These flavor-packed white bean burgers are made with hearty cannellini beans, crunchy walnuts, and zesty basil pesto. They're easy to make with just a handful of ingredients — perfect for everything from cookouts to weeknight dinners!

Beans are where it's at when it comes to making veggie burgers. They're hearty, protein-packed, and great for holding all your other veggie burger ingredients together. I make veggie burgers out of all kinds of beans — just take a look at my black bean burgers, red kidney bean burgers, and Greek chickpea burgers.
But you know what beans don't get nearly enough love when it comes to veggie burger making? Good old cannellini beans! I'm talking about those big creamy white beans, also known as white kidney beans.. We all love a good bowl of white bean soup, but white bean burgers are just as wonderful.
These particular cannellini bean burgers are especially wonderful, because they also feature another delicious favorite: vegan pesto.
Normally when I make veggie burgers I like to throw in lots of spices and seasonings. They're usually necessary for flavor, and I love a burger that's full of flavor! Pesto is loaded with spices, seasonings and flavors, so all you need to do is add a few spoonfuls of it to pack your white bean burgers with deliciousness.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Walnuts. Nuts are great for adding flavor and texture to bean burgers. This particular recipe uses walnuts, but you could substitute them with similar nuts like pecans or hazelnuts.
- Cannellini beans. These are the white beans for our white bean burgers. Prefer to use a different variety of white bean? Go for it! Navy beans, great northern beans, butter beans and pinto beans would all work well.
- Panko breadcrumbs. Oat flour can be substituted if you need a gluten-free option.
- Vegan pesto. Be careful, because not all pesto is vegan. Many store-bought brands contain Parmesan cheese. You can use homemade vegan pesto, or seek out a vegan brand at the store, such as Amore brand pesto.
- Scallions. These are also known as green onions.
- Lemon juice. Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice isn't nearly as flavorful.
- Salt.
- Olive oil.
- Burger buns.
- Toppings. Use your favorite burger toppings, such as vegan mayonnaise, extra pesto, hummus, lettuce, tomato and/or onion.
How They're Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Start by placing your walnuts into a food processor bowl and blending them until they're finely chopped.
Now add your beans, pesto, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, and scallions. Pulse the food processor until everything is finely chopped and well-mixed. Taste the mixture and season it with some salt.
Now test the mixture by grabbing some and pressing it together in your hands — if it holds together well, it's ready. If it's too crumbly, add some water and pulse the machine again.
Heat up some oil in a skillet and shape your burger mixture into patties. Cook them in batches, cooking as many patties as you can fit in the skillet at one time without crowding. They'll need about 5 minutes per side, and are done when they're browned and lightly crisped on the outside.
Tip: Handle your burgers carefully when cooking them. Vegan burgers are, by nature, more delicate than other types of burgers. I like to gently press on the top with a spatula while cooking, then use the spatula to pull the sides in. This helps pack the ingredients together and gives the patty a nice shape.
Stuff your white bean patties into buns and pile on the toppings. I like to dress my burgers with some extra pesto, vegan mozzarella-style slices, and vegan mayo.
Variation: Baked Burgers
Prefer to bake your veggie burgers? No problem! Place the patties on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake them in an oven preheated to 400°F for about 25 minutes, carefully turning them halfway through. They should be lightly browned when they're done.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover white bean patties will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Prep-Ahead Tip
The burger mixture can be blended in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. On the day of serving, thaw the mixture (if frozen), then shape it into patties and cook them according to the recipe.
What to Serve with Pesto White Bean Burgers
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Pesto White Bean Burgers
These flavor-packed white bean burgers are made with hearty cannellini beans, crunchy walnuts, and zesty basil pesto. They're easy to make with just a handful of ingredients — perfect for everything from cookouts to weeknight dinners!
Ingredients
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 (14 ounce of 400 gram) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 4 tablespoons vegan pesto (store-bought or homemade), or to taste, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons chopped scallions
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 burger buns
- Toppings of choice, such as lettuce, tomato, vegan cheese, and vegan mayo
Instructions
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Place the walnuts into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade. Blend them until they're finely chopped.
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Add the beans, panko breadcrumbs, pesto, scallions, and lemon juice. Pulse the food processor until the ingredients are finely chopped and well mixed.
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Season the mixture with salt to taste, pulsing the machine once or twice to blend in the salt.
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Test the mixture by pressing some together in your hands to see if it holds together. If not, add a splash of water.
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Season the mixture with salt to taste and pulse the food processor a couple more times to mix it in.
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Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat.
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Shape the burger mixture into 4 pattes. Place as many patties in the skillet as you can fit without crowding. Cook the rest in a subsequent batch.
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Cook the patties for about 5 minutes on each side, until browned.
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Stuff the patties into buns. Top with additional pesto and toppings of choice.
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Serve.
Recipe Notes
This recipe makes 4 very large patties. You can make 6 medium-size patties if you prefer.
These look great. What are the carbs without the bun? Bread/bun carbs vary greatly so the info would be helpful especially for diabetics who need to calculate insulin requirements. Thanks!
Thanks Lynn! The carb count would be around 30 grams without the bun.
wow these look so delicious 🤤🤤 I've been wanting to find a good bean-based burger that wasn't the usual sweet potato and black bean mix. I love that this is paired with pesto, can't wait to try it!
These are great! And timely - our basil seeds germinated too successfully so we now have >40 giant basil plants in the gardens. It’s nice to have a tasty new recipe to help use it.
We started these patties in the skillet and finished them on the barbecue. Those barbecue “woks” work great for veggie burgers that wouldn’t normally survive the grill.
Thanks!
That’s not to say that you couldn’t grill these normally, by the way. Someone other than me may well be able to. I suffer from some strange inability to make a veggie burger that can survive the process and I gave up on that dream long ago.
Im trying these tonight they sound amazing. Do you think I could use an air fryer vs frying them
In the oil? Thanks so much, I use a ton of your amazing recipes 😁
I don't have an air-fryer, but from what I know of them I think it would work! You can also bake them - try 400°F for 15 minutes or so on each side.
From another comment here it appears your nutritional values are based on patty & bun. If you can confirm that it would be helpful as I have kidney disease & have to watch my sodium intake. I know sodium can vary quite a bit depending on the type bun. Thanks.
This is correct, but the nutrition values are estimates and will vary depending on what brands of ingredients you use, any seasoning adjustments you make, etc. Here's a link to the calculator I use: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 I'd recommend pasting in the recipe with the brands you use for more accurate info. I hope that helps!