Black Bean Burgers Recipe, Homemade, Budget, Ingredients

$2.57 RECIPE / $0.43 SERVING

Deliciously!!

Making homemade black bean burgers is as simple as mixing black beans with a variety of tasty spices such as garlic, red onion, cumin, cilantro, and sriracha.

With the help of an egg and breadcrumbs to keep the party together, you’ve got yourself a really hearty, tasty, and freezer-friendly homemade black bean burger. No more $8 veggie burgers at restaurants for me.

THIS RECIPE SERVES HOW MANY BURGERS?

This recipe yields six black bean burgers of reasonable size. Don’t worry if you can’t finish all six in a few days; they’ll keep in the freezer!

The recipe and cost breakdown below is only for the burger. Because everyone enjoys a different burger, I opted to leave the buns and toppings out of the recipe and price breakdown.

CAN THEY BE STORED IN THE FREEZER?

Because I only cook for myself, I prepared two patties and frozen the remainder. Wrap the raw patties in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer bag with a zip-top.

To cook later, thaw the patty in the microwave for 30 seconds before finishing in a skillet as directed in the recipe.

WHAT ARE GOOD TOPPINGS FOR BLACK BEAN BURGERS?

I decided on the standard mustard, tomato, lettuce, and red onion, but the toppings are truly up to you. Add some chipotle mayo, cheddar cheese, and jalapenos for a southwest twist.

Or how about a BBQ variation with pepper jack cheese and BBQ sauce? With any of the aforementioned themes, a few avocado slices would be fantastic. And don’t forget to add some Comeback Sauce to the mix!

ARE THESE SPICED BLACK BEAN BURGERS?

Despite the fact that sriracha is one of the ingredients, these black bean burgers are not spicy at all. Sriracha simply adds another dimension of flavor.

If you want your black bean burgers to be extra hot, double the sriracha or add a jalapeno to the food processor while you combine the ingredients.

DO I NEED A FOOD PROCESSOR?

These black bean burgers can be made without a food processor, but it’s a lot easier. 🙂

If you don’t have a food processor, finely mince the red onion, garlic, and sriracha by hand. Hand-mash the black beans (either with a fork or a potato masher), then combine everything by hand.

CAN I MAKE THEM IN THE OVEN?

I don’t recommend baking the black bean burgers since you won’t get the wonderful browning on the outside, which adds taste and texture.

CAN I GET RID OF THE EGG?

I tried making these black bean burgers without the egg, but they fell apart in the skillet (they turn into something more like refried beans). You might be able to use a flaxseed egg replacer, but I haven’t tried it.

P.S. This black bean burger recipe is essentially a variant of my Homemade Falafel recipe, which is one of my all-time favorite dishes.

HOMEMADE BLACK BEAN BURGERS

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse and drain the black beans from the can. In a food processor, combine the black beans, red onion, garlic, cilantro, sriracha, mayonnaise, cumin, soy sauce, and pepper. Pulse the ingredients until they’re well combined but remain chunky.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the black bean mixture, one big egg, and 1 cup of breadcrumbs. Combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until well blended. Allow 5 minutes for the mixture to rest.
3. Divide the black bean mixture into six equal pieces and form each into a patty about 3.5 inches in diameter and 1/2 inches thick.
4. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil over medium heat to make the black bean burgers. Add a few of the black bean burgers to the hot oil and fry for about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until they are thoroughly browned and heated through. Continue with more oil and the remaining patties until they’re all done.
5. Put each burger on a bun, top with your preferred toppings, and eat!

NOTES

*If you don’t have cilantro, you can use parsley instead.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING BLACK BEAN BURGERS

1. Two 15-ounce cans of black beans should be rinsed and drained. 1 Tbsp. sriracha, 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise, 1 tsp cumin, 1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce and 1/4 tsp pepper go into a food processor with 1/4 red onion, 1 garlic clove, 1/4 bunch cilantro (about 1/2 cup), 1 Tbsp. sriracha, 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise, 1 tsp cumin, 1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce, and 1/4 tsp pepper.
2. Pulse together the ingredients until they’re mostly combined. I want to keep it thick but even.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the black bean mixture, one egg, and one cup of breadcrumbs.
4. Combine the black beans, breadcrumbs, and eggs in a mixing bowl. Allowing this combination to settle for five minutes allows the breadcrumbs to absorb some of the liquid.
5. Divide the mixture into six equal pieces and form patties (approximately 1/2 cup of mixture per patty, 3.5″ diameter, 12″ thick).
6. In a skillet, heat 12 tbsp cooking oil over medium heat. Add a couple of patties to the hot oil and fry for about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until well browned and cooked through. Continue with more oil and patties until the required number of patties has been fried (or freeze the rest, see the info above the recipe for instructions on how to freeze).

Enjoy your black bean burger with all of your favorite toppings!!