These veggie burgers are EVERYTHING. They are hearty, full of flavor, and the texture is phenomenal. They hold together well- they aren’t mushy and they don’t crumble apart. They are amazingly healthy and packed full of veggies, whole grains, legumes, and seeds.
AND you can make them in bulk and freeze them for later. AND they are wicked easy to make, especially if you follow the tips below!
I will certainly be making these again and again and again.
When I got the new cookbook from the well-known vegan cooking blog Oh She Glows, I was so excited to read it. Is there ANYTHING more exciting in the world than getting a brand new cookbook in the mail?!?! (answer: probably, actually… if you aren’t a food blogger) And yes, I do read my cookbooks- cover to cover- to try to figure out what to make first. When I found the recipe for her veggie burgers, I knew it was the one. I had found my veggie burger soul mate.
This veggie burger recipe is influenced by the “Our Favorite Veggie Burgers” recipe in The Oh She Glows Cookbook
. Hers are 100% vegan, mine are not (since I am not a vegan, OR a vegetarian ), and I made a few other changes based on the ingredients that I had in my pantry. AND, I figured out a few tricks that will make these burgers extra great.
You may find it odd that a non-vegan would purchase a vegan cookbook, but let me explain. I believe in all things in moderation, and I believe that plants are one of the healthiest things you can eat. So eating vegan meals or mostly vegan meals frequently (with a real cheeseburger thrown in every once in a while) has been my way of eating mostly plants for a while now. And having cookbooks like this helps give me so many ideas for how to adapt many of the meals I already make to be more plant-based!
Side note: if you aren’t a veggie burger fan, I have one suggestion for you: do not think of this as a substitution for the real thing. If I am craving a real burger, a veggie burger ain’t gonna cut it. But if I just want a tasty, healthy dinner, a veggie burger is a great thing to eat! Instead, try and think of a veggie burger more like a falafel sandwich, or just another kind of savory patty. It’s delicious- but there’s no substitution for a juicy beef burger.
So. Here’s how to make these super healthy, super tasty veggie burgers.
First, mix together lots of things in a bowl. Cooked black beans and grated raw sweet potato are the base of these burgers, both extremely healthy and packed full of nutrients. Cilantro, garlic, olive oil, and onion add a savory, bright flavor to them, and some toasted sunflower seeds add amazing texture (you can also not toast the sunflower seeds, but it couldn’t be easier to do: simply add some seeds to a nonstick skillet
and toast over medium-high heat until fragrant and beginning to turn golden, flipping occasionally). A combination of salt and pepper, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and cayenne pepper add spice and heat (but not too much heat), and soy sauce gives it a savory umami to round off the flavors. YUM.
The remaining two ingredients are essential for a veggie burger that is firm enough to form into patties and will hold together in the oven. First: eggs. Add a couple of eggs to the batter and when the patties cook, the eggs will also cook and help bind the mixture together. (For a vegan version, use flax or chia egg substitutes.) Second: oats. Oats (or bread crumbs, like in my wild rice and black bean veggie burgers) help absorb some of the moisture of the vegetables and eggs and make the patties easier to form (plus, they add whole grain goodness to the patties!).
While this may seem like a lot of ingredients, fear not: many of the items you likely already have in your pantry, and since everything is mixed together in one bowl, it’s actually extremely simple and easy to make! All you have to do now is form the patties and bake them.
I made a couple of discoveries while making these burgers that I would like to share with you- these tricks can be used for any veggie burger you make.
First, refrigerate the batter for a few hours before forming patties. I did this by accident: I wanted to save time on a weeknight so I mixed the batter over the weekend, so all I had to do was form the patties and bake later on. Not only did this help me save time after a busy work day, but it gave the oats time to absorb much of the liquid in the batter. This, and the fact that the batter was cold, made forming the patties infinitely easier than just after mixing. While the patties can absolutely be formed immediately if you need the burgers that same day, I recommend trying to make the batter in advance and leaving it in your refrigerator anywhere from a few hours to a few days before assembling and baking!
Second, divide the batter into eight equal parts using a knife. Smooth out the batter in the bowl and when you are ready to form your patties, use a knife to cut it like you would a cake. The result is eight *almost* perfectly equal sections that will ensure your veggie burgers are equally sized and portioned (which is helpful if you are a bit OCD like me, or so that there is no fighting for the largest one). Like a bigger burger? Divide into six portions instead of eight.
When you are ready to bake them, place the patties on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes, flipping halfway through.
Serve on toasted buns with toppings such as lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, sprouts, cucumbers, and avocado. I whipped together a quick batch of lemon-garlic mayo, but you can use whatever delicious spreads or condiments you want!
Well, I’m off to commence about eight hours of packing for my move (only nine more days!). Wish me luck! Recipe below- Enjoy :-)
Really into black beans? Try these Quick and Easy Black Beans and Rice.
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Veggie Burgers
Ingredients
- 15 oz. canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup sweet potato grated (1 small sweet potato, raw)
- 2 eggs see notes for alternative
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small yellow onion finely chopped or grated
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds preferably toasted
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- buns, sprouts, mayo, lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc. for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- If time allows, refrigerate the mixture for a minimum of four hours (or as long as a few days).
- Remove from refrigerator and press the mixture down to form a flat surface, then slice the mixture like a cake into eight equal portions.
- Form the mixture into 8 patties and place on a parchment covered baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping over halfway through.
- Serve on a toasted bun with sprouts, cucumbers, red onions, tomato, lettuce, mayo, or whatever other toppings you want!
Notes
- For a vegan / egg free version, use flax or chia egg substitutes.
- For easy weeknight meals, make extra burgers and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for later.
- Don't have quick cooking oats? Rolled/old fashioned oats will also work, but I suggest giving the mixture more time in the refrigerator so the oats absorb more of the liquid. Otherwise, your patties may fall apart or be hard to form. Bread crumbs can also be used.
- Recipe inspired by the "Our Favorite Veggie Burger" recipe in The Oh She Glows Cookbook (from the blog ohsheglows.com)
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Donna
Could these be grilled or seared in skillet before baking?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Definitely! That will crisp out the outside really well if you have the time to do it. I like doing this in an oven safe skillet (such as cast iron) and then transfer the whole thing to the oven for fewer dishes. Careful flipping them- they won’t be very “solid” yet so they will have a tendency to fall apart if you aren’t careful. Hope that helps!
Alice D
A great recipe! I have made these many, many times.
I find that the best results are achieved with the following adjustments…
1. Saute the onion in the oil. I prefer the flavour of cooked onion over raw.
2. Pulse half the black beans in a blender with the eggs, and lightly mash the other half.
3. Squeeze the water out of the shredded sweet potato using a cheese cloth. This greatly improves the texture.
I always let the mixture sit in the fridge for a few hours.
I’ve never had the burgers fall apart on me using the above adjustments.
Thanks for the recipe!
Elizabeth
So glad you like the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing your suggestions- I will definitely try them next time I make them!
Jena
These taste fantastic but didn’t hold together when I flipped them — do you have any tips on how to get them to stay in patty-form? Thank you!
Elizabeth
Oh no! This is definitely the curse of the veggie burger. My advice is (besides being very, very careful) to maybe let them bake for a little while longer- or even for the whole time- one one side, and delay/skip flipping. The longer they cook, the more they bind together. Also, did you make them vegan without eggs? The eggs help bind them together much better. Finally, when you are forming the patties, make sure you are really packing everything in tightly (unlike a beef burger, where you don’t want to handle it too much). Hope that helps!
Jena
I did use eggs and squished them pretty firmly, but I’ll try baking them longer next time! Thanks for your reply!
Crystal
They are AMAZING! Everyone loved them. I made a huge batch & froze them & I suspect they will be gobbled up rather quickly. Thank you!
Elizabeth
Hooray!!! Thanks for letting me know and I’m so glad you liked them!!
Crystal
Made a big pot of black beans yesterday so I can make these. I found a ton of other recipes that were a bit too involved or they don’t freeze well. We have a sunflower seed allergy In the house so I’m gonna use pepitas instead. Any tips for freezing & reheating?
Elizabeth
For veggie burgers, I usually flash freeze cooked patties for about 20 minutes and then add to a large plastic bag or airtight container. If you separate them with parchment paper, it’s a lot easier to take them out one at a time. When you want to eat it, you can either defrost in the fridge for 24ish hours, or defrost in the microwave, then heat up in the microwave for only about a minute each! Hope that helps, and hope you like them. Love the idea of subbing pepitas for the sunflower seeds!
Crystal
Thanks! I’m gonna start making em right now & will report back after. Cheers!