Falafel goes best with creamy hummus, warm pita, tahini, sharp pickles, and a bright salad like tabbouleh or fattoush. For a full meal, build it into a mezze platter or fold it into pita with vegetables and toum.
We send out dozens of falafel orders a day, so what follows isn’t a list pulled from somewhere else. It’s how we plate it and how the regulars order it. New to it? Start with what falafel is, then come back for the pairings, which run from breads and sauces through salads, platters, and drinks.
Best Things to Serve with Falafel at a Glance
| Category | Top picks |
| Breads | Warm pita, saj |
| Sauces | Tahini, toum, amba, harissa |
| Dips | Hummus, baba ganoush |
| Salads | Tabbouleh, fattoush, Jerusalem salad |
| Platters | Falafel with hummus, grape leaves, and fries; shakshuka |
| Drinks | Ayran, pomegranate juice |
How to Serve Falafel
Falafel shows up three ways on our tables, and each one changes what belongs beside it.
As a wrap. Falafel balls in warm pita with hummus, pickles, tomato, cucumber, and tahini. This is the order people eat walking out the door.
On a platter. Falafel with rice, a couple of salads, dips, and pickles, plated to sit down with.
As a bowl. Falafel over rice or greens with hummus, pickled vegetables, and tahini. No bread, and easy to keep light.
Rather skip the cooking? See the menu or order some of the best dishes at our Paterson grill.
Best Breads to Serve with Falafel
Warm Pita
Soft pita does most of the work. Split a warm round into a pocket, load in a few falafel and a spoon of sauce, and the sandwich builds itself. We warm ours to order so it folds instead of cracking.
Saj
When you want to carry more than pita can hold, reach for saj. The thin griddle bread stays chewy under a heavier load of salad and sauce without tearing. Some menus call it laffa.
What Sauce to Eat with Falafel
Tahini
Tahini is the one sauce falafel almost demands. Loosen sesame paste with lemon, water and a little garlic until it pours, then spoon it across the plate. It turns everything nutty and rich without fighting the spice in the falafel.
Toum
Toum is whipped garlic and oil beaten into a pale, fluffy paste. It hits hard, so a thin swipe is plenty. When garlic is the point of the meal, this is the sauce.
Amba
Amba earns its place for anyone bored of the usual. It’s a fermented mango sauce carrying turmeric and fenugreek, sharp and a little funky, and it wakes up a falafel wrap in a way tahini never will.
Harissa or Shatta
For heat, two options cover it. Harissa leans smoky and deep, while Shatta goes straight for the burn. Either one belongs on the plate when you want falafel to push back.
Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce
A yogurt and cucumber sauce plays the opposite role. Cool, mild, and lightly garlicky, it settles a plate that has gone heavy on chili or oil.
Dips to Serve with Falafel
Hummus
Putting hummus next to falafel doubles up on chickpeas, and it works anyway. Cool, smooth dip against a hot, rough crust is the pairing every Middle Eastern table keeps coming back to. Scoop it, don’t just dip.
Baba Ganoush
Baba ganoush trades chickpeas for roasted eggplant, which makes it lighter and lower in carbs than hummus. The smoke from charring the eggplant is what ties it to the falafel. If you’re weighing the two, our baba ganoush vs hummus guide breaks down taste, carbs, and protein.
Salads to Serve with Falafel
A sharp salad does more for a falafel plate than almost anything else. These three earn their spot, and you’ll find more in our Middle Eastern salads highlights.
Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is mostly parsley, with bulgur, lemon, and olive oil behind it. On a falafel plate its job is contrast, bright and sharp against the fried richness.
Fattoush
Fattoush brings the crunch. Chopped vegetables and shards of toasted pita meet a lemon and sumac dressing, and the tang keeps the meal from sitting heavy.
Jerusalem Salad
The salad we plate most is the plainest. Finely diced cucumber, tomato, onion, and parsley, dressed with lemon, cold and clean next to warm falafel.
Rice and Grains
Lemon Basil Rice
Add rice and falafel to make dinner. A lemony, herb-flecked rice carries the sauce and rounds out the protein.
Couscous
Couscous does similar work faster. Stir a little harissa through it, and the whole base carries heat, ready in the time it takes to fry a batch.
Full Falafel Platters and Mezze
Falafel Balls with Hummus, Grape Leaves and Fries
The spread we send out most is simple to picture. Crisp falafel balls, a bowl of hummus, stuffed grape leaves, and a pile of fries, built to pass around a table.
Falafel with Shawarma, Rice and Salad
If you aren’t keeping it vegan, add shawarma. Two proteins over rice with a salad on the side is the plate that actually fills you up.
Shakshuka
Falafel at brunch means shakshuka. Eggs poached in spiced tomato give you something to scoop, and the falafel holds its own beside it.
Pickled Turnips and Cucumbers
Don’t skip the pink turnip pickles. Their acidity is the reset between rich, fried bites, which is why they sit on every mezze table.
Drinks to Serve with Falafel
Ayran
Ayran is salted, slightly sour yogurt thinned into a drink. It cuts fried food better than water and leaves you lighter than soda would.
Fresh Pomegranate Juice
Fresh pomegranate juice runs sweet and tart at once. It nudges a quick falafel snack toward a full meal.
What to Eat with a Falafel Wrap
A falafel wrap holds falafel balls, hummus, tahini, tomato, cucumber, pickles, and a little parsley, folded into warm pita or saj. Keep the sides light so they don’t crowd it. A few fries, a scoop of fattoush, or just more pickles and a cold ayran. Reach for the toum or amba when you want the wrap louder. For the full build, see our falafel sandwich guide.
Is Falafel Gluten-Free?
Traditional falafel, chickpeas, or fava beans with herbs and spices and no flour, is gluten-free on its own. The trouble is everything around it. Pita carries gluten, and a shared fryer can pass it along. If you’re celiac, drop the bread, ask what else runs through the oil, and order it as a bowl or platter.
Is Falafel Keto?
Falafel doesn’t fit strict keto. Chickpeas bring enough carbs that a full plate adds up fast. You can get closer by keeping the portion small and building around low-carb sides like cucumber, peppers, and lettuce and a dip such as baba ganoush in place of rice or pita.
Still a Family Kitchen
Yaser never kept the recipes to himself. His sons Ammar and Mohammad cook beside him now, holding the same standard as the family that grew Al-Basha into a second Paterson kitchen. Order falafel here, and you are eating something refined across three decades and two countries, made by the people whose name is on the door.
Decades of Craft Behind Every Plate
Good falafel is not an accident. It is the end of a long road, and ours started a world away from New Jersey.
The Long Road to This Plate
Yaser Baker learned to cook in Ramallah, scooping ice cream through the hot Palestinian summers and working a Jericho restaurant once the winters set in. Then he crossed an ocean.
For eleven years he cooked on a ferry running the Hudson River, picking up American and Italian techniques while he kept making the Palestinian food he grew up on. By 1998 he had learned enough. He opened Al-Basha, and people kept coming back.
Why Ours Tastes Different
Here is the part most places skip. The chickpeas are ground fresh. The herbs and spices go in by hand, batch by batch. Nothing hits the fryer until you order, so what reaches you is hot, crisp, and green in the middle instead of sitting under a lamp. That is not a corner you can cut at scale. It is a choice to do it the slow way, every single day.
FAQs
How do you serve falafel in pita bread?
Warm the pita first, then open it into a pocket. Add three or four falafel balls, a spoonful of tahini or toum, and finish with tomato, cucumber, and pickles.
What is the best sauce for falafel?
Tahini is the traditional answer. Toum and Amba are the two people who ask for the most at our counter.
What should I serve with falafel for dinner?
Build a plate with falafel, hummus, rice or couscous, a sharp salad like fattoush, warm pita, and pickles. Add shawarma if you aren’t staying vegan.
Can you eat falafel balls on their own?
Yes. They’re seasoned enough to eat plain as a snack, though a sauce is worth the extra minute.
