These vegan black-eyed pea burgers are made with veggies, cornmeal, and seasoned up with zesty Cajun spices!
It was eighty degrees here earlier this week. Good old February in the good old state of Pennsylvania.
In case you're not familiar with February in Pennsylvania, I'll tell you: 80 degrees is just wrong.
I'm sure a lot of people loved it, but I wasn't into it at all. I'm just not ready. The warm weather made me sleepy and unmotivated to get work done, and then I had trouble sleeping at night because I guess the change threw off my equilibrium. Or something. And then there were bugs in the house, up and about, roaming around. I thought they didn't live through winter, but I guess they were just sleeping and woke up? I'm not sure how that whole thing works, but I actually got an insect bite on my toe. In February.
I spotted one of my neighbors grilling. And then I made the best of an unhappy situation and took that as inspiration to cook up some veggie burgers.
I didn't cook my burgers on the grill, but I don't even do that during the summer. Just like all my other burgers, these Cajun burgers cook up in a skillet on the stove, so you can even eat them when it's cold out in February.
Cajun-inspired veggie burgers were on my list and I thought they'd be perfect for the warm day (or a cold day, because: spicy!).
Beans are the ideal base for a veggie burger, and there are so many options! You've got black bean burgers, white bean burgers, and red kidney bean burgers, among others. All are delicious!
I decided to use black-eyed peas as the base for these (black-eyed peas are great in Cajun fare). For some extra flavor and texture I added corn and some diced red bell peppers. And along with that, my usual Cajun spice blend, but with smoked paprika, because smoky flavor makes everything better.
I already have a delicious go-to vegan remoulade recipe, so that's what I topped my burgers with, along with pickles, fried red onion, lettuce and tomato. They were delicious enough to stop my grumpiness over the weather right in its tracks.
More Vegan Burger Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Cajun Black-Eyed Pea Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
- ¾ to 1 cup cornmeal
- ½ cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
- ½ cup diced red bell pepper (about ½ pepper)
- ½ cup chopped red onion (about ¼ large onion)
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-4 tablespoons cayenne pepper hot sauce, to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Oil, for grilling
For Serving
- 6 burger buns
- Vegan remoulade
- Lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion slices
Instructions
- Place the black-eyed peas, ¾ cornmeal, corn, bell pepper, onion, scallions, garlic, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped and well mixed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Test the mixture by pressing it together in your hands to see if it holds together. If it seems too moist, add up to an additional ¼ cup of cornmeal,
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, shape the black-eyed pea mixture into patties and transfer them directly to the skillet. Cook the patties in batches to avoid crowding the skillet. Cook about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and crisp. Transfer the patties to a plate when done cooking.
- Stuff the patties into buns and top with remoulade and toppings of choice. Serve.
Notes
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Can you use chickpea flour instead of cornmeal?
I think so, but you might need to adjust the amount slightly. Start with less and add it until the mixture feels sturdy enough to shape into patties.
Delicious! We didn’t have corn so I used some frozen peas. I lightly sprayed Pattie’s with oil and then air fried for about 10 mins flipping half way. They turned out great!
I tried this recipe and it turned out horribly wrong! I followed it exactly too. I had to add so much more cornmeal so it would stick together because it was so wet. The texture was so gritty from the cornmeal after that I had to throw it all away:( I’m not sure what happened?
Loved it! Googled a black bean recipe and tons came out but yours inspired me because of the simplicity and intense flavour profiles. Plus, we're both attorneys that love to cook!!! ;)
I shaped and froze some and even shaped some around skewers for my son to grill over the coals. Perfect!!! Thank you for a great recipe.
This burger look so perfect and delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Delicious!!!!!!
Funny, I didn't know you were from PA. We live in South Jersey close to Philly and during those few days when the temperature was in the 80's my boyfriend decided to take advantage of that and play basketball outside. He came home with several mosquito bites! And he said the same thing, it's February! haha
These burgers look yummy I can't wait to try! I love how you put a check list next to each ingredient. I never saw another food blogger do that. Makes my little OCD heart happy ;)
And now it's snowing at the end of March! Thanks for the comment! I hope you enjoy the burgers!
I don't have a food processor, can I use a blender instead.
I think so, but you might want to try blending it in small batches - I always find just the ingredients at the bottom blend when I do that, and it can be tough to redistribute in a blender. You could also try using a fork or potato masher. :)
I made these last night and love them.
They have just the right amount of
spiciness. The best part is I have some
left to enjoy today.
Yay!! I'm so glady you enjoyed them!!
can they be frozen
Yup! You can cook and then freeze the patties, or, even better: mix everything up and then freeze whatever mixture you don't use without shaping it into patties and cooking it. Then when you're ready you can thaw, shape and cook, and they'll be nice and crisp just like they're freshly made. :)
Have been following you for awhile and was looking for a good veggie burger recipe so this was perfect timing, can't wait to make it! I didn't realize you were from Pa, thats awesome went to school in your area and currently obsessed with hiking the laurel highland trail.
That is perfect! I hope you enjoy them! My husband and I are always looking for trails to check out, so we'll add that one to the list. We're outside of Philadelphia so we'll have to take a road trip to get there - thank you!!