Falafel balls or patties is one of our favorite things here at our house. Sadly, we don’t make it as much as we’d like to because in order for us to make falafel we need to soak chickpeas which takes more planning than we currently have in our lives 😉 and then it takes deep frying which we don’t really like because then the smell of oil gets stuck everywhere! including my hair, clothes and the house. So given the above facts, we rarely make falafel, which is a shame because it goes so well with salad and tahini and hummus and almost anything. It’s healthy and filling and delicious so I found a good looking easy alternative to traditional falafel – I made the falafel patties into waffles, well mini waffles.
It’s so easy! all you need is to put everything in the food processor and place in a waffle maker. Serve with tahini or yogurt sauce and salad and you got yourself a meal. This version skips the deep frying and soaking so it’s a quick and easy go-to recipe and would look great when you need to entertain or just serve dinner to the family.
- 2 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup parsley leaves
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
- 1½ teaspoons cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 6 Tbsp. bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil or oil spray for greasing waffle iron
- Place everything except for the bread crumbs in a food processor and pulse until you get a paste like mixture.
- Transfer into a bowl and add the bread crumbs. Mix the bread crumbs in until fully combined.
- Place prepared mix in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the waffle iron and spray or brush with oil.
- Scoop about 1-1½ tablespoons for each mini waffle and place on the waffle iron (I had enough space for 4 at once).
- Close the iron and cook for about 4 minutes or until it reaches a nice brown color (each waffle iron is different).
- Note: DO NOT try to open the waffle iron in the first 2-3 minutes or the mini waffles might fall apart or stick.
