I have discovered the secret to the perfect veggie burgers.
Are you ready?
Bake them. Don’t fry them.
Why, you ask? Well, for me, it’s not for health reasons (although baking things instead of frying them does lessen the fat content of your food). It’s because baking them dehydrates them from the inside out, so you end up with a firm veggie burger that stays intact rather than a veggie burger that looks beautiful at first and then smushes out the side of the bun the second you take a bite, ending up with a huge mess.
Best discovery ever!!!
Also, the great thing about these is that you can freeze them for super quick and easy meals. I took mine out of the freezer tonight and had dinner on the table in less than ten minutes. These veggie burgers are ridiculously delicious. Black beans are mixed with wild rice, eggs, bread crumbs, and spices to create a super flavorful, hearty burger. The first time I made these I used quinoa, but because when I made these I had recently made wild rice and mushroom casserole, I had extra cooked wild rice to use.
I served these up with a toasted bun, homemade dill pickles, sprouts, avocado, and lemon-garlic dressing. You can easily make lemon-garlic dressing by mixing some mayo, sour cream, or Greek yogurt with a little lemon juice and finely minced garlic.
Here’s another easy vegan recipe that uses canned black beans: Quick and Easy Black Beans and Rice.
Wild Rice and Black Bean Veggie Burger
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups cooked wild rice
- 15 oz. canned black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper grated or very finely chopped
- 1/2 small yellow onion grated
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce of your choice
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, mash some of the black beans to form a paste, leaving some beans whole.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir, mixing well (for best results use hands).
- If mixture is too wet to form into shapes, add some more bread crumbs.
- Form into 4 large or 6 small patties and bake on a parchment-covered baking sheet at 350 for approximately 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through.
- Eat immediately or allow to cool and freeze in a plastic bag or airtight container.
Notes
- 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 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:
Michelle
What could you use to substitute for the egg if you had to make this totally vegan ? *or someone you cook for can not eat eggs)
Thank you,
Michelle
Elizabeth
Hi Michelle! Sorry for the delayed response. So, the egg helps bind everything together when the burger cooks so it doesn’t fall apart. You can definitely just omit it, or use an egg replacement. If you omit it, I recommend trying to make the veggie burgers as dry as possible but wet enough to form patties (dry off the beans after rinsing before mashing, and maybe add more bread crumbs), but also maybe adding a little olive oil to the mix so it doesn’t taste dry and adds a little of the fat that will be missing from omitting the egg. You also might want to bake for a bit longer before flipping. Hope that works for you!
Jamila
I used 1 tablespoon of ground flax with 3 tablespoon of water which is my go to egg substitute when I’m making vegan food.it was great it held together well.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Great to know! Thanks!
Mary
I have some Lundberg Wild Blend Rice. Will that make the burgers too mushy? Thanks. Great recipe. (And toppings and sauce).
Elizabeth
I haven’t tried it, but I think that blend will be just fine! It’s surprising how difficult it is to find plain wild rice at the store sometimes.
Chastity
Can I use my GF grill? Or is baking best?
Elizabeth
I’ve never tried it! Baking helps dry them out so they are less squishy, but the GF grill should work.
Lindsey
Just made these as a way to keep enduring this snow! Yummy yummy! Used Quinoa because I didn’t have rice, came out great! Also, thought that said 15 not 1.5 tablespoons of cumin…almost a very big mistake! :)
Elizabeth
Yum! Quinoa works really well with these burgers :) and I know… That font makes it really hard to see the decimal point after the number 1! I keep meaning to change it! One of these days… :)