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. :)
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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!”
Hi Angela! Just got your cookbook… it’s beautiful! So excited for you!
I was going to make this veggie burger recipe, but now that I have the book, I’ve decided to try that one instead. Question… there seems to be part of the instructions missing in the book. In Step 2, you say to mix the rest of the ingredients with the flaxseed mixture, but there is no reference to the flaxseed mixture in the instructions. Can you please clarify. I’m assuming it’s a flax egg (which I’ve never made before, so not sure how much water is needed). Thank you!!!
I came here wondering the same thing, since I wanted to make the veggie burgers from the cookbook one night this week.
so I made them last night, and assumed it meant flax egg. I flipped to the dessert section to see if there was a water recommendation for a flax egg with 1 T of flax, and it said to use 3 T water. I did this and my burgers turned out great!
Thanks! I’m going to give them a try later this week.
If you are in a pinch and don’t have fresh parsley, how much dried would you use?
Thanks
Could you clarify, please? Does the 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the ingredients section include the 1/2 tablespoon that they’re fried in? I think one tablespoon goes in the burger ingredients, and they’re fried in another 1/2 tablespoon, but thought I’d check for sure. Thanks so much. These look delicious!
Tried them. LOVE them. I served mine with some roasted red peppers and spinach leaves. Oh so good!
I just discovered your site today. Loved reading all your posts. So inspiring! I’m in the process of looking for a cookbook to help me with my new way of eating – no wheat, no dairy, low sugar, etc.. I see you use oats in a lot of your recipes, but unfortunately I am “oat intolerant.” Is there anything you might be able to suggest as a replacement for oats so I could still try the recipes? Thanks so much if you can help!
Rarely do I take time to write reviews (I’m working on it). However, these burgers are an exception. I’m making dinner for some friends tonight, and two of them are vegan. I came to your website because your vegan recipes are always the best. (I’m not vegan but I do love vegan recipes.) I found this recipe yesterday, bought the ingredients this morning, and mixed everything together around lunch time. I decided to go ahead and make one just to see how they tasted. OMG! They are exactly like you described… cook perfectly, crunchy, flavorful, and all things a veggie burger should be. I put some guacamole on top and then wanted to eat another. Thank YOU for sharing this to die for veggie burger recipe. It took some time to get all the ingredients together, but it was worth every minute. I went to buy wine for dinner and already told the owner of the wine shop about this deliciousness. He now has the recipe. Thank you again!
Can you freeze these as patties prior to baking?
Just tried these tonight, April 14, 2014. Wonderful! I added a portabella to make them even healthier and because we had one we needed to use, even my father loved them.
As a person who has had a rough start at making vegan dishes (spending hours to make a dish only to cry with frustration cause it tasted like crap), these burgers are legit. Super easy compared to other dishes I’ve tried and super delish. Did exactly as directed. Topped with smashed avocado and served with baked sweet potato fries. Even my picky mother liked them. Truly appreciate this easy meal :)
OMG…these burgers are fantastic!! I am new to your blog. I was so sick of finding recipes on the internet only to waste a bunch of money and time on something that turned out mediocre. But so far, all of your recipes have really lived up to the hype. Made these into sliders last night with homemade vegan/GF buns (see recipe I found below). To die for! noglutenvegan.blogspot.com/2010/06/you-ever-have-something-turn-out-so.html
This looks like a great burger recipe…thanks for sharing! By the way, a fun way to form your burgers–use a metal, wide-mouth mason jar lid (and who doesn’t have a spare one of those around?). Press your burger “dough” inside, then flip over onto your baking sheet and press the lid through the ring to release the burger. Spray or brush the inside of the lid and ring with a bit of oil to prevent sticking. This way, you’ll have perfectly shaped burgers with even thickness. The wide-mouth size usually fits most burger buns perfectly. The small-mouth size would work for sliders. Enjoy! (p.s., this technique works well for forming biscuits, too!).
I found your site through The Simple Veganista as I love her way of cooking, and I made these burgers last night. They were delicious last night, but today I threw one together for lunch and all I can say is WOWZA!!! Day 2’s taste and consistency is amazing! I had to stop in the middle of the burger because you had to know!!! Thank you so much for sharing your fantastic talent!
Hi Angela,
Really delicious burgers! Not mushy, lovely crispy shell, and such a great flavour. I added a couple of handfuls of salted peanuts too as I’m a salt fiend!
I blogged about it here: lentvegan.wordpress.com/
Will definitely be making these again
These are awesome!!!! Like you I have looked and looked for a decent recipe for a veggie burger! Most of them take some time so when the recipe disappoints, it is so maddening!!! These are just the kind of burger I have been craving!!!!
I made a double batch of these tonight and they are just as good as they look! I popped the extra 11 in the freezer. How long do would you feel comfortable leaving them in the freezer for before they need to be eaten?
I don’t have any black beans, I am wondering if you’ve tried this awesome recipe with any other beans? I have a great stock of pinto beans, do think they would work? (no decent stores where I live it is a good 6 hour drive to a store with black beans)
Hey, Angela! I have a question. I’ve made these a couple times and I love them. I bought your book and was following the recipe in it but it didn’t say anything about how to make the flax egg. I knew how to do it from this blog recipe but the amounts are different. In your book is says 1 tablespoon of ground flax and simply to add in the flax mixture but no other instructions for it. So, my question is, do I need to mix the flaxseed in the book recipe with water before I add it in the mixture like the one online? If so, how much?
THank you!
Hi Laura!
I just made these from the book yesterday, and I made the flax egg and put it into the burger. I think it is a mistake in the cook book. If you have not already, I would say yes, do the 1-3 mixture!
Jolene
Thank you, Jolene! Mine ended up turning out really good and I did a questionable version. 1-3 mixture it is! Thanks for the response!
Hi Angela,
This perfect veggie burger was so wonderful! My Mother is vegetarian and recently lamented the lack of delicious veggie burgers around. So, I cooked a recipe up for Mother’s Day. Veggies and non-veggies alike complimented this burger, and all were satisfied at the end. I forgot the olive oil and the soy sauce when making the burger, but it still came out delicious.
Thank you!
These are the best! I love my food to have a lot of texture and these taste and feel great! I have made them twice already and plan to make them many more times:)
I just had these for dinner tonight…you are a genius! Best meatless burger ever. Looking forward to making many more of your recipes.