WARNING: This Veggie Burger
Recipe is EPIC.
If you want to get healthy, this veggie burger recipe could quickly become an absolute staple in your kitchen. I eat this almost every week.
Why Is It So Friggin’ Awesome??
It is extremely healthy and tastes delicious all at the same time. It is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, soy-free, egg-free, vegetarian and nutritarian. The only ingredients are vegetables and pinto beans. It is the perfect food!- It uses up any veggie on hand, and is especially great if you have veggies that aren’t in great condition (clean out your fridge!).
- It saves money because you don’t throw out or compost veggies – you eat ’em!
- It can be made in an unlimited number of combinations, literally.
- It can be cooked in so many different ways: baked, pan fried, deep fried, breaded or not, sautéed…etc.
- It can use literally any combination of spices, salt and pepper, extracts, etc.
- It can be eaten a million different ways. Personally, I’ve eaten them alone with sriracha mayonnaise, as the bun for a slider, with fried eggs with yolk smeared all over (before I was 100% Nutritarian:), with guacamole, and with lemon juice.
This veggie burger recipe is completely adaptable and can match any person’s taste. What I provide here is a basic recipe that is super easy to make, and that you can change up in any way you like. The recipe I am providing is for the very basic burger patty. Feel free to add to it, cook it and eat it however you’d like. This is my go-to recipe when I have some veggies that I can’t think of what to do with and need to use them quickly.
Can you tell I’m friggin’ in LOVE with these things?!?
Go Beyond: Instructions for the Pros
Here are some suggestions that you can use to shake this recipe up. Try it the way I outline in the recipe below first and you will have an easy way to create something in a hurry. And then experiment with the modifications I list below and you will be a healthy kitchen master, all with just one recipe.
- USE ANY VEGGIE: I have used almost every single type of veggie you can think of including cauliflower, broccoli, green, red and yellow onions, leeks, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, red cabbage, spinach, kale, swiss chard, brussels sprouts, etc! You can use them when they’re not even that fresh, that’s why this is a great fridge-cleaner-outer recipe. Whenever I have a few things left that I know I won’t get to, I just grate or chop them and throw them in this recipe. And then I use the mixture for a good week after without worrying!
KEEPS FOR A LONG TIME: I have used this mixture, in a tupperware container, for a week after I’ve made it with absolutely no problems. Now, I tend to err on the side of “I’d rather get sick from keeping something too long than waste it by throwing it out when it’s just got a mushy spot” but I know that at least 7 days is fine for this recipe. This is great because you can make it on a weekend and make burger patties for any meal for the whole week. Try freezing the mixture to get even more life out of it. I’d keep it in my freezer for at least 2 months without even batting an eyelash. After they thaw, and before you cook them, there will probably be some liquid you have to mix back in. Which will mean you need to thicken the batter again with a flour of some sort – try oat flour (blend oats in a blender) for gluten-free or just regular whole wheat or white flour: add a little at a time until it has come back to meatball consistency.- ADD ANY SPICES TO COMPLETELY CHANGE THEM UP: I am in love with spicy spices for these patties. I pretty much always add some salt, some Bragg’s liquid aminos (written before I was 100% Nutritarian), some Indian spice and/or a cayenne based spice. In the video I show cumin + onion powder + garlic powder because it is an easy starter mixture, but the sky is really the limit here.
- CAN BE EATEN IN A GAZILLION WAYS: Just personally, I have eaten these plain with sriracha, vegan mayo, guacamole, avocado, lemon juice and a few other combinations. They make a great meal alone, and you can safely eat literally as many as you want, because they’re so good for you. I’ve also had them as the “buns” for sliders with fresh veggies inside (think cucumber, guacamole, thick tomato slices, sriracha mayo, etc). I’ve had them alongside a fried egg and they’re freaking AMAZING dipped in the yolk. (I used to do this before I was 100% Nutritarian of course) You could use them as a crumble for spaghetti sauce or in an omelette. Use your imagination and share in the comments section if you come up with something cool and tasty!
CAN BE COOKED IN A GAZILLION WAYS: I generally don’t go the super freakishly healthy route of the recipe below. I generally add a bit more oil and salt when I make them, but not very much. My general way is this: Get a huge bowl. Grate or finely chop any leftover veggies, add to bowl. Pick a can of beans or two (or three depending on how much vegetables you use) and I always make sure there are pinto beans in there because they hold together the best. Drain and mash the beans completely. Use hands to incorporate all. Add spices (see above). Mix with hands again (great recipe for kids to help with!) Then taste to see if it’s good. The cool part is it doesn’t need to be cooked, so tasting while mixing is totally fine, and totally yummy! At this point, if it’s too dry, I add more pinto/roman beans. If it’s too wet (say if I grated onions or used a can of refried beans) I will add either oat flour or whole wheat flour until it gets to the consistency I want. Sometimes this is a LOT of flour, but I figure it’s okay because I will be making a TON of patties. Spray a pan with cooking oil using a Misto, place the patties in on medium high heat, brown that side, spray the other side with oil and flip until golden brown. Serve hot! (Edit July 2021, nowadays I never add salt or Bragg’s and I never cook them using oil. I always make them in the air fryer now, or baked in the oven.)
One final word on the nutritarian distinction. “Nutritarian” refers to the fact that these are super freaking healthy. As in, vegan, no oil, no salt, just plant-based goodness. Tons of nutrients that your body loves. Feel free to add or subtract any nutrition that you’d like, but rest assured that these are super healthy from the get-go with the recipe I provide below.
Best Veggie Burger Recipe in the World Video
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The Best Veggie Burger Recipe in the World
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
One of the healthiest staples you can use in your cooking. This is the basic, super healthy recipe. Add any of the suggestions from the blog post to suit your own taste!
Author: cheri
Recipe type: entree
Serves: 20 small patties
Ingredients
- 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup broccoli (peel and chop stalk too!), finely chopped
- 1 cup carrots, grated
- 1 15.5 ounce can pinto or roman beans, rinsed, drained
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the pinto beans and mash with a potato masher or a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and incorporate evenly by hand. Form into meatballs and flatten. Each patty should be about ½ inch thick and the diameter can be as large as you want.
- In a large frying pan over medium high heat, add the veggie patties. Brown the bottoms (2-3 minutes) and flip to brown the other side, 2-3 more minutes. Serve.
ANSWER THIS:
What is your favorite way of making and/or eating these veggie burger patties?
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LOVE LOVE LOVE the new look and recipe’s! Next time you hear, “This Girl is On Fire” by Alicia Keyes know that its about you!
Here’s to how our life transforms our relationship with food and then vise versa. Cha Ching :)
Rachael
RACHAEL!! Thanks so much for stopping by, love! And thank you for the vote of confidence – my sentiments exactly! xoxo
Hi Cheri…
As a vegetable-loving “Meatatarian” some of your newer recipes left me scratching my head, but we will be trying this one, soon; and will, gladly, report the results…
Please keep up the great work…love what you’re doing… you ARE, no doubt, destined for greatness (or, are you already there?). :)
Best,
Bill
Bill, your support has meant so much over the past couple years!! I know I know, my blog has changed a lot too but that’s because I did! I don’t eat much meat at all anymore, and I LOVE the veggies. There will be a lot more of that on here, but still fun cocktails and nonsense to hopefully keep you entertained! :D <3
This looks incredible! Can’t wait to try it. The whole burger-as-bun thing is blowing my mind. Can you show what you put inside?
The photo was just a demo for the post actually, it was kinda messy to eat and fell apart, which was fun. :) lolol. Inside of that one there’s just mashed avocado/lemon juice, spinach/kale/arugula mix tomato and mayo/sriracha mix. You could add anything in there that you like!
Inside of those “buns” though I added a LOT of fridge leftovers. Red cabbage, onion, carrots, zucchini, green onion, bragg’s, salt, spicy spice mix, plus pinto beans, great northern beans, adzuki beans, all mashed together. Then I added a bunch of whole wheat flour to get it to stick together, but for gluten-free you could use oat flour. :)
love ya girl xo
One of the best blog posts I have seen in a long time. You are right, this is a game changer! These patties are now part of my *power reload* routine on Saturdays: make a big beautiful Nutritarian soup, make pot of dry beans for different salads (I don’t like canned beans), make my world famous salsa, cut fruit and veggies for the week, and now your bean burgers. (while catching up on NPR and podcasts.. :)
I used fresh garlic (chopped up chunky), finely shredded collard greens and mushrooms (GBOMBS). I often juice fresh carrot juice as a base for some of my soups recipes, and so I used some of the pulp from the juicer and it worked great. In addition to the oat flour I also put in some whole rolled oats as I like the texture.
Sincere thanks! Brian
Brian what a fantastic, thorough response – thank you so much! I love that weekly routine that you have. And I want to know MORE about that world famous salsa of yours!!! :D :D Love the ingredients you add, I’m going to have to use those! GBOMBS for the win!!! Rolled oats sounds awesome – I love whole chickpeas in there. Take care, hope to see you around more! xo
YUM-O! I am a big time kitchen experimenter (Mad Food Scientist according to my SO) and came upon this recipe while looking for a way to use up an extra can of refried beans. Added a drained can of Amy’s Organic Chili w/ Vegetables, 1/2 can sliced olives, about 2 tbsp. of an organic habanero hot sauce; cumin, chili, cayenne, and pepper to taste. Was a bit soft so added rice flour until texture was right & adjusted spices again. Fried up in skillet and served topped with fried egg, slices of avocado, a dash or two of cayenne for color, and drizzled with chipotle ranch. Like you said, the patty with the egg yolk is fabulous! :-)
That sounds absolutely amazing Stephy!
Liked the flavor of these but I couldn’t get them to stay together to save my life and I found the finished texture to be pretty mushy. They tasted good, though. Don’t know what I did wrong…they didn’t seem wet at all but maybe I should have added some flour? Also I’m thinking next time I would shred all the veggies rather than dicing some of them, because they might bind together better. I will try again another time.
Thank you for the comment Krista! The reason I keep these very thin is because they can become mushy on the inside otherwise. And yes, shredding rather than dicing is a great method and will help, but if you have the correct vegetable and bean types/ratios they will stay together quite well. Flour will definitely help any situation, but the recipe I give is so that you can make them completely nutritarian if you like and maintain 100% nutrition. These are great to experiment with over time and find what works best for you! xo
Makes great burgers!!
These were fantastic!!!! I did add Ener-G egg replacer and they came out perfect, did not fall apart. I guess you can add Arrow root or any other egg replacer to help it stay together.. Before putting it on the bun I added some stone ground mustard and my kids LOVED it (so far the only veggie burger they liked). Thank you for the recipe!!!!
Eeeee!!! I’m so glad you loved them Evelina and thank you for the fantastic tips!! xoxox
Can’t wait to try these! For how long and at what temperature would you suggest baking them?
Yay Jessica! They’re so good. I haven’t baked them before actually, and you would probably only want to do it if they’re thin — when they’re thick, they’re quite mushy in the inside. What I would do is maybe try the same directions for another veggie burger recipe and see if it works. I’m sorry I don’t have better info for you! :D But good luck and let me know your experience! xo
Hi Cheri!
I have been wanting to try a veggie burger for about a year now… I am 90% vegetarian and working on the other 10%. YOUR veggie burger will be the FIRST I am going to try! What kind of sauce might you suggest for this… do you think a ranch dressing might work? Thanks for the recipe – I can’ wait to make it :)
SOOO glad to hear it Loretta!! I hope you absolutely love it — make sure to read the whole post because there are so many ways you can make this! A ranch dressing can absolutely work — or else have it like a regular burger with mayo and mustard, etc. But you can do without the bun if you like — I like mine stacked with some vegan mayo/hot sauce mixture. :D Let me know how it goes!
Hey Cheri…
Just tried the vegie burger! I have one word for it….. Mmmmmmm! I made mine a bit thin (about 1/4 in thickness), with a diameter of about 5 inches, topped with an avocado ranch dressing; all served in a mini pita bread!
Ahhhh Loretta!! I’m so so so glad to hear that! Yes, they are best thin, but you can always pile them on top of each other to get more height! And avocado ranch sounds amazing! I’m so glad you loved them and reported back! Happy day to you! xoxox
I followed your recipe adding the can of beans.. then went my own way…Addding: 3 cups veges.. red onion diced 1c garlic minced roasted peppers 1/2c organic peppers 1/2 jalapeno pepper minced.1cup cauliflower 1/2c x kale chopped cumin garlic powder.. sarriachi.. i also added 2T parmasean cheese.. formed into patties cooked in drop of olive oil.. till golden.. served with avocodo slice and tomato… These were yummy.. i love these
Hi Pam! I’m soooo happy to hear you loved them: your variation sounds deeeeelicious!! :) thank you!
Have you ever frozen them?
I have Carol, and it works quite well. I have frozen both the “raw” dough (thawed and added some oatflour or whole wheat flour to reconstitute) and I have frozen the “raw” patties, and baked them right from frozen. (Not sure of temperature or time anymore, I would imagine something like 350F for about 20-30 minutes, flipping in between.)
I have not had too much luck making my own burgers. I am going to try this recipe though. I did order the low sodium salsa you recommended and I love it!! Now, I am looking for a low sodium fire roasted tomato. Have you ever used them Thanks Cheri!
Oh great luck with this Peggy, I hope you love it! It’s a great base. I’m so glad you loved that salsa — I so love it too! I do have trouble finding low sodium tomato products as well and I haven’t found a fire roasted one yet. However, it might be great as well to just use roasted tomatoes as those will really have a nice deep flavor, and you can do those yourself at home and then freeze them…actually yum, I might do that too. :P <3
Found this recipe for a quick fix on some leftover carrot sticks, thank you. As I have also developed reaction to eggs and wheat- and oat-based ingredients, I used sweet potato (abundant in this part of the world where I’m from: Southeast Asia> Philippines), cubed and half-boiled for easier mashing, mixed with glutinous rice flout as binder. I added dried bitter melon leaf (crushed) and some dried fenugreek, a dash of curry, salt and pepper to taste.
As sandwich garnish, I added apple cider-pickled papaya and cucumber (a twist on a Filipino staple called “achara,” “atsara,” or “atchara” that traditionally uses white or coconut vinegar) since I can’t take soy-based mayo as well. Thought I’d share. Yum!
Cheers ü
/k
RE:
” I used sweet potato (abundant in this part of the world where I’m from: Southeast Asia> Philippines), cubed and half-boiled for easier mashing, mixed with glutinous rice flout as binder…”
Should read “…mixed with *glutinous rice flour* as binder…”
Thanks ü
/k
Kaffee!! Thank you so much for commenting, your ingredients native to your part of the world sound amazing! I wish I had easy access to try those substitutions…better yet, can I just come to your house and you can make these for me!? :P Haha. Great suggestions, thanks so much again. xoxo
Could these be baked?
They absolutely can, Michelle. I’d do about 350 Fahrenheit for maybe 25-35 minutes and flip them in the middle. Just bake them longer if they’re not cooked enough: I haven’t made them this way, but I know they would work. <3
I am currently doing the Daniel Fast for the month of February. Looking for recipes that are Daniel Fast friendly are somewhat limited to my taste. I was craving pizza when I found this during my search. This definitely was a “DF” friendly recipe and was surprisingly very delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I will definitely be making this more often.
Can this recipe be used as a substitute for ground beef in such dishes as spaghetti?
Ahhh this is very interesting, I will have to look more into the Daniel Fast. Very cool. I’m so glad I was able to provide an approved recipe for you! I’m so glad you loved the recipe as well. Best of luck with the rest of your fast!! :D
You could try it, but it won’t be moist like ground beef or soy crumbles type products. I might suggest serving this along side the spaghetti and marinara and having it in place of say, a side of chicken or steak. <3
Do I cook the veggies first????
Only if you want to, Jayanne. I don’t! :D
Can you please clarify if your recipe calls for cumin powder or whole cumin seeds? Thank you very much for sharing this amazing recipe.
Yes Azna, this is powdered cumin. You’re welcome and I will be sure to note this in the recipe! Thanks.
Hi Cheri, how do you cook the burgers in a pan without oil as nutrtarian is oil free and I am doing very well without oil in my house anymore. Can’t believe I ever used oil as it is so unnecessary . I love your videos and follow Dr Joel and Chef AJ. Such great inspiration to be had from you all .😀👍
Yes crazy to find oil so unnecessary right??! This recipe is completely oil free and you will find “how to” info in the video I provide. 😬 enjoy!
I just joined the vegan 🌱 clan, I’m so going to make these veggie patties :D, what else can you put on them? Make a spice or an herb 🌿 you recommend?
***maybe 😬
AWESOME Elliott!! I’m so happy for you and WELCOME! You are welcome to put any combo of herbs or spices in…i personally love the cumin and garlic combo…but maybe turmeric and black pepper or Mrs Dash flavorings…I LOVE Mrs Dash…my favorites are the tomato basil and spicy chipotle flavors :)
These turned out great I did used grated zucchini since we have lots from our garden and red peppers since we are out of carrots I had some left over juice from a big Frank can so I added that for flavor along with yeast flakes and black pepper since it was not holding together very well I just added some bread crumbs it was so tasty served in a whole wheat tortilla with cheese folded over and heated in the frying pan kids approved
Wonderful modifications Elisabeth and I’m so glad to hear you loved them AS WELL as the kids! Score!
Thanks for this article and video.
I did this with a can of pintos and three cup mix of mushrooms, celery, carrots, asparagus, green onion with grounded black pepper and onion powder.
Served with sour cream.
Went over very well.
Yummm Jen! THANKS for sharing!
I absolutely loved this recipe! It didn’t quite hold up when I first made them, but I replaced the pinto beans for chickpeas and found they kept their shape much better, with even a much meatier texture!
Ahhh great Janet, I’m so glad you found something that worked for you! YUM! :D
What a great vegetable base Patty. Tried it as it is & it tasted great.
Thanks for the great base to play around
Yayyyyy so glad to hear you loved it Girish! You’re so welcome!
This looks tasty. Have you ever made them with black beans instead of pinto beans? I really love black beans best, but wondering if they would work for this recipe.
I have tried before. You can’t do it as easily with them as they don’t mash easily with your hands…but if you used a food processor that would probably work. Since I hate dirtying 4000 dishes, I prefer to just use beans with more stuff on the inside, to get them to stick. :P
I tried this yesterday and it was delish! I substitute the carrots for squashed noodles (which I chopped), also added cilantro, fresh onion and garlic (instead of powder), turmeric, salt, and a little bit of nutritionist yeast. Love it!
Oohhh those subs sound delish Rosemary! Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Cheri,
Oh my goodness. I made these yesterday for my husband and I (we’re adjusting to vegan life) and the first reaction I got from him was total excitement because I made him a “burger”. lol. He was even more excited after he ate it. He said it was THE BEST veggie burger he ever had IN HIS LIFE! He really meant it. He always thought veggie burgers we’ve had from the grocery store freezer case or in restaurants always left much to be desired but these were amazing! I, too, really enjoyed them and knowing the simple and super healthy ingredients used to make them make me so very excited to add these to our meal rotation. I prepared them exactly as you have in the recipe and added some salt and pepper to taste. Perfect! Thank you so much!
Yayyy April!!! I’m so glad to hear this…yeah I wasn’t lying! It’s my fav recipe too :) And SOOO versatile!! xoxox
Yay! I just found your recipe after spending $ and having store bought pretty much. I
wondered exactly how MUCH vegetables I’ve been having (not much) even tho I call myself a vegan.
So now after viewing your blog I am so excited to get in my kitchen and back to your yummy recipe. I really missed out for so long.
I’m so glad you’re on board now Jeannie!!!
Going to try this.It is the best recipe I have found.
Best recipe I found so far.Will give it a try.