Our Falafel Pita Sandwich is made with homemade falafels and served with fresh ingredients and the most delicious tahini sauce. A middle-eastern fresh and lovely meal that the whole family will love.
When I hear falafel I get instantly hungry. Falafel Pita Sandwich is one of my favourite meals in the world but it has to be done properly: Homemade falafels and homemade pita bread filled with delicious homemade hummus, fresh tomato, a cucumber salad, and a hot sauce.
We love adding some Sambal Oelek to our sandwich. That's how we prepare our falafel sandwich at home. It takes some time, but we will give you some tips to have things prepared in advance and I can tell you, the effort is well paid when you have the first bite of your middle eastern sandwich.
What is falafel?
Falafels are patties or balls made from chickpeas, fresh herbs such as parsley and coriander, spices such as cumin and coriander powder and other ingredients like onion, garlic, or even broccoli for our recipe. Traditionally, they are deep-fried but you can find recipes for baked falafels too.
Falafels are naturally vegan and gluten-free. No need to add baking soda, flour, egg or any other ingredient.
For our falafel sandwich, we use the classic falafels but if you feel like trying something different, you should try our Beetroot Falafels, as they are super yummy too.
How to make the best Falafel from scratch
Falafel Sandwich can be made with store-bought falafels, but if there is something you need to start making at home instead of buying it, that's falafels! They are really easy to prepare and totally worth the effort. Homemade falafels are tastier and healthier. Start making your falafels at home following these simple steps:
- Leave the chickpeas soaking the day before you intend on making falafels. This step is really important, as canned chickpeas will not work. You need dried chickpeas soaked for at least 12 hours. Canned or cooked chickpeas are too moist and when you try to fry your falafels they will fall apart. Leave the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water. They will almost triple in size, so make sure to add enough water.
- Combine the ingredients in a food processor. Once your chickpeas have been soaking for at least 12 hours, rinse them and remove the excess water. Add them to a food processor and blend for a couple of seconds. Then add the rest of the ingredients: Fresh parsley and coriander, broccoli florets (optional), onion, garlic, cumin and coriander powder, black pepper and salt.
- Blend to the right consistency. You will need to blend all the ingredients until you have a well-combined mixture. It doesn't have to be mushy as the balls will be too dense, but it needs to be blended enough for the mixture to not fall apart when frying them.
- Shape the mixture into falafels. Using your hands or using a falafel press, form the mixture into round shapes. Make sure the size is not too small or too big. It should be around the size of your palm.
- Cook the falafels. Heat up some neutral oil in a small frying pan so you don't have to use that much oil. Fry the falafels until they are brown and crispy on the outside. If the falafels are shaped correctly, not much oil will go inside. The inside part will still be really fresh and light. Alternatively to frying, you can bake the falafels. They won't be as crispy, but they will be healthier and a perfect way to cook them for toddlers or kids. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. For this method, we recommend shaping your falafels into disc shapes. Lay the falafels on a baking tray and bake for around 12-15 minutes on each side. They should be golden brown when taking them out.
How to store falafels
Once your falafels are perfectly shaped, you can cook them straight away, or you can keep them for later use. You can keep the raw falafels in the fridge for about 4 days or freeze them if you want to keep them for longer.
To freeze falafels, place them on a plate first, and leave them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Then, transfer the falafels to a ziploc bag and leave them in the freezer. This way the falafels won't stick to each other.
How to prepare the perfect Falafel Pita Sandwich
- Make or buy good quality Pita Bread. We always choose to bake our own pita bread and keep it in the freezer for these occasions. Even if you are not used to making your own bread, pita bread is one of the easiest bread you can make to start off. The falafel pita sandwich is a good opportunity to give it a go! Check out our Homemade Pita Bread recipe, it's really easy to follow and so yummy. You can also use store-bought pita bread, just make sure is a good one!
- Prepare your dips. A good Falafel Sandwich needs proper dips to go in. We enjoy our falafel with Homemade Hummus or Baba Ganoush. These middle eastern dips are so easy to prepare that once you start making your own hummus or baba ganoush, you won't be buying them anymore.
To prepare the hummus, we use a food processor where we add and blend the canned chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, olive oil, cumin, a little bit of water, salt and pepper. You can slightly modify the recipe for traditional hummus and make something more colourful and different. Have a look at our Red Pepper Hummus or Beetroot Hummus.
If you want to prepare Baba Ganoush, check our recipe. You will have the dip ready before you know it. - Cut some fresh veggies. To bring a bit of freshness into the sandwich, we choose to chop some fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and salad leaves.
- Prepare a tahini sauce. This sauce is the easiest and tastiest ever! Simply combine tahini with lemon juice and water and mix well until desired consistency. You can make a yoghurt sauce as well, or any other mild and creamy sauce that you love.
- Build your Falafel Sandwich. Cut the Pita Bread in half, spread some hummus, baba ganoush and spicy sauce (optional) on the bread, add the fresh veggies and finally the homemade falafels. Top the sandwich with olives and the delicious tahini sauce.
Other ways to serve Falafels
- Falafel Platter. Serve your falafels together with some dips such as hummus or Baba Ganoush, fresh salads, pita bread, pickles, olives or even roasted vegetables.
- As a snack. Falafels can be served on their own as a snack. We normally have the leftover falafels the day after and they are still really good.
- On a salad. A perfect lunch idea is a falafel salad. Build a salad with your favourite lettuce, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and add the falafels. Drizzle with a tahini or yoghurt dressing and enjoy!
Falafels for Toddlers and Kids
Falafels are a great choice for toddlers and kids. Chickpeas are an amazing source of fibre, plant-based protein and vitamins. Shape the falafels into small discs and bake them in the oven instead of deep-frying them. This way they can have a perfectly healthy lunch or snack.
Our toddler Luca, enjoys his falafels with some hummus, pita bread and tomato and cucumber salad. Often we make some oven-baked chips as well to serve with his falafels.
Falafel Pita Sandwich
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Falafels
- 2 cups dried chickpeas
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- ¾ cups fresh coriander chopped
- ½ cup parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt add more to taste
Ingredients for the Falafel Sandwich
- Pita bread
- Hummus
- 1 large tomato
- ½ cucumber
- Green or black olives
- Sambal or hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Leave the chickpeas soaking overnight, at least 12 hours before preparing your falafels.
- Once your chickpeas have been soaking for at least 12 hours, rinse them and remove the excess of water. Add them in a food processor and blend for a couple of seconds.
- Add to the food processor the onion, broccoli, fresh coriander, fresh parsley, coriander powder, cumin powder, black pepper and salt.
- Blend all the ingredients until you have a well-combined mixture. It shouldn't be mushy as the balls will be too dense, but it needs to be blended enough for the dough to not fall apart when frying them.
- Using your hands or using a falafel press, form the dough into round shapes. Make sure the size is not too small or too big. It should be around the size of your palm.
- Heat up some neutral oil in a small frying pan so you don't have to use that much oil. Fry the falafels until they are brown and crispy on the outside. If the falafels are shaped correctly, not much oil will go inside. The inside part will still be really fresh and light.
- Cut the Pita Bread in half, spread some hummus and spicy sauce (optional) on the bread, add some fresh chopped tomatoes and cucumber drizzled with some olive oil, add lettuce and finally the homemade falafels. Top the sandwich with green or black olives. Optionally, can add some yoghurt sauce as well.
Nutrition
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