Falafel With Black Olives and Harissa Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

Spicy harissa paste and salty black olives give falafel a punchy twist.

When I first completed my recipe for falafel, my first thought was "That's great—now how do we make it hotter?" That thought was immediately followed by some digging through the refrigerator for condiments, mixing them into batches of my raw falafel dough to see how they'd taste. I settled on harissa, the North African spice paste. It comes in a baffling variety of heat levels and styles, but for falafel, I like the high heat of DEA-brand harissa, which has chilies, garlic, coriander seed, and a good dose of caraway.

Heat Up Your Homemade Falafel With Harissa and Black Olives

Falafel With Black Olives and Harissa Recipe

Active 25 mins

Total 8 hrs 40 mins

Serves 4 servings

1 recipe Easy, Herb-Packed Falafel
3 tablespoons (45ml) fresh harissa paste or store-bought harissa paste
3 ounces pitted black olives (about 1/2 cup; 85g), roughly chopped
Tahini sauce, hummus, and/or zhug (Yemenite hot sauce) for serving

Complete Easy, Herb-Packed Falafel recipe through the end of step 2. Add harissa and black olives to falafel mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula. Continue cooking falafel as directed, starting with step 3. Serve with zhug or tahini sauce.

Special equipment

Salad spinner, food processor, instant-read thermometer

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
331	Calories
29g	Fat
15g	Carbs
4g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	331
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 29g	38%
Saturated Fat 2g	12%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 400mg	17%
Total Carbohydrate 15g	6%
Dietary Fiber 5g	17%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 3mg	14%
Calcium 46mg	4%
Iron 2mg	13%
Potassium 232mg	5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)