Spinach Falafel

These are the spinach falafels I know and love. Coarse texture, crunchy outside, and soft inside. Garlicky and satisfying. I put the chickpeas up to soak before I left for work. Using 1-1/4 chickpeas and 2 cups of water I was left with 15 ounces of softened chickpeas after 10 hours of soaking. I chose raw mature spinach leaves. Once all of the ingredients were processed, combined, and rested for 15 minutes, the thick ball-like patties held together very well.

I heated the oil on medium-high and got the oil good and hot, all the way up to 325°F. Once the patties hit oil this hot they instantly seal up with a crust. I gave each 3 minutes on each side. The falafels don’t get very golden brown, more like a kelp green color with bits of brown, but the exterior crust is substantial to hold the whole thing together and that’s what you’re looking for. The recipe yielded 14 falafels, which isn’t nearly enough for leftovers if you ask me, so please do double the recipe. It’s not much more work. In assembling our sandwiches, we each got three falafels to tuck into our pitas and there were two left for nibbling on while cleaning up our dinner dishes.

I measured the falafel using a rounded generous 1 tablespoon cookie scoop and got 11 balls that I flattened into patties that held together. I bet if I didn’t round the cookie scoops so full, I would have gotten 14-16 count. I cooked the patties for 4-5 minutes on each side since the mixture was rather soft. This allowed the falafel to crisp up a bit, but still not as crispy as fried.

I used 3 spinach falafels per pita, so this would serve approximately 3 people and use 3 pitas if it’s rolled in a whole pita or 1 1/2 pita if cut in half and stuffed in the center. I loved the consistency of the tahini sauce, thicker than normally found at my local restaurant due to the parsley.

Both my husband and I loved this recipe. My teenager…well he didn’t touch it and had cereal for dinner, lol!

I started by soaking 3/4 cup dried chickpeas in a bowl with water to cover by two inches. The chickpeas soaked for 8 hours and yielded 1 1/2 cups. I put 4 cups packed of baby spinach (a 5 oz. or 142 g container) into the food processor and chopped it coarsely. Adding the other ingredients and pulsing for a minute or two is enough to make the batter come together. It doesn’t look like hummus, rather there are still tiny grains of chickpea. I refrigerated the batter for 20 minutes and moved on to the tahini.

When I was ready to cook, I heated my oil on high till it shimmered (345°F), then I turned it down to med-high. The temperature stayed pretty consistent throughout the cooking. The mixture was slightly loose and I used two tablespoons to form flattened balls, but I had to squeeze them a bit in my hands to get them to hold together. Using this method, I yielded 13 small balls about 2 inches in diameter when flattened slightly.

I fried four or five at a time, for 1 1/2 minutes or more per side. The mixture splatters a bit because of the water content of the spinach, but the addition, I think, keeps them moist. The fried falafel balls look a little darker than usual because of the spinach. I drained the spinach falafel on a rack and gave them a hit of salt. I served them wrapped in pita with chopped lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, pickled onions, and the tahini sauce. The falafels were crispy outside and moist inside, with nice flavors from the spinach and spices.