These aren't your ordinary black bean burgers. These patties are loaded with savory, spicy and smoky flavor! Absolutely delicious and easy enough for a weeknight dinner!
Black bean burgers are basically the best veggie burgers. They're so reliable, aren't they? Having given up meat-based burgers almost 30(!) years ago, they're always been there for me.
Vegan black bean burgers are one of the few types of veggie burgers that always seem to be crowd pleasers. I find that even most omnivores love them. Why might that be? Probably because black beans are so hearty and satisfying, and they pair up so well with zesty spices, as evidenced by scrumptious dishes like spicy black bean soup, black bean empanadas, and black bean burritos.
Put those flavors into a burger and you're that you're pretty much guaranteed to get a flavor-bomb.
But these aren't even your typical run of the mill black bean burgers. Nope! They're the most flavorful vegan burgers I've ever had. They're smoky and pack a little bit of heat. Tex-Mex, spices, aromatics, and fresh squeezed lime juice are the key ingredients I have to thank for that.
Let's talk about how to make the perfect vegan black bean burger!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Black beans. We're using canned black beans. You can use dried, but you'll need to soak and cook them first. Try this method.
- Panko breadcrumbs. Substitute gluten-free breadcrumbs or oat flour for a gluten-free burger.
- Red onion.
- Garlic.
- Fresh cilantro. Leave this out if you're a cilantro-hater.
- Lime juice. Fresh squeezed juice is best!
- Spices. We're using cumin, chili powder, and chipotle chile powder. They're all available in the spice aisle of most supermarkets.
- Salt & pepper.
- Oil. Just about any high-heat oil will do. This is for grilling the burgers. It can be omitted if you're making the baked variation of the recipe.
- Burger buns. Check the ingredients to make sure the buns you buy are vegan. I'm a a big fan of Dave's Killer Bread burger buns.
- Toppings. Use whatever you like! Try vegan cheese, mayo, salsa, guacamole, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and/or onions!
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 prefer to skip right to the recipe!
- Start with some prep work: roughly chop your onion and cilantro, mince your garlic, drain and rinse your beans.
- Now place everything into a food processor bowl except the oil and buns (obviously!).
- Pulse the mixture until everything is finely chopped, but the mixture still has some texture. Give it a taste-test and make any seasoning adjustments you like. If the mixture seems to crumbly (which can happen, depending on what brand of beans you use), add a splash or two of water.
Tip: This recipe can be made without a food processor if you don't have one. Make sure your onion, garlic and cilantro are super finely chopped, then mash the ingredients together in mixing bowl using a fork or potato masher.
- Heat up some oil in a skillet and shape your bean mixture into four patties.
- Grill a few patties at a time, making sure not to overcrowd the skillet.
- Cook the patties for about five minutes on each side, until they're lightly browned.
- Be super careful when flipping your burgers — veggie burgers are generally more delicate than conventional burgers!
Variation: Baked Black Bean Burgers
If you'd prefer to bake your burgers, simply arrange the patties on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Optionally brush them with some oil — this helps with browning but isn't required. Bake the patties in the oven at 400°F for about 15 minutes on each side.
Shelf Life & Storage
Vegan black bean burger patties will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yup! Substitute vegan gluten-free breadcrumbs or oat flour for the panko breadcrumbs, and be sure to use gluten-free buns.
Sure! They won't be black bean burgers, but they'll still be delicious. Try kidney beans, cannellini beans, lentils or chickpeas.
If your burgers fall apart during flipping, there's a good change that the mixture is too dry. Try mixing in a few splashes of water. Also be sure to pack your patties tightly when shaping them. If you still have trouble, you might need to try a different brand of bean — some are mushier and therefore better at binding than others.
More Vegan Burger Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Smoky Vegan Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup roughly chopped red onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 burger buns
Instructions
- Place the beans, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, chipotle chile powder, and ½ teaspoon of salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade.
- Pulse the machine until the ingredients are finely chopped and well-mixed.
- Taste-test the mixture and season with additional salt if needed. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
- Shape the black bean mixture into 4 patties.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the oil and place it over medium heat.
- When the skillet is hot, place the patties into it. Avoid crowding the skillet and cook them in batches if needed.
- Cook the patties for about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
- Stuff the patties into buns and top with toppings of choice. Serve.
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Boyfriend and his family loved these! They're so good. And easy to make :) Adding this to my go-to recipes
Holy heck, this burger is delicious. I am gluten-free and didn't have breadcrumbs so I used 1/2 cup GF oats, 1/2 cup almond meal, and a heaping 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (a tip from your "beefy" black bean walnut burger recipe). I'm also kind of averse to liquid smoke - it's always so overpowering to me - so I used about 1 tsp of smoked paprika. I didn't use a food processor as I wanted a lot of texture, so I just mushed it all up with my hands. Probably because of not using a food processor, it was a little dry, so I added a flax egg (1 Tbsp flax meal + 2 Tbsp water). I also didn't add olive oil. I guess that's why it was dry, too. Anyway, it's perfect. I haven't had the actual cooked burger yet as I'm going to freeze these patties for later (I hear freezing BB burgers and cooking them from frozen helps them keep their shape when cooking), but the batter is so good I was licking it off of my hands, haha. Thanks for a great recipe!
Excuse me I mean 1/4 cup almonds and 1/4 cup walnuts, for a total of 1 cup of breadcrumb substitutes, not 1/2 cup of each.
I made these patties for dinner the other night and serves them with homemade aquafaba mayo, avocado, lettuce, and tomato on a gluten free bun. They were divine! Great flavours and I made a double batch so I could freeze some :)
what's the protein and calorie nutritional value please? Thanks. They look good.
Thank you! I don't normally calculate nutrition info for my recipes, but you can try this site if you'd like to take a crack at it.
Is this spicy I was looking to make this as a dinner for me and my 1 year old? Didn't want it to be too spicy for him with the jalapeño and chili powder.
They aren't super spicy, but still maybe a bit much for a one year old. I'd definitely leave out the jalapeno. With the chili powder I'd add a bit at a time and taste test - some brands are milder than others. You could also skip or replace some of the chipotle powder with smoked paprika - it'll give you that smoky flavor without the heat. Enjoy! :)
I make fried plantain chips a lot, never tried baked version sure going to try it , thanks for sharing, by the way, black bean burger sounds delicious.
Thank you! Hope you dig the baked plantain chips as much as I did! :)
One can never have too many black bean burger recipes! They are a staple in our house too and I love how you can change up the flavor profile with just a few ingredient tweaks. These look amazing! I love how thick and hearty they are!