Get your buns ready, these falafel burgers are going to rock your world! Easy to make and so delicious these falafel burgers are packed with flavour and taste amazing. Perfect for a tasty weekend treat!
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We all need a good veggie burger recipe in our back pocket and falafel burgers are the easiest of all the veggie burgers out there! I started making these a few years ago when I was looking for a meat-free burger that the whole family would like. We still love them!
These burgers have just the right amount of spices and herbs and have a nice little kick from the harissa. Served with that mint and lemon yoghurt sauce these burgers will leave you wanting more!
👩🍳Why This Recipe Works
- Easy To Make - these burgers are so easy to make, all you need is a food processor!
- Tasty family-friendly veggie burger - the whole family will love these and they make a great quick and easy weeknight dinner!
- That sauce! That minty lemon yoghurt sauce is so good with these burgers!
📝What You'll Need
- Chickpeas - tinned chickpeas is fine for these burgers, you can if course use dried chickpeas if you want.
- Spices - ground cumin and ground coriander.
- Harissa - I use store-bought rose harissa to spice up these falafel burgers.
- Red Onion and Garlic - half a red onion and 3 cloves of garlic, both for the falafel.
- Herbs - fresh coriander and parsley for the burgers and mint for the yoghurt sauce.
- Yoghurt - I used a creamy natural yoghurt for this sauce. You can use greek yoghurt too if you prefer.
🥣How To Make Falafel Burgers
- Add the chickpeas, chopped red onion, minced garlic, spices, harissa, salt and flour to a food processor.
- Pulse the food processor until you have a smooth paste. It shouldn't be too wet.
- Shape the paste into four rounds or patties, then pop them in the fridge to chill. Then cook the burgers until they are piping hot in the middle and crispy on the outside.
- Make the yoghurt sauce by mixing the sauce ingredients together.
📋Top Tips
- Dry the chickpeas before you add them to the food processor.
- Use canned chickpeas, this is the quick and easy option. You can, of course, use dried chickpeas if you want.
- Shell the chickpeas, you will find translucent shells on your canned chickpeas. It's best to discard these, drying the chickpeas will help but you may need to get in there and remove them with your fingers.
- Chill the burgers before you cook them, this will help them firm up before cooking and help avoid them breaking up.
- If your paste is too dry add a dash of water if your paste is too wet add a little more flour.
📖 FAQs
Yes, you can, you can make the burgers up to 3 days ahead. Keep them covered in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. You can also make the yoghurt sauce a day beforehand, again keep it covered in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
If you have any leftover cooked burgers, leave them to cool then store them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat them on the hob until piping hot all the way through. If you have any of the yoghurt sauce leftover, you can keep this in the fridge and it will last for up to two days.
Yes, you can. Cook the burgers according to the recipe. Leave them to cool to room temperature then place on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for an hour. Once almost frozen place in layers in a freezer bag or airtight container place wax paper between the burgers to prevent them from sticking together. Thaw the burgers in the fridge overnight then cook from frozen on the hob or in the oven until they are piping hot.
🍽 How To Serve Them
We usually have these with crispy baked potato wedges or fries. You could also serve a couscous salad on the side too if you want to make this more of a feast!
Need More Tasty Chickpea Recipes?
If you love chickpeas then you love these recipes! My falafel wraps are warmly spiced and come with a great sauce! If you fancy a curry, check out my aubergine and chickpea curry or my chickpea and lentil curry.
More Lunch Recipes
Falafel Burgers
Ingredients
for the falafel burgers
- 1 400g can of cooked chickpeas drained, rinsed and dried
- ½ medium red onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 3 tablespoon plain flour
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoon rose harissa
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice optional
- ½ tablespoon olive oil for cooking
for the mint and lemon yoghurt
- 80 g natural plain yoghurt about 6 tbsp
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
for serving
- 4 burger buns
- slices of red onion
- lettuce
- slices of tomatoes
Instructions
make the burgers
- Add the chickpeas, red onion, harissa, flour, spices, salt and garlic to a food processor and pulse until you have a rough paste. Add a little lemon juice and blend again.Shape into four patties/burgers and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the burgers to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes each side. The burgers should be crispy and golden brown on the outside and hot all the way through.
make the yoghurt sauce
- Add the yoghurt, mint, lemon zest, salt and pepper and stir well.Leave in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
assemble the burgers
- Toast the burger buns on a griddle pan. Add lettuce, slices of tomato and red onion to one half of a burger bun. Top with one falafel burger. Top the burger with a good dollop of the yoghurt sauce then add the other burger bun.
Notes
- Chickpeas - I use canned chickpeas for these burgers, you can, of course, use dried chickpeas if you want. You will need to cook them though.
- Dry the chickpeas - it's best to dry the chickpeas before you add them to the food processor, this will help avoid a wet paste.
- Chill the burgers - before you cook them, this will help them firm up before cooking and help avoid them breaking up.
- Paste - If your paste is too dry add a dash of water if your paste is too wet add a little more flour.
- Heat - these burgers are on the spicy side due to the harissa, if you want less heat reduce the harissa to one teaspoon.
- Recipe Inspiration - this recipe was roughly adapted from this recipe here from BBC GoodFood.
- Nutritional Information - is approximate and is calculated using an online tool. It is based on one burger including sauce. it does nit include burger buns.
- Measurements - I weigh all my ingredients using an electric scale, all measurements are metric. Cup measurements are approximate.
Nutrition
*This recipe was first published on September 28, 2015. It has now been updated with new photos, nutritional information and expert tips.
Annie @ Annie's Noms
I love Falafel, but have never made Falafel burgers before! These look so fantastic and the perfect way to get me out of my dinner rut! I keep making the same few things over and over and I'm getting quite bored! These look full of flavour and easy to make for a busy weeknight!
Jen
Talk about a total win for dinner! Loved that it not only was easy to make but my pickiest of eaters ate every last bite. So delicious!
Jordin
I need to try my own falafel burger at home! Sounds super easy to make, and delicious!
Suzy
We love making falafel at home but never thought to make it into a burger! Such a great idea and so tasty too!
Danielle Wolter
What an awesome idea! The harissa gave them the perfect amount of spice - they were so flavorful and delicious!