Crispy Falafel with Pistachio Couscous
Elevated Dinners, Impressively Easy
- Wheat
- Sesame
- Eggs
- Milk
- Tree Nuts
Cook, sizzle, mix, serve: Four easy steps to our fastest, freshest weeknight dinner idea yet. Thanks to a few clever time-savers from our chefs, you and yours will be enjoying a flavorful vegetarian feast in just 15 minutes! Sizzle the falafel until golden and crispy. Toast pita with garlic-herb butter, then plate it up with buttery, bouncy pistachio couscous and a crunchy, juicy cucumber-tomato salad with feta and dill. Drizzle it all with creamy garlic sauce and splash with hot sauce for a delightful dinner in a flash!
Ingredients
5 ounce
Israeli Couscous
(Contains: Wheat)
3 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
10 unit
Falafel
(Contains: Sesame)
1 ounce
Smoky Garlic Herb Sauce
(Contains: Eggs)
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Mini Cucumber
4 ounce
Grape Tomatoes
¼ ounce
Dill
1 unit
Lemon
½ cup
Feta Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2 unit
Pita Bread
(Contains: Sesame, Wheat)
2 tablespoon
Garlic Herb Butter
(Contains: Milk)
½ ounce
Pistachios
(Contains: Tree Nuts)
2 teaspoon
Hot Sauce
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • In a small pot, bring couscous, stock concentrates, and 1½ cups water (3 cups for 4) to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce to a low simmer. TIP: Start with hot water to help the water boil faster. • Cook until tender, 6-8 minutes. Keep covered until ready to serve.
• Meanwhile, halve falafel. • Drizzle oil in a hot pan. Cook falafel until golden and crispy, 2-3 minutes per side.
• While falafel cooks, in a bowl, mix smoky garlic herb sauce and sour cream. • Dice cucumber. Halve tomatoes. Roughly chop dill. Quarter lemon. • In a separate bowl, mix cucumber, tomatoes, dill, feta, 1 TBSP olive oil (2 TBSP for 4), and juice from half the lemon. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Toast pitas; spread with half the garlic herb butter. Cut into quarters. • Fluff couscous; stir in pistachios and remaining garlic herb butter. • Divide couscous between plates; serve with falafel, pitas, cucumber salad, and remaining lemon wedges. Drizzle falafel with garlic herb crema and as much hot sauce as you like.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the delicious blend of flavors and textures, with the fresh cucumber-tomato salad and garlicky notes earning particular praise 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Customers appreciated how quick and easy this meal was to prepare, though some found the 15-minute claim optimistic.
- Suggestions: Consider keeping falafel whole when cooking to prevent crumbling; some preferred less couscous and more salad or pita.
- Portions: Generous portions left some with leftovers, while others found the meal filling but calorie-dense.
- Falafel quality: Some found the falafel dry or crumbly; a few suggested air frying for better texture.
Reviews from our home cooks
This is one of the best Hello Fresh meals ever! I loved the falafel, it was terrific. The cucumber tomato salad was super yummy and the couscous with pistachios also great. It did take me a lot longer than 15 minutes, almost an hour but it was worth it. Hope it's offered again.
Shockingly good! Easy to make and all of the components really tasted well together. I don't know where you sourced the falafel from, but it is the best I've ever eaten that's not from a restaurant. Keep up the good work
Beautiful blend of flavors. Couscous was buttery and compliments the light crispy falafels. The naan was heavenly sauce and kudos to whoever threw in that garlic butter! It was overall delightful!
I added ingredients to the "salad" items here (Greek olives, more feta, more cuke, scallion and a quick homemade Greek dressing) and I made some hummus to serve on the side. I also added some more pistachio to the couscous (had on hand). The falafel and crema was good.
Love this dish!! So good! I accidentally "burned" the falafel on one side and it was still great - it added extra crunch, which was a good touch. I also really liked not having to spend time and energy making the actual falafel balls. Convenient and delicious!
I was really pleasantly surprised and impressed with the falafel, both portion size and quality. My roommate said "if I could just buy this at the supermarket, I totally would".
Fast, healthy, and the pistachios were an unusual addition that gave the dish the exact crunch it needed. So yummy!
A real winner! We had it for lunch and everything complimented each food-buttered pita and falafel with cream and hot sauce! The diced cucs and tomato salad had a cool and refreshing crunch. My family loved it 👍🏻
I was very interested in Falafel and was slighly disappointed. The spicing for the Falafel had good flavors but the spicing was the only flavors. Add in all the carbs with rice AND pita and this was too many carbs. Perhaps if this were not on a plate and was shown as portable sandwich with no rice this would be more reasonable carbs. Very good rice recipe though - pistachio's are a favorite! Also, dressing is favorite of those who like lemon (unfortunately I'm not one) but it was still very flavorful and tasty.
Mostly I really liked this. My falafel were a bit squished in the package and a bit mushy but I'd order this again. Maybe I will try my air fryer to crisp them up better next time; just frying them in a little oil didn't do the trick to perk/crisp them up. Love the combo of flavors and textures in general though!
