Easy Falafel Burgers

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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 chorizo 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.

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

The following 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.