Air Fryer Falafel Recipe with Bulgur Wheat
This air fryer falafel recipe is a Middle Eastern chickpea patty, shaped into balls, crisp on the outside and tender in the middle, seasoned with garlic, cumin, and fresh herbs. Lemon and parsley keep it bright, while the cumin and chili flakes give it some warmth without taking over.
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This version adds bulgur wheat to the mix, which isn’t traditional, but it gives the falafel a nuttier flavor and a little more texture than an all-chickpea version. It also holds up well made ahead, so it’s easy to keep some on hand for whatever the week needs.
Recipe Highlights
- Made with canned chickpeas and bulgur wheat, which adds a nutty flavor and a better texture than an all-chickpea falafel.
- Air fryer or oven, both give you a crisp outside without deep frying.
- One batch works across a few different dinners: stuffed in a pita, piled over a bowl, or crumbled on a salad
- A solid vegetarian option for meal prep or a meatless night any day of the week.
- Freezes well and comes together fast since canned chickpeas skip the overnight soak most falafel recipes need.
Ingredient Notes
- Bulgur wheat adds a nutty flavor and a little extra bite to the texture, and helps hold the falafel together. Leave it out and use 1/4 cup more chickpeas instead for a gluten-free version.
- Chickpeas – A traditional falafel recipe uses dried chickpeas soaked overnight. I use canned chickpeas here because they skip that step entirely and get you to dinner much faster.
- Canned chickpeas can be substituted with 3/4 cup dried chickpeas, covered with water and soaked overnight. Drain them the next day and proceed with the recipe.
- Fresh garlic can be substituted with 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder per clove, which is 3/8 teaspoon total for this recipe.
- Fresh onion can be replaced with 1 tablespoon onion powder.
How to Make this Air Fryer Falafel Recipe
- Prepare the ingredients: Add the bulgur wheat to boiling water, remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 15 minutes to soften. Chop the onion and garlic, measure the spices, drain and rinse the chickpeas, and squeeze the lemon juice.
- Start with flavor: Sauté the onion and garlic in oil over medium-high heat until translucent. Stir in the spices, turn off the heat, and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
- Mix the “dough”: Add the bulgur, onion and garlic, cilantro, parsley, and drained chickpeas to a food processor and blend until combined into a grainy mixture.
- Refrigerate: Cover the falafel dough and place it in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes; this makes it much easier to shape into balls or patties.
- Form the dough: Roll the mixture into 2-inch balls or patties that are 1 1/2 to 2 inches in size and 1/2 inch thick and place them on the air fryer tray or a parchment-lined baking sheet, depending on which method you’re using. Brush with oil or spray with cooking spray.
- Cook in the air fryer: Air fry at 400°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Cook times vary by air fryer.
- Bake in the oven: Bake at 415°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden and crispy.
Make it Your Way
This air fryer falafel comes down to four parts: a bean, a grain, some herbs, and whatever you serve it with. Change any one, and it’s a different falafel. I like to swap the parsley out and use just fresh cilantro and pile it over a salad with a yogurt sauce.
- Protein: Swap the chickpeas for white beans, kidney beans, or fava beans.
- Carb: Swap the bulgur for quinoa for more protein, or couscous, or leave it out entirely.
- Flavor: Swap the parsley for fresh cilantro. Add a dash of cayenne pepper for some heat.
- Finishing ideas: Drizzle with tahini sauce or yogurt.
Builder Tip: If you’re building a bowl around it, my Bowls Dinner Builder has more combinations for protein, vegetables, and sauce if you want to keep switching it up beyond falafel.
How to Serve Falafel
Stuff your crispy air-fried falafel into warm pita bread or a lettuce wrap with fresh veggies and your favorite sauce, or pile it over rice or grains for a bowl. It’s also good on top of a salad like this arugula salad, or on a plate with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and hummus.
Storing and Using Leftovers
I usually make a double batch, use some through the week, and freeze the rest, so there’s already dinner ready to pull out and reheat when I don’t feel like starting from scratch.
Falafel is versatile and great for meal prep this way. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
To freeze: place the cooked falafel in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer container. Reheat in the oven or microwave, straight from frozen, no need to thaw first.
Tips
- Use an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to shape the falafel balls.
- If you’re in a hurry, place the mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes instead of the refrigerator for 20.
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Easy Falafel (Air fryer recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup bulgur wheat
- 1 tablespoon olive oil plus approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons for brushing on falafel
- 1 medium red onion minced
- 3 cloves fresh garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed crushed red chili flakes
- 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin
- 1 1/2 cups canned and drained chickpeas
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 cup packed cilantro chopped roughly
- 1/8 cup packed fresh parsley chopped roughly
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil and remove it from the heat. Pour the bulgur into the water and cover it with a lid. Allow the bulgur to sit for at least 15 minutes until it softens.
- Prepare the ingredients: chop the onions, garlic and herbs. Set them aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small pan add the onion and garlic and sautee them until they become translucent.
- Stir in the spices (1 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes) and turn the heat off.
- Place the chickpeas, onions, garlic, lemon juice and spice mixture into the bowl of a food processor along with the parsley and cilantro.
- Blend in the food processor until all of the ingredients are mixed together, the mixture will be grainy.
- Place the mixture into the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes which will make the dough easier to form into balls.
- Use an ice cream scoop to shape the dough mixture into 2 inch balls and place them on the rack of the air fryer or the cooling rack (for the oven method).
- Use a pastry brush to the falafel balls with oil.
- Set the air fryer to 400 and bake for 15 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used
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I’m always looking to new air fryer recipes.
I hope you enjoy this one!
Even more reason for me to get an air fryer now! I get a bit freaked out about all the oil I have to use to make falafels. This is a great way to do it!
I’m really happy to see this recipe because I love to make falafel but I don’t like the frying part. This is an incredible idea! Thank you!
I’ve been wanting to make air fryer falafels and this is perfect. Light and airy, so delicious!
These definitely have me tempted to get an air fryer as frying falafel is always something that makes me a little nervous between the hot oil and possibility they break up, but nice to get that crispness.
I really need to get an air fryer! My friend made this recipe for me, and it is SO GOOD! Thanks for sharing!
I never remember to soak the chickpeas so having this canned option is awesome.
I keep meaning to make these. My daughter is a fan (and so am I). Thanks for the recipe and technique!