
For the past several months, I’ve been on a quest to make a veggie burger that had everything on our wish list. I’ve probably made over 100 veggie burgers and they all came up short, either by just a tiny bit or by a landslide.
I’m always asked what I do with failed recipes and my answer is usually the same- I eat them! An imperfect veggie burger crumbled over a salad is quite tasty. Same goes for a doughy muffin crumbled over a bowl of Vegan Overnight Oats. Unless something I make is really gross, I eat it.
However, I am picky about three things:
1) The recipes that I post on the blog
2) Homemade Veggie burgers
3) Tying my running shoes before a run (I always stop once to re-tie them, lol)
Now you know. :)

Eric and I put together a ‘must-have’ list of requirements during our mission. Veggie burgers are serious business around here and we have quite a checklist. ;)
Our veggie burger must haves:
- Can’t be mushy in the middle (the problem I have the most)
- Crispy outer shell
- Lots of flavour from fresh herbs & spices
- No tofu (not a fan)
- Crunchy, chewy texture is a must
- No cracking or falling apart (another common problem)
- Must cook well 3 ways: frying pan, oven, and BBQ
- Could make a grown man shed a tear of joy (ok, that was my requirement, heh)
If one of those elements is missing, the recipe is as dead to me as the burgers flippin’ on the McDonald’s grill!

After writing about my most recent Lemon Rosemary burger fail (that drove me to make PB Crunch Blizzards), I received an email from a lovely reader named Jenny who must have known that I was one failed veggie burger short of being buckled into a straitjacket.
Jenny writes, “After reading your post today, which has me day-dreaming about cookie dough blizzards by the way, I wanted to share with you the best veggie burger recipe our family has come across (even my meat-lovin’ husband requests them from time to time!). The recipe is from the Whitewater ski area in Nelson, BC and hasn’t failed us yet. It isn’t vegan but I’m sure you can work your magic to make it so.”
Isn’t Jenny great?

After reading Jenny’s email, I flew into the kitchen so fast my processor spun. I figured there was a 0.0002% chance they would work, so I was quite hopeful.
As luck would have it, magic did happen in my kitchen that fateful evening as Eric patiently awaited the outcome, fearing he’d be served yet another bowl of cereal.
He wasn’t. :)


Our Perfect Veggie Burger

Yield
8 burgers
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Crunchy, chewy, with a crispy outer shell, these delicious veggie burgers have all the right elements we love in a veggie burger. Light on the beans, these burgers aren’t mushy in the middle, but have a nice mixture of veggies, bread crumbs, chopped oats, sunflower seeds, and spices to round them out. This recipe is inspired by Whitewater Cooks.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons ground flax
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) warm water
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup finely chopped red onion or yellow onion
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
- 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 mL) tamari, to taste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 cup rolled oats, processed into a coarse meal*
- 1/2 cup spelt bread crumbs (or bread crumbs of choice)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons oat flour (or flour of choice), as needed
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk the ground flax and water in a small bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes so it can thicken.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the drained black beans. With a potato masher, mash the beans until 2/3 of the mixture is a bean "paste" while leaving about 1/3 of the beans mostly intact.
- In a medium skillet, add the oil and increase the heat to medium. Stir in the onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onion softens. Transfer the onion mixture into the bowl with the mashed beans.
- Stir in the flax egg, grated carrots, parsley (or cilantro), sunflower seeds, tamari, chili powder, oregano, and cumin until thoroughly combined.
- Now, stir in the coarsely chopped oats, bread crumbs, and oat flour until the mixture comes together. It should be easy to shape the dough into patties. Stir in the salt and pepper, to taste.
- Shape the dough into 8 patties (roughly 1/3 cup of dough per patty). Pack the dough together tightly as this will help it stick together. Place onto the baking sheet.
- Bake patties for 15 minutes, gently flip, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until patties are firm and golden.
- Cool the patties on a cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. This helps them firm up a bit.
- Serve in a bun or lettuce wrap with your desired toppings. Leftover burgers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, or you can freeze cooled patties for up to 1 month. Simply wrap each patty in tinfoil and then place all of the wrapped burgers into a zip freezer bag.
Tip:
- * To coarsely chop the oats, add 1/2 cup rolled oats into a food processor. Process the oats until a coarse meal forms (the chopped pieces will be a mixture of powder and chopped oats just smaller than rice). Be sure not to process too long or the oats will turn into flour.
- Make it gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free oats, gluten-free Tamari, and gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
This veggie burger ‘dough’ is so good to eat straight from the bowl! Another thing I learned during my mission: if the ‘dough’ doesn’t wow you, the burgers won’t either. Don’t be afraid to adjust the seasonings to taste.
For my first trial, I didn’t process the oats into a flour and they didn’t hold together very well when frying. For my second trial, I used oat flour instead of whole oats and they held together very well!
Before baking in the oven:
I love my silpat, but you can also use parchment paper.
After baking for 20 mins. on each side…crispy and golden!

Our preferred method of cooking is on the skillet, fried in a bit of oil. The burgers get this crispy shell similar to a hash brown! We already have plans to fry the ‘dough’ in a skillet for breakfast.

We also tried them on the BBQ, which also worked well. Pre-cook them in the oven for about 15 minutes first to firm them up a bit.

Then I raided the garden…

On the side, kale chips and ketchup.

On the burgers, we had homemade BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes. The second night, we had guacamole and pico de gallo on top- incredible!

I hope you love ‘em too!
I think this comment from Dawn says it all:
“Throw out any of your other veggie burger recipes! Seriously. This. Is. The. One! No weird ingredients. I’m no gourmet foodie, I’m just plain jane and have regular things in my pantry and fridge and I had all of these ingredients. I added about 1 Tbsp chopped jalapeno (from a jar of sliced jalapenos). Love the sunflower seeds!! Do not over chop the black beans. I recommend mixing by hand in a bowl. I used my kitchen aid and they were too mush-i-fied. Even with my mess ups, these were very, very good. I immediately ate one from pan fried. The others I baked and will freeze. Then I will give them a try on the barbecue. Truly. I am going to remove other recipes from my Pinterest, and toss the others from my recipe box.
Thank you for making the Perfect Veggie Burger recipe!”

Omg! Amazing recipe! Tweaked it a bit for my taste buds, but on a toasted bun with a side of sweet potato fries, this is seriously the best veggie burger I’ve had. Thanks for sharing!
served these at a backyard picnic last night with mostly carnivores. They loved them! They asked me to rename them “awesome burgers” because veggie burgers are mushy and bland.
Hi,
What do you think would be a good almond and tamari substitute? I have such a hard time with vegan/vegetarian recipes because my son is allergic to all nuts, dairy, soy, goat, sesame seed, kiwi, gluten and egg whites. So whenever it calls for almonds or cashews or soy I don’t know what to do.
Any advice?
TIA
Danielle
I was thinking cooked chickpeas for the almonds and chickepea miso for the tamari?
For the chopped almonds I would just use more sunflower seeds if you want to. Chickpea miso sounds good- I havent personally tried it, but if you like the taste then go for it. Otherwise just omit the tamari add a touch more liquid and then season with salt and other herbs to taste.
I’m a newbie 2 these deliciously wonderful healthier options of cooking. I wanted 2 tell u how plzd I was 2 stumble onto ur website via Pinterest! I haven’t had much experience in cooking this way, nor tried many recipes yet. But I wanted 2 tell u wat happened 2 me when I was making my first “raw” bread recipe. I added a few “extras” I had on hand which sounded like it would be yummy in the bread recipe, & after putting it together & spreading it on sheets for dehydrater, my friend & I tasted it, & both had the realization that they would b delicious prepared as “veggie burgers”! So we pan-fried them up in some coconut oil, & voila! The best veggie burger I ever knew could b had! We scraped a whole sheet of it off & made into more “burgers” to have later. Very “meaty”, chewy, well formed & stuck together texture. I actually think I could live w/o meat if I had 2 after this cooking adventure. I’m psyched 2 try different variations now. I am wanting 2 make it into a breakfast patty w/ the addition of fresh sage. The main recipe called 4 wheatberries sprouted, namu/shoyu or soysauce, sunflower seeds, & a few other ing. I added pulp from my omega juicer & some pumpkin seeds, & a cpl other things & BAM, Magic! Thx 4 sharing YOUR delicious endeavours! Keep em comin!
O, we had them on a delicious, healthy whole grain sunflower bread from Aldi’s that was only $1.49. I’ve seen it in the big chain groc store for $3.59. I made a mixture of sliced cherry tomatoes, splash of braggs apple cider vinegar, evoo, chopped cilantro, fresh crushed garlic & a pinch of seasalt to put on the sandwhich, & assembled w/ thinly sliced yellow & red sweet peppers, avocado slices, & spinach leaves. It was as beautiful as it was delicious.
Made this recipe for Mother’s Day (my daughter, son-in-law, and I are vegetarian), and they were the best veggie burgers I have made yet. I did pre-bake them, but they stayed together on the grill!!! Reheated leftovers were delicious too. I have yet to try pan frying them. I bit time consuming (most things worth eating are) but I am sure next time will be faster. Those flax eggs are amazing… Thanks for posting! They got an A+!
so glad to hear that Suz!
I’m bookmarking this website then promptly NOT looking at it any more tonight. An hour is enough
I made these yesterday.
My spin: added nutritional yeast, used cilantro, and opted for eggs (no flax seeds in house).
I topped with Kale pesto – ARGGGH so good.
thanks for sharing.
I look forward to your posts!
Angela,
I love making these. I wanted to make them for my gluten free friend and I have almond meal on hand, you think that would work for a good substitute for bread crumbs?
Thank you and thank you for all your fantastic recipes!
Hey Teresa, I think the breadcrumbs help it stick together, so I’m hesitant to say ground almonds would work perfectly. That being said, I think it would still hold up fairly well enough to enjoy them! Let me know if you try it :)
Hi Angela,
Thank you for the quick reply! I made them and they stuck together beautifully. They look just as great as the other times I made them.
Thank you for your help!
Wow. Made these for the first time today! They are fantastic!!
So nice to find a Soy-Free recipe for veggie burgers! Love the make ahead plan too, why not.
Thank You!
Looks amazing, I too have been on the quest for a perfect veggie burger. These look good and I love your criteria. I’m sure you saved me from 50 tries at a disappointing veggie burger. :-)
I made these tonight…BEST veggie burger ever! Thanks for the recipe!
thats great to hear!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! These burgers are amazing! It’s been so hard to find a vegan burger recipe that doesn’t fall apart AND tastes great. My partner and I were floored when we took our first bite – so good! Hooray! Thanks for this recipe, and your wonderful blog.
Hey Megan! Thank YOU for your lovely feedback! That makes me so happy. Enjoy
Thanks so much for posting these–we love love loved them! (FYI for other parents: kids thought the parsley was too strong, so I’ll cut that down next time…but it was mellower on day two.) The grown-ups, though, liked them more than the huge chipotle black bean burgers from Costco–previously the only kind of meatless burger my husband could tolerate! Yay!
Thats a great tip about the parsley and kids…I’ll keep that in mind!
I have these in the oven right now!!! I love them so far but i am so stupid and added way too much salt! :(((( i hope they still turn out. i will be making thesse all summer long!! <3
they turned out amazing!!!!! i had to have two :) omg i am going to make these all the time. thank you!!! ps my mom 21 yr old brother and his friend loved them too
oh and instead of fresh herbs i used spinach and it worked great. also didnt have chili powder on hand so i omited it. it was stil awesome!
Thank you Heather, I’m so happy to hear that!
I stumbled onto your blog searching for a veggie burger recipe. I’m so glad I did!!!! My son and I seldom eat meat but my husband prefers meat burgers whenever he has a choice. Since I already had all the ingredients, I made these tonight and let me tell you: THEY WERE THE BEST BURGERS EVER!!!!! My son asked for a second one and even my meat-loving husband declared that they were better than the beef burger!!! Now that’s a compliment! I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog and discover some more gems. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Thank you Maryse! That is great news :)
I could eat a veggie burger everyday, and everything you mentioned about MUSTS, I agree 100 PERCENT. I don´t like them mushy, I like them firm, I don´t want them crumbling. I do use tofu in mine, and one of my favorites is my portobello tofu burger, which is always PERFECT, but this is one I will definitely try with a few tweaks. Thanks!
I made these last night. They’re delicious!!