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.