In the days before Garden Burgers, bean burgers were increasingly popular and a nice change of pace from eating a meat burger. Since MorningStar came out with their soy-based burgers, however, bean burgers have all but disappeared.
With some inspiration from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks I was able to come up with a recipe that reminds me of the black bean burgers I used to eat before Morningstar displaced them.
These are a fast, frugal weeknight dinner that can even be made up and par-fried then frozen, although they come together so quickly from frozen, pre-cooked beans I don’t know why you would bother unless you were planning to take them camping.
You can add up to one cup of seasonal vegetables to these. The only caveat is if you have a veggie that is hard (like carrots) or contains a large amount of water (like mushrooms or zucchini) you would want to chop and saute them before adding to this recipe.
Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of cooked black beans
1 cup bread crumbs
4 backyard eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 small chopped onion or 1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powderTechnique:
In a food processor combine all ingredients and puree until the mixture is well combined.Form into burgers whatever size you prefer and pan fry in a covered, oiled heavy skillet for 5-10 minutes per side depending on your burger size.
These can be served on buns but my favorite way to eat them (since there is already bread in the burger) is plated with peach salsa and a sprout or garden salad.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Sara // Jan 24, 2010 at 9:48 pm
I’m glad you posted this, I am on a bean kick recently and had been thinking about these…I remembered seeing something about them before and now they are definitely next on my list!
2 admin // Jan 25, 2010 at 4:11 am
Sara, I forgot to mention that I added 2 pieces of chopped cooked bacon to them. It made them super yummy! As you can imagine because what does bacon not make yummier?
3 Mangochild // Jan 25, 2010 at 9:28 am
Black beans, yum. I’ve made black bean patties even without eggs or breadcrumbs, just adding in a medium potato (mashed) for a starchier binding ingredient, and then mixing the potato with the bean mixture and patting them out. Anything with black beans is delicious.
4 admin // Jan 25, 2010 at 5:24 pm
MC that is an interesting thought. I bet that would make a great tator tot or hush puppy base!
5 Sara // Jan 30, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Okay I know this sounds silly, but should the breadcrumbs be dried out if I’m using them from a fresh baked loaf? I picked up my beans today and can’t wait to try these!
6 admin // Jan 30, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Hi Sara,
Not silly at all! I think Heidi called for toasted breadcrumbs but I just ripped up old bread heels. Toasting breadcrumbs is too fussy for me!
7 Sustainable Pantry Makeover Wrap Up // Jul 3, 2010 at 11:14 pm
[...] any longer so they’ve long been banned from my freezer. Instead I gave Kat a recipe for bean burgers that she could customize depending on the type of bean and mood she is in. These are also easy to [...]
8 Real Food on Vacation // Jul 21, 2010 at 12:26 am
[...] Black bean burgers, pre-mixed but not fried. [...]
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