These falafel burgers are made with chickpeas, garlic, and fresh herbs! Vegan, optionally gluten-free, loaded with flavor, and super easy to make, they're flavor-packed and come together in a cinch!
Falafel is one of my favorite dishes in the world, but I don't make authentic falafel at home too often. I love ordering it at restaurants, but making it is generally too much of a project for me to deal with. Plus, it's fried, so not super healthy. I'll hold off on the falafel for special occasions, thank you very much.
But that doesn't stop me from creating tons of simplified falafel-inspired recipes to make at home. You know, the kind that are both easier and healthier than traditional falafel. Seriously, I have a ton of them on this site, from baked falafel to quinoa falafel to pumpkin falafel.
And now, falafel burgers.
Vegan burgers in general are healthy and easy to make, and these are no exception. Blend up a few ingredients in a food processor, shape and cook. That's it! And you can almost always come up with a vegan burger recipe that's inspired by some other dish you love. Vegan French onion burgers, vegan Reuben burgers and vegan meatloaf burgers are all totally doable. And they're delicious!
A falafel burger was practically begging to be made. And so I did it.
These burgers taste just as good as legit falafel, if you ask me.
Jump to:
Ingredients You'll Need
- Rolled oats. Use certified gluten-free oats if needed.
- Chickpeas. We're using precooked canned chickpeas, which is a switch from traditional falafel, which uses soaked uncooked chickpeas.
- Red onion. Yellow onion will work in a pinch if that's what you have on hand.
- Garlic.
- Lemon juice. Use freshly squeezed juice to give your burgers the best flavor.
- Ground cumin.
- Ground coriander. This refers to ground coriander (cilantro) seeds, which you can find in the spice aisle of most supermarkets.
- Fresh parsley.
- Fresh cilantro. And this refers to the fresh herb, which might be called fresh coriander in some areas outside of the U.S. Look for it near the parsley in the produce aisle.
- Salt.
- Olive oil.
- Burger buns.
- Toppings of choice. Feel free to use traditional burger toppings, falafel toppings, or a mix of both! Try lettuce, tomato, pickles onion, vegan mayo, vegan tzatziki or yogurt, hummus, ketchup, mustard and/or hot sauce.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Place the oats in a food processor bowl and blend them until they're almost a powder but still have a little bit of texture to them.
- Add the chickpeas, onion, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, parsley, cilantro, and salt.
- Pulse the machine until the ingredients are finely chopped and well-mixed. Don't overdo it! We want our burgers to have some texture.
- Taste-test the mixture and make any adjustments you think are needed at this point. This could mean more salt, more lemon juice, herbs, or spices.
- Heat your olive oil in a skillet, then shape the mixture into patties, placing them directly in the skillet. Only cook as many as you can fit at a time without crowding.
- Cook the burgers for a few minutes on each side, until the tops and bottoms are golden brown.
- Once your falafel burgers are done cooking, stuff them into buns and pile on the toppings.
- Enjoy!
Variation: Baked Burgers
For baked falafel burgers, simply place the patties on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake them in a 400°F oven for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover falafel burger patties will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Vegan Burger Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Easy Falafel Burgers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats (Note 1)
- 1 (15 ounce or 400 gram) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup chopped red onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 burger buns
- Toppings of choice (Note 2)
Instructions
- Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade. Blend them until finely chopped but not quite a fine powder.
- Add the chickpeas, onion, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, parsley, cilantro, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Pulse the machine until the ingredients are finely chopped and well-mixed.
- Taste-test the mixture and add more salt if desired. Adjust any other seasonings to suit your taste.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the olive oil and place it over medium heat.
- Shape the chickpea mixture into patties, placing them directly into the skillet and cooking only as many as you can fit at a time without crowding. You should get about 4 patties. (Note 3)
- Cook the patties for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Stuff the patties into buns and top with toppings of choice.
- Serve.
Notes
- If you don't have a food processor you can substitute oat flour, which will work, but also give the burgers less texture. Mash the chickpeas using a fork and finely chop everything else, then mix everything with a large spoon.
- Hummus, vegan mayo, vegan yogurt or tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions are all great toppings for these burgers.
- You can make anywhere from 3 large burgers to 6 small patties if you'd like.
- If you prefer to bake your burgers, place the patties on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and place them in a 400°F oven for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
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