While I am not a vegetarian, I do lean heavily into a vegetable forward lifestyle simply by nature of being a gardener. When it come to vegetarian or plant based meals, I don’t like to make exact dupes for animal products. I think that vegetables can and deserve to stand on their own. This recipe does that exactly. Black bean, garbanzo and mushroom burgers are now officially in our weeknight meal rotation as a result of this recipe. This recipe is an adaptation of an adaptation. The recipe I reference is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Cool Beans by Joe Yonan. You can shop my entire cookbook collection here. He adapted his recipe, Mushroom-Kidney Bean Burgers from chef Brian Van Etten from Veggie Galaxy. The technique I adapted in this recipe is from both of them. The technique is to bake the burgers first – to remove some of the excess water moisture followed by pan frying. The result is anything but mushy. I like to serve this in an iceberg lettuce wrap primarily for textural contrast and to diversify the food groups in the recipe. Something about beans on bread seems too redundant – but to each their own! You can really can make this your own with toppings of your choosing. I topped my burger with a nice slice of tomato, red onion, cucamelon relish and avocado. Nick, my fiance, added a hunk of parmesan to his. On the side I made air fryer sweet potato fries with a mayo-chili crunch situation. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
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Black Bean, Garbanzo and Mushroom Burgers
Description
This recipe is an adaptation of an adaptation from “Cool Beans” by Joe Yonan. His recipe is an adaptation of a recipe by Brian Van Etten from veggie Galaxy. The technique of baking then pan frying is adapted in my recipe featured here. I like the addition of flax seed and egg here to not only provide nutritional value, but also, better binding power. I also substitute black beans because that is what I tend to have on hand more commonly. I like the addition of garbanzo beans here to add another texture. I prefer a lettuce wrap in this instance to contrast textures. I also find iceberg lettuce incredibly refreshing. Served with sweet potato fries and a spicy mayo situation, this is 10/10.
Ingredients
For the “burgers”:
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 8 oz cremini or baby bella mushrooms, diced
- 1 can black beans, drained, rinsed and dried
- 1/2 can chickpeas or garbanzos, drained rinsed and dried
- 2 tbsp flax seeds
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 egg
- 1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 to 2 tbsp grapeseed or avocado oil, for frying
- salt and pepper, to taste
Suggested serving accoutrements
- Sliced red onion
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced avocado
- Pickles
- Relish
- Mustard
- Mayonnaise
- Ketchup
- Aioli (of your choosing)
- Iceberg lettuce for wrapping
- Buns, if you don’t want to use iceberg lettuce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
- Heat olive oil in a pan. Sautee onions, mushrooms, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper until soft on low heat. Do not burn the onions. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixing bowl. Wait until cooled down.
- Lightly mash black beans and garbanzo beans using a fork, potato masher or your hands. I like to keep some beans whole as they seem to crisp up really nicely when pan fried.
- In the mixing bowl, combine with the sauteed veggies, mashed beans, flax seeds, nutritional yeast, and egg. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using your hands, form approximately 1/2 cup portions of “burgers.” Form in to a burger shape as best you can. They kind of look like cookies. Place on baking sheet. This recipe should yield about 6-7 burger patties. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the patties are dried out and beginning to crisp. Be sure to gently flip half way through baking. Remove from oven.
- Heat neutral, high heat oil in pan. Fry the burgers on each side until crisp. Be careful when flipping to make sure they don’t crumble. They fry quickly so keep an eye! Alternatively, you can put these in the air fryer for 5-10 minutes at 375 Fahrenheit. You’re just trying to achieve a slightly crisped exterior to your liking.
- Serve immediately with toppings and sides of your choice! Enjoy!