Mediterranean Falafel Burger with Hummus
A vegan burger with crispy herb falafel, hummus, tahini sauce, and fresh tomato, cucumber, and red onion.
- Prep
- 20min
- Cook
- 12min
- Total
- 42min
- Serves
- 4
- Calories
- 540per serving, est.
By Time for Burgers, updated
Canned chickpeas make this falafel quick, but they hold more water than the soaked dried chickpeas used in classic falafel. That's why the mix gets flour and baking powder, and why it matters to pat the chickpeas dry and pulse only until coarse: a smooth puree fries up dense and pasty.
The patties shallow-fry in a skillet, so keep them no thicker than 3/4 inch (2 cm) and the heat at medium, letting the centers cook before the outside darkens. Hummus goes on the bottom, lemony tahini sauce on top, with tomato, cucumber and red onion in between. Every component is plant-based.
Mediterranean Falafel Burger with Hummus
Prep 20 min, cook 12 min, total 42 min. About 540 calories per serving.
timeforburgers.com/recipes/mediterranean-falafel-burger-hummus
Serves 4.
Ingredients
Instructions
Tap a step to keep your place.
In a food processor, combine drained chickpeas, chopped onion, 3 cloves minced garlic, parsley, cilantro, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, ½ tsp cayenne, salt, and pepper. Pulse until coarsely ground but not pureed.
Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in 1½ oz flour and 1 tsp baking powder. Form into 4 equal patties. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up.
Make tahini sauce: Whisk together ¼ cup tahini, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and 2 tbsp water until smooth and drizzle-able. Season with salt.
Heat ¼ cup vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry falafel patties for 4-5 minutes per side until deeply golden and crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Spread ½ cup hummus generously on bottom halves of pitas or buns. Add sliced tomato, cucumber, and red onion, then place falafel patties on top.
Drizzle with tahini sauce and crown with top halves. Serve extra tahini sauce on the side.
Tips
- Don't skip the 10-minute chill. Cold patties hold together when they hit the oil; warm ones can crumble at the first flip.
- Wait until the oil shimmers before adding the patties, and turn them only when the underside is deep golden and releases from the pan on its own.
- Tahini seizes and thickens when the lemon juice goes in. Keep whisking and add the water a little at a time until the sauce turns smooth and pourable.
- If the mix feels sticky and won't hold a shape, work in more flour a tablespoon at a time.
Substitutions
- Gluten-free: chickpea flour or a gluten-free flour blend in place of all-purpose, plus gluten-free buns or wraps.
- Baked instead of fried: brush the patties with oil and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway. They come out less crisp but use far less oil.
- All parsley if you dislike cilantro: use 60 g parsley in total.
- Pita pockets instead of buns: tuck everything inside so the tahini sauce can't run out the sides.
Make ahead & storage
Shape the patties and whisk the tahini sauce up to 1 day ahead; keep both covered in the fridge. Fried falafel keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated; reheat in a hot oven or a dry skillet to 165°F (74°C), which brings back some of the crunch a microwave would take away.
