Homemade Falafel Burger

Learn the secret for making your own falafel. It’s so simple and it makes such a difference. Our Vegetarian Burger Topic is brought to you by Produce for Kids, your healthy family resource for nutritious meals.

I love falafel but find it kinda finnicky to make at home. If I’m in the mood for a vegetarian burger, I therefore tend to go for a portobello mushroom burger like this instead. Way easier. However, I recently found a way to make homemade falafel more quickly. There’s a little trick to it and then it’s a cinch.

Making Perfect Falafel

One of the hardest parts of making falafel is creating the perfect patty: not too wet so it slops around and not too dry so it falls apart in your hands. Some say to use dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), soak them the night before, and then cook them before using in your recipe. However, who has time for that when I want a falafel burger now?

After some testing we found that the best texture came from squeezing the water from the pureed chickpeas themselves. It got rid of the excess water and left us with a beautifully textured patty.

Serving Falafel Burgers

We served our burgers with nice slices of feta on top. Don’t buy the crumbled kind. It won’t stay on the burger easily. Instead buy the feta sold in a block, whether in brine or not, so you can slice it and place it on the burger.

We also like a smear of tzatziki and some tomato, red onion, and leaf lettuce.

Mediterranean Falafel Burger

Contributor: Lyndsay Burginger

Learn the secret for making your own falafel. It’s so simple and it makes such a difference. Our Vegetarian Burger Topic is brought to you by Produce for Kids, your healthy family resource for nutritious meals.

Listen to our editor, Christine Pittman, explain briefly how to make these burgers, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:

• Author: Lyndsay Burginger
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Entrée
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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• 1 (14.5 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 4 hamburger buns

TZATZIKI SAUCE

• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup shredded cucumber, water squeezed out
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper

BURGER TOPPINGS

• 6 oz. feta cheese, sliced
• 8 tomato slices
• 4 red onion slices
• 4 leaves of lettuce

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Instructions

1. In food processor combine chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, flour, cilantro, cumin, salt, red pepper, and black pepper. Pulse until combined and mixture comes together, about 10 pulses.
2. Put 5 sheets of paper towel on the counter. Put mixture on towel and squeeze out excess liquid. If more comes out, you can use more paper towels. Shape into 4 patties using your hands.
3. In medium nonstick frying pan, add vegetable oil and heat to medium-high. Cook patties until golden brown underneath, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until browned, another 4 minutes. Remove from pan and place on plate while preparing sauce.
4. Combine Greek yogurt, garlic, shredded cucumber, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread on the tops and bottoms of each of the hamburger buns.
5. Place the patties in the buns and top with feta, tomato, red onion, and lettuce.

Disclosure: Produce for Kids has provided giveaway items and social media promotion in exchange for mentions in the Vegetarian Burger Series. Also, the senior editor of this site is a paid brand ambassador for Produce for Kids. All opinions are ours and honest, always.

The post originally appeared in July 2016 and was revised and republished in August 2017.