I started making these vegan and gluten-free red lentil falafel years ago and they’ve become part of our regular rotation – I love how simple and flexible they are to make. I soak and freeze jars of red lentils as part of my weekly batch cooking, but was mostly making this red lentil soup with them until these little patties came into the mix.
We were low on groceries on a weekend and the freezer was empty apart from some soaked red lentils, so I tried making burgers from them, thinking I’d end up with one giant lentil pancake. Turns out soaked red lentils make a great solid-textured patty, but only if they’re soaked. Please don’t try this with dry or cooked lentils, you won’t like the results.
While these are pictured as part of a naanwich with vegan naan, greens, hummus, and pickled onions, we often serve them with a dipping sauce like avocado aioli and roasted vegetables or salad. They’re a great simple staple recipe.
If you’re looking for some more red lentil recipes, try my lentil bolognese, hearty lentil chili with mushrooms, or rice, lentil, and butternut squash soup.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Chickpea flour: I’ve also made these with spelt and rye flour, but prefer using chickpea flour, which gives a better flavour and texture.
- Parsley: use the whole herb, including the stems, for this recipe. See parsley substitutions if you don’t have any.
- Red lentils: this can be split or whole red lentils, as whole tend to break into two when soaked in any case.
Recipe Notes
Since red lentils only need about an hour for a quick soak in hot water if you’re pressed for time (see below), these work well for when there aren’t any cooked legumes on hand and you don’t have time to boil chickpeas for hours.
If you want to fry these rather than bake, you’ll have to add an egg. I recommend making my lentil and greens patties instead, which were adapted from this recipe.
You can also add a grated carrot to the lentil falafel (add a beet instead to make them pink), leave out the parsley or sub it for another herb like cilantro, add turmeric and other spices, or use apple cider vinegar in place of the lemon juice. These are very flexible.
How to Store
Storage: these are best fresh, but can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days. They do dry out a bit when stored.
Freezing: the mixture freezes very well before baking. Simply transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months, then thaw in the refrigerator and use as normal. Baked patties can also be frozen.
Expert Tips
- Do a quick soak: if you’re in a rush, soak the lentils in very hot water (not boiling, but as hot as the tap can get it) for a minimum of one hour before blending.
- Blend very well: the mixture should be very finely chopped, with only a few visible lentils remaining.
- Use a spoon: if you don’t want to take the time to form balls, just use a tablespoon to drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet.
More Easy Vegan Mains
Ten Minute Peanut Butter Noodle Salad
Vegan Refried Beans
Spicy Pinto Bean Soup
Super Green Pasta
If you make this Lentil Falafel or any other vegetarian mains on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Red Lentil Falafel
Description
Ingredients
Red Lentil Falafel
- 1 small red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- Handful parsley
- 1 cup soaked red lentils*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour**
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to taste
- Juice of a lemon ~3 tablespoons
Instructions
Red Lentil Falafel
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the onion, garlic, and parsley into the bowl of a food processor and blend until finely chopped.1 small red onion, 2 cloves garlic, Handful parsley
- Add the lentils, oil, flour, spices, and lemon juice, then pulse until combined and you can form loose balls with the mixture.1 cup soaked red lentils*, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons chickpea flour**, 1 teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, Juice of a lemon
- Form golf ball sized patties and place them onto the prepared baking sheet. They will spread slightly so leave some space between each. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden and serve hot. Leftovers freeze well and can be refrigerated up to three days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
So easy to make and absolutely delicious. I made them this evening and served them with a home-made tomato, pepper and green bean sauce on a bed of rice. Even my meat-eating husband loved them. They will be perfect for summer picnics.
Love this recipe! We serve with naan, humus avocados and greens. My only suggestion is to double the batch size; my family eats almost the double batch and if we have any leftovers they hold up well. This website is a great resource of flavorful vegan recipes. We love your peanut butter cookies too!
These are SO GOOD!!!!! We made a triple batch and froze them for fast lunches! Add a teaspoon of Turmeric with the rest of the spices, it won’t disappoint!
Hi these look so good!! Can these falafels be pan fried?
Hi Dee, I often pan fry them, but I add an egg to the mix for frying. If you eat eggs, it works really well!
Thanks so much!
Absolutely delicious, by far the most full of flavour and easy falafel I have made!
I LOVE these. Have made em a bunch and used different herbs vs the parsley based on emptying my fridge (pea shoots, carrot greens, etc) and have all been solid. Based on all the carrot greens i have I want to make a few batches ahead. I sawyou comment you can freeze, if freezing, best to make the batter and freeze or make the falafels (cooked) and reheat?
Hi Amanda, I’m so glad you like the recipe. I freeze the batter rather than the cooked falafel, and then thaw in the refrigerator. They tend to dry out a bit if frozen after cooking so freezing a container of batter is the better option : )
these red lentil falafels are super easy to make and are very tasty. I have reduced the salt by 1/3.
Hands down the best Falafel recipe I’ve tried. I’ve made it at least 3x now. So easy and so delicious. They freeze well too. Thank you!
Can the falafel mixture be frozen?
Yes, no problem.
How much dry lentils do you need to soak in order to make 1 cup soaked?
About 3/4 cup, I think. You can also just soak 1 cup of lentils – the recipe is flexible with the amount of lentils added and I often don’t measure now if I’m making them for myself.
I made these for the first time today, and I love how simple, easy, and quick they are! Have you tried making them into a larger patty? The golfball shape turned out perfect at 18min, but I wonder if I made a burger sized patty, would it need to be flipped halfway through? Thanks for the unique recipe!
Hi Melissa! I often make these into burgers but haven’t timed them to see how long it takes – they don’t need to be flipped halfway through, and made a great burger patty : )
I stumbled onto your blog and was so excited when I saw that you do a lot of gluten free. I was especially disappointed with this recipe that stated it was gluten free thinking I found gluten free naan.
Hi Donna, I’m well aware that spelt isn’t gluten free – the naan is actually a separate recipe, included here as an idea rather than instruction. The falafel are gluten free (and the focus of this recipe/post). Thanks for your input.
I read your article above and it had said you soaked them. Must you soak them for 24 hours? Or could you for a couple of hours? Thank you so much for your creative style!
Can green lentils be substituted for red? Maybe just a longer cooking time? Thanks.
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it. I don’t think it would alter the cooking time so much as that they may not hold together as well due to the skin on the outside of the green lentils. You might be able to add an extra tablespoon of chickpea flour to help them hold. Sorry I can’t be more help!
I read your article above and it had said you soaked them. Must you soak them for 24 hours? Or could you for a couple of hours? Thank you so much for your creative style!
Hi Atlin! I have made these before with just soaking the lentils for a couple of hours in hot water (from a boiled kettle) which works pretty well. Not quite perfectly but if you’re in a pinch that’s what I suggest!
Hi Anja! I understand your concern, but as the lentils are baked in the burgers they are indeed cooked 🙂
These look really amazing! But I am as well wondering if raw lentils are really ok? I thought they are toxic?
It's crazy, isn't it? It was such a lucky fluke! Thanks, Alex 🙂
Wow, I did not realize you could make lentil patties with uncooked lentils. Must try! All these colors look amazing together.