5 Falafel Sauce Recipes! (2024)

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Here are the best falafel sauce recipes for your falafel sandwich! Try cucumber sauce, tahini sauce, cilantro sauce and more.

5 Falafel Sauce Recipes! (1)

Making falafel and not sure what sauce to use? This Mediterranean fried chickpea fritter is stuff dreams are made of. You can serve it on its own with sauce, or stuffed into a flatbread as a falafel sandwich. Or serve it as a falafel salad, on crunchy lettuce drizzled with sauce. Falafel is served with a few different traditional sauces. Here’s a breakdown:

  • Yogurt based sauce: often containing cucumber, dill or both
  • Tahini sauce, typically with lemon, sometimes with herbs
  • Cilantro sauce, herby and green, sometimes with yogurt or olive oil (like zhoug, used in Israel)

With this in mind, here are a few of the best recipes to use as a falafel sauce: whether you’re making a sandwich, burger, salad, or serving them as an appetizer.

And now…the best falafel sauce recipes!

5 Falafel Sauce Recipes! (2)

Quick Cucumber Sauce

This cool and refreshing falafel sauce you’ll want to slather on just about everything:cucumber sauce! Stir together shredded cucumber with Greek yogurt, lemon, garlic, and dill, and it’s nothing short of a revelation. It's perfect for authentic falafel sandwiches, but it works on any sandwich, burger, or evengrilled veggieplatter. Use it as a healthy dip, spread, or slather: you name it! The best part: it’s actually quick and takes just minutes to put together.

Another authentic falafel sauce is tahini sauce! It's made with the Mediterranean sesame seed paste and lemon, which gives it a bright zingy flavor. This sauce is perfect for drizzling on salad bowls and roasted veggies, but it's best on a tasty falafel sandwich or salad. Another plus: it's plant based and vegan!

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Creamy Cilantro Sauce

This bright green cilantro sauce is perfect for falafel! It’s 100% plant-based and vegan, so it works for all sorts of eaters! The creamy body comes from soaked cashews blended with a bit of water. It becomes so intensely creamy that it makes the perfect sauce for dolloping. It’s even pretty mild on the cilantro flavor: so it’s not even offensive to avowed cilantro haters! Make the recipe below with lemon instead of lime when you use it for falafel.

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Dill Sauce

Another tasty falafel sauce? Enter thisEasy Dill Sauce! This one is all purpose and can be used for everything fromsalmontogrilled veggiestofalafel sandwiches. The best part: it takes only 5 minutes and a handful of ingredients. The Mediterranean flavors of Greek yogurt, fresh dill and lemon combine into a beautiful sauce that’s simple and totally versatile.

One last falafel sauce: lemon dill sauce! The difference between this and the dill sauce is it's got some mayo along with yogurt as the base. It makes for a rich and creamy sauce that takes just 5 minutes to stir it together in a bowl! The amount of flavor you’ll get from the humble ingredients will blow you away.

Ways to serve falafel

Falafel can be served in so many ways! This tasty Mediterranean plant-based dish has lots of different spins. Here are a few of our favorite falafel recipes:

  • Classic Falafel Serve with the falafel sauce as a dipping sauce!
  • Baked Falafel Make shortcut baked falafel with canned chickpeas.
  • Ultimate Falafel Sandwich Top with sauce and serve in a flatbread.
  • Falafel Salad Add falafel to greens and top with tahini sauce.
  • Raw Falafel Buddha Bowls This spin on falafel uses sunflower seeds and spices to make a raw salad bowl. Top with tahini sauce!
  • Falafel Burger Serve it as a burger on a bun, slathered with the sauce of your choosing.

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Best Falafel Sauce!

★5 Stars☆★4 Stars☆★3 Stars☆★2 Stars☆★1 Star☆No reviews
  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 ¾ cups 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Here are the best falafel sauce recipes! Perfect on falafel sandwiches, falafel burgers, or falafel salad. For vegan, go to Tahini Sauce.

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 cup grated cucumber (1 medium or 2/3 large)
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill*
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Water

Instructions

  1. CPeel the cucumber and coarsely grate it. Place it in a clean tea towel or dish towel and squeeze tightly over a sink to remove excess liquid.
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients, then stir in about 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, until the sauce is smooth and creamy (the water amount will vary based on the yogurt brand).
  • Category: Sauce
  • Method: Stirred
  • Cuisine: Mediterranean
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Keywords: Falafel sauce

More great sauce recipes

Want more sauces? Here are some more recipes to try:

  • Cilantro Lime Crema Perfect for dolloping on tacos and roasted veggies.
  • Special Burger Sauce Great for burgers and fries! It’s full of flavor: creamy, tangy, and reminiscent of a Big Mac.
  • Creamy Cilantro Dressing It takes just 5 minutes and you’ll want to use it on everything: salads, tacos, fries, and more.
  • Vegan Alfredo Sauce Easy to make, starring nutrient-rich cauliflower and protein-packed cashews.

Published on / Last updated on

Categorized In:

  • Recipe Collections

Tagged with:

  • Falafel
  • Roundup

About the authors

5 Falafel Sauce Recipes! (8)

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes for memorable kitchen moments! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

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5 Falafel Sauce Recipes! (2024)

FAQs

Why not use canned chickpeas for falafel? ›

Canned chickpeas do not work for falafel. They're far too wet. If you try to use canned chickpeas instead of dried and soaked chickpeas, you'll end up with sad falafel pancakes. Some recipes try to counteract the wetness by adding flour, which significantly dulls the flavor and makes the texture more doughy.

What goes well with falafel? ›

Classic, plain hummus is my go-to dip here, but roasted red pepper hummus or avocado hummus are also great options. Add a salad. Tabouli, fattoush salad, and shriazi salad go well with falafel, but nearly any fresh green salad with a light olive oil dressing will work. Don't forget the olives and pickles!

What are the 2 types of falafel? ›

There are three types of falafel--Traditional falafel, baked falafel and lemon falafel. “Where the traditional falafel is the basic fried falafel comprising a mix of chickpeas, onions, garlic, herbs and spices, baked falafels are made using fresh herbs in the chickpea mixture,” says Chef Sati from Ophelia.

Is falafel good for you or bad for you? ›

Chickpeas in falafel contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins and folate. They are full of antioxidants and are useful in fighting diseases. Of course, we emphasize again that you try to prepare it at home and do not fry it. If it is fried, its fat and calories increase and the food is no longer so healthy.

What is a traditional falafel made of? ›

Falafel are deep-fried balls or patties made from chickpeas or fava beans, sometimes both, plus fresh herbs and spices. Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern street food sold from vendors or fast-casual spots in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel, where it's the national dish.

What race eats falafel? ›

While, according to author Claudia Roden, falafel was “never specifically a Jewish dish” in Syria and Egypt, it was consumed by Syrian and Egyptian Jews, and was adopted in the diet of early Jewish immigrants to the Jewish communities of Ottoman Syria.

What is yum yum sauce made of? ›

Yum Yum Sauce is made of mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, sugar, paprika and water to thin the sauce out. That's it! It's really just a matter of the right ratios of ingredients to get the flavor you want!

Why does my falafel fall apart when I fry it? ›

If the mixture is too wet, the falafel has a tendency to fall apart when being fried so please pat dry the ingredients before using them. If you find the mixture is too wet, simply add little more breadcrumbs. The falafel mixture after prepared can be shaped by hand or with a tool called an alb falafel (falafel mold).

How unhealthy are canned chickpeas? ›

Great news! Both canned and dried varieties of chickpeas are nutritious! When purchasing canned varieties, look for those labeled "no salt added" or "low in sodium." Overall, beans are budget-friendly, but dried can often be less expensive and also more flavorful than canned.

What is the jelly in canned chickpeas? ›

What Is It? Aquafaba is the thick liquid that results from soaking or cooking legumes, such as chickpeas, in water for an extended period of time. It's the translucent viscous goop you probably rinse down the drain when you open a can of chickpeas.

What do Israelis eat with falafel? ›

Serve with many fresh condiments such as red and green cabbage, Israeli salad, pickles, drizzle lots of tahini, amba, arisa, and very fresh warm pita bread.

Is falafel Greek or Arab? ›

The origins of the falafel can be traced back to Egypt, which is located between Africa and the Middle East. Egyptians are said to eat falafels every day. In fact, falafels are considered their national dish. Falafels reached North America and Germany in the 20th century.

What does falafel mean in slang? ›

The word 'falafel' is a way to turn down sex with a partner. "Hey you wanna have sex?" "Falafel"

What is falafel made of? ›

Falafel is made by combining chickpeas, herbs, spices and aromatics in a food processor to create a mixture that's formed into patties or balls and then either fried or baked. Frying falafel yields a crispier texture than baking.

What does falafel taste like? ›

Garlic and fresh herbs: I love the herby flavor of this falafel. I use green onions, garlic, and lots of fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, and mint. Dried spices: For even more incredible flavor, I add ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cardamom, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt.

What can I use instead of tahini? ›

Because tahini is the butter of sesame seeds, you might want to consider a nut or seed butter as a go-to substitute. Other options include greek yogurt and sesame oil. These tahini substitutes will complement your dish since they are all sources of healthy fats and contribute to a creamy consistency.

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