You need The Best Veggie Burger in your life - whether for meatless Monday meals, your plant-based friends, or just some more variety in your diet, look no further for the perfect homemade veggie burger.
When I say these are The Best Veggie Burgers, I mean it - these are the best homemade veggie burgers I’ve ever made. I have never tested a recipe more times than I did this recipe, and it was absolutely worth it. And I could not have achieved this perfection in texture and flavor without the help of my colleague, Nicolle.
In summer 2024, we collaborated to create new recipes for the second edition of the book, Food as Medicine Everyday: Reclaim Your Health with Whole Foods, by Julie Briley, ND and Courtney Jackson, ND. I am a certified Food as Medicine Everyday (FAME) educator, and in my professional role at NUNM, I support the Food as Medicine Institute by teaching classes, training students, and stewarding the FAME curriculum. Given my experience with recipe development for the blog and my time in the teaching kitchen facilitating classes, I was thrilled to support the authors with creating new recipes to add to the book and curriculum. One of the initial ideas was for a veggie burger, and Nicolle and I put a lot of time and effort into crafting the perfect recipe. In the end, this recipe didn’t make the cut - which tells you something about how good the ones are that did! But both Nicolle and I continued to make this recipe at home because we love it so much, and I could not wait to give it a home on the blog for you to make, too.
One of my best discoveries in creating this recipe was using a shortcut to add whole grains to the burger mixture: thanks to the microwave pouches of par-cooked whole grains, you can have a small quantity of cooked grains in 90 seconds. I love using a whole grain medley or brown rice/quinoa mixture for these burgers. The sweet potato can also be cooked in the microwave to quickly soften it for mashing and adding to the mixture. The other awesome thing about these veggie burgers is that they freeze beautifully. After the par-bake in the oven, place them in an airtight bag and freeze until you need them. It’s an excellent case for making a double batch!
These veggie burgers have it all: they’re firm, but tender; not dry; perfectly flavorful; and they won’t fall apart on you when cooking or eating. They’re versatile, too - when I serve them, I treat them like a classic burger patty and stack them with the classics of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. In development, we paired them with a cilantro-lime sauce. You can dress them up however you want!
Make The Best Veggie Burgers right away! And watch for the new edition of the Food as Medicine Everyday book in Fall 2025!
You need The Best Veggie Burger in your life - whether for meatless Monday meals, your plant-based friends, or just some more variety in your diet, look no further for the perfect homemade veggie burger.
1 Tbsp. avocado oil
1 small yellow onion, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked whole grain such as quinoa, brown rice, barley, farro, etc. (see notes)
½ cup cooked, mashed sweet potato (see notes)
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. kosher salt
For serving:
Whole-grain burger buns
Sliced cheese (optional)
Lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles (optional)
Burger sauce or condiments (mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, etc.) [optional]
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add avocado oil and diced onion, and saute for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are beginning to soften. Add the minced garlic and cook an additional minute, then remove from heat to allow the mixture to cool slightly.
3. While the onions are cooking, place the drained and rinsed black beans in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to mash the black beans until mostly smooth, but some pieces remain.
4. To the mixing bowl with black beans, add the sautéed vegetables, cooked whole grains, mashed sweet potato, breadcrumbs, egg, Worcestershire sauce and spices. Mix well to combine.
5. Divide the burger mixture into 6 equal portions. Gently use a spatula or your hands to shape the mixture into burger patties (about 3-3.5 inches in diameter, and about 1 inch thick), and place patties on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake burger patties at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, flipping the burgers once halfway through.
7. After 20 minutes, remove the burgers from the oven. Finish the burgers on a hot griddle pan or skillet to get a crust. If you want to add cheese, top each burger with sliced cheese right after flipping to allow cheese to melt.
8. Serve burgers on whole-grain buns, topped with your favorite burger toppings (lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, and/or condiments).
Notes:
· Tip: Use a packaged quick-cooking whole grain medley (such as Ben’s Original, Seeds of Change, Simple Truth Organic Ancient Grains, etc.) or leftover cooked grains to save time.
· Tip: A whole sweet potato can be cooked in the microwave in just a few minutes! Wash and dry one medium-sized sweet potato. Pierce with a fork 5-6 times around the potato. Microwave on a microwave-safe plate on high for 5 minutes, then check for doneness by piercing with a knife. The knife should slide in easily. If there is still resistance, microwave for an additional minute at a time until tender. Allow the sweet potato to cool enough to handle, then peel and mash.
· Make these burgers ahead of time! After par-baking the burger patties for 20 minutes, at this point the burgers could be cooled and refrigerated to finish later (within 3-4 days), or frozen.
I invite you to try my seasonally-inspired,
plant-based recipes to create your own
joyful plateful!
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