My favorite meal is a good hamburger. If I’m going out to eat, my first instinct is to order a juicy beefy burger. I don’t cook a lot of beef at home so I do make up for it when I’m out. I do make veggie burgers at home, and I’ve posted a couple recipes here in the past. But what I have never made was a bean burger. Maybe I assumed the texture would be off. I was wrong.
I quickly spotted these on The Kitchen Sink and decided to make them for a night in with friends this weekend. I didn’t have any bread crumbs so I improvised by adding in oat bran, wheat germ and ground flax seeds which not only upped the health factor but gave these burgers a good stiff bind. Because these burgers contain yogurt they aren’t vegan, but if you were wanting a vegan version, just sub in some soy yogurt or soy milk mixed with a bit of vinegar instead. Looking for a gluten-free version? Just add more oat bran instead of the wheat germ and serve with gluten-free buns or if you aren’t sure that your oat bran is gluten free, add almond meal instead.
Both the texture and flavours were perfect and they were quite simple to whip up as a last minute dinner idea. We topped the burgers with some cheddar cheese, guacamole, fresh salsa and some sour cream mixed with chipotles in adobo sauce. It was a Southwestern burger to be proud of.
Elsewhere: Want to up the sexy factor of your meal? Throw an egg on it. Even better, add some caramelized onions. It’s what I did to some broccoli & pasta over at ReadyMade. It might qualify as one of the best meals I’ve made this year. Simple and sublime. At Poppytalk, I whip up a great little pasta salad using green beans and peas. It’s bright and herby and delicious. Get the recipe and use it for your next lunch or picnic!
southwestern black bean burger
(adapted from The Kitchen Sink)
2 cans of black beans
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T cumin
1 T chili powder
1/4 t chipotle powder
1/4 t cayenne powder
a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce (optional)
1/2 t salt
3 T greek low-fat yogurt (or soy yogurt or soy milk + vinegar)
3/4 c oat bran
1/4 c wheat germ
1 T ground flax seeds
1/4 c cilantro
1 lime, juiced
3 T olive oil
8 hamburger buns, warmedIn a blender or food processor, blend together 1 can of beans, garlic, yogurt and spices. When that’s blended, dump into a bowl along with the remaining can of beans, oat bran, wheat germ, flax, cilantro and lime. Stir everything with a wooden spoon until you reach a consistency that is enables you to form patties. Too soft? Add in more oat bran. Too stiff? Add in a bit of water. Shape patties into 8 burgers and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a skillet over med-high heat and brown each side, about 3 minutes per side or until slightly crispy. Want to top each burger with a slice of cheese? Do so and pop in the oven along with the burger buns until melted. Top with salsa and guacamole.
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i’ve really gotta get on making these. the last black bean burgers i made fell apart all over my hands, my plate, and my lap. good times. but i read about them on the kitchen sink and now you’ve made them too!
I made black bean burgers once when my folks were visiting and we loved the taste but they did need a bit more binding. I was just wondering what to fix for dinner tonight that could use this lovely avocado I have at the perfect moment of ripeness! I think I might try these!
Oooh, these look crazy delicious!
Yum! I LOVE bean burgers! And all the toppings on this burger sound amazing! I’ve made a few bean burgers in the past. Some recipes have been better than others but I completely understand about how important the binding ingredients are as I have had bean burgers fall apart in the frying pan before. I must give these a try when my store bought veggie burgers are finished.
I love a good bean burger and homemade is always the way to go. This one sounds particularly flavorful…especially with an egg and perhaps some avocado on top.
Looks absolutely delicious!
I’m glad to know that was a good one because I eyed it as well. I haven’t had good luck making veg burgers (haven’t tried your recipes though) and I’d really like to have something to grill this summer.
These look good! Do you think that they would hold together well enough to go on the bbq grill? I’ve been desperately looking for a grillable veg burger recipe, but so far everything has ended up too soft. Any suggestions? (love your blog, btw – it’s the only food blog I ever read, you’re the first place I go if I need to find an awesome recipe. I’ve been following it for almost 2 years, but this is my first comment 🙂
I just started fallowing your site (love the title, btw), and I hate to be a bother, but these look delicious, and I was just chatting w/ friends about black bean burgers, and your recipe calls for 2 cups of black beans in the list, then you talk about cans. Help! Also, oat bran is not generally considered GF unless specifically marked b/c of frequent oat/wheat cross contamination. Boo. (Some people have mild enough reactions to gluten that oat products are generally fine, for some, they’re a big no no). Thanks for a fun blog.
Heather, I think as long as you come up with a firm enough mixture, it should be fine. Good luck with your bean burgers!
Ellen, go by feel rather than the measurements (but it’s good to use those as a guide). I always feel with veggie burgers there can be variations, so go with your gut & add more crumbs if needed.
Thanks Geek+Nerd, I think so too 🙂
Bijoux, these didn’t fall apart at all. Phew.
Joanne, sounds great with an egg on top.
Thanks Jackie!
Dana, I’m not sure if these would hold up on a grill – a frying pan worked great. You could certainly give it a try (maybe adding more oatbran to make a stiffer burger).
Marissa, see above (my response to Dana). Thanks for commenting 🙂
Doh! Bridgit, I goofed. It is two cans worth! Hmmm, I did some research and the sites I searched did say that oat bran was GF. Thanks for the tip! I’ll suggest almond meal as another alternative. Thanks so much!
Looks delightful! I’m so excited to try it :0)
MMMMmmmmmm!!
Looks lovely! I worked at a veg-friendly cafe during high school (back in the days before you could choose from a dozen veggie burgers in your local grocery freezer), and they made a burger that was similar to this. My current favorite homemade burger involves red lentils, oatmeal, walnuts and garlic, and has a falafely cumin/coriander/chili flake seasoning. Delicious!
Oh, that burger looks like heaven!!!
I love how delicious that looks. I usually make my veggie burgers using chickpeas, but I love black beans so much, so I’ll have to try this out sometime. Homemade veggie burgers are the best – who needs the packaged kinds?
Oh man, these look awesome. I made some black bean patties from the Lick My Balsamic blog once but I didn’t have them as burgers, I had them with poached eggs. I will have to try this!
As a side note, and try not to laugh when you read this question: have you ever tried a nutburger? No, really. A nutburger. They are delicious!!
oh i saw those on kitchn too. now i HAVE to make them. that first photo is like food porn!!
These look seriously amazing. I love that there’s so much oat bran and wheat germ in them! I’ve tried making veggie burgers at home a few times and while they usually taste good they always fall apart, which is really frustrating. I’m going to save this recipe!
Thanks Duchess & Kelli Ann!
Deena, that burger sounds delicious.
Thanks Camila, it’s pretty yum.
Lisa, I’ve never had a chickpea burger before. And yes, the packaged kinds contain so much bad stuff – better stick to homemade.
Zoe with poached eggs these would be great. I’ve got a great walnut burger on my site. It’s my favorite veg burger because the texture is so perfect and meaty. This is different but still tasty.
Thanks VanillaSugar!
Ashley, these don’t fall apart. Trust me!
This looks amazingly good! You know that a burger is good when you have to use two hands to eat it and it’s too big and piled on with good things to get your mouth around the whole things when you take a bite.
Thanks for the recipe! I never realized it was so easy to make your own veggie burgers without weird soy stuff. My fiance and I are trying to go vegetarian, so I took these along for a cookout with my parents. They held up great on the grill. I had mine in a tortilla with cheese and guacamole and loved it; he had his burger-style and had trouble getting over the expectation for it to taste like meat. I think next time I’ll use a lot more spices and serve them in tacos or burritos rather than as burgers. There will DEFINITELY be a next time.
I made a batch of these this weekend and they were a total success! Really, so good.
One little bit of wisdom to offer: they were pretty tasty right away, but both my husband and I thought that they seemed to get better after sitting in the fridge overnight. I think it let the spices and everything blend.
Thank you so much for the recipe!
Ahh that looks awesome. I think I may try that someday!
Michelle, you’ve just described the perfect burger!
Katie, so glad they held up on the grill. Good to hear.
Excellent tip, Jennifer! Thanks, glad you enjoyed them.
I loved this burger. So tasty but also healthy. I believe we need more food like that, especially when going out, where everything seems to be cooked the same way. Bravo !!!
Setty from Greece
i found this recipe yesterday and made them for dinner, i have to say these are the best black bean burgers i’ve ever had. kudos! love ’em!
I want to try making these, I always buy frozen bean burgers from the supermarket and have been looking for a good recipe for a while! The picture is making me salivate, but what I really want to know is, did you make the salsa and guacamole yourself? Because they both look delicious and I’d love the recipe! Whenever I make my own salsa it seems more like chopped tomato with herbs rather than a nice gloopy, saucy texture!
Thanks Setty and Cat!
Sian, thank you! I did not make the guac & salsa myself – both were store bought because I was in a time crunch. But I do make my own salsa and guac but just realized that I don’t have a recipe on this site for them. Will amend one of these days!