Falafel burgers are perhaps an obvious idea, but they are so popular in our home, I just had to share my recipe with you. These are Jay’s favorite homemade burgers, and given just how kid-friendly falafel are, it is not surprising. The burger patties are crunchy, savory and they are full of flavor from parsley, cilantro, coriander and cumin. While the falafel burgers use many of the same ingredients as traditional falafel, there are some key differences in how you would make them, and I’ll tell you all about it. Once you have them ready all you need to do is cradle them in a bun smeared with eggplant hummus or vegan mayo, layer on lettuce and tomato, and you’ll have before you a meal you’ll remember long after it’s gone.
What you’ll love this recipe
Crunchy. Hearty. Packed with good-for-you ingredients. Easy to make. Incredibly delicious.
Tips and steps
As you would when you’re making falafel, start out by soaking the chickpeas. In this case, I soak them for an entire day, because I don’t deep-fry the burger patties. Instead I shallow-fry them in a pan with about a quarter of an inch of oil added. The reason you do need a good amount of oil in the pan is because the chickpeas are uncooked when you make the patties, as they are with traditional falafel. Frying them in some oil ensures the patty is crunchy, with lots of great texture, but you also want to be sure that your burger is cooked through. You won’t use up all of the oil, so don’t worry, and if you fry your falafel patties at the correct temperature, you can make sure they absorb very little oil. You can use cooked chickpeas if you absolutely do not want to shallow-fry the patties, but keep in mind that falafel made with cooked chickpeas will be more mushy than crunchy, although they’ll still taste great. Making the falafel “dough” is super easy. Toss the chickpeas with other ingredients, including cilantro, bulgur or quinoa, ground coriander, cayenne, parsley and cumin into the food processor and blitz until you have a grainy mixture that holds together when you form it into a patty. However, I do add one more thing to these burger patties–panko breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs add more crunchiness to the burgers and also help them hold together. Finally, when you form your falafel burger patties make sure you make them quite thin. The falafel will puff up in the oil and become fatter, so starting out with a thin patty ensures everything will cook through evenly and the patty will be even crunchier.
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