Make Your Own Veggie Burgers at Home

I get it, pre-packaged vegan burgers are quick and easy, but they are also expensive and loaded with chemicals and stuff you really don’t want to eat. I don’t remember when I stumbled across this recipe, but have done some tweeking and made some changes to it. This recipe may be hands down my favorite burger recipe. You can bake, fry or even grill these babies (which I do) I’ve also seen people put cooling racks on top of their burgers when they bake them to add grill marks. You can change this recipe up a bit adding different herbs, spices and veggies once you’re familiar with it. Ours today will be black bean and roasted red peppers. Once cooked, these beauties freeze really well just waiting for your next burger night.

First thing you want to do is get some prep out of the way. Preheat oven to 350. open, drain and rinse beans. Pat as dry as possible. Place beans on lined cookie sheet and bake 10 to 20 minutes. (The key to great burgers is dry beans, lol) Set aside.

14oz cans of Black Beans. (After you are familiar with the recipe, you can mix it up with different beans. You could always make your own as well, but for time sake we will use canned.
1 Red Pepper Roasted
1 Medium Onion
3 to 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced or chopped small.
1 Tbls Oil
2 Tbls tomato paste
1 3/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp Chayenne pepper(Optional
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 eggs or 4 Tbls potato startch and 6 Tbls of water if Vegan
1/2 cup feta (vegan or not) Optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

Meanwhile wash your red pepper, half it and clean it out. We are going to roast it, and trust me, you don’t want to miss this step. You can use a toaster oven, a air fryer or the broiler in your oven. For a quicker roast time, place cut side down on a broiler pan. Roast until it is soft and has char bubbles starting to manifest. Time varies depending on which oven you are using. Don’t worry though, if it gets a little burnt, YAY! more flavor!

Next we’re going to grind our oats. you can use oat flour, but why when it’s better and cheaper to do it yourself. I use a coffee grinder to do this. I have 4 coffee grinders in my home and only one is for coffee. :D. Using the grinder, grind the oats till it looks like course flour. I like to leave a little for texture.

Here’s what makes a good burger, GREAT! Toast your spices first! Place the cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, as well as the red pepper flakes and chayenne pepper if your using them. in a small pan or on a tray in your toaster oven. Low is key, you don’t want to burn the spices, only toast them to release oils and more flavor. If you do burn them, just start over or don’t toast them, but for Gods sake, never use them burnt. set aside.

Next finely chop your onions and garlic. Chop your roasted pepper into the same size as your onions. Heat skillet with oil on med heat. Place onions and pepper in pan and saute till almost done. Add garlic and saute another 5 minutes. Blot out as much moisture as possible. set aside to cool.

If you are vegan, this is a good time to mix the potato starch and water together. (Egg substitute.) I have found that this application works best in vegan meatballs, meatloaf and burgers.

In a food processor combine sauteed veggies, spices, salt and pepper, oat flour, eggs/or sub, tomato paste, half the cheese and half the beans. Pulse till it combines. Next add the second half of cheese and the other half of beans. Pulse just a couple times to break down. We want there to be chucks of bean and cheese.

Once it’s all combined preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet.

Scoop about a 1/2 cup of bean mixture and pat into a patty. (I use a 3 inch round cookie cutter and fill it to the rim. This makes a beautiful well packed burger) Bake all patties a 375 for 10 minutes, then flip them and bake 10 more. The reason we bake them first, is it helps hold them together when frying or grilling. You can use them straight from the oven though if you wish. But I like to grill mine. If you’re planning on grilling them, Just make sure the grill and burger are both oiled well before grilling.