I am a huge chickpea fan.  Whether it’s in hummus, a salad or stew, I just can’t get enough of those protein packed little beauties.

I’ve been trying to make an easy falafel recipe for the blog for a few months.  I really wanted something authentic, and everything I read said that in the Middle East, they don’t use egg.  So my first falafel attempt was just the mashed seasoned chickpeas and a little flour.

The result was not too pretty:

Basically it all just fell apart.

For my second attempt, I used a mix. That turned out really well, but I really wanted to make my own, you know?

Finally after some tinkering, I came up with a recipe that’s easy.  It DOES use an egg, but the result is worth it, in my opinion.

Easy Falafels

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and mashed

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 egg

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Mash chickpeas well (I used a potato masher).  You want them to be pastey, but with a few small chunks.

Mix in spices, egg and flour.  You may need a little extra flour so the dough won’t be too sticky.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

I used a cookie scoop to measure the fritters (about 1/8 cup each).  Drop them in the hot oil and flatten them a bit.

Cook falafel for 3 min. on each side, until golden brown.

Serve warm or cold with tzatziki sauce (or ranch dressing works well in a pinch 😉

Enjoy!!