Oh dear me.
Do I have a recipe I am super excited to tell you about!
These delicious Lentil-Walnut Burgers are perhaps the best tasting burgers to ever cross my lips. They give the In a Jiffy Curry Chickpea Burgers some stiff competition! I think they are both tied for 1st place. :)
Vegan Lentil-Walnut Burgers
Adapted from Martha’s Great Food Fast Cookbook.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 3/4 cup walnuts, toasted
- 1 piece bread, toasted OR 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 chia/flax egg (1 tbsp ground chia or flax + 1/4 cup water)
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl make the chia or flax egg and set aside. Place lentils in a small pot and add a couple cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove and rinse in colander. While the lentils are cooking, toast the walnuts by placing the walnuts on a baking sheet and cooking at 350F for about 12 minutes until golden brown and delicious. Let cool. In a food processor, process the garlic, walnuts, toasted bread OR breadcrumbs, garlic, spices & seasonings until combined. Now add oil and lentils and pulse until coarsely chopped (some lentils should be visible and left chunky). Add the flax or chia egg and pulse a bit more until combined. Now shape 4 patties with hands and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a non-stick mat. Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes on each side for a total of 40-45 mins. bake time. Makes 4 patties.
The burger ‘batter’ is insanely good. As a result, the burgers below are a bit smaller than they should be… ;)
After baking they are golden, slightly crispy and the house smells incredible. You will be salivating.
I had it served up in a bun with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, S & P. I also had a patty just plain on the side because they are to die for.
These were so easy to make…I will be adding these to the veggie burger rotation for sure. I’m sure they could be BBQ’d too if you are gentle with them. :)
I am off to gather my running things for the 10k race tomorrow. The race is almost an hour away and begins at 7:30am, so I have to leave the house by 5:50am sharp. Ick. I’ve got the pre-race butterflies!
Have a great night!
Delicious! I changed your recipe a little bit and made them as sliders (smaller) – they were amazing.
Thank you for this recipe, they look delicious. I love the pics, really completes the sandwich. If I may ask, what did you serve with these? Good luck with your race!
I failed at this… I guess grinding the chia seeds before adding to water would make a difference but I overlooked that small detail.. oops :\
Oh my goodness, these are so good! I stopped eating meat two weeks ago and this was my first “veggie” burger experience. Even my husband loved them and said to add them to our regular repertoire. Yum!
Making these burger right now! YUM!!
Hey Angela, thank you so much for this recipe. I tried it the other day and it was so good! I even mentioned it in my blog. My husband who is basically a carnivore liked it! WOOT!
These were delicious! Definitely had “burger flavor” and hit the spot. I ate 2 of them and my picky 2 year old son even ate his! Thanks for the great recipe! Definitely will make again!
Just put these in the oven already love them-yep, I tasted the batter too! Thanks!!
Made the patties and will be cooking them for dinner. They look so good! Can’t wait to try them.
I came to your site looking for something different to make with lentils. Found this recipe. I LOVE IT! I totally agree that these will go into the veggie patty rotation!
Hi Angela,
I have just found your site after googling “best vegan lentil burger” and would like to try the recipe, which lentil do your use?
Many thanks
Heather
Hi Heather, I use green lentils usually. I would recommend making this recipe I posted today instead: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/11/13/lentil-mushroom-walnut-balls-with-cranberry-pear-sauce/
Its much better! you can shape them into burger patties too :)
Can there really be such thing as “much better” than these?! I made them over the weekend and they were AMAZING, so two days later, I’m making batch number 2! It’s a good thing they’re healthy, bc I suspect I will be eating a LOT of these. :)
I’d like to make them for a vegan swap. Do you think I can freeze the patties once cooked, or should I freeze them uncooked?
Thanks!
WOW. I made a double batch and had one leftover, so I fried it like a burger in a pan. AMAZING! Thanks!
Hi! I love all of your recipes! just whipped these up and have them in the fridge, waiting for dinner! I’m wondering about cooking just one and freezing the rest for later use. Have you tried this at all?
I modified a recipe similar to this and used walnuts iinstead of cashews. I think the walnuts are better. I also add turmeric for the health benefits and grated carrots.
My family is not vegan but I don’t like to mix in meatless days into our menu rotation. We tried these and found the overall taste to be really great except for the fact that the patties ended up fairly dry. I did double the recipe and also added the corn from 2 ears of grilled corn, one medium-sized yellow squash, and three mini bell peppers. I mixed all the ingredients together and then mixed the veggies with the egg (I didn’t use really eggs–sorry ?) The patties did hold together nicely but in cooking I guess they got dry. I wasn’t looking for greasy meat burgers but is there a way to make them a little moister? Thanks from a non-vegan trying out the other side
Hey Neila, Thanks so much for your feedback. It sounds like you made some fun changes to the recipe! It’s been a while since I’ve made these (I tend to make my Oh Em Gee Veggie Burgers: http://ohsheglows.com/2016/08/31/oh-em-gee-veggie-burgers-from-my-new-cookbook/), but I do recall the lentils produce a fairly dry texture. You could try adding some mashed sweet potato as it’s good for binding and moisture. I would suggest trying my OMG Veggie Burgers for a moister texture. Happy cooking! And please let me know what you think if you try them out.
I made these last night. They are quite tasty, but break apart easily. Maybe I did something wrong. I ate one plain to try them. However, based on my results they would be difficult to eat in a burger because they don’t stay together. I cooked them in the oven. Grilling them would have been impossible given their consistency.
Hey Troy, Thanks so much for your feedback! I’ve been meaning to revisit this recipe as it’s an older one. If you haven’t tried them already I’d suggest trying these: http://dev.ohsheglows.com/2016/08/31/oh-em-gee-veggie-burgers-from-my-new-cookbook/ as they hold together well and taste amazing. They require more prep but it’s worth it as it makes quite a few.
I’ve made these twice now and they’re quickly becoming one of my favorite burgers especially since they’re so quick if I have cooked lentils! Mine held together well – and they freeze and reheat in a toaster oven great. I love throwing them in a grain or pasta bowl!
I am making these for dinner tonight– they look great so far :-) but since there are just two of us (so we’ll have two burgers left over) I am wondering if you’d recommend going ahead and cooking all 4 at once, then just reheating the two that are left? Or would you just cook two and put the rest of the mixture in the fridge and then cook them right before eating. (Sometimes recipes like this taste great the first time but don’t keep well– but sometimes they do :-) ) Thank you!
Hi there, It’s been a long time since I’ve made these burgers unfortunately (my go-to veggie burgers are copied below!), and I think I remember that these tend to dry out rather quickly. So I would guess that keeping some of the “dough” in an airtight container and baking them the next day may work best. :)
https://ohsheglows.com/2011/07/13/our-perfect-veggie-burger/
https://ohsheglows.com/2016/08/31/oh-em-gee-veggie-burgers-from-my-new-cookbook/
can the lentil-walnut burgers be frozen either before or after cooking?
Hey Michelle, It’s been a long time since I made this recipe (I prefer the ones in my first and second cookbooks nowadays), and I recall these are on the dry side and don’t store that well. If you discover anything different, I’d love to hear how it goes!