How many calories are in falafel?
Three home-fried falafel patties weigh 51 g and carry 170 calories. Per 100 g falafel runs 333 calories, which puts it between a bean cake and a plate of rice and beans. One patty is 57. The oil does most of the work here, not the chickpeas.
You'd need to walk about 34 minutes to burn the 170 calories in three patties (51 g).
How long does it take to burn off falafel?
Three patties (51 g) is 170 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 170 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 34 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 21 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 24 min |
| Jogging | 20 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 38 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (51 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Falafel quick facts
- US servings, from one patty to a plate of four
- Fried in a restaurant, falafel jumps to 514 calories
- The sandwich is where the calories actually live
- Store patties are raw numbers, not finished ones
- Protein, sodium and the fiber USDA left blank
- How does falafel compare?
- Most popular falafel brands
- FAQ
Falafel quick facts
The record used here is SR Legacy 172455, "Falafel, home-prepared". It is the one that matches what most people are holding: a shallow-fried chickpea patty about 2-1/4 inches across, made in a home pan rather than a commercial fryer. USDA gives it a household measure of one patty at 17 g, the anchor for every per-piece number on this page.
Three patties is the serving people actually build a plate around, so that is the column below. The per 100 g figures are USDA's own; the 51 g column is our own arithmetic from them, not a USDA serving.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 3 patties (51 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 333 | 170 | — |
| Total fat | 17.8 g | 9.1 g | 12% |
| Saturated fat | 2.38 g | 1.2 g | 6% |
| Carbohydrate | 31.84 g | 16.2 g | 6% |
| Protein | 13.31 g | 6.8 g | 14% |
| Sodium | 294 mg | 150 mg | 7% |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 585 mg | 298 mg | 6% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows are missing on purpose. This SR Legacy release does not report dietary fiber or total sugars for falafel, so there is nothing honest to put in those cells; the fiber number further down comes from a different USDA record and is labeled as such. Added sugars are not published for this food either, which is unsurprising for a savory fritter.
US servings, from one patty to a plate of four
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 patty, about 2-1/4 in across | 17 g | 57 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28 g | 93 kcal |
| 3 patties | 51 g | 170 kcal |
| 4 patties | 68 g | 226 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 333 kcal |
Only the first line and the last are USDA's. The one-ounce, three-patty and four-patty rows are our own arithmetic scaled from the 100 g figure, not USDA servings.
The trap in this table is the piece size. A 17 g patty is small — smaller than most falafel that arrives on a mezze plate, and much smaller than the golf-ball falafel a counter shop scoops. If your falafel is closer to 30 g each, three of them is about 130 calories more than the number above. Weigh one once and you will never have to guess again.
Fried in a restaurant, falafel jumps to 514 calories
Same chickpeas, same spices, very different number. USDA keeps a separate record for the version that comes out of a deep fryer, and it lands at 514 calories per 100 g against 333 at home. The gap is almost entirely absorbed oil: 41.19 g fat per 100 g versus 17.8 g.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falafel, home-prepared | 333 kcal | 3 patties (51 g) | 170 kcal |
| Restaurant-style deep-fried falafel | 514 kcal | 1 patty (17 g) | 87 kcal |
| Falafel sandwich in pita | 265 kcal | 1 sandwich (215 g) | 570 kcal |
| Store falafel patties, uncooked | 176 kcal | 3 patties (85 g) | 150 kcal |
| Ready vegan falafel balls | 250 kcal | 3 pieces (60 g) | 150 kcal |
Run the deep-fried record over three 17 g balls and you get 262 calories instead of 170 — a 92-calorie difference for food that looks identical on the plate. Fat goes to 21.0 g per three balls, 27% of the Daily Value, and saturated fat to 2.8 g. Sodium climbs too, to 254 mg.
That is the single most useful thing to know about logging this food. Homemade, pan-fried falafel is a reasonable side. The same portion from a fryer basket that has been running all afternoon is a different entry.
The sandwich is where the calories actually live
Almost nobody eats three bare falafel balls. The USDA falafel sandwich record is 265 calories per 100 g, and a whole sandwich weighs 215 g, so it comes to 570 calories. Per gram it is lighter than the balls, because pita and vegetables dilute the fried part — but you eat four times as many grams.
Broken out, that sandwich is 31.7 g fat (41% DV), 4.5 g saturated fat (23%), 58.1 g carbohydrate, 13.4 g protein and 5.4 g fiber. Sodium is the headline: 772 mg, 34% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, or roughly a third of a teaspoon of table salt. Three plain patties carry 150 mg.
So the sandwich is 3.4 times three balls in calories and about five times in sodium. If you are building a lunch around 500 to 600 calories, the sandwich is the whole lunch, not a component of it. Tahini and pickled turnips are not inside that USDA figure, which means a real deli sandwich usually reads a little higher.
Store patties are raw numbers, not finished ones
Frozen and refrigerated falafel patties in the supermarket look reassuringly light on the box. Olive Valley Falafel Patties list 176 calories per 100 g, three patties at 85 g for 150 calories; Yves Veggie Cuisine falafel balls list 250 per 100 g, three pieces at 60 g for the same 150.
Here is the catch nobody prints on the package: those panels describe the product uncooked. Olive Valley's raw patty carries about 2.35 g of fat per 100 g. USDA's home-prepared record, after pan frying, sits at 17.8 g. Whatever oil the patty drinks in your skillet is yours to add — and it is the difference between a 150-calorie serving and something closer to 250. Bake them and you stay near the box figure; fry them in a quarter inch of oil and you do not.
Protein, sodium and the fiber USDA left blank
Falafel is one of the better protein plays in the fried-food aisle: 13.31 g per 100 g, more per gram than the sandwich (6.22 g), the restaurant record (8.28 g) or bean cakes (5.8 g). Three patties supply 6.8 g, 14% of the 50 g Daily Value, and chickpeas count toward the beans, peas and lentils group in MyPlate's protein foods. Cholesterol is zero, since there is no animal ingredient in the base recipe.
Fiber is the frustrating gap. The home-prepared SR Legacy record does not publish it at all, so no honest figure exists for that exact food. The restaurant FNDDS record does report it — 4.8 g per 100 g, which scales to 2.4 g across three patties, 9% of the 28 g Daily Value. Treat that as the neighborhood, not the number for your pan.
Sodium behaves the way it usually does with fried foods: fine in the piece, heavy in the meal. 150 mg for three patties is 7% of a day. One sandwich is 34%. If you are watching sodium, eating the falafel as a side with salad rather than stuffed into pita is the cheaper choice by a wide margin.
How does falafel compare?
| Food | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falafel, home-prepared | 333 kcal | 3 patties (51 g) | 170 kcal |
| Falafel sandwich | 265 kcal | 1 sandwich (215 g) | 570 kcal |
| Bean cake | 414 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 116 kcal |
| Pinto beans and rice, fast food | 188 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 53 kcal |
Our take: for weight loss, three patties on the side of a salad is the move — 170 calories, 6.8 g protein, and a portion small enough that the fryer never gets a chance to dominate the day. For fullness, the sandwich wins on volume but costs 570 and a third of your sodium budget, so plan the rest of the day around it. Of the four rows here, falafel is not the lightest per 100 g — pinto beans and rice at 188 and the sandwich at 265 both sit below it — but it carries the most protein per gram of any of them. Bean cake, at 414 per 100 g, is the one to leave alone.
Most popular falafel brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Olive Valley Falafel Patties | 176 cal |
| Yves Veggie Cuisine Falafel Balls | 250 cal |
| Phoenician Falafel | 129 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Falafel FAQs
How many calories are in one falafel ball?
One falafel ball, the USDA's 2-1/4-inch patty at 17 g, is 57 calories. That comes from the home-prepared record at 333 calories per 100 g. Three of them make 170. Counter-shop falafel is often twice that size and always oilier, so treat 57 as the floor rather than the average.
How many calories are in 3 falafel balls?
Three falafel balls weigh about 51 g and carry 170 calories, with 6.8 g protein, 9.1 g fat and 150 mg sodium. That figure is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g value of 333. Cooked in a restaurant deep fryer, the same three balls run 262 calories.
How many calories in a falafel sandwich or wrap?
A falafel sandwich in pita is 570 calories for a 215 g sandwich, at 265 calories per 100 g. That is 3.4 times three plain balls. It also brings 772 mg sodium, 34% of the Daily Value, against 150 mg for three patties eaten on their own.
Is falafel healthy?
Falafel gives 13.31 g protein per 100 g and no cholesterol, but 17.8 g fat once pan fried at home and 41.19 g from a commercial fryer. Three patties are 170 calories and 14% of the protein Daily Value. The chickpeas count toward MyPlate protein foods; the frying oil is what shifts the balance.
How much protein is in falafel?
Falafel has 13.31 g protein per 100 g, so three patties at 51 g give 6.8 g, or 14% of the 50 g Daily Value. Per gram that beats the falafel sandwich (6.22 g), the restaurant-fried record (8.28 g) and bean cakes (5.8 g) by a comfortable margin.
Baked vs fried falafel - how many calories?
Uncooked store falafel patties run 176 calories per 100 g against 333 for the USDA home-fried record, and USDA publishes no baked falafel figure at all. Frying roughly doubles it, because fat rises from about 2.35 g to 17.8 g per 100 g. Bake them and you stay near the box number.
How much fiber does falafel have?
Home-prepared falafel has no fiber figure in USDA's SR Legacy record, but the FNDDS restaurant record reports 4.8 g per 100 g, which works out to 2.4 g across three patties, or 9% of the 28 g Daily Value. A falafel sandwich carries 5.4 g. Treat those as the neighborhood.
Is falafel high in sodium?
Three falafel patties hold 150 mg sodium, 7% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, which is modest. The sandwich is the problem: 772 mg, or 34%, roughly a third of a teaspoon of table salt. Sauces and pickles sit outside that number, so a deli sandwich often reads higher.
Similar foods
- Brie — 95 cal per oz
- Sausage Link — 75 cal per link
- Coconut Shrimp — 250 cal for 4 shrimp
- Italian sub — 610 cal per regular sub
- Coconut — 283 cal per cup, shredded
- Sausage — 210 cal per link
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the patties for you, oil and all.
