Falafel Burgers

Last Monday I experimented with a vegan, meat free, meatball recipe that popped up on my Instagram feed. Although my version was not strictly vegan (I used a real egg and real parmesan cheese!),  they were rather delicious and reminded me of falafels, so I figured this week we would have falafel Burgers for our Meat Free Monday dinner.  If you want the vegan version you can check it out here at the minimalist baker.

These falafel burgers were so quick and easy to make.  I used a mix of beans, tinned chickpeas (S&W brand tend to be lovely and soft and also great for humus) and dried fava beans, which I cooked for 20 minutes or so until tender. You could just use all chickpeas rather than mixing with any other bean.

Drain and rinse your beans, then dry as well as you can on kitchen roll then put into a food processor along with the garlic, parsley, spices, herbs, flour and a little salt. Blend until fairly smooth, then shape into four patties with your hands.  I laid mine out on a tray, covered in clingfilm and left in the fridge overnight.

When ready to cook, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and cook till warmed through and golden on both sides.  This only took about five minutes.

Serve enveloped in warmed pitta breads  with a nice salad.  We ate them with an autumnal, roasted butternut squash and feta salad, tzatziki and mango and nigella seed chutney (can’t get enough of the nigella seeds!).

5 from 1 vote

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Falafel Burgers

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

These falafel burgers are so quick and easy to make. You can use chickpeas or a mix of beans.

Course: Main

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Servings: 8

Author: Gillian Thompson

Ingredients

• 400 g fava beans (or broad beans mine were dried not tined so I cooked for 20 minutes or until softened, then drained)
• 400 g tin of Chickpeas you can use dried if you have pre-soaked and cooked beforehand
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 tsp ground Cumin
• 1 tsp ground Coriander
• 1 Lemon zest
• 1 tblsp Harissa or Chilli powder
• 2-3 tbsp plain flour
• Bunch of Coriander Parsley or Basil
• 2-3 tbsp Olive oil

Instructions

1. Rinse, drain and pat the beans dry with kitchen roll as much as you can.
2. Put the beans into a food processor along with the garlic, herbs of your choice (parsley, coriander or basil) spices, flour, lemon zest and salt.
3. Blent until smooth, scraping down the sides if you need to.
4. Now chill the mixtures for 1-2 hours.
5. After chilling, scrape out the mixture and divide into equally sized patties, about 1.5cm thick.
6. You should be able to make between 8-10 depending on size.
7. You can sprinkle the patties with bread crumbs if you like.
8. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add enough oil to coat the pan.
9. Once the oil is hot, add as many falafel as will fit in your pan.
10. Cook for 4-5 minutes each side, or until deep golden brown.
11. Serve with hummus inside a warmed pita bread.
12. You can freeze any leftover falafel or they will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

Recipe Notes

Serve in warmed pitta breads, with a nice autumnal salad like roasted butternut squash with feta.