I really thought that good veggie burgers would be harder to make.
I don’t know why I thought this, having never tried to make any before, and having read many reliable recipes that seemed perfectly do-able. My guess is that (1) I usually think that cool new things will be unattainably difficult, and (2) I don’t love a lot of prepared veggie burgers and patties. There is a bitterness (frozen veggies maybe? frozen onion?) and a dry chew that… is fine. But not something to write home about.
Well. Let my inner pessimist take note. These are great. They are not difficult. They are made of things I want to be eating. They taste really good, and can stretch to a variety of cuisines: regular patty in a burger or flatbread (as seen here), Indian-style patty with spicy chutneys (as seen here, too) (chutney recipe here, from the lovely Amelia Morris), for breakfast, crumbled into tacos. This makes them make-ahead meal prep gold. I could go on. (Obviously.)
I needed a recipe like this this week. Pessimism is winning, the book is mired in sticky uncertainty, and I feel generally useless. But I made delicious bean burgers! I did something right.
Most of my family are not veggie burger eaters, given a choice, but I bet I could convince them with these. Of those who are team veggie (or at least team give-them-a-chance), two of my little sisters did stints working in Nando’s, the (originally) South African fast food chain famous for it’s piri-piri chicken, and have claimed Nando’s bean burgers as the benchmark for all future bean burgers. To S & E I say: I know, bold claim. Just give them a try.
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 teaspoon each of ground coriander, ground cumin, and flaked salt (use less if you only have table salt or ground salt)
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup of chopped parsley
- 1 can of black beans including all the liquid
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (for brushing patties)
- Place the onion, garlic, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal S-blade. Pulse until chopped finely.
- Add the breadcrumbs, parsley, and black beans with liquid. Pulse until smooth-ish.
- Add the chickpeas. Pulse only one or two times, until coarsely combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment. Wet hands before shaping patties. In fact, fill a small bowl with water so you can wet your hands between patties, too. Shape the mixture into 8 balls, flatten slightly and chill for about an hour.
- Heat the oven to 400F. Remove from fridge, brush each patty with olive oil, and bake for 15 minutes. Flip patties and bake for 15 more minutes (total baking time: 30 mins).
- Remove from oven and serve either hot or cold. See link for chutney recipe.