Falafel Pitas with Tzatziki Sauce
I mentioned recently that I made these for dinner because I have an excess of canned chickpeas (which is what happens when you buy chickpeas at Sam's Club!), and several of you wanted the recipe.
The basic falafel recipe comes from my Dinner Illustrated cookbook, and the tzatziki recipe comes from an online recipe I found for gyros quite a few years ago.
A good prep-ahead option
I sometimes prep these before some work shifts so that I can come home and get dinner ready in no time flat (and with almost zero thinking involved).
The falafel can be mixed up and left in the fridge so that you can easily just take it out, shape the patties, and fry them when it's time for dinner.
(Or you could shape the patties and refrigerate them until you want to fry them.)
Also, it's actually ideal to mix up tzatziki sauce ahead of time so the flavors can meld as it sits in the fridge.
The tzatziki sauce makes a nice salad dressing or dipping sauce, so I sometimes double it. And I just really like a lot of tzatziki sauce in my pitas.
"More sauce!" is one of my life mottos. 🙂
The Method
A quick rundown of the recipe, in photos:
First, grate a cucumber. If it's the sort with big seeds, you can remove them first. Otherwise, just grate it, peel and all.
Then place the shreds in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the extra liquid.
Combine all the rest of the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Then stir in the cucumbers, and refrigerate.
To make the falafel patties, tear up half of a pita bread and process it in the food processor until it's pretty finely ground.
Then add the rest of the falafel ingredients.
Pulse until it's all finely chopped and holds together.
Shape the mixture into sixteen little patties.
Heat a shallow layer of oil in a pan until it's almost smoking, then add the patties and cook them for about 3 minutes on each side.
Drain on a paper towel.
Broil or toast halved pitas until warmed, then fill with patties, lettuce, tomatoes, tzatziki sauce, and feta cheese, if desired. And you're done!
Scroll down for a printable recipe!
Falafel Pitas with Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1 cucumber, seeded
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Falafel
- 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- pita bread (½ of a pita for the falafel, others for serving)
To serve
- grape tomatoes
- feta cheese
Yum! Now I know what I am having for my dinner tonight. I haven't had falafels in forever.
This looks delicious. I often experience pita pockets falling apart, tho. It isn't always from, ahem, overstuffing them. They just didn't hold up. Frustrating.
Something I have never made, but perhaps will try. I bought several bags of dried chickpeas that I mostly use in hummus, but I could try making these. It would be a good way to stretch a little bit of meat when I have one of those nights with not quite enough left over for everyone. Actually, thinking further, I used to sometimes make kibbeh by pulsing meat in my food processor. I bet I could actually add a little bit of processed meat right to these, and then it would be like a combination kibbeh and falafel. Hmmm . . .
@kristin @ going country,
When I saw Kristen's post, I started looking for a gluten-free falafel recipe. I love falafel and tzatziki. Nearly all of the GF recipes use dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas do not have the same binding power. Hence, the egg and pita bread in the Cook's Illustrated version. Who knew? Has anyone made falafel using regular gf bread as a binder?
@Bee, My first thought on seeing the pita bread in the recipe was that I would probably use regular bread crumbs, because I don't buy pita. I don't see why it wouldn't work with gluten free bread crumbs. In any case, these are so small and flat, they don't need a ton of binder to stay together, unlike, say, a larger patty or a meatball.
@kristin @ going country, if you're using dried chickpeas, consider using Smitten Kitchen's recipe here: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/12/falafel/
It's really good, and you don't have to cook the chickpeas, just soak them. And then no need for breadcrumbs.
@Meira (meirathebear.wordpress.com), Thank you! A lot of the (few) recipes I actually use are from that site, but I hadn't seen that one.
@kristin @ going country, She is my favorite chef and, interestingly, considers Ina Garten influential on her work.
These look so good! Conveniently, I have cucumber and feta cheese in the fridge! I can't wait to try the recipe.
Thank you for the recipe! I love chickpeas.
Kristen, if you've a surplus of chickpeas to burn through, shakshuka is another easy and excellent recipe: https://www.budgetbytes.com/smoky-white-bean-shakshuka/
Thanks!!
This looks delicious! And since our vegetarian adult son is temporarily staying with us, we have been eating a lot less meat. I think I will try these soon. One question though, does it matter what kind of oil?
That sounds yummy! Do you drain the can of chickpeas or do you need the aquafaba in the patties?
@Becca, I have the same question about draining the can of chickpeas or not. Also, @Kristen, I think you missed the addition of the chickpeas in the instructions (I assume in step 3).
Oh gosh, sorry guys! Yes, you drain them. And I added the chickpeas into the instructions. Thank you!!
Felafel is my all time most favourite dish!
I use a recipe from a Canadian cookbook author named Mairlyn Smith. Her recipe does not use breadcrumbs, but uses 1/4 cup chickpea flour instead. I keep my chickpea flour in the freezer as it is not something that I use often at all. I always make extra felafels to freeze for my "I do not feel like cooking" days. I make a tahini sauce to have with mine.
My motto: "Gravy is a beverage!"
I love this! Falafel is my go-to meal when both my husband and son are away for dinner. Thanks for sharing!
Ooh! Tzatsiki sauce! This will be perfect next time I've got cucumbers coming out my ears from the garden.
@Anna, same thought. Earlier this year just as the cucumber glut was subsiding, I read that it is possible to FREEZE cukes (diced) and that the frozen defrosted cukes work well in tzatziki. I hope to report back about the freezing step if it works well. That would be a game changer.
I can however vouch for the deliciousness of the Ina Garten recipe @ JD recommends.
@Jennifer C-L,
Wow, being able to freeze cukes would be awesome! Obviously, they would have a softer texture once thawed, so using it in tzatziki would be perfect. I made so many pickles - fridge pickles as well as canned dill pickles - this past summer because my cucumber plants went crazy.
I use Ina Garten's tzatziki recipe - it makes a good sized amount:
https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/tzatziki
And you know Ina's recipes - it's going to taste good.
@JD,
Side Ina Garten-related comment....have you read her autobiography? It's an interesting read.
@Liz B., I received it for Christmas last year and it is indeed interesting.
Yum! I will have to try this recipe because I love Falafels.
I love your recipe posts! Your recipes always turn out well. Quite a few of them are staples in my house (whole wheat pancakes, buttermilk biscuits, enchiladas, cherry coffee cake).
These look so good, would love to try them in the airfryer...
I’ve also baked them in the oven. A Lower fat approach for those who might need that method
Thank you for the recipe, I love falafels!
For a pita bread substitute, try using lavash bread that Trader Joe's sells. It's thin and rolls into a wrap instead of a pita pocket. Tastes best warmed up. We use it to make grilled cheese, grilled cheese/veggie/egg/meat sandwiches too, it's very versatile.
And if short on time, I also have found the TJ garlic tzatziki pretty good.
Thanks for the recipes. I truly admire how much you make fresh at home.
But for me? Way, way way too much work, and time, to make these. I can get prepared Tzatziki AND frozen falafel (or an already made mix that you just add water or an egg, I can't remember) that save both time and money.
Time is money and I don't normally keep some of the ingredients for either the tzatzki or the falafel, so I actually save money to buy ready made.
I buy both on sale (and I buy infrequently because I can freeze the falafel but not the fresh tzatziki.) I am happy to use plain greek yogurt with a few herbs/spices thrown in (I actually pick the cucumbers out of tzatziki as I hate them.)
I also don't have the physical energy to prep from start for much these days and when I do it's simple ingredients to add to my proteins (Chicken thighs, ground chicken, grilled chicken strips) that cook up quickly. Salad prep sometimes takes longer than some cookups for those proteins.
And of late, I've been buying Trader Joe's chicken nuggets (for the air fryer) and it's grilled chicken strips more frequently. Cooking for one needs to be streamlined for multiple reasons including preventing food waste. (There is only so much the freezer of a regular apartment sized fridge can hold! I do keep leftovers and often end up not using them as frequently as I might expect.)