Falafel Burgers

falafel burgers

That looks just delicious.

I’ve been wanting to come up with another vegan burger recipes ever since the original veggie burger recipe I posted over two years ago. Since my early twenties, when I first tried it, I’ve looooooo-oooo-oooooved falafel. I was introduced to it by a boyfriend. Ah, young love: I was a vegetarian and he was a vegetarian; his favorite book was “Catcher in the Rye” and my favorite book was “Catcher in the Rye”; he played the guitar and I played the harmonica, badly; he enjoyed meditation and I sort of enjoyed pretending to understand what is meditation while I sat on the floor and thought about my terrible posture and what I was going to eat for lunch.

Like Pad Thai, though, falafel is one of those recipes that I’d just rather have someone else make for me. But when Chris and I were talking about new kinds of veggie burgers recently, the idea of a falafel burger came up. Surely I’m not the first person in the world to put falafel and veggie burgers together (falafel are basically tiny fried veggie burger balls, anyway) but these turned out super good, so, like, virtual high-five me, right?!

Right-o.

You could probably bake these, but I haven’t tried it. I’d guess you’d put them on an oiled baking sheet, spray them with some oil and bake at 425F for 20-30 minutes, or until they are browned. No need to really cook them because they are egg-free (and vegan and gluten free!) but you want to get them warmed up and hopefully get some crispy crust involved, seeing as how that’s the best part of a falafel.

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Falafel Burgers

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5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked, drained chickpeas
  • 1 cup minced mushrooms (about 6 button mushrooms)
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 1/4 cup chickpea flour (or all purpose flour)
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons minced parsley and/or cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 large cloves)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (less if using canned chickpeas)

Instructions

  1. Coarsely chop the chickpeas in a food processor or blender. (I use a mini-chopper to do the chickpeas in one batch, the onion and garlic in another batch.)
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mash it around with a fork until you get a chunky dough that is soft enough to stick together. Add more tahini or a little yogurt of it’s dry.
  3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with a little oil.
  4. Form into 4 patties, about a heaping half-cup measure each.
  5. Fry the patties until browned and heated through, about 3 minutes on each side.
  6. Serve as you would a burger, or serve as you would a falafel with tzatsiki.

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falafel patties

Looks kinda sketchy on the inside, actually. Maybe don’t look at the inside while you eat.

16 Comments

  1. Great Stone Face on January 22, 2014 at 11:56 am

    I love falafel. The first time I had it was when I went to Israel after college. Tzatsiki is a good sauce with it, but a little tahini sauce made from tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and seasonings is more traditional. Side dishes could include hummus, Israeli salad, and maybe some pickled eggplant.






    • Hilah on January 22, 2014 at 4:45 pm

      Oh boy, I wonder, have you ever had falafel as good as the first time in Israel? I bet not, if only because the memory is so good, right?
      Sort of related, a friend of ours whose dad is from Israel asked me about my hummus recipe. He said that “real” hummus (I guess, he meant the stuff you get in Israel) isn’t very garlicky at all; he said it’s more tahini and lemon flavors than garlic. Do you have an opinion on that?
      PS HOW DO YOU MAKE PICKLED EGGPLANT??? That sounds like something I want to eat.

  2. birdman on January 22, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    Hmm, now I’m thinking of other ways this could replace ground beef. If you crumble it, how about tacos? Lasagna? By adjusting what spices or sauce you use, I think this could work well.

    • Hilah on January 22, 2014 at 4:47 pm

      That’s an interesting idea! When I make veggie tacos, I’ll often just use some smashed up beans with taco seasoning, so I suppose this would work fine, too. Good thinking, Birdman. 🙂

  3. Tobi on January 22, 2014 at 6:02 pm

    I’d suggest to add a pinch of ground cumin. It always comes great with chickpeas like in hummus as well.






  4. gisella on January 23, 2014 at 12:05 am

    I absolutely love your videos. I am from Guatemala and when I saw your video on You Tube, I was thrilled to see you making Guatemalan tamales. I know that they are a lot of work, but they are delicious!! Kudos to you, Hilah. You are amazing!!

    • Hilah on January 23, 2014 at 9:10 am

      Hi Gisella! I’m so happy you approve of the tamales video! 😀 They are so much work, but more fun to make when you have a group helping. And they are worth it – delicious!

  5. Karmah on January 24, 2014 at 1:09 am

    Hi Hilah!!

    Love your show!! Just wondering…..are you ever coming back to YouTube?

    • Hilah on January 24, 2014 at 2:30 pm

      Hi Karmah! Yes, I’ll be back to posting videos in February!

      • mike m. on February 5, 2014 at 6:20 pm

        Yea! Hilah’s coming back! I’ve checked your site every day! Love your vids!

  6. deena on January 26, 2014 at 12:44 pm

    Is there any substitute for the mushrooms?

    • Hilah on January 27, 2014 at 8:46 am

      Hey Deena! I think you could use shredded (raw) zucchini or summer squash instead. They have about the same water content and density as mushrooms, so it should work well.

      • Rob on January 27, 2014 at 5:38 pm

        I had the same question about a mushroom substitute before seeing this question/answer. I am going to try using Cauliflower. I will be starting in about an hour and will be putting these into a homemade Pita. I can’t wait to taste them!

        Now to think of a side…maybe roasted Asparagus!

        • Rob on January 27, 2014 at 9:03 pm

          The results with cauliflower are amazing! This was a huge hit around the table and yes I will be making these again. Thanks!

          • Hilah on January 28, 2014 at 9:28 am

            Excelente, Rob! Thanks for the update. I hadn’t even thought of cauliflower! 🙂



  7. Gilbert on January 28, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    Hilah! I absolutely LOVE your videos/recipes. I was wondering if you have anything for a “traditional” coffee cake. I made your apricot mini coffee cake version and they were delicious but its my grandmothers birthday soon and she loved the coffee cake from a shop a few blocks down but they closed:/ now I want to surprise her and other recipes don’t seem to do it justice, I trust your recipes they have NEVER let me down before:) Much love from El Paso, TX:)






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