What To Serve With Falafel Balls (18 Awesome Sides)

If you're a fan of falafel, you know that these crispy, golden-brown chickpea balls are delicious on their own, but pairing them with suitable side dishes can take your meal to the next level. Wondering what to serve with falafel balls?

Here are some of our favorite side dishes to serve with falafel, from classic Middle Eastern staples to creative twists that will add new flavors to your plate.

1. Hummus

Creamy chickpea hummus is a simple and easy vegan appetizer made with canned garbanzo beans, tahini paste, lemon juice, crushed garlic, and salt. For the fluffiest, creamy hummus dip recipe, use a blender!

Check out this easy blender hummus recipe.

2. Tahini Sauce

Every falafel sandwich has some form of tahini sauce dressing. Make Levantine tarator tahini dressing with creamy tahini paste, garlic paste, fresh lemon juice, ground cumin, and fresh parsley. An Egyptian version of this dipping sauce is called tahina, and it's made with lime juice, tahini paste, yogurt, garlic, salt, and black pepper.

Serve this tarator tahini sauce with crispy falafel, fried cauliflower, or kafta skewers.

3. Homemade Pita Chips

It's easy to fry pita chips after making fried falafel using the same oil. Make fried pita chips with pita bread, frying oil, and salt. Cut bread into squares and fry until golden brown. Add some za'atar spice on top to make these za'atar pita chips!

Check out these homemade pita chips.

4. Baba Ganoush Eggplant Dip

Baba ganoush is a popular Mediterranean dish made with fire-roasted eggplant, tahini sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and garlic. The smoky flavor from the charred eggplants makes this dip very unique!

Check out this fire-roasted baba ganoush.

5. Greek Quinoa Salad

Make a Mediterranean falafel salad by adding homemade falafel to this Greek quinoa salad. Mix tender quinoa with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and red onion.

Check out this Greek quinoa salad.

6. Fattoush Salad

Fattoush is a tangy chopped salad made with vegetables, sumac spice, olive oil, lemon, pomegranate, and fried pita chips. This delicious side salad is excellent with a falafel burger.

See fattoush with fried pita chips.

7. Tabouli Parsley Salad

Tabouli chopped parsley salad is a superfood salad. Make this delicious salad with flat-leaf parsley, bulgar wheat, tomatoes, onion, lemon, olive oil, and salt. This salad is one of the best side dishes for a falafel wrap.

Check out this authentic Lebanese tabouli parsley salad.

8. Pita Bread

Pita bread is a round, hollow, soft flatbread commonly used in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Depending on the country, pita bread may be different. In Lebanon, pita bread is thin with a wide diameter, whereas Egypt has thicker, smaller diameter pitas. You can also make homemade pitas from scratch!

9. Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Cucumber mint yogurt sauce, also known as khyar bi laban, is similar to tzatziki sauce but lighter. It's made with cow's milk yogurt, chopped Persian cucumbers, dried mint, crushed garlic, and salt.

See this cucumber mint yogurt sauce.

10. Couscous

This fluffy steamed couscous is tender, delicate, and flavorful. Steamed couscous is a delicate process using a steamer tray, dried couscous, olive oil, salt, and water. Try this Algerian lamb shoulder stew with couscous.

Looking for just the couscous? Check out this twice-steamed couscous.

11. Fried Eggplant Salad

This fried eggplant salad is a tangy salad made with fried eggplant cubes, bell pepper, and onion. Make the homemade vinaigrette with lemon juice, dried coriander, ground cumin, and garlic. This is a great side salad for a falafel pita pocket.

Check out this eggplant salad.

12. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted red pepper hummus is a fancier version of plain chickpea hummus. Roast bell peppers in the oven, then blend chickpeas, tahini, charred red peppers, lemon, and garlic in a food processor.

Serve this roasted red pepper hummus with some pita bread!

12. Homemade Labneh Dip

Labneh is an incredible creamy dip made from strained yogurt. Add labneh to a large bowl and drizzle some olive oil on top. Serve as a mezze appetizer with falafel balls, baba ganoush, and grilled halloumi.

Try this homemade labneh from store-bought yogurt!

13. Garlic Labneh

Garlic labneh is labneh with the addition of crushed garlic. This tangy dip is creamy and delicious. The rich flavors complement crispy fried falafel in the best way!

See garlic labneh here.

14. Fried Potatoes With Cilantro (Batata Harra)

Batata harra is a popular Middle Eastern fried potato recipe. It's made with fried potato cubes, chopped cilantro, minced garlic, and salt.

Check out this batata harra recipe.

15. Fresh Vegetables

The best falafel sandwich is packed with fresh veggies like sliced tomatoes, onion, fresh parsley, arugula, and cucumbers. Serve vegetables alongside a falafel platter with homemade hummus.

16. Grape Leaves

Stuffed grape leaves are a delicacy made with a spiced meat and rice mixture rolled in tender grape leaves.

Try this delicious Lebanese grape leaves recipe.

17. Pickled Turnips

Pickled turnips are an easy finger food recipe that takes four days to make using a clean airtight container. This delicious spicy pickled turnip recipe is perfect for any falafel mixture!

Try this pickled turnips recipe.

18. Egyptian Refrigerator Pickles

These Egyptian refrigerator pickles are ready in as little as four hours! Make these delicious pickles with simple ingredients: red pepper flakes, sliced garlic cloves, salt, Persian cucumbers, salt, and vinegar. Add these pickles to a falafel sandwich.

Try these spicy Egyptian pickles.

Authentic Lebanese Falafel

Lebanese fried falafel is a delicious, crunchy street food made of pulsed dried chickpea beans, herbs, and spices. Fry this authentic falafel mixture in hot oil for the ultimate crispy outside!

See homemade Lebanese falafel patties.

Fried Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel)

Egyptian falafel is known as ta'amiya, a popular breakfast food in Egypt. The difference between falafel and ta'amiya is that ta'amiya uses split fava beans in addition to chickpeas. Ta'amiya has split fava beans, chickpeas, garlic cloves, onion, parsley, cilantro, ground cumin, coriander, and salt. Make a double batch and store it in the freezer.

Check out Egyptian Ta'amiya.

Baked Ta'ameya

Baked ta'amiya is the baked version of fried ta'amiya. Just add the ta'amiya (falafel) mixture to a baking sheet and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Bake at 450 ℉ (232 ℃) on the bottom rack for 4 to 5 minutes.

Try this baked ta'amiya.