Black Bean Veggie Burgers

I’ve tried every veggie burger on the market and have yet to find one that I really like. So, I made it my mission to create a veggie burger that doesn’t fall apart while cooking, has lots of flavor and a meaty, filling texture. It’s taken a while but I think I may have finally gotten it right. These black bean veggie burgers have all kinds of good stuff in them…black beans, obviously, oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, carrots, spices and more. I let my food processor do all the work so it’s really easy. I like to serve them on whole wheat hamburger buns with melted cheese, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, my homemade pickles and lots of BBQ sauce. A side of baked sweet potato fries doesn’t hurt either! I like having these burgers on hand in the freezer for a quick weeknight dinner.

Makes 6-8 burgers

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup oats, blended into a powder
• 1/4 cup either sunflower or pumpkin seeds or a mix of both
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1 shallot
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 large carrot
• 3 pitted dates
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• almond flour
• 1 large egg, beaten

Directions:

Place oats and seeds in a food processor and pulse until it forms a coarse powder, remove and set aside. Pulse the carrot, shallot and garlic until minced, set aside. Pulse the dates and cranberries, set aside. Add everything back into the food processor along with all but about 1/2 cup of black beans and all the spices, pulse until combined but still a slightly course textured. Dump the mixture into a large bowl, add the rest of the black beans and the egg and stir it until combined. If the mixture looks too wet, and is difficult to form into patties, add some almond flour 1 tbsp at a time until mixture is easier to handle and won’t fall apart.

Using a scoop if you have one, scoop out 8 portions (6 if you want a bigger burger) and form them into patties. Heat a griddle on the stove over medium heat, drizzle with olive oil and cook the patties for 5-8 minutes, or until browned and a bit crispy, flip and cook another 3-5 minutes or until cooked through. Place cheese on top of the burgers you’ll be eating, turn heat as low as it will go and set a sheet pan over burgers to melt the cheese. (check out my quick video on melting cheese.) Remove the other burgers that you’re not serving and let them cool completely before stacking them in a ziplock bag to store in the freezer. Once the cheese is melted, serve immediately on a bun or on top of a salad.

Reheating The Burgers:

These black bean veggie burgers freeze really well once cooked. You don’t want to freeze them uncooked because the moisture content is too high and the burgers will get soggy and fall apart. Once you’ve cooked them, cool completely and store in the an airtight container or freezer bag for up to a month in the freezer. Pull the burgers out of the freezer two hours before you’re ready to warm them up over medium heat in a skillet or on a griddle.

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