In our effort to support our 14 year old in her vegan adventure, my hubby has been buying various brands of veggie burgers for her to try. She’s been enjoying most of them and I’ve been impressed by the variety that is available these days. We’ve found several acceptable options that are tasty and have a clean list of ingredients.
For the most part, however, I don’t care much for the texture of these burgers. Though I’m happy to keep a few on hand for those days when I want to prepare a healthy meal in a hurry, I decided to try my hand at making veggie burgers from scratch.
I chose black beans and rice as my base then added veggies and spices for flavor and texture. I love to include a dark leafy green vegetable in every meal and fresh spinach seemed like the perfect compliment to the black beans. If you don’t have fresh spinach on hand you could easily replace it with frozen cooked spinach. Whether you are using fresh or frozen, make sure to drain your spinach completely or your burgers will be too wet and will end up a little mushy.
After mixing all of my ingredients in a bowl I placed two thirds in the food processor and pulse the mixture for a few seconds to mash my beans and blend everything into a coarse paste. I then added the rest of the mixture to give the burgers a nice texture. You can also mash the black beans with a fork.
This recipe does require a little bit of planning ahead as you’ll want to soak your black beans overnight before cooking them, bur actual preparation is fairly simple and this would be a fun cooking project to make with the kids.
I served my burger on a lettuce leaf with a spoonful of hummus and a few avocado slices, the girls enjoyed theirs on a whole grain bun with ketchup, lettuce, tomato and avocado. Hubby opted for barbecue sauce on his.
My spicy black bean burger received raving reviews from all family members 🙂
Enjoy!
Spicy Black Bean Veggie patties
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh baby spinach
- 2 cups cooked black beans
- 1.5 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 small onion coarsely chopped
- 6 gloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
- 1 cup organic corn
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro torn in to pieces
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp powdered cumin
- fresh ground salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- In a skillet wilt spinach over medium heat. Drain completely.
- Place black beans and rice in a mixing bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients including drained spinach and mix to combine.
- Place two thirds of the mixture in the bowl of your processor.
- Pulse to obtain a coarse paste then return to the mixing bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients.
- Heat a large skillet and melt coconut oil.
- Using your hands form black bean mixture into eight patties.
- Place patties in hot oil and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden and slightly crispy.
- Remove from heat and serve hot.
This recipe looks delicious! I want to give this one a try.
I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did Alicia! I’d love your feedback when you do give it a try.
This would be an awesome meal for us. I think the spice is an awesome touch. I’m always looking for more meals without meat.
I love to play with spices Liz! They are such a simple and fun way to change things up and give a meal a completely new feel.
This looks like something I would love but unfortunately my family doesn’t enjoy black beans as much as I do. Maybe I could sneak it past them with the spices? 🙂
If your family likes kidney beans Andrea you can do a straight swap. Other bean options would be navy beans or black eyed peas. They are a lot milder in flavor but a great source of protein.
That sounds like an awesome burger. I would love to pop one on the grill one of these days.
It has a lot of depth in the flavor department Robin. Enjoy!
So many veggie options are full of carbs & grain. I love these are packed full of protein with the black beans.
I think that is one of the biggest challenges with vegetarian and vegan meals.. making sure they contain adequate protein. I’ve told my daughter I am happy to support her decision to become a vegan on one condition: that she educates herself about proper protein sources and eats balanced meals that provide all the nutrients she needs. 🙂
I’m not vegan but I do like to prepare several meatless meals each week. This sounds like something my family would enjoy.
I tried to be a vegetarian (not vegan) for a while and I lasted all of 5 days on a vegan diet. I couldn’t handle all the carb loading you have to do to keep yourself energized. Good luck to your daughter!
I’ve heard several people talk about carb loading on vegetarian or vegan diets Summer but that does not make sense to me. Our bodies burn through carbs pretty fast. Protein and healthy fats are key to sustained energy which is where the challenge is for my daughter — learning to properly balance her meals and getting adequate protein. And of course eat a ton of dark leafy greens and other fresh vegetables and fruits to get all the vitamins and minerals needed. I’m also a firm believer in nutritional yeast because of it’s high content of B-vitamins, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and protein. Thanks for the good wishes for my daughter. She’s made it through a month so far 🙂
I love everything about this- especially with avocado! I’m adding this to my meal plan for next week. Thank you!
Wow this is very unique! I bet my fiance would love this because he loves his beans!
This looks like a delicious burger. I am looking forward to trying the recipe
Oh I can’t wait to hear how you liked it John!
This recipe looks delish and fits right in my new eating plan. I’m definitely going to give it a try.
Enjoy Rusty! Have you decided to become a vegan or are you adding a handful of veggie based meal every week?
Thanks for sharing this. I love to go meatless most of the time and I’ve found that the store bought bean burgers always have something I don’t want in them. This is perfect.
I’m so glad this recipe suits you Trish! I’m like you and tend to find the store bought burgers are never just right which is why I’ve been playing with recipes of my own. It’s fun to experiment and even more so when it turns out delicious 🙂
I just saved this to my pinterest board. This recipe looks amazing!
Thanks for doing that Mia! Enjoy!
This would be perfect for my husband and something I think he would love. He had weight loss surgery so there is certain things he can eat. I have been trying to find other recipes besides chicken.
All the best to your husband Christina! I hope he enjoys this as much as we do 🙂
This sounds great. I love bean burgers and thank you for sharing.
I think I would like the spicy black bean burger. Thank you for the information.
You are welcome Denise. It’s a favorite vegan meal option in my home these days 🙂
I have wanted to try a black bean burger but have been hesitant because I thought the flavor would be too bland. This might be the recipe that I have been looking for. Thanks!
Ooh I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this Brigid! I hope you find it has just the right amount of zest!
Sounds like an interesting burger, thanks for sharing.
This sounds like it would be really good. Im always looking for new recipes, so I look forward to giving this one a try.