Black Bean Burgers

Whether you’re vegetarian or just looking for occasional meatless alternatives, you’ll love these black bean burgers. They’re so good on a bun with all the traditional trimmings or wrapped in a tortilla with lettuce, guacamole, and pickled red onions. We like to sauce them up with homemade Thousand Island dressing or French fry sauce (sort of like a Big Mac).

Black Bean Burgers

Healthier and more economical than store-bought burgers. Tired of the same old frozen black bean patties? So am I! I find that most prepared black bean burgers are quite high in sodium. When you make your own, you add flavor with herbs, spices, and chopped veggies instead of adding a ton of salt. You’ll save money, too.

Easy to freeze. Maybe you like the convenience of having frozen patties that you can bake up in a hurry for a quick meal. You’ll be glad to know that these burgers can be frozen just like the ones you buy. Make a double batch while you’re at it so you have extra burgers to freeze.

This recipe really works. It can be a little tricky to get a good consistency with bean burgers. They have a tendency to be mushy or fall apart. You’ll be relieved to know that we researched, tested, and tweaked this recipe numerous times. We ate a lot of not-so-perfect bean burgers until we arrived at this recipe, so you can be confident that this is a really great bean burger.

Easy ingredients. While many recipes include cooked rice, quinoa, or another grain, we wanted to make things a little easier for you. These burgers are made with oats and panko bread crumbs. That means no planning ahead and having to cook up a grain before you even get started making the bean burgers.

Ingredient Notes

• Black Beans – Use a 15 oz. can of beans, or one and a half cups of cooked beans. You’ll be able to make 4 good-sized burgers with one can of beans. The trick to non-mushy burgers is to dry those beans! We’ll be using the microwave for that.
• Veggies – Carrots, onion, and garlic for lots of flavor.
• Spice It Up: Paprika, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper.
• Stick It Together: Ketchup, panko bread crumbs, oats, and egg add body to the burgers.

How to make Homemade Bean Burgers

Dry the canned beans first. To make a firmer burger, we found that it helps to dry out the beans. It’s easy to do in the microwave. Simply spread the rinsed and drained beans out on a paper towel lined plate and zap them for five minutes. A few beans may pop open but don’t worry, the whole business goes into the food processor.

Chop the veggies. Give the carrots, onions, and garlic a short whirl so they’re chopped into nice little pieces.

You want them to look like they do in the photo below.

Add the beans, oats, ketchup, egg, and seasonings to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the panko) and pulse a few times until the mixture is chopped and blended but still chunky. You still want to see chunks of carrots, beans, and oats. What you don’t want is a totally puréed mixture that will look kind of unappetizing when you form the burgers. Stir in panko bread crumbs.

Make the patties. Measure out the mixture for uniform burgers. Use a half cup per burger.

Using your hands, form the mixture firmly into four burgers, about a half-inch thick.

Bake/refrigerate/freeze: At this point, you can either bake the patties, refrigerate them, or freeze them to use later.

Serve. Once the burgers are baked, serve them on toasted buns with all your favorite toppings.

Tips

How do you keep black bean burgers from falling apart? Press the mixture firmly when making the patties. If time allows, it helps to refrigerate the patties fifteen to twenty minutes so that the mixture has time to come together.

Why are my black bean burgers mushy? We found that drying the beans helped a lot for texture. Extra moisture means more mushiness. Leaving the mixture a little chunky by not overprocessing helps too. Do bean burgers have the same texture as hamburger? No, but quite frankly, they are a lot tastier.

Recipe Variations

• Seasoning.The seasoning of the burgers can be changed to reflect your own personal tastes. Be adventurous! Match the seasoning to reflect the toppings you’re adding. Use Italian herbs instead of cumin and paprika, and top your burger with homemade pizza sauce and melted mozzarella cheese.
• Spicy burgers. Replace the black pepper with ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper.
• Vegan black bean burgers. Replace the egg with an egg substitute to make this recipe vegan. Try this Flax Egg by Jessica in the Kitchen.
• Gluten-free burgers. Substitute cooked quinoa, brown rice, or additional oats; however, the texture will be affected.

How To Freeze Bean Burgers

Uncooked: Make the burgers but don’t bake them. They can be frozen for up to three months, or refrigerated for up to 3 days. Put a small piece of parchment paper, waxed paper, or plastic wrap between each burger and place in zip top bag. To serve, bake unthawed burgers as directed, adding a few minutes to the baking time.

Cooked: Baked burgers can be refrigerated for up to three days, or frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat leftover baked burgers, microwave on high for a minute or until heated through; reheat them in a skillet on the stove, a few minutes on each side; or air fry until heated through.

Leftover Love

Serve leftover burgers crumbled or cut into chunks on a chopped salad with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn, and this homemade sweet BBQ salad dressing. So good!