Vegan Bean Burgers – Hearty, Flavorful and Grill-able

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Vegan bean burgers

Whenever I say “burger” in my head the phrase “Burgermeister Meisterburger” rattles around until I force myself to think of something else. Does that ever happen to you? Please say it does, if only to humor me.

The famous Burgermeister Meisterburger, not a bean burger, from Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Moving on, I have probably reworked this recipe for vegan bean burgers at least 8-10 times.  And kids, these boigahs are pretty pretty pretty good. Supremely tasty, a tad spicy, and loaded with nutritious ingredients, well, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. And, they have the mouth feel (thanks to the vital wheat gluten) that I was looking for. So many vegan bean burgers are inherently mushy and I really wanted to minimize that factor. Enter vital wheat gluten (VWG). I’ve used this protein before and explain a bit more here in my post for vegan meatballs.  In this bean burger recipe I use about half a cup-  just enough to give these burgers the heartiness and grill-able factor I was seeking.

Don’t be daunted by the list of ingredients! Aside from cutting and sauteing the mushrooms, most of the prep work (that includes chopping and dicing my friends) can be done in the food processor.

Process bean burger ingredients for about 20-25 pulses.

See the mushrooms above in the processor bowl? Along with the cashews and sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms were added for their umami qualities. (see more about this “fifth” taste in the recipe box under Sound Bites.)

Below I am slightly mashing half the black beans with a fork (the rest were in the processor). I wanted some bean integrity to remain.

Mash and leave a few whole beans visible.                           

Following a sprinkle of VWG, the remaining mixing and shaping is really hands on:

Had to switch to a larger bowl for my ginormous hands…errrggg…it’s  fun to play with the vegan bean burger “dough”

vegan bean burgers halfway to paradise

I used 1/3 cup of “dough” for each burger and browned 4 at once in my cast iron pan, freezing the remaining 6 for a later date.

In the feature picture you can see I topped with avocado, tomato vegan cheese and fried onions…use whatever tickles your fancy.

All right, kiddies, on to the recipe. These really come together quickly, hold up well in the pan (and on the grill) and freeze beautifully. And they taste…..mmmmm….umami!

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Vegan Bean Burgers - Hearty, Flavorful and Grill-able

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Course: dinner, grill, lunch

Cuisine: Vegan

Servings: 10 burgers

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked brown rice cooled
• 4 tbsp olive oil divided
• 1/2 pound sliced shiitake or cremini mushrooms for that yummy umami* see Sound Bites
• 2 cans black beans rinsed
• 1 sweet onion cut in 8ths
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 rib celery cut in 4-5 pieces
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup rolled outs

Instructions

1. Rinse and drain black beans, lay out on baking sheet covered with paper towel to dry.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and saute mushrooms for about 5 minutes until soft. Cool a bit.
3. Add half the beans, the mushrooms and remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the oats and vital wheat gluten to food processor.
4. Pulse 20- 25 times until well incorporated, scraping down bowl as necessary.
5. In a large bowl, pour in the other half of black beans and mash with a fork, leaving a few beans whole.
6. Add brown rice.
7. Add ingredients from food processor.
8. Pour oats into "dirty" food processor and grind to almost a flour.
9. Add oats to bowl and mix everything together.
10. Add vital wheat gluten, mix with spoon, then knead 8-10 times with hands.
11. Form burger patties by hand using 1/3 cup dough for each.
12. In pan used to saute mushrooms, add a few tbsp olive oil and heat over medium.
13. Place burgers in pan and brown 4-6 minutes per side. Alternately, you can grill, just make sure that grill grates are pre-oiled to avoid sticking.
14. Serve on rolls with toppings of choice. I added vegan cheese, tomatoes, avocado and Sir Kensingtons Chipotle Vegan Mayo.

Recipe Notes

Umami..um-whatie you say? In a nutshell umami (the Jampanese word for yummy) is described as the 5th flavor, after sweet, sour salty and bitter. This fifth taste is lip-smacking savoriness and is due to a substance called glutamate. Click on umami to read more.