Homemade Veggie Burgers
Posted: June 17, 2009 Filed under: Beans, Recipe, Tina Wrote It 21 CommentsA lot of people want to know how to make their own veggie burgers from ingredients they can actually pronounce (I think you’re OK morningstar, but you have more than 10 ingredients in your grillers). For those of you who want something simpler, non-soy and tasty, I give you…The Bittman Bean Burger (scroll down, it’s the last recipe). Ever since this article came out in 2006 (wow), I have used it, recommended it to friends, modified it, etc. It is super simple and very tasty. I have made it with black beans, white beans, fava beans, kidney beans, lentils…whatever I have in the house. I have added egg or not (this week’s batch had no egg, just 1 tbsp flax seeds + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg), curry powder, cumin, paprika, scallions…whatever I have in the house. I have used rice, quinoa or couscous instead of the oats…whatever I have in the house. Are you sensing a pattern?
Since I’ve been making these for 3 years now, I usually wing the amounts and go by texture. I advise you to follow the recipe word-by-word for the first time. The key to is to let the mixture rest. Listen to Le Bittman. I also like to form the patties on wax paper, let them rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes or so and then cut around the wax paper – you can then just flip them into the pan while holding a piece of the wax paper.
You can cook them a bit over the stove top and transfer them to the oven if you want (around 350F). If you’re making a whole batch, bake them all and don’t forget to flip. You can wrap individually and freeze them for later too. If you make them with chickpeas, form them into balls and bake for faux falafel. Add lots of toppings and enjoy.
30 Bucks a Week 
Thank you very much!
Are you freezing these burgers before or after you cook them?
After we cook em. Undercook them a bit before freezing.
After frozen, how should I cook them?
That looks like a great recipe – thanks for passing it along. Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food also has a great recipe for Lentil-Walnut burgers – http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/lentil_walnut.html – they were a huge hit in my kitchen.
These sound amazing! Thanks for the frugal recipe. Do you think it would be possible to do them without a food processor? I would grate the onion, and I guess mash the beans.
They’re pretty frugal – and even better if you use your own dried beans!
I think they would work just fine without a food processor. Just make sure to mince/grate everything finely. Let me know how it works out for you!
Those sound delicious! I’m going to make some, thank you for sharing 😀
wow these sound great..something I am def gonna make next time i have a bbq. Thx for posting 🙂
If you make them for a BBQ, you should pan fry them a bit first, they might not hold their shape too well on the grill (if you read the whole article Bittman talks about that).
I have been looking for a good veg burger recipe that wasn’t too labour intensive. Thanks so much–I didn’t know The Minimalist had one like this! Will def try making soon.
They came out pretty good! I think I overpureed a bit, but oh well. Thanks again. Definitely a keeper.
What a great idea! I never thought of making homemade veggie burgers. I made them tonight and they were pretty good. Like Lucy T. I think I over-processed them as well. I added some extra chopped onion and oats because it seemed too liquid. Next time I’ll experiment with some different spices.
When I make them again I might try a different cooking method. I do 99% of all my cooking without heating oils so I will try to see if I can quick broil them.
Maybe I’m dense or something…but wher in the devil are the actual recipes? I’ve scrolled up and down a lot of times but I can’t find them.
Hey WES, the recipe is linked in the post under “The Bittman Bean Burger”, but here it is: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E4D6123EF936A25751C0A9609C8B63.
Let me know if you have a problem!
Tina
Wow!! Just found your helpful reply…Had a computer crash some time ago and still mending it.
Thanx
what’s the answer!? where are they?
[…] put together some black bean patties last night (hence the […]
Thank you for the info!
I’m going to give the bean burgers a try, the tofu ones have some ingredients i never heard of and I don’t like the sound of a nut burger at all! Last time I tried making my own veggie burgers they were mushroom based, I couldn’t get the consistency right and then they were mushy in the middle… I don’t want a mushy center, ick! Anyone try these that can tell me what the center is like?
We just made some the other night and I find that baking them results in a completely no mushy center. Give it a shot at 350 for about 20-30 minutes – flip them halfway through cook time. Both sides should be browned.
[…] spices until I could form patties and then baked them on parchment paper. It’s pretty much our m.o. when it comes to veggie burgers. What we didn’t have were buns. Combing the web for a recipe that included buttermilk, I […]